MEDIA RELEASE
The Hawai’i Police Department is warning the public to beware of scams that target individuals who post items on Craig’s List.
A 57-year-old Kailua-Kona woman reported that she posted a listing for a vacation rental. Someone posing as an interested renter sent the woman a check for more than the amount of the rental and asked her to deposit the check and then return the difference by Western Union. After the Kona woman complied, the original check was rejected as bogus.
Detectives investigating the case have learned that many other complaints have been received nationwide about similar scams that target persons who use Craig’s List.
Police urge the public to be leery of any requests for money or financial information from unknown persons.
I have to correct the person who said wait for the check to clear . . . our bank told us that our check had cleared, and a week later they called us back and said it was counterfeit and we owed them the money. Cleared just means that they have not found anything wrong with the check YET. Something could still come up later and the customer is liable. I have seen checks come back up to 6 months later.
Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of Scam Victims United