News : Vinton man warns of Craigslist scam attempts

These bad checks were all sent to a Vinton man who is selling an item on Craigslist.

"Why haven't you sent me the cash yet?" wrote a man who identified himself as Kenny, to Vinton resident Steve Lucas. "Money from the check I sent you has already been deducted from my account."

Lucas knew that was not true because he still had the check in his hand -- one of many bad checks he has received from what he believes are Nigerian gang members.

While selling a barbecue smoker on Craigslist, with the asking price of $1,800, Lucas has attracted many scam artists who offer Lucas what they claim is a good deal: They will send him a check for $1,000 or $2,000 more than the asking price, to cover "shipping costs." They, in turn, ask Lucas to send them cash to make for the difference.

While Lucas can tell from the beginning of each interaction that the person contacting him about his ad is clearly a scam artist, he believes that enough Americans fall for the deceit to make the effort pay off.

A box full of checks in overnight express envelopes from a variety of shipping sources is a souvenir of Lucas' efforts to bring attention to these kinds of scams. Many of the individuals or companies listed on those checks are real people or legitimate businesses who are not aware of how their names are being used. The checks seem to be written on accounts that have been closed years ago.

Yet, said Lucas, those checks look authentic; they even have what appear to be security watermarks on them.

Lucas said he hopes that his efforts will lead to more awareness of the potential risks of such scams. He said he has contacted local postal authorities, but say they simply told him he is wasting his time trying to stop them.

"That's disappointing," he said.

A story about such scams indicates that Nigerian gangs are often the main suspects. Those gangs use people in the U.S. who answer 'work at home' ads to "process" the checks.

"Someone has to go to the Post Office or UPS to send the envelope," said Lucas.

In the case of "Kenny," the check was from a company in Georgia, but sent from a return address in Arlington, Texas, with the address of a man named Mark.

That seems to be the norm, said Lucas, who advises others to be wary of such attempts to steal from them.

Click HERE to see the story about the Nigerian gangs.