Craigslist Scam Costs Ossining Resident $600

A Pocantico Road resident told police Nov. 29 that he had been ripped off when he attempted to purchase an iPhone advertised on Craigslist on the 24th.

When the man contacted the seller through e-mail about the white, 64gigabyte iPhone, he received a response the next day. The seller gave the victim a name and address and instructed him to wire $600 through Western Union. When he made the wire transfer he was given a UPS tracking number that later proved to be phony, police said.

When the victim did not receive the phone he learned that the tracking number was fraudulent, as was the name and address of the person to whom the money was wired. The victim has been unable to reach the putative seller since the money was transferred.

Ossining Police remind all residents that using a money transfer by wire is the same as sending cash. Avoid transactions with unknown persons that involve wire transfers. Any person with the proper transfer number can claim a wire transfer from any branch anywhere, said Lt. Michael McElroy.

Craigslist has a section about avoiding fraud. Rule No. 2 is "NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is likely a scammer."