Michael Smith

Victim Location 11206

Type of a scam Fake Check/Money Order

I posted some furniture for sale on craigslist for local pickup in Brooklyn, NY for $200, assuming someone would ask for a lower price, as per my previous craigslist experience. I stated cash or venmo and local pickup. I almost instantly got a reply from "Dennis Foust" saying "Available? Pls txt 5169260772" So I texted, saying they were available and asking if he would like to purchase them. He then told me that he saw the photos and thought they would be perfect for his daughter who was relocating. I have more experience buying then selling on craigslist so I didn’t really think much of it, and just assumed he was helping his daughter out and they had to completely furnish an apartment and had a pretty high budget, since he was buying just two stools from me for $200. He then started talking about having someone come pick it up without going into much detail and sending me a check, I kept asking if he wanted me to disassemble the stools, and he didn’t really seem to care about the items themselves so much. He sent me a tracking number soon after that didn’t click through but I was busy at the time so I forgot to go back to it, but I’ve since clicked on it and it does not work. He asked me to tell him when I received the cashiers check which I received two days ago, July 5th, after I got home from work. He had earlier in the day told me it had arrived. When I opened it it was for $1750. We had talked about a price of $200. So I texted him to confirm that he meant to send this and he said he sent me $50 extra for holding it and the rest I was supposed to give the movers in cash. I was really uncomfortable and suspicious but I at the time said I would get it in the morning. First of all, movers are not that much money, especially for something this small, second of he hadn’t told me about any of this. I then started to do research into if people could get into your bank information with a cashiers check and then I got into cashiers checks through craigslist and found pretty much this exact scenario where I would probably be able to deposit it but in a week I would get notice from my bank that it was fraudulent and I would have to pay it all back. I’m assuming he would hire someone to pick it up for maybe $100 or $200 and pocket the rest of the cash. So I did go to my bank in the morning (Wells Fargo) and they were super suspicious of the check and they said it was definitely fake. In addition to the whole situation being suspicious, there were 3 different names and 2 different states used – the original name he contacted me from was Dennis Foust, the name on the envelope was Michael Smith, and the name on the check was Ellene Paston, the address on the envelope was from Denver, CO and the check says it was drawn from Lexington, KY. My banker also told me theres no way that this would have been sent from CO in this time frame since the bank it claims to be drawn from (Fifth Third Bank) is exclusively in the south. I then went to work and on my lunch break I called fifth third bank to report it to them, in case this person is actually a member of their bank, after giving them all the information from the check they told me that the routing number is a real routing number that belongs to somebody, but the check is not real, and this is not the first time it has happened. When I got home, I looked at the envelope it was sent in again, and it doesn’t even look like it was put in the mail, there’s no evidence of processing, the tracking number didn’t work, the postage is scotch taped on after being printed out with regular printing paper. Now the number won’t stop texting me and I’m starting to get nervous because they know my name and address. I did not lose anything that I am aware of, I have not given them anything but my name and address and phone number. I have not been in contact with them since before I figured out that it was a fake check.