Love Your Sofa

Just as the Nigerian gold bar scam (and many other "just send me your info and share in my late husband's $300 million") attempts to separate the gullible from their bank accounts have spread across the country, so, apparently, is a scam I wrote about a couple of weeks ago: the devilishly clever furniture scam.

I don't know precisely how it works, since I didn't bite on the scam, but the way it works is this: someone contacts you about furniture you're offering for sale (generally on Craigslist), tells you he's on his honeymoon but wants your furniture, tells you he'll pay $50 more than you're asking and asks you to send him your address/contact info so he can have his secretary send you a check and his mover come to pick up the furniture.

Other folks who've had this happen to them say the scam is this: you're sent a "certified check" for too much money — generally, his secretary adds an extra zero — and you're asked to send back the overpayment via Western Union. By the time the certified check bounces and gets back to you, your money is long gone.

(Oh, and he assures you that he's fired his incompetent secretary. Who wouldn't, after she/he sent $2,500 for a $250 sofa?)

So the next time someone emails you that he's on his honeymoon and all he can think about is your sofa, futon or dining set (or bunk beds, in my case), tell him that the only thing he should be screwing is his new bride. Not you.