Someone took my phone. A Samsung Galaxy S3. It's white. It's only worth a few hundred bucks to you or anyone else. If you unlock the screen you will see my home screen. In the picture stands a man. A man with a backpack and 2 other bags. That man you see, was my husband. And that night, it was the last time he ever held me. If you open the gallery you will see a collection of photos. Mostly of him. But some of his children as well. You will also see some of his funeral. Of his burial flag, his coffin. See, that man you saw on the home screen. The one who looks so eager to head into a war zone to protect the country he loved and his family, he lost his life doing so. The only pictures I have of him are on that phone because my computer crashed after I transferred them. Tonight, I cried uncontrollably in the arms of a friend because tonight I felt as though I lost my husband once more. I know with time my memory will fade. I will have difficulty explaining his features to his children. Or why I think they look like him. One who never had the honor of meeting his father. I don't care about the phone. If you have it. Please just email me. I will respond and you will be able to send them to my email and you will never hear from me again. I only want the pictures nothing else. The reward money is 100%. If you can prove to me you have the phone and are willing to give it back. Proof required: My husbands Eye color hair color and shirt color in the skype photo of him. Along with the type of cover that was on the phone.

http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/laf/3756601062.html

craigs list ad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Someone took my phone. A Samsung Galaxy S3. It's
> white. It's only worth a few hundred bucks to you
> or anyone else. If you unlock the screen you will
> see my home screen. In the picture stands a man. A
> man with a backpack and 2 other bags. That man you
> see, was my husband. And that night, it was the
> last time he ever held me. If you open the gallery
> you will see a collection of photos. Mostly of
> him. But some of his children as well. You will
> also see some of his funeral. Of his burial flag,
> his coffin. See, that man you saw on the home
> screen. The one who looks so eager to head into a
> war zone to protect the country he loved and his
> family, he lost his life doing so. The only
> pictures I have of him are on that phone because
> my computer crashed after I transferred them.
> Tonight, I cried uncontrollably in the arms of a
> friend because tonight I felt as though I lost my
> husband once more. I know with time my memory will
> fade. I will have difficulty explaining his
> features to his children. Or why I think they look
> like him. One who never had the honor of meeting
> his father. I don't care about the phone. If you
> have it. Please just email me. I will respond and
> you will be able to send them to my email and you
> will never hear from me again. I only want the
> pictures nothing else. The reward money is 100%.
> If you can prove to me you have the phone and are
> willing to give it back. Proof required: My
> husbands Eye color hair color and shirt color in
> the skype photo of him. Along with the type of
> cover that was on the phone.
>
> http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/laf/375660106
> 2.html

GREAT SCAM! People are sending this person money. "She" is really a guy from New York who is staying at the Travelodge on route 17.

craigs list ad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Someone took my phone. A Samsung Galaxy S3. It's
> white. It's only worth a few hundred bucks to you
> or anyone else. If you unlock the screen you will
> see my home screen. In the picture stands a man. A
> man with a backpack and 2 other bags. That man you
> see, was my husband. And that night, it was the
> last time he ever held me. If you open the gallery
> you will see a collection of photos. Mostly of
> him. But some of his children as well. You will
> also see some of his funeral. Of his burial flag,
> his coffin. See, that man you saw on the home
> screen. The one who looks so eager to head into a
> war zone to protect the country he loved and his
> family, he lost his life doing so. The only
> pictures I have of him are on that phone because
> my computer crashed after I transferred them.
> Tonight, I cried uncontrollably in the arms of a
> friend because tonight I felt as though I lost my
> husband once more. I know with time my memory will
> fade. I will have difficulty explaining his
> features to his children. Or why I think they look
> like him. One who never had the honor of meeting
> his father. I don't care about the phone. If you
> have it. Please just email me. I will respond and
> you will be able to send them to my email and you
> will never hear from me again. I only want the
> pictures nothing else. The reward money is 100%.
> If you can prove to me you have the phone and are
> willing to give it back. Proof required: My
> husbands Eye color hair color and shirt color in
> the skype photo of him. Along with the type of
> cover that was on the phone.
>
> http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/laf/375660106
> 2.html


Scam/10 would recognise immediately and flag again

great scam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> GREAT SCAM! People are sending this person money.
> "She" is really a guy from New York who is staying
> at the Travelodge on route 17.

It's actually a good idea to have a guy make the payment from a hotel. Otherwise the thief might overpower a woman by herself.

To avoid getting scammed, have the person make a call from the phone and send her one of the photos that is on it. Even if they spoof the phone number they would need the actual phone to send the photo.

She can recover her hard drive for much less.

Probably even get it done for free.

There is no phone and no pictures. Just a scam to harvest cash from craigslist.

come on now Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There is no phone and no pictures. Just a scam to
> harvest cash from craigslist.


If it's someone's vigilante sting operation, targeting scammers trying to collect a reward for a stolen phone that does not exist, who cares?

Besides, what do you think they are going to do, mug people who try to collect the cash? Those would probably be low-lifes without much cash of their own anyway.

Let them explain to the police how they got "scammed" trying to scam someone else out of a reward for returning a stolen phone that didn't exist.

LMAO. Take your computer to best buy to recover the data. Data can be extracted from a shattered HD for 10k all day long. Email the scammer ontrack data recovery phone number.

so be it Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> come on now Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > There is no phone and no pictures. Just a scam
> to
> > harvest cash from craigslist.
>
>
> If it's someone's vigilante sting operation,
> targeting scammers trying to collect a reward for
> a stolen phone that does not exist, who cares?
>
> Besides, what do you think they are going to do,
> mug people who try to collect the cash? Those
> would probably be low-lifes without much cash of
> their own anyway.
>
> Let them explain to the police how they got
> "scammed" trying to scam someone else out of a
> reward for returning a stolen phone that didn't
> exist.


Here is how it works. The scam person(s) comes off the interstate highway and checks into a cheap motel. They post this message or one like it on the local CL page. The locals read this and offer to help because they feel so sorry for the poster. The scam artist/poster meets these people IRL and gets cash and checks from them. The next morning the scamer gets back on the interstate and repeats the process in the next place they decide to stop.

come on now Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Here is how it works. The scam person(s) comes off
> the interstate highway and checks into a cheap
> motel. They post this message or one like it on
> the local CL page. The locals read this and offer
> to help because they feel so sorry for the poster.
> The scam artist/poster meets these people IRL and
> gets cash and checks from them. The next morning
> the scamer gets back on the interstate and repeats
> the process in the next place they decide to stop.


Doesn't make sense. The people offering to "help" would be the ones looking for cash. The person who allegedly lost the phone is just trying to get the phone or photos from it. They also said they didn't need any money due to the late husbands life insurance.

Seems more likely the person who posted the ad would be trying to scam Samsung Galaxy phones from people who attempt to scam them. They post the ad and then tell the person to bring the phone and then take it without paying the reward. The "victim" can't go to the police because they were illegally trying to recover a reward.

If this is real, the person probably does not know that data can be recovered from the computer, for less than $10,000. It's very tedious and time-consuming, unless the platters are not really damaged. That is often the case. People lose Windows, or the MBR gets corrupted and they think all is lost. Even if the drive doesn't spin up sometimes the platters themselves are fine.

She posted a follow up. I can't tell if she is legit but she is fishing for money at any rate.

If she'd been a cheerleader (school spirit!) Fairfax County would hire Interpol to get the phone back.

But, since she's just a normal person, she has to do this.

Not saying it isn't some kind of scam, but she is definitely not asking for money. In fact the follow up says "I can't take anything from anyone". Sounds like she just wants her photos or phone.

If it's a scam then she is probably planning to steal the phone without paying the reward.