Craigslist.com is used worldwide and is becoming everyone’s number one source in finding employment, a place to live, and even love of various sorts. Giving traditional jobsites like Monster.com, Rental sites and even Match.com a run for their money, sometimes with the good comes the bad, or at least, the shady. While Craigslist is completely free for visitors to explore hundreds upon hundreds of listings, the popular site doesn’t do the greatest job at preventing not-so-legitimate people from posting ads.

For example, I recently received a call from my sister who was ecstatic over a job offer she got from a man who claims to be overseas. She told me that he emailed saying he liked her resume (she’s an MBA who wants to step away from the daily grind and work freelance), and would like to offer her a too good to be true sounding, HIGH-paying position, tutoring his son in English. ENGLISH!!

Sidenote: Any of you who are math-savvy and business oriented know that grammar isn’t necessarily your strong point. There are always exceptions but…you know what I mean.

Now, the only details my sister could gather from this man’s poorly written emails was that his son was coming with a nanny to Florida (where she lives) to begin his tutoring sessions in September. However, before then, he informed my sister that he would be sending an advanced “cheque” for her future services.

Giving a CHECK to a complete stranger?

I smell a scam. After my sister forwarded me their back-and-forth emails, I noticed she asked specific questions in which he answered vaguely. What school will your son attend? No answer. Where is he going to live? “Cheque man” replies, “Where do YOU live?”

After she answered, he wrote, “My son will live close to you for tutoring purposes.”

Uh, OK.

Being the trusting person that she is, my sister sent him her address for the “cheque” and he replied that although he was having trouble sending it, she’d get it shortly. Sure! I informed my sweet, naïve sister (who would kill me if she knew I just called her that, by the way) that this was probably a new and improved scam after those lengthy b.s. emails promising a better-than-ever job position, which entailed assisting in the transfer of millions and keeping 80% failed miserably. You know the ones…we get a large cut after coughing up a few minor details such as our account number, social security number, and mother’s maiden name.

Down and out over the fact that this fantastic “tutoring position” may be a fraud, when he finally emailed saying the cheque was in the mail, my sister ignored it. Yeah, his cheque’s in the mail just like my tax refund check is in the mail. Please.

Well, guess what?

Today, in the mail, she received his cheque for 3,500.00. It CAME, which is why I’m writing this post. Without any type of employment agreement, this man paid my sister in advance for her tutoring skills without ever having met her.

What’s going on here?

My sister deposited the check into her account today. And that’s all I know so far. Stay tuned for an ongoing report on this story and lawyers, please, keep reading. I may need you down the road.

Could it be that some completely unbelievable fairy-tales DO come true? Or, is my sister in some kind of danger?

Any comments are much appreciated.

Popularity: 10% [?]