VCI Classifieds - Scam Notice

Scam Notice

Beware of scammers contacting users of our Classifieds in an attempt to steal money. VCI has always taken measures to protect our customers from spam, viruses, "objectionable content" and scams. VCI tries to thwart scammers by:

Educating our customers
Limiting Classifieds subscriptions to Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri
Not allowing access to our Classifieds by viewers outside the US
Blocking known scam emails

Most of the attempted scams work like this:

The scammer responds to a classified ad and attempts to negotiate a deal with the seller. The scammer says he will send a money order or cashier's check in payment for the item.
The payment is usually a counterfeit cashier's check for several thousands of dollars more than the actual cost of the item.
The scammer instructs the seller to take the money for the item and send the rest of the money back to the scammer.
The end result is the financial institution determines the cashier's check or money order is counterfeit and demands the seller repay the money. There would probably be an investigation involving the police department as well.

Shown below is an actual scam email received by a VCI Classifieds subscriber. This email is provided to help you spot emails from scammers.

Please see the following news articles for further information:

Crime Research Lab

Wired News

419 Fraud

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