To the editor:

Recently, I placed an ad for a guitar on Craigslist for $600. I received three or four offers immediately and received a check last week from a person claiming to be in the UK. He sent me a check for $1,500, said to deduct the cost of the guitar from it and the shipping and send him the rest back via Western Union.

The check seemed reasonable, but I had this suspicion that it wasn’t. So I called the bank and got a busy signal. I have worked in several banks, and if one calls during the day, there never is a busy signal. So I took the check to my bank and they thought I should deposit it, which I did.

Constantly, I received e-mails from the purchaser wanting to know where his MONEY was, not the guitar, but his money. Well needless to say, it was bogus and I told him so.

Yesterday, I received another bogus check drawn on an account from a sports store in Oklahoma. I called the store and they have had over 10 instances where thieves had used their name, check numbers, etc., to defraud others like this.

I suggest that the thieves stop doing this because some of us know better and those of you who don’t know better, please beware. The money you lose may be your own.

David Omar,
Lawrence