Ron Nelson wrote:

> What I don't understand is what the spammer hopes to accomplish with this. 
> Anyone have a take on this? (I get them too, by the way.)

I get those too. I've assumed that this is a variant on a scam that's common
enough that Craigslist warns you about it.

>From http://sfbay.craigslist.org/about/scams
 
===========================================
2. distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier's check

    * you receive an email (examples below) offering to buy your item, or rent
your apartment, sight unseen.
    * cashier's check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an
apartment, or for just about anything else of value.
    * value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - scammer offers to
"trust" you, and asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service
    * banks will often cash these fake checks AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE
WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR, including criminal prosecution in some cases!
    * scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing
buyer money, etc)

<snip>

4. distant person offers to send you a money order and then have you wire
money:

    * this is ALWAYS a scam, in our experience - the cashier's check is FAKE
    * sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not
    * scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake
check
    * deal often seems too good to be true
===========================================


I presume this is why they have this (fairly implausible) list of stuff -
sometimes the wedding party wants foxtrot, chacha, and belly dance lessons -
in order to get up to a total bill that's large enough for one of these scams
to be semi-plausible.


-- Alan

-- 
===============================================================================
 Alan Winston --- WINSTON at SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
 Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL   Phone:  650/926-3056
 Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA   94025
===============================================================================