To cut down on flight cost, I have been buying airline gift cards on craigslist. so far, I bought an American airline gift certificate and two different United Airline ones and had no problem. Each time, I make sure I email the person and have them call me.
Once they are on the phone, I get their full name and also ask them for the gift card or certificate # to use before I pay them. Keeping them on the phone, I would book the tickets with them. Once it goes through, I would paypal them the discounted amount. I would save $50-$80 on a $300 gift card.
Well, Jaime and I are going to a wedding in Maui in August. His high school friend Don is getting married and all his best high school friends (5 families total) are going. The tickets are expensive - almost $700 a person right now. Well, I thought I will just get gift cards like last time. as long as I be careful, it should be good.
After searching a few days, I came across an ad on craigslist from Berkeley $500 for $310 non-negotiable. The price is not too low to be suspicious. Most $500 gift card are around $300-$350 it seems from past ads. I emailed the person and got a call from a guy named Mike. He said he doesn't have paypal but will meet up with me in my office in SF. Once I purchase, I can pay him in cash. All sounds good right?
He showed up on time. Looks in his mid-20's didn't smell and was polite. He sat there while I ordered the tickets. He told me he bought it on eBay for $400 awhile back and just won't use it. That should have been a red flag already since these cards don't expire, but I was too busy booking to think about it. It went through just fine and I paid him cash. Just when he was leaving, I decided to ask for his full name just in case. He said Michael Shults. I thought about asking for ID but the transaction went through already and he seemed nice.
Well, this morning, I got a call from Alaska Air and they told me that the gift card was purchased at 2:30pm yesterday with a stolen credit card (I bought it at 3pm) and the credit card owners contested the charges. They will not honor the gift card. I called "Mike" back and left two message with no response. Well, lesson learned.
1. Don't pay for craigslist items in cash - the fact he doesn't have paypal is a red flag
2. If I am going to meet him in person, get his drivers license # and name and take a picture of him even and probably write a check
3. Just because a gift card goes through doesn't mean it will be honored. So always protect myself by paying it through paypal or credit card.
Well, luckily this lesson didn't cost me $310. It cost me $10, as I was able to buy two legitimate $500 gift cards on craigslist for $700 and still kept our tickets. A good lesson to learn for everyone! I am debating whether to report him to the police or not. Will they ever find him? Is it worth my time? I will talk to Jaime and ask his police friends to search for Mike Shults. If he was stupid enough to give his correct name, I will have him arrested.
Happy travels and be careful of scams!
- Lei
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This sounds like the same guy that scammed my fiancee and I in Sacramento just a few days before you. His name was "Mike" and he was about the same age. About 5'10 or so with a shaggy haircut and unshaven. Softspoken, but polite and sounded educated. I managed to save a recording of the voicemail that he left me on my phone. I did report it to SacPD but haven't heard anything back.I would really like to find him. Alaska Airlines said that there have been scams up in Seattle by a guy of the same name.
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