Here you go, Sharon! :-)

I've told this story several times and it still hasn't gotten old, so I figure it is worth blogging. My mom and I recently had a conversation that went something like this:

Mom: "I got a response from something I put on Craig's List and let me see if you think this is somehow a scam."

Me: "If you have to ask it probably is."

Mom: "Someone is interested in your Dad's laptop and they want to know if I'll take Paypal. They also say that for my trouble they'll pay me $120 more than my asking price."

Me: "Ah. Total scam. We see this kind of thing at work a lot. Next thing he'll ask you to go out and buy two cameras, keep one for yourself, charge him for the whole thing and send it overnight to Nigeria regardless of the cost of shipping."

Mom: "Why would he offer to pay more than my asking price"

Me: "Because he is paying with a stolen credit card and doesn't care what he pays because--he's not paying for it. Best thing to do is just drop it. Don't write him back, just be done. Did he write in all caps and call himself something that is supposed to sound vaguely American like MR. KEVIN or MRS. SYLVIA?"

Mom: "Well....he signed it Paul McCartney."

There you go. This is where the scammer's sometimes clever plot falls apart. They sort of, but do not quite know how to blend in culturally. A friend at work thought they should have tried Bart Simpson. Princess Diana and Michael Jackson would have been just as effective.