Call to Troubleshooter stops Clayton woman from losing money on Craigslist

CLAYTON, NC (WTVD) -- If you're selling anything online, you need to watch out for scammers trying to take advantage of the deal.

Clayton resident Letty Goodson listed a commercial oven for sale on Craigslist hoping to find a buyer. A man from out of state texted her wanting to buy the stove. He sent Goodson a check for $1,950 - $1,000 for the stove and $950 to pay for movers.

Goodson said she was directed to deposit the check, keep the $950 for the stove and then wire the extra $950 back to the buyer so he could pay the movers to pick up the oven.

"After we had sent him the money for the movers we thought everything was good to go," Goodson said.

But soon the bad news flooded in.

"The bank told me we need to get this cleared up. That this is definitely a scam," said Goodson. It turns out the check was bad, and she owed the $1,950 back to the bank.

"I was thinking at that point 'yes we lost that money'... I was petrified," Goodson said.

Goodson called me almost immediately. I told her to call MoneyGram right away because if the buyer hadn't picked up the money, there might be a chance she could recover the cash.

Remarkably, Goodson called before it was too late. MoneyGram still had her money as the scammer had not yet picked it up.

"Oh my God ... I was just like very, very happy," Goodson said.

This time, Goodson's money was saved, but she had a warning for others looking to sell online.

"It's important for people to know that people are out here doing scams and they're not legit, and you have to be careful or you're going to be taken advantage of definitely," Goodson said.

The best advice in these cases is anytime someone sends you a check and wants you to cash it and wire money back to them, it's a sure sign of a scam.