When it comes to spotting scams, unfortunately, most of us have become very good at it. Chances are you have received a few emails with extravagant claims offering millions of dollars in return you just need to forward a little information, or worse money. Scam! But what about the online offers that just seem like a good deal? Are they a scam or not? Turns out some scammers are targeting Northern Michigan and perhaps the worst part is they are using the United States Military and your sense of patriotism to get your money.

Mallory Giles was searching Craigslist for a good set of wheels, nothing flashy, just a reliable car that would get her from here to there. Like most of us, Mallory was looking to get the most bang for her buck, and she thought she had found just that in a 2005 Nissan Maxima posted under Northern Michigan autos. In the pictures the car looked very clean and the fact that the posting came from nearby Houghton Lake was certainly a plus. Mallory responded to the provided email in the listing, hoping that she could get a good deal. From that point on the excitement started to fade.

Mallory received a response from the seller:

The price is $2,800 including the delivery fees which will be between $100-$200 depending on the distance to your destination. At this moment I am in the military base getting ready for Afghanistan. This mean that I do a special training program and I am not allowed to get out of the unit or give calls whenever I want. The car is already at the Army Logistics & Shipping Dept in MERRICK, NY sealed and ready for the shipping. The shipping can't be a problem because I can do it at no cost for you. You will receive the car along with all the documents including title, bill of sale, full service records and more .Because it is a large transaction we will complete the deal only using an authorized third party like U.S. Army Logistics & Safety Service, using their Business Purchase Protection Program.The payment will be handling by the Army's Financial Dept and you will benefit of 5 days inspection period (test drive) and the option to accept or reject the car on my expense.

If you would like to move forward with this deal send me your full name and address where you want it sent and we can start the transaction.

Thank You!

SSgt -----------

United States Marine Corps

Mallory started to feel a little uncomfortable but wasn't giving up. She continued to email the seller but eventually felt so uneasy about the deal she called it off. She says there were just too many inconsistencies, like the location of the car ("why was it posted as Houghton Lake when the car is in New York?") and the difficulties in communicating with the seller ("why couldn't he take a phone call or meet in person?"). She wondered if this was a scam. It's a good question and one that is getting harder to spot as online scammers are getting better at crafting their cons. So how can you tell when you are getting scammed versus just getting a good deal? The problem is you don't have to be greedy, or naive to fall for these. That makes them hard to spot but not impossible.

I'll admit it; I emailed the seller in this case asking about the car, and got almost identical emails as Mallory regardless of what questions I actually asked. I took it a step further though, I asked if I could come test drive the car, or talk to him on the phone. The answer in a nutshell was that impossible due to military restrictions on his time and freedom.

So what should have sent up red flags?

Online security experts say when you start getting strange feelings, trust your gut and with every email and answer I felt worse about this potential deal. When you deal with Craigslist, don't expect them to protect you. They are the place where people meet to buy and sell but they are not involved in the transaction.

Craigslist does warn us to avoid any deal that involves a shipping or escrow service. They also say never wire funds using Western Union or Moneygram. The experts say another smart thing we can all do is a quick Google search involving the key elements of the posting. You would be surprised how many variations of this army scam are out there. If you look a little, you might find a lot. But perhaps Craigslist best advice they say could protect you from 99% of the scams out there is to deal locally with folks you can meet in person.

So Mallory did the right thing but trusting her feelings, and not acting before thinking. She most likely saved herself a lot of frustration and at least $2800. Some may say since Mallory wasn't conned, there was no victim in this case. My opinion is how would you like to be an actual military member trying to sell something on Craigslist? I think the victim in this case is the reputation of our fighting men and women. What do you think?

Let me know, leave a comment below.