I've been spending an inordinate amount of time looking at Craigslist postings just to eat up some free time at work, and I thought it would be funny to post a phony listing to see what kind of response I could get.

I went with this:

Found: $800 in a Bank of America envelope in the bank parking lot.

E-mail me with the denominations to let me know how you want to pick the money up.

this is in or around Falls Church
no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

A couple of days passed with no reply, and I was happy to see that people are so honest. Then came the vulture.

Thursday, June 15, 2006 8:35 PM

My brother wanted me to email you since he doesn't have a computer. He thinks it might be his. He said his had 10's 20's and 50's and 100's. He lost more than $800 though. Please contact me ASAP.

Thanks

ramahnker@earthlink.net
EarthLink Revolves Around You.

Clever enough. All the denominations are covered, and if any weren't there, it's because someone took it and left the rest.

Hi,

I have to admit, after not getting any response for a couple of days, I was starting to think I may have stumbled on a windfall of my own.

I know I would have been freaking out if I lost it, though, so I'm glad to see the rightful owner getting reconnected with it.

If your brother can confirm about when he would have lost it and you can pass along some contact info, I'll be happy to get the money to you ASAP.

--Brian

Friday, June 16, 2006 3:45 PM

All I know he said it was sometime on Sunday or Monday but he does not know exactly when because he had gone back to the bank and all over both days and now he is not home. You can mail it to me and he would be so happy about that. He will be gone the rest of the summer in Europe and that is why he had all that money. He had to borrow money from my parents. If you can mail it to my house I can make sure he gets it. We really appreciate it. I am so glad people are honest in this world. Please email me ASAP. Thank you again.

Rebecca

Then another, which also included her address.

Friday, June 16, 2006 3:50 PM

Aaron told me tell you "thank you". He called my parents today from England and he is so thrilled someone is so honest in this world. He told me to tell you to keep $50 for yourself.

I'm not sure how, without the Internet, he saw my listing on Craigslist, but it's all made-up anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.

So now I'm trying to think of the right way to handle this:

--Call her out?
--Just stop e-mailing her?
--Start putting up hoops of minor inconvenience for her to go through. What wouldn't you do for your $800?
--Tell her I gave it to the police and send her to pick it up from them? That would be funny because she sounds smart enough to worry about being caught, but desperate enough to do it. This would definitely cause her anguish.
--Tell her I'll split it with her? Or maybe that I spent about $600 already, but I'll definitely pay her back. That would really piss her off.

Feel free to weigh in.