I’m visiting Hawaii in 2 weeks to visit my colleagues and I would love to bring some gifts like snacks to show gratitude for welcoming me! I live on the mainland btw. What edible snacks would you appreciate?
Thanks in advance!
Curious how we are all getting by with surviving unemployment. How long have you been unemployed or been after your ideal job? Are you working another job to get by or is there literally no company/organization that will recruit you like me? What are you doing to land that job?
I am one year out of grad school, too overqualified for minimum wage jobs, not enough experience with my ideal job. Super grateful my husband is supporting us, but we’ve definitely hit hard times financially. Having no income definitely took a toll on my confidence and independence.
TLDR; thought I was dealing with a scammer but turns out she’s real.
I posted a couch for sale on Facebook marketplace at a price really low from when I first bought it 4 years ago. I also said in my description that it’s either pick up from my apartment or I deliver to your place. I offered delivery because I need our couch gone quick since we’re moving and I thought if I did that, maybe it would sell faster.
I get a message from an interested buyer, where we bond over the fact that we both have yorkies (I added on the listing that I live with a hypoallergenic Yorkie in case that was helpful for those who may have allergies or respiratory issues). She says she wanted to come over to check it out but cancels.
As you can see in the messages, she was insistent on paying a deposit and I understand if she wants to seal the deal but I was trying to avoid it because I prefer cash in person. Since she asked a second time, i guess it was okay. I didn’t transfer it to my bank, I have just left it there and intend to leave it once we finally finish this sale, making sure nothing weird happens in the case I have to send it back to her.
I check out her profile, and it looks kind of legit. It says she has had her FB account since 2021, has FB marketplace reviews and comments dating from 2024 to 2026. Two written reviews are negative with one saying that she left the buyer hanging to which she replied that messenger glitched on her and thought he didn’t show up. The other review said she was rude in communication. I don’t find that to be true so far with me, but what gets me is that her profile pic is of a tree… she has one self portrait, some misc. photos with a few interactions, but it just feels off.
She then sends me a direct message claiming she lost our chat, she even comments on the Venmo transaction but then finds the chat again. I also find it a bit sketchy that she’s saying she can pick it up and then changes her mind with two different reasons. First one being that the truck might be small and second time being that it’s manual which they can’t drive.
It’s starting to make me feel like this could be a scam but I don’t know how it would be considering she paid a deposit that went through. Do you think this is a scam?
UPDATE: TLDR; she’s real!
So I was becoming very skeptical, I ended up messaging her that the deposit and remaining balance is nonrefundable, the remaining I would like cash and she agreed to it. She gave me her address again, I searched it up on Google street view and it showed an empty lot for sale. I questioned why the mismatch in stories for picking it up with her cousin’s truck.
My husband ended up finding her with a quick Google search and the only pic she had on her profile did match the name and person of what we found online. But I was still skeptical because anyone could make a fake profile, and if she had other photos online, it just didn’t make sense to me that her profile pic is a tree. She had a business on Yelp, so we decided to call that number and confirmed with the person that she was in fact buying a couch from me. We talked it out, I explained how cautious I was and that we were both thinking we were scammers! She even sent me video of her in front of her house addressing me and the situation, so it ended up being something funny we laughed about. The sell is on!
Any fellow candidates that have made it to the match phase constantly refreshing their emails even though we just submitted our rankings last week? So nervous but hopeful!
I wonder how soon we’ll receive the notification. If any current or alumni fellow can chime in, that would be helpful!