The underbelly of the Cafe's Classifieds [Archive]

Scott Tichenor

Nov-11-2008, 2:54pm

Sometimes a fraud reply on the Classifieds is so precious, so wonderful, that it's just a crying shame that the rest of you don't get to see these. There are fraudulent attempts daily, sometimes many times a day, that no one will ever see but me, because there are multiple steps in place to block these. But this precious gem I think needs sharing.

Email address has been removed. Sorry, I can't explain the reference to English bulldogs :disbelief: and have no idea what that means. In case it's not obvious, this reply didn't reach the seller.

-------------

Hello,

How are you doing today, I guess you having a nice time with your Family this weekend. I saw the Advert of your (2008 Califamo F-Oval) available for sale and am really interested in buying it. I am satisfy with the conditions and the selling price of the (English bulldogs). I want you to consider the (2008 Califamo F-Oval) sold to me and ignore all other buyers asking for it and also remove the Advert from the Advert page. I need you to email me any information that may be required to send the payment to you and regarding the shipping, I will be sending my Shipping Agent to come for the pick up because I won't be able to come for the pickup or look at it. My personal assistant will send you a Paycheck, which will cover the money for the sale of the (2008 Califamo F-Oval) and money for the pickup which should be paid to the Shipping Agent that will take care of the pickup. As soon as you receive the Paycheck I want you to cash it at your bank or a!ny cashing outlet around you and deduct your money for the (2008 Califamo F-Oval) and send the balance to the Shipping Agent that will handle the pickup. The money will be Transfered to the Shipping Agent through western union money transfer or Money Gram and I will provide you with the Shipping Agent Information that will be picking up the (2008 Califamo F-Oval) as soon as you have cashed the Paycheck and once the money is received by the Shipping Agent , they will contact you immediately to arrange the pick up. Here is the Information needed to prepare the Paycheck and issue out to you.

(1) Full Name
(2) Mailing Address, no P.O.Box please
(3) Direct Telephone Number, Home and Cell.?
(4) Acceptance Of My Offer?
(5) Final Price?

Once you get back to me with all the above Information to Issue the Paycheck, the Paycheck will be issued immediately and it will be sent to you. I will also be offering you extra $20 for keeping the (2008 Califamo F-! Oval) for me till the Shipping Agent comes for the pick up. I !will be expecting your response soonest. Thanks and GOD Bless You.

Best Regards,

Mr Cody Mercado.

Rick Lindstrom

Nov-11-2008, 3:03pm

Classic. Hard to believe people are still falling for this, but they must be or we wouldn't see responses like this.

Thanks for sharing.

Rick

MikeEdgerton

Nov-11-2008, 3:11pm

Funny, Cody didn't ask for the seller's social security number and mother's maiden name.

I very much fear he is not being all he needs to be.

Mike Bunting

Nov-11-2008, 3:20pm

Why don't you post this stuff under a new discussion list and let us insult them voluminously! :whistling:
I'm only 1/2 serious!

Steve L

Nov-11-2008, 3:25pm

I don't get it! It sounds like a perfectly reasonable offer to me.

TomTyrrell

Nov-11-2008, 3:28pm

Somebody has a boo-boo in his scam code! Are the parens really part of the email?

What a quack. A third grader could do better.

That clown should shut off his computer and turn in his mouse operator's permit. These amateurs make the professional scammers look bad.

The scary thing is there must be some people who actually bite on these scams or they would have died out by now.

acousticphd

Nov-11-2008, 3:32pm

It's a fraud reply form letter, isn't it?
I listed a very modestly priced mandolin for sale on Craigslist and got a very similar offer - even the name of the "buyer" above sounds a little familiar. Can't hurt to mention GOD either.

ApK

Nov-11-2008, 3:35pm

I don't get it! It sounds like a perfectly reasonable offer to me.

Maybe...what's the exchange rate for English Bulldogs this week?

Greenmando

Nov-11-2008, 3:38pm

,, Can't hurt to mention GOD either.
or mention 9/11 :popcorn:

jimbob

Nov-11-2008, 3:39pm

I sold this guy a truck yesterday !

not really....

greg_tsam

Nov-11-2008, 3:39pm

Isn't this an attempt to use a fraudulent cashier's check, money order deal? The seller cashes the MO and it returns unpaid and phony but only after the buyer has left with the goods.

Carolyn Hastings

Nov-11-2008, 3:42pm

Hah! If you have an ad up somewhere for a truck for sale, you might have heard from the same guy. When I was helping my dad sell his old AMC station wagon we got several of these emails.

TomTyrrell

Nov-11-2008, 3:50pm

If you have an ad somewhere online selling a used Q-tip you'll probably get at least one of these.

sgarrity

Nov-11-2008, 3:50pm

I got one of these a while back thta was very well written. I actually corresponded with the guy a few times. Then he all of a sudden stopped sending me emails. I wonder if it had something to do with the fact that I told him I never sell an instrument until I talk to the buyer on the phone?? ;-)

Mike Bromley

Nov-11-2008, 4:35pm

This kinda hooey is mighty scary stuff.

Especially when Mandolins changing hands can be such a lovely experience for everyone involved, i.e. my aquisition of JTriggs 3/7/08 back in September. That trip was a lifetime memory.

F5GRun

Nov-11-2008, 4:53pm

When I was offering lessons I got an email like this. He wanted me to send the (lessons) and he would send me a cashiers check or something. Not sure how I could do that. His english was so bad I didnt even read it all, and deleted it.

mandroid

Nov-11-2008, 4:56pm

Wonder .. if the guy works in the hedge fund debt/credit swap mortgage bundling biz for the day job..
:popcorn:

atetone

Nov-11-2008, 5:05pm

Believe it or not people do fall for these scams.
A co-worker of mines' father is into 3 of these Nigerian things to the tune of $60,000 so far and he will not stop.
He can't get it into his head that he has been scammed so he just keeps paying.
Very sad.

farmerjones

Nov-11-2008, 5:12pm

This reminds me of:

"All your base are belong to us"

It actually comes up in wikipedia

:whistling:

Ted Eschliman

Nov-11-2008, 5:36pm

Many of you already know my day gig is co-owner of a music store chain in eastern Nebraska. (No, online jazz mandolin advice doesn't quite bring home the bacon...) This similarly precious request was part of correspondence I received on our store site yesterday on a used grand piano we have in stock. (Dang, he wants two of them, too):

From: Hotelbamboo

Message:
SKU: P58916
Our Price $3,995.00
Please i want order 2 of Used Haddorf Grand Piano
for my hotel in africa, Ghana to be precise. i want u to tell me if there
is any discount for buying 2 and also if kept at a pick up location where
my shipping comapny can pick it up. Let me have your number so we can
discuss this. I will send u my card details later when i have the
informations from u.

Magnus Geijer

Nov-11-2008, 6:43pm

So, did the ad get pulled? I've been looking for a 2008 Califamo F-Oval for ages!

/Magnus

mandodan1960

Nov-11-2008, 6:48pm

Here in North Georgia last week we had a heavy equipment guy scam people out of a rumored 30 mil. in a ponzi scheme. The guy had two priors in N.C and VA. (theft) all they had to do was pull a record.
Unbelievable, I think someone tells these people who get scammed they're smart at some point in life so they just figure that if they're doing it it must be right because they're no dummy.

" A wise man knows himself to be a fool "
my dad

I googled Codys name and came across this

Hello,
How are you doing today, I guess you having a nice time with your Family this weekend. I saw the Advert of your Motorcycle available for sale on C/L and am really interested in buying it. I am satisfy with the conditions and the selling price of the Motorcycle. I want you to consider the Motorcycle sold to me and ignore all other buyers asking for it and also remove the Advert from the C/L page. I need you to email me any information that may be required to send the payment to you and regarding the shipping, I will be sending my Shipping Agent to come for the pick up because I won’t be able to come for the pickup or look at it. My personal assistant will send you a Paycheck, which will cover the money for the sale of the Motorcycle and money for the pickup which should be paid to the Shipping Agent that will take care of the pickup. As soon as you receive the Paycheck I want you to cash it at your bank or any cashing outlet around you and deduct your money for the Motorcycle and send the balance to the Shipping Agent that will handle the pickup. The money will be Transfered to the Shipping Agent through western union money transfer or Money Gram and I will provide you with the Shipping Agent Information that will be picking up the Motorcycle as soon as you have cashed the Paycheck and once the money is received by the Shipping Agent , they will contact you immediately to arrange the pick up. Here is the Information needed to prepare the Paycheck and issue out to you.

(1) Full Name
(2) Mailing Address, no P.O.Box please
(3) Direct Telephone Number, Home and Cell.?
(4) Acceptance Of My Offer?
(5) Final Price?

Once you get back to me with all the above Information to Issue the Paycheck, the Paycheck will be issued immediately and it will be sent to you. I will also be offering you extra $20 for keeping the Motorcycle for me till the Shipping Agent comes for the pick up. I will be expecting your response soonest. Thanks and GOD Bless You.

Best Regards,

Mr Cody Mercado._

Scott Tichenor

Nov-11-2008, 6:59pm

So, did the ad get pulled? I've been looking for a 2008 Califamo F-Oval for ages!

/Magnus

No, the ad is still there. I'm not familiar with this builder. Anyone care to tell us about this one? Appears his first name is "Dave" and he's based in New Mexico.

The ad (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=31195&query=retrieval)

The instrument:

Steve Ostrander

Nov-11-2008, 7:00pm

Bulldogs are English? I thought they were made in Georgia...

mrbook

Nov-11-2008, 7:25pm

My daughter had a job which included selling Western Union money transfers, and she once refused a transaction to a woman involved in one of these scams. The woman cheerfully talked about it, even saying she wasn't supposed to tell the Western Union agent the real purpose of her payment. When my daughter refused her, she vowed to return to get her fired, but never came back.

My best offer yet was a message that mentioned eight people were coming to my house for dinner on four successive days last July. They wanted to know what would be served, the price, and if I took V/MC (I do). The second best was the offer to buy my pet.

Bill

Chris Biorkman

Nov-11-2008, 8:08pm

My wife had someone try to do this exact thing to her a few months back.

mrmando

Nov-11-2008, 8:18pm

No, the ad is still there. I'm not familiar with this builder. Anyone care to tell us about this one? Appears his first name is "Dave" and he's based in New Mexico.

David Catalfamo of New Mexico has had several mandos through the Classifieds in the past few months. He listed some of them himself.

MikeEdgerton

Nov-11-2008, 8:24pm

I will send u my card details later when i have the informations from u.

Did u send him the informations?

Eddie Sheehy

Nov-11-2008, 8:38pm

I had a similarly worded offer on a Martin A type last year from a Craigslist ad. They actually sent me a check for $3,000 and wanted me to send $2,000 to their agent. I called the company on the check and they said they had to close that account because of the scam checks - dang, $1,000 would have been a good price too....

mandopete

Nov-11-2008, 8:44pm

I don't see any issues.

Greenmando

Nov-11-2008, 8:48pm

We were remodeling a store this summer. One morning before the store opened two guards showed up with a armored truck, pushed a atm out and loaded it. No one got the vehicle plate #. $28,000 in cash gone.

barry k

Nov-11-2008, 9:14pm

We could sell this guy some Bulldogs.......English Sycamore if they like..heheheh

Tracy Tucker

Nov-11-2008, 9:19pm

Hah! If you have an ad up somewhere for a truck for sale, you might have heard from the same guy. When I was helping my dad sell his old AMC station wagon we got several of these emails.

We were selling a van several years ago through an auto trader magazine, and some guy in Canada sent me one of these emails. When I appeared hesitant, he actually called me. I sent his phone number and other pertinent info to the authorities. :popcorn:

Keith Erickson

Nov-11-2008, 9:24pm

Funny, Cody didn't ask for the seller's social security number and mother's maiden name.

I very much fear he is not being all he needs to be.

I was thinking the same exact thing :)):)):))

Mike Bunting

Nov-11-2008, 9:27pm

and some guy in Canada
Hey, don't tar us all with the same brush! :whistling:

Keith Erickson

Nov-11-2008, 9:33pm

Sorry no mando content.....

....but last year there was a show called "To catch a swindler" or something like that........and they followed up with this guy in upstate NY who gave a ton of money to his "fiancé" to invest in some businesses in Nigeria.

I guess I can take comfort in knowing that my fellow Mandolin Café'rs and I can see scams from a mile away.

Cheers ~o)

Schlegel

Nov-11-2008, 11:15pm

Sadly, these are not going to stop anytime soon. The BBC reports spammers apparently are making plenty of profit despite getting only one response per 12.8 million emails.

Mike Bunting

Nov-11-2008, 11:31pm

It is certainly beyond my comprehension why anyone could fall for any of this. Is it just our greed or what?

greg_tsam

Nov-11-2008, 11:57pm

It is certainly beyond my comprehension why anyone could fall for any of this. Is it just our greed or what?

Greed is a powerful motivator.

John Hill

Nov-12-2008, 6:06am

I received the very message in Scott's OP yesterday from a Craigslist listing I have.

Too funny.

Scott Tichenor

Nov-12-2008, 6:18am

I disagree that everyone recognizes these for what they are. There are different versions of these. Here's one that came in overnight that is a little sharper. I'd guess had it gotten through that a good percentage would have enthusiastically replied back:

----------

Hello Seller,

i came across your ad listing and i will like to know the following question:

1)What is the final asking price of the item?
2)What is the working condition of the item
3)Any available pict?
4)What ios the working condition of the item?
5)Will you accept a certified check or Money Order as mode of payment?
6)Is item still at your location or another location?

Get back to me as soon as possible.Hope to read from you soon...

Regrads
Lionel Smith

-------

MikeEdgerton

Nov-12-2008, 7:16am

Lionel probably would have gotten some responses.

bobby bill

Nov-12-2008, 8:43am

This thread is flying over my head. Can someone educate me as to what is wrong with Lionel's e-mail? Is it offering to pay for something with a money order or certified check? Most individual sellers don't do credit cards and quite a few don't like to give Pay Pal a chunk of their money. What method of payment should a seller look for that doesn't smell like a scam? (I do understand the red flags associated with a "shipping agent.")

mandopete

Nov-12-2008, 8:47am

I tend to agree with Bobby. I'm not sure other than the slightly odd wording how one could tell this was a fraud. And even if it was I'm not sure I see the harm in responding.

JEStanek

Nov-12-2008, 8:47am

Spelling and the working condition question asked twice. The questions send red flags up about the person really knowing what a mandolin is and how to converse about them. That e-mail would get my Spidey senses tingling. I'm fine with paypal making 3% off of me for that protection. 3% off $1000 is much better than losing 100% of $1000 in a scam.

Jamie

Mandobar

Nov-12-2008, 8:49am

geez, you'd think they'd pick better surnames. smith?

mandopete

Nov-12-2008, 8:49am

...but if you ask for payment first and then send the mandolin...I guess I just don't get it.

ApK

Nov-12-2008, 8:50am

Nothing is wrong with Lionel's mail per se, other than that he didn't mention what the item was. Once you've gotten 80 of these you recognize the form, but yes, it would be perfect reasonable to reply to reply to Lionel.

The NEXT email you will get from Lionel will read much like the original post (maybe slightly with better formatting and language), telling you how he is sending a certified check for twice the amount (because his assistant made an error) so please cash it and wire the difference back to him as soon as possible. God bless....

The way the payment scam works is that an American bank WILL cash the foreign check after a few days and give you the money...so presumably you think is all is good and send him the difference...then three weeks later when the clearing reports comes back from Nigeria or whatever, they detect the fraud and debit your account for the whole amount.

My cousin, as I've mentioned elsewhere, fell for this two years ago...actually sent her laptop to Nigeria....She's young.

Maybe a banker could explain the actual mechanics.

Another friend of mine got one of these back before they were so well know. He sensed something was wrong and played along up to the point of getting the counterfeit check, then turned it over to the authorities (I think the Secret Service). They told him "don't ever do that again, you could get hurt."

ApK

mandopete

Nov-12-2008, 8:53am

I'm missing something here.

Scott Tichenor

Nov-12-2008, 9:17am

My comments below:

Hello Seller,

Hello Seller? OK, that was enough right there. If you learn nothing else, remember this. This is the single biggest clue. I have access to every single reply ever made and I've never seen a legitimate response that started with "Hello, Seller". Ad owners use their names here so 99% of the replies address you by name, like, "Hi, Bob, great looking mandolin..." yadda yadda, or "send pix!". Let me take this a step further. The exact words "hello seller" are part of the censor filter of this site and in the past 6-7 years have never trapped a legitimate inquiry. Never.

i came across your ad listing and i will like to know the following question:

How sweet. They "came across your ad listing"... as opposed to ... ? "I will like to know more about you before we exchange funds" :).

1)What is the final asking price of the item?

Hmmm, the vast majority of ads already state the price (unless you believe those that say no one puts prices on their ads, which, is simply untrue).

2)What is the working condition of the item

The working condition of a mandolin? What's that? Uh, it has eight strings and you play music on it, maybe?

3)Any available pict?

Fair question

4)What ios the working condition of the item?

Didn't you already ask me that?

5)Will you accept a certified check or Money Order as mode of payment?

Payment so soon, lucky me! Did they really read the ad?

6)Is item still at your location or another location?

I have no idea what the purpose of this question is, but it's generic enough that it makes no sense. And, does it really matter?

Get back to me as soon as possible.Hope to read from you soon...

I hope to "read from you soon", too!

Regrads
Lionel Smith

Bottom line, so generic that it fits anything. No mention of music, mandolins, or anything else. Exceptionally poor grammar, even by Cafe standards ;). Can be used to buy anything from empty oil barrels, hand guns, vintage Barbie dolls or used plumbing supplies. No, "how does this sound". Take it a step further, in days before these used to get through, most people figured these out right off the bat, but there'd always be someone emailing me saying, "wow, I really need to sell this mandolin. You think it's OK that I Western Union money back to them after they send me overpayment?"

Ah well. Have fun. Bottom line is, thanks mainly to Dan, we've figured out how to block 99.99% of these so you don't have to deal with them. The rest of the web, good luck.

TomTyrrell

Nov-12-2008, 9:58am

When I see something on the Cafe classifieds that I want (usually this will be some accessory) I will send a message that says "Hi Bob, If nobody else already has dibs on this I want it, consider it sold. Please advise total cost including shipping. Do you prefer PayPal or Money Order." and I include my name, address and phone number.

I've yet to figure out how anyone can calculate the shipping costs without knowing where they are sending the item. More times than not the seller does indeed call me on the phone. I think that makes us both feel better.

I never inquire about things I don't have the money for (or the money I'm willing to pay if the price isn't in the ad).

allenhopkins

Nov-12-2008, 10:09am

Hello Seller,

Hello Seller? OK, that was enough right there.

Probably an improvement over the former, "Hello Sucker"...

By the way, Scott, while you've been posting this, you probably aren't aware that Dr. Jarvis Savimbe, formerly oil minister of Tanzania, has $7 million in escrow in a Swiss bank, which he will split with you if you only send him $3,000 to pay bank clearance fees. And he has a bridge in Brooklyn, I think, that he'll sell you cheap. No clue as to whether it's a Brekke or a Red Henry bridge.

Rick Lindstrom

Nov-12-2008, 10:12am

This is a variation, more or less, on the infamous "419" scam most of which originate in Nigeria for some abstruse reason.

There are a number of good websites that detail the scam, and scam-baiting or stringing along scammers is becoming an art. Something to think about if you have some time on your hands.

An interesting website detailing such scams and how to bait scammers is:

http://www.419eater.com/index.htm

Rick

bobby bill

Nov-12-2008, 10:21am

Thanks. I see the obvious red flags now. This is useful information for us non-wheeler dealer types.

Rroyd

Nov-12-2008, 10:29am

mandopete

Nov-12-2008, 10:51am

I totally get that these are bogus inquiries and have seen them for years. But for argument's sake let's say you get one that is a little odd (there are some odd people out there). The message may be worded strange, what have you. As a seller you're certainly under no obligation to respond, but I would think as long as you're careful to not provide any personal information (such as an address or God forbid, a bank account number) I don't see too much harm. I suppose you might get a bit of email if the scammer thinks they've got a live one, but live and learn.

Scott - thanks again for all of the things you and Dan do to make this ol' Cafe a safe place. I've only done a couple a transactions through the classified ad's here, but both went very, very well and I credit your dilligence and attention to this area as the main reason for that experience.

CES

Nov-12-2008, 10:55am

Scott, Dan, etc,

Thanks for weeding this stuff out...now if we could just get folks to realize that those checks from the credit card companies aren't free money, we'll be making some progress!! :mad: (Let's just say my 82 y/o grandfather had trouble reading the fine print that showed the 5% intro rate jumped to 20 plus after the first few months, and close to thirty after the first late payment...his fault, but still irritates me!)

JoeD

Nov-12-2008, 11:26am

No mando content in this post, but This American Life did a really interesting story on one of those 419 reverse scams. Worth a listen. (http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1260)

ApK

Nov-12-2008, 12:24pm

I totally get that these are bogus inquiries and have seen them for years. [. . ] I don't see too much harm. I suppose you might get a bit of email if the scammer thinks they've got a live one, but live and learn.
.

Again: He sends bogus check. You deposit it. Bank credits your account in several days. You send mando. Two weeks later bank says check was counterfeit and takes back it's money. You have no money and no mando.
This is what happened to my cousin's laptop.

Other common one is he sends check for too much and says to wire him back the overage minus a few extra dollars for you inconvenience.
You deposit $2000 check, bank gives you access to the funds in a few days, you wire him the $500. Bank then detects the fraud and says you owe back all $2000.
This is what they tried to pull on my other friend.

Not sure why the banking system works that way but apparently it does.

ApK

Mike Herlihy

Nov-12-2008, 12:38pm

I totally get that these are bogus inquiries and have seen them for years. But for argument's sake let's say you get one that is a little odd (there are some odd people out there).

Not been reading the Mandolin Cafe that long, have you?:grin:

mandopete

Nov-12-2008, 1:27pm

I guess that's why most sellers don't take a personal check. Wouldn't it be prudent to wait for it to "clear" before shipping the goods?

Again, to the integrity of the Mandolin Cafe classified ads, I had a person who accepted my personal check and I was more than willing to wait for the seller to be sure it was good before he sent the item. But he went ahead and shipped it before he even cashed the check.

I feel like the biggest value to us here on Cafe is that we sort of "know" each other and that's the beauty of classifieds.

JEStanek

Nov-12-2008, 1:44pm

Like ApK said, the bank gives quick credit for the check but discovers two weeks later it's no good. By then you would have thought everything was A-OK. Who waits 2 weeks for a check to clear?

Jamie

Perry Babasin

Nov-12-2008, 2:03pm

You should just go ahead and give him your bank account number and pin so he can direct deposit! No muss, no fuss...:))

P

Steve Cantrell

Nov-12-2008, 2:55pm

I've worked in IT Security/Fraud Investigation...forever. These guys will never, ever stop. Don't be taken when someone appears to speak clear English and know the correct details--even they can be fraudsters. If it feels wrong it generally is.

Carolyn Hastings

Nov-12-2008, 3:16pm

Also, most email programs will show you the complete headers of an email. This is useful because most of the time, scammers use web-based email programs (in an effort to appear local). The emails my dad got purported to be from the UK (wanting to ship an old AMC station wagon to the UK - yeah, suuuure), and used Yahoo.co.uk webmail. But I had dad show me the headers, and somewhere in there it had the IP address of the computer that accessed the webmail. Starting with IP Lookup (http://cqcounter.com/whois/), in a few steps I found it was an IP address in Nigeria.

While I do make my living in software, it didn't take computer science skills to find that out - just some easy online tools. Any of you can do that kind of sleuthing. So if you are selling an item and you are suspicious about someone's email to you, see if you can check out the IP (PM me and I'd be happy to help out with that).
Mind you, you can't find out someone's house or anything, it's nothing that intrusive or scary. You are basically looking up where the internet service provider is, not where the person using the computer is.

mrmando

Nov-12-2008, 4:36pm

Actually, that safety feature is already built into the Classifieds. When you get a reply to your ad, it automatically includes an IP lookup link, thanks to the hard work on the part of Scott and Dan to keep us safe.

Scott Tichenor

Nov-12-2008, 4:58pm

Unfortunately, you can't always rely on the IP address. Many of the more sophisticated ones that are getting blocked are clearly spoofed. It's pretty easy to do. But, it does work well for someone sitting in an internet Cafe in some third world country that really doesn't know what they're doing. That's what a lot of these poorly worded examples are.

Mike Bunting

Nov-12-2008, 5:36pm

Repeat 100 times. NO STRANGER GIVES YOU SOMETHING FOR NOTHING! esp. on the outertube or innerweb etc., or someone from Nigeria!

Cliff D

Nov-12-2008, 6:00pm

Forgive me if I am a tad naive, but I have yet to hear of any of my country-men (or women!) exporting pedigree mutts by mail order..........

jim simpson

Nov-12-2008, 10:03pm

"I've yet to figure out how anyone can calculate the shipping costs without knowing where they are sending the item". TomTyrrell

Tom,
I know some folks will take the weight and figure the cost to ship to California if they are on the east coast, to cover their bases. I try to cover my freight (by guesswork) and price my stuff low enough that the total I've asked is still acceptable to the potential buyer. If I ever get it together to sell on Ebay, I would try to get more accurate on the shipping fee issue.
Jim

Andrew Lewis

Nov-12-2008, 11:39pm

Just to add to the clues here, I had a recent one of these sent my way for a Craigslist ad. It looked better than Lionel's email: good grammar and spelling, personable language, and specific references to what I was selling. A couple of clues I noticed:

-sent from one of the free email hosts (like gmail or hotmail) - This is not necessarily a sure indicator as many people have these accounts, but it didn't help their case either.

-seller would have to arrange a pickup at a later date (after she sent the money)- Again, not necessarily a deal-breaker, but a little weird. And vague.

-telling me she would send a money order - Didn't even ask how I preferred payment. This just ticked me off. Even if you're a legitimate buyer, YOU'RE not telling ME what I will accept for payment.

-asking me to take the ad down - I've noticed this request in several of these scams. I can't imagine why anyone would care if I continue to be bombarded with emails for a sold item.

Everything else looked pretty normal. Even to the point where I went ahead and replied with a note to go ahead and send payment with the caveat that the instrument would not move until payment was completely clear. That's when the "assistant" came into the picture who had apparently sent too much (a mix-up with another item she was buying) and the request for WU wire for the excess. I just replied with a note to cancel her payment and then explained how these types of scams worked to her. A little immature, I know, but I was miffed.

But the point of my post here is that some of these can seem fairly legitimate. I was fully aware of these scams and even had my eyebrows cocked from the start with her, but still went a step farther into the process before I was sure it was bogus.

Thanks, Scott, for your filtering of these.

Bertram Henze

Nov-13-2008, 5:25am

Once more, my principle of never selling my instrument to this cruel world is confirmed. :cool:

Bertram

UnityGain

Nov-13-2008, 1:51pm

I have a policy that I wont buy anything form a private party online without a phone call. If your not willing to give me your phone number, I'm not buying from you, its that simple. It only takes a few minuites to talk to someone over the phone to get a pretty solid sense of what they are like and if they really have what they are selling. Its a great tool.

Bryon Winger

Nov-13-2008, 8:58pm

I seem to get these same things when I list stuff on craigslist. It might be a bit more believable if the guy didn't email me the exact same message on every listing. All within a few minutes of posting too. I only had one that was somewhat believable - I really don't recall the details, but it had something to do with them fleeing their country and needing to deposit money in a US account for a few days until they made it safely over to the USA for safety. I'm not sure if I replied or not, but I know I mulled around about it for a few hours. Oh, and the payoff was something like $20,000 for my trouble.

That would have been nice.

ApK

Nov-14-2008, 7:53am

You know, the biggest problem with those scams is it makes it that much harder for those of us that DO have to flea our countries and get our money out.

These con artist have poisoned people against the idea of helping a fellow out. It seems like no one will believe me, and I really need help quick.

Prince Aypikay of Andia.
(contact through the forum for details.)

Timbofood

Nov-14-2008, 3:30pm

My folks had an English Bulldog, not very smart but, even HE would have smelled something about that "Inquiry."

Coffeecup

Nov-14-2008, 4:02pm

Oh, wow!! I'm feeling sick at heart after reading all this, as I was awaiting a shipment from the north central Kentucky airport of two large trunks with 4.5 million dollars in cash in them that had been shipped to me from Africa. After being notified on Monday about my good fortune, I knew all my financial problems would be over, and then this thread created a dark cloud over what had been a bright and wonderful week, as I am starting to get the feeling that those trunks full of cash aren't going to be arriving any time soon.

You should know by now that usually only people that have had a bad trading experience are vocal about it. We don't hear much from the thousands of people satisfied with a transaction. Don't dispair, I'm sure everything will be OK for you. :cool: