Warning: Purchase Scam/fraud

[ceolrince]

Here follows the links related to this issue:

http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/pressroom.asp

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is aware of a large-scale fraud scheme involving the use of counterfeit cashier's (business) checks. The scheme targets individuals that use Internet classified ads to sell merchandise.

November 4, 2003 - Nigerian Warning (.pdf 6K)

http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/11403Nige...rianWarning.pdf

We have just been subject to this scam. The only place we had advertised our concertina for sale on was Concertina.net. We were contacted in January with a confirmed purchase, someone claiming to represent a 'client'. A cheque actually arrived at the end of last week for more than double our asking price. There were warning flags and we contacted our bank as we had it deposited. It looked very legit, foil hologram, company logo, a well known multi-national, 'Homebase Limted', numbered, signature, etc... We were contacted yesterday morning to be told it was bad. It is a disappointment, but we had our suspicions. They must have had some success with this scam and we wouldn't want anyone losing out because of lack of experience. Having studied Internet journalism I had been doing basic research through the whole process. The correspondent was charming, seemed a really nice person. We tend to be pretty open and trusting, by choice, and we take people on the whole for the best, but we're not foolish.

Be informed and Keep safe - dani

[Robin Harrison]

.....also I made a bid last week on a fairly distinctive lachenal on eBay at $1000....and then recieved an offer of EXACTLY (their words) the same item for $100 less.Unlikely.

I forwarded to the eBay fraud place.

Robin

[David Levine]

After trading emails with Jane Smith all week I received this email a short time ago. "Jane" said she was in Holland doing a flute workshop and the flute in question was to be for her daughter. Does anybody ever fall for this? "Have a nice weekend" indeed.

 

Hi David,thanks so much for the mail,and i appreciate you accepted my offer.Yes my shippers will be commenceing shipping soon as payment gets to you,so i will want the flute well pacakaged so that it will be ready for shipping.Payment will be issued to by my associate who owes me,she will have to issue you payment with a cashier's cheque for the sum of $4,350,as soon as payment gets to you i will want you cash immediately,and subtract the cost of my flute after which you send the remaining balance to my financial secretary via western union.David,can i trust you in having my flute and my balance sent to my secretary soon as payment reaches you?I f you know i can trust you and you are comfortable with my arrangement,i will need your name in full,home address and your phone number so that payment can be addressed on my behalf.I will be waiting to hear from you soon.Have a nice weekend.

 

Kind regards,

 

jane.

[ceolrince]

Exactly - Western Union is a preferred method of scamming in Nigeria, both ways. However, the bogus cheque we'd recieved was via FedEx, Federal Express. The story concerning the flute was pretty much as we'd experienced it. So why add on to this, aside from support of the story. Well, after that experience, though we were wise to it, we took the concertina off the 'For Sale' register and have only just now gotten it back up. That's months. So, it did affect us in the negative. We now seem to be on their scam line as at least weekly we get offers to make millions. After awhile the reading isn't very interesting, about who died, or about some corrupt princess or general wanting to share their wealth with us, or someone wanting to invest and asking us to handle their money.

 

Back to making music...

[thetownpiper]

There is a website: www.419eater.com, which specializes in ferreting out these scumbags and doing as much as they can to waste their time and get whatever they can out of them (be sure to see their "hall of shame" photo gallery...it's amazing what these scam artists will do if they think it'll get them money). Also, they keep a list of fraudulent online banks, and have programs you can use to tie up these lowlifes servers. Anything where some one offers to send you more money than you're asking for is a scam, period.

Dave

[Chris Allert]

After trading emails with Jane Smith all week I received this email a short time ago. "Jane" said she was in Holland doing a flute workshop and the flute in question was to be for her daughter. Does anybody ever fall for this? "Have a nice weekend" indeed.

 

Hi David,thanks so much for the mail,and i appreciate you accepted my offer.Yes my shippers will be commenceing shipping soon as payment gets to you,so i will want the flute well pacakaged so that it will be ready for shipping.Payment will be issued to by my associate who owes me,she will have to issue you payment with a cashier's cheque for the sum of $4,350,as soon as payment gets to you i will want you cash immediately,and subtract the cost of my flute after which you send the remaining balance to my financial secretary via western union.David,can i trust you in having my flute and my balance sent to my secretary soon as payment reaches you?I f you know i can trust you and you are comfortable with my arrangement,i will need your name in full,home address and your phone number so that payment can be addressed on my behalf.I will be waiting to hear from you soon.Have a nice weekend.

 

Kind regards,

 

jane.

 

why didn't you just send her a counterfeit flute and the balance of the counterfeit cashier's check in monopoly money? i guess you probably can't send monopoly money through western union, but there's no law against sending it through the mail like there is for real money.

[constantsqueezer]

Hi

 

I understand the inherent flaws in trading outside the UK - even more than within.

 

Having an item for sale and had an offer from Europe, I would appreciate positiver advice as to what is the securest way to ask for the money. Not by bank transfer that is for sure!!

 

There must be a secure system somewhere???

 

Alan

[Geoff Wooff]

Why not by bank transfer ? Giving someone your IBAN surely cannot give them access to your bank account... can it ?

 

What about Paypal ?

 

My customers pay me mostly by Electronic transfer, bank to bank and I have never had a problem... I often pay and sometimes receive payments by Paypal.

[nicx66]

i would say paypal is the safest for both parties, buyer and seller. I have used Amazon Payments before at a sellers request, as I think it gave him a better rate than paypal, with no problems.

[Peter Laban]

 

 

Why not by bank transfer ?

 

It always surprises me that in the UK and Ireland banktransfers are looked upon with such suspicion. On much of the continent bank to bank transfers are the standard way of paying bills etc and of getting money from one place to another. It's safe, easy and fast as well as universally accepted. Irish banks (and the UK ones) seem to create hurdles to discourage them.

 

Paypal is scammable to an extend bu if you empty your account as soon as funds arrive you should be safe enough.

[Theo]

PayPal can chargeback even if you have emptied your account.

 

The whole point here is I think not the paymen method, but do you trust the person your are making a deal with? If you don't trust them then don't do it.

[fiddler2007]

On 5/10/2016 at 9:00 PM, Peter Laban said:

 

 

 

It always surprises me that in the UK and Ireland banktransfers are looked upon with such suspicion. On much of the continent bank to bank transfers are the standard way of paying bills etc and of getting money from one place to another. It's safe, easy and fast as well as universally accepted. Irish banks (and the UK ones) seem to create hurdles to discourage them.

 

Paypal is scammable to an extend bu if you empty your account as soon as funds arrive you should be safe enough.

 

Not quite true; i sold an Crabb 48T through Paypal, which got lost (or stolen?) thanks DPD or Chronopost in France shipping probably.

These companies blamed each other BTW, why a lot more problems arose regarding the insurance, thus delays in my planned payback to the buyer as was advised by legal assistance and a lawyer too now. Paypal,  rightfully probably in regards to the buyer, just claimed & withdrew the paid sum (on behalf of buyer) while my account amount was zero, and thus negative, without any communication or questions before when they did.

 

As for bank transfers, you won't get your money back if it's gone from your account, leaving you in the cold. Alas Paypal is getting too expensive these days. In the Netherlands there is an internet selling place called Marktplaats, which buffers your money till BOTH parties agree for the final transfer, leaving a buyer the option of sending something back. Costs 40 euro cents per transfer. BTW why eBay cannot do this, with their immense 10% provisions taken, beats me. To think of it: Marktplaats is free, and i was told owned by eBay,

Edited March 17, 2019 by fiddler2007
correction

[David Barnert]

On 5/10/2016 at 4:48 PM, Theo said:

The whole point here is I think not the paymen method, but do you trust the person your are making a deal with? If you don't trust them then don't do it.

 

Yes, but what if you DO trust them? Do you go ahead and accept a payment method that might be scammed if they turn out to be less trustworthy than you thought? You have to be careful either way.

[Devils' Dream]

When you get to the point where you have the heebie-jeebies either 1) don't do it, or 2) get a phone number and call.  Not that a phone call always makes it right, or that language/cost/time zone won't be an issue, but person to person will either take you to #1 or tell you to go ahead.  Still, stay with Paypal. IMO.

[saguaro_squeezer]

I've had too much of the I'll pay you extra and then you pay my shipper routine.  But I did have the reverse happen to me with a C.Net purchase, where i was having issues with bank transfer and attempted to just send the money to the seller via Western Union.  WU took the money and then called me an hour later and cancelled the transaction because they thought it was a scam.  They asked me if I knew the person that I was sending to and I said that we'd corresponded and that it was a part of a purchase but they refused to wire the money.

 

First time I've had that happpen!

Edited March 17, 2019 by saguaro_squeezer

[Anglo-Irishman]

22 hours ago, saguaro_squeezer said:

attempted to just send the money to the seller via Western Union.  WU took the money and then called me an hour later and cancelled the transaction because they thought it was a scam

The very name "Western Union" makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise! The only instances I know personally, or have heard of, where transfer by WU is requested, are confidence tricks - a way of getting your money without giving you anything in return, and no way of getting the money back. WU probably have a lot to do with scams (and downright crimes), so it's hardly surprising that they feel they have to protect their payers.

 

Cheers,

John

[fiddler2007]

Paying by creditcard like visa is cheaper than paypal (latter usually 3,5% fee; ridiculously high for an expensive item), alas not too many offer payments by this system as option. Too costly at receivers end? Good thing with visa is that bought stuff travels insured for the value paid, and insurance is often extended for a few months. On a concertina that saves about 1.1 % insurance money as with UPS.

 

ADDED: just checked: insurance on bought goods with VISA. If you buy using a money wiring service like WISE or INSTAREM, the bought goods are NOT insured, only the money wire transfer itself.

Only if you buy from someone accepting creditcards payments direct like a company, goods are insured.

Edited July 24, 2021 by fiddler2007

[rcr27]

On 3/17/2019 at 11:03 PM, saguaro_squeezer said:

WU took the money and then called me an hour later and cancelled the transaction because they thought it was a scam.  They asked me if I knew the person that I was sending to and I said that we'd corresponded and that it was a part of a purchase but they refused to wire the money.

 

 

That’s exactly what happened to me as well when I was selling an accordion, but WE didn’t ring me. Somehow (a miracle perhaps) I realised that I didn’t send the correct amount so I went back to the shop to fix that, and then they told me “don’t send money to someone that you don’t know” and I got my money back... The scammer wanted me to send money to Nigeria! Can’t believe how close I was to lose money...