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MG TD TF 1500 - Payment Scam

I just had an e mail that a guy wanted to buy my advertised 52 TD. He stated that he had a friend who owed him $20,200. The friend would send me a certified check for the $20,200 and in turn I would return the difference over the advertised price.
What's the old saying? I was born at night but not last night.

She's still for sale. I'll send info and pictures if interested.


Cheers,

Don
djd Doty

Don - I got an offer like that on some stuff I was selling, only in my case he had a representative here in the US. I replied to the individual that if he really wanted the parts, his representative should show up on my front step with the asking price in USD cash and the parts were his. Needless to say, I never heard from him again. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Hi,

I recently had a chap from Australia ask me about an offer he had received, followed within days by another advertizer who had received a similar attempt. Apparently these scams are successful often enough that there's no end in sight.

I send the following warning to anyone who advertises on our site:

Please be aware that vendors sometimes receive an email which agrees to purchase your item, sight unseen, offering a certified cheque and requesting that you transfer some funds to a 3rd party via Western Union or a bank draft. This will, almost certainly, be a scam. Convince yourself thoroughly that the prospective buyer is legitimate. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is! See http://www.omgtr.ca/buysell/scamwarning.htm
Ted Jackson

Here’s another variation. You sell an item, say for $5000. The buyer sends you a check, maybe even a certified check, but “accidentally” sends you $7000. You’re an honest guy, and assume the buyer is, also. You notify the buyer and agree to return the $2000 as soon as the funds are posted in your account. Within a few days, the funds show up in your account and you send the $2000 refund. Then, two weeks later, your bank reports that the $7000 check is bogus. By then your $2000 check has been cashed. You’ve sent the item (which you may never see again), and you’ve lost the item and the “excess” funds you returned.

Here’s what you need to be aware of: As a courtesy to you as a loyal customer, your bank may post the funds to your account before the check’s validity is verified. Forgers can make pretty authentic-looking checks, ones that will fool any bank teller. Unless you know the person that sent the check, contact your bank to verify that the check actually cleared and don’t touch the money until it does. It isn’t until the check goes through the system and the bank numbers on it don’t match anything that it’s finally determined to be bogus. People who pull this scam aren’t interested in the item you’re selling, just in getting your check for the “excess” funds they sent.

Regards,

Steve
50 TD
Steve Markman

I posted this classic "Scamming the Scammer" story last spring. It makes for a great read.

If you didn't read it then, here it is again:- http://www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/. Click on the P-P-P Powerbook URL and laugh your head off.

Don't we all wish we had the guts to do this - even "just once"?

Have a good read.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.

Gordon A. Clark

I have hanging on my wall, two beautifully forged bank certified cheques in the sums of $16,000 and $16,500 respectively, represented as payment for my MG midget which I had originally advertised on the MG BBS for sale at the price of $800!

The "buyers" were very happy to pay me the price of $10,000 (plus more for their "shipping representative") which I upped from $800 as the scam took shape.

I had a lot of fun over a period of perhaps 3 weeks with emails going back and forth, as they increased their offer to $16,000 etc., until they abruptly stopped when I told them I had received their cheques and was having the FBI investigate their validity.

My local cop shop inhabitants told me that as I had not lost any money owing to the fact that I smelt a rat and had my bank check them out before depositing them, no crime had been committed and as a result they lost interest.

I was always under the impression that to forge cheques was a Federal offence. Oh, well!
G.E. Love

"Danger! Will Smith! Danger!" I've got a friend, a heating and air conditioning shop owner, who took to playing with these people on the internet, and eventually received a $25,500 cashiers check on a Canadian bank, so he took it to his bank. It was BEAUTIFUL, with the proper codes and magnetic ink and everyting.

I kept telling him it was bogus, especially when the scammers started wanting their "cut" (this was one of those 'Act As Our Agent' scams) but he said, "Let the bank sort it all out."

Well, the bank eventually did, about five weeks later, and deducted from his account $88.00 as their fee for processing what proved to be a counterfeit check. It turns out, after reading their agreement terms, that they had every right to do this, as this was an "invalid international check".

He doesn't submit any of these checks to the bank anymore - - Alec
Alec Darnall

I've had some fun with some of the Nigerian scammers who send emails promising millions of $$$$. I answer them as a poor little widow lady named Amanda Straddle and her friend Anita Mann. LOL. I had one going for almost six weeks and we exchanged nearly 100 emails.

But, here's something scary. I buy and sell a lot on ebay. Collectibles mostly. I attempted to log into my account this weekend and got a message back that my login info was invalid. I eventually went to ebay security live chat, and was told by their rep that someone had gotten into my account, changed the password, associated email address and PayPal account and listed a Sea Doo and a motorcycle for sale. The rep said it looks like a legitimate auction, and they even sometimes hava a PayPal account so the "winner" can pay for the item. Most often though, they request a deposit by cashiers check or bank transfer. Needless to say, there is no Sea Doo and somebody's out either the deposit amount or the entire "purchase" price. The rep said these thieves are mostly offshore. Russia, the Phillipines, etc.
Craig Cody

This thread was discussed between 28/08/2005 and 29/08/2005

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