Rick K. Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Hey! I wanted to alert you all on a potential scam that I am personally involved in. I posted some gear for sale on one of my local online outlets (backpage.com). I was contacted by a "femi_dare2000@yahoo.com" who told me he was interested in my item. He wanted my name and address so he could send a check. The check came for MORE than what we agreed on for a sale price. Significantly more. This raised an alarm. Then he gave me a shipping address to a destination in Nigeria, Africa. The check, at this point, appears to be bogus. While the check was being processed by my bank, I receive several emails from him stating that his customer was becoming impatient and wanted me to ship the item immediately. This is not what we agreed on, so I did not ship. IF I had, I probably would be out of an expensive piece of gear. Today, I received via snail mail, a notice from FedEx thanking me for opening an account. I never did. I called FedEx and spoke with a person who was extremely helpful and warned me about these types of scams involving shipping to Africa. So, I wanted to heads up all of you. Be cautious. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Good point, Rick. So, what types of currency exchange could you use to make this work - other than a check? PayPal? Money order? How do you, as a seller, protect yourself from this type of fraud? Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 If the check was for more than you agreed upon, why did you try to cash it? Shouldn't that have been an indication that something wasn't right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Coury Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 International deals are always tricky. Whatever payment buyers send, ALWAYS wait for it to clear before sending (that goes for domestic sales as well). Postal Money orders can be sent to and from just about every country. What if (as in this case) it's for more than the amount you asked? No problem; once it clears, email the person, tell them you are sending them a refund ASAP along with the item! You also have to be careful with PayPal...if you sell something to someone who is using a stolen credit card, PayPal will send you the money, then withdraw it a couple of days later when they discover the fraud. If you ever feel suspicious, check the person's eBay profile as WELL as their feedback. Usually a bogus profile is obvious. PayPal addresses and names should match up with the eBay profiles addresses and names. People will use a stolen credit card to set up a PayPal account, or more likely they have stolen someone's PayPal account password, and hooked it up to a phony eBay account. "Oh yeah, I've got two hands here." (Viv Savage) "Mr. Blu... Mr. Blutarsky: Zero POINT zero." (Dean Vernon Wormer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Horne Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 When I first saw this subject heading I thought you were referring to Coakley's web site. He has at least one post from 'me' that he wrote himself. No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message. In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markyboard Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Ay Mahn: Does mean I no receive now my gear? I send to you the money but the package is not to arrive? I cut off your head and that of your turtle. You have made me how you say vedy angry. Your's truly Tutuboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoundEngine.com Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Hope it all turns out well for you, and that you bank doesn't pass on any charges to you. Watch out for that. Regards, Scott SoundEngine.com: Vintage Synths, Accordions, Organs, and Ambient Sound FX http://www.soundengine.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Rideout Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 This sounds like the kind of thing we should investigate and publish an article on. Are there any problems or impediments that folks who live outside of the continental US experience when buying from sellers in the US? Any advice those of you who sell gear through eBay can pass on to those who purchase? Might be a short article, but we could include case histories from Lemme know what you think. Ernie Rideout, Private Citizen Gee, that was quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnegrad Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 FWIW, this type of scam is very common in the online car-buying market. Clark Howard even discussed it in his radio show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyBoy Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Man, I don't want to come off as crass, but I don't get it when I hear of people falling for this stuff. I mean most of it is common sense, eh? Think about the last time YOU paid too much for something and wanted the difference? I don't know, maybe I run in different circles and people just hand over their paychecks and pay for something and get the balance in cash. Also, I'm not big into shipping to say, Nigeria, Algiers, Ethiopia, etc. Just not my thing. Hell, I'm not sure I even like shipping to Milpitas (heh heh...just thought I'd throw a little Bay Area humor in there!) A good buddy of mine was trying to sell a classic Olds 442 and he asked me what I thought about an email exactly like the one you have. I actually thought this guy was pretty on top of things but he was dead serious! He really thought about doing this transaction. With a CAR! It wasn't Nigeria but some other place pretty damn far from Chicago! Caveat Emptor or whatever. TommyBoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K K Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Yep, there are so many frauds on sites like eBay, not only people not paying or not receiving their stuff, but also people bidding way too high on genuine good opportunities, in order to prevent the guy to sell his stuff. Why? And according to many, you can't do much of anything if you get tricked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rylos Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I'm not sure I even like shipping to Milpitas (heh heh...just thought I'd throw a little Bay Area humor in there!) So everyone still makes fun of Milpitas... When I lived in Sunnyvale many many years ago, I remember the DJ on KFAT (back before they sold the station, when they played everything, and then some) give some sort of announcement, and then he said it slower "for those folks in Milpitas". There was a stand-up comic from way out of town in one of the local bars here one night. He made a joke about a neighboring town, LaPlata, and nobody laughed. We had to tell him that the town we make fun of is Novinger. He should have done his research. "shit" happens. Success Takes Focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoundEngine.com Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Originally posted by rylos: I'm not sure I even like shipping to Milpitas (heh heh...just thought I'd throw a little Bay Area humor in there!) So everyone still makes fun of Milpitas... There used to be a stand up comic that talked about Milpitas - saying the name sounded like some sort of foot infection. "Honey, take a look at this Milpitas in between my toes..." It got a chuckle from the Sunnyvale folks in the audience. --SCP SoundEngine.com: Vintage Synths, Accordions, Organs, and Ambient Sound FX http://www.soundengine.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobo Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 beware, this is a well known scam, the cheque will clear but a month or two down the line it will be rejected and you will be seriously out of pocket. This has happened many many times, avoid these scammers, if you google "nigerian scammers" you'll get a lot of info on the 419 scam as it's also known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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