Road Cycling - Another scam attempt!!!

Guys I think I got another scam attempt, I posted my bike for sale and got this reply ... read the dialouge

Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 23:39:43 -0500
From: john_jose@fsmail.net [add to address book] [protect or block sender]
Subject: Reply To Your Ad at the Trade a Bike Classifieds
To: skareb@lycos.com

I am a New and used auto dealer.I am interested in your Advert.I
would want to know the firm price and mode of payment. In respect
of shipping i have a reputable Shipping company with offices in
the U.S that takes care of my shipping. Awaiting your urgent response

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dear John,

The price is USD850.00, but not inc of shipping, if you have forwarding agent you can ask them to collect them at my house, Do you have friends in my areas maybe you can ask them to check out the bike. You can check out the pic at http://www.shutterspeed.com.my/Giant.htm

Regards,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks for the mail,i am ok with your price..
Inrespect of payment i have a client in the
U.S who is owing me $6,565.All i need to do to
make payment easier and faster is to instruct him to procure a
cashiers
check and mail it to you on the name,address and
telephone number you want on the check and you
know it takes 24hrs for a cashiers check to clear .But i
would want to know if i can trust you to send my
balance to me via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
after the money must
have cleared in your bank to enable me prepay the
shipping company here so that they can instruct
their nearest office to come and pick it from
your location.pls mail me ASAP to enable me arrange
payment........Expecting Your Reply..........ASAP


Mark James

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sorry I would only receive the exact amount, it must be a clean simple transaction any complication look somewhere else.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


What do you guys think?????

That's an easy one. Doesn't get much faker than that one

Let's ask AdBot...

Thats a classic scam. Duck. Cancel his bid if necessary.

ya...get out now!

I have a dozen of those sent to me every week, report that guy to wherever you posted your bike...

Better yet, Report him to SuperTrooper....
Yo !!! SuperTrooper i want to report a crime.... :D

Dually noted.

latest reply ...

Ok mike..........am ok with the mail you send to me......................now what i need from you how is your (1).full name (2).your contact address (3).your phone#...........when the check will be sent to for the payment of the transaction.................Thanks

EXPECTING YOUR REPLY........................ASAP.............

I have a bike on several sites for sale and get these all the time. I just dont reply.

What he will do is pay you with a money order, only
its counterfit. The bank accepts it (when you deposit it)
and then you send him the balance of the money owed
via western union (direct cash payment). 2 weeks later the bank informs you the M.O. is bogus, backs out the deposit and you are 1) out 1 bike. 2) out the money sent
via Western Union. and 3) liable for all expenses/penalties
for deposit of bad money order.
Run, don't walk but only after you contact
whatever gov't agency investigates these kinds of things.
Marty

What he will do is pay you with a money order, only
its counterfit. The bank accepts it (when you deposit it)
and then you send him the balance of the money owed
via western union (direct cash payment). 2 weeks later the bank informs you the M.O. is bogus, backs out the deposit and you are 1) out 1 bike. 2) out the money sent
via Western Union. and 3) liable for all expenses/penalties
for deposit of bad money order.
Run, don't walk but only after you contact
whatever gov't agency investigates these kinds of things.
Marty
So very true. Like I said i get those emails every week. The first i got when i first posted my brava I almost fell for, fortunately the guy never followed thru.
So each time I post my bike and motorcycle I get a dozen of those emails. What got me was when i got the first i was excited that I had a buyer for my brava, then the same day i got another email almost exactly the same but from a different buyer on my motorcycle, I looked at the fraud warning (afterwards Duhhhh) and realized that I had better post i would sell to US residents ONLY, and that cash was preferred but would accept ONLY USPS money order or Bank Cashiers check. needless to say i havent had any buyers on either, I still keep posting and I still keep getting those emails, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Dually noted.
Okay, the law is now working for our hard earned tax dollars, I want a follow up report in triplicate on my desk tomorrow morning Super :D

What he will do is pay you with a money order, only
its counterfit. The bank accepts it (when you deposit it)
and then you send him the balance of the money owed
via western union (direct cash payment). 2 weeks later the bank informs you the M.O. is bogus, backs out the deposit and you are 1) out 1 bike. 2) out the money sent
via Western Union. and 3) liable for all expenses/penalties
for deposit of bad money order.
Run, don't walk but only after you contact
whatever gov't agency investigates these kinds of things.
Marty

Ok, I've never seen a scam like that before. Why does he send a bogus money order for more than the amount and expect the seller to send him back the difference? Why doesn't the scammer just send a bogus MO for the exact ammount?

Why send a $895 MO and receive a bike when you can send a $6500 MO and receive the bike and $5605 in change. These guys do it for the money, not the bike or other product.

Either way, it is fraud and if your going to commit it, you might as well aim high.

55/Rad

Ok, I've never seen a scam like that before. Why does he send a bogus money order for more than the amount and expect the seller to send him back the difference? Why doesn't the scammer just send a bogus MO for the exact ammount?

Because when you send him the "balance" he is getting real money - yours. You, on the other hand, just cleaned out your bank account because when the MO that he sent gets rejected, you get to take the fall. The ultimate goal is for him to collect the "balance".

Ok, I've never seen a scam like that before. Why does he send a bogus money order for more than the amount and expect the seller to send him back the difference? Why doesn't the scammer just send a bogus MO for the exact ammount?
So the scammer can get more money out of it, you are asking $400.00, he says I will give you $500 for your bike, he says he has a client in the US that will send a money order to you in the amount of $2500. and you are to cash that money order and send the balance ($2000.00) via western union to his shipping co (someone else in on the scam) So now he has $2000.00 and your bike and all it cost him was the price of ink and paper for the bogus money order and postage... he wins you lose

So the scammer can get more money out of it, you are asking $400.00, he says I will give you $500 for your bike, he says he has a client in the US that will send a money order to you in the amount of $2500. and you are to cash that money order and send the balance ($2000.00) via western union to his shipping co (someone else in on the scam) So now he has $2000.00 and your bike and all it cost him was the price of ink and paper for the bogus money order and postage... he wins you lose

That's what I thought. So is this scammer is always from somewhere other than the U.S.?

That's what I thought. So is this scammer is always from somewhere other than the U.S.?
So they claim to be, they will say they are a businessman from the Netherlands or somewhere like that and they have a client in the US that handles their money... Just be careful... if it sounds too good to be true it probably is

It used to be common that you could go to a grocery store with a cheque for $20 and buy $5 worth of groceries (I'm talking a looong time ago), and then ask the cashier for $15 in cash. But later on (I think in the '60s), a lot of grocery stores got bit because the cheque bounced. So the policy was that the cheque had to be of the same amount as the groceries -- no extra cash. Of course cheques kept bouncing, so today it is debit card or cash (a lot of grocery stores in my neighbourhood don't even take credit cards).

Having said all that, imagine my amazement when I was in a Southern Utah grocery store this past summer and the lady ahead of me presented a cheque/check for her groceries and also received cash for the "extra." When I reached the cashier, I expressed my amazement and she said they do this all the time. Do they get stung? Sure, lots of times.

Your scam is just another take on the "grocery store" situation, except the cheque is much larger.

Based on what I've read, 99% of the time if Western Union is the only payment method then you're being scammed.

Easy way to tell... ask him if Paypal or USPS Money Order is acceptable. The answer will be... no.

what happen if I just ask him to wire the money?

Unfortunately, if you proceed, your bank will
take the cash from your account, when the
cheque you deposited from Nigeria bounces.

Your bank wants to get paid, and doesn't care...
who wrote the fake cheque, you or the Nigerian
scammer.

For a funny page, try this:

hxxp://www.geocities.com/haha_u_mugu/
or
hxxp://www.africanscam.co.uk/

Simple idea: tell him you'd be glad to help but that the MO has to clear BOTh banks. You expect this to take anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Once it clears both banks, you will ship the bike AND wire him the balance. "Those are my terms." You won't hear from him again ;)

That "africanscam.co.uk" site is AWESOME! Esp Mupesa Solomon!!!! :D