scams
 

I'm currently trying to sell a bike (litespeed classic 59cm if anyone's interested!) and I remember coming across some kind of scam.

Some guy contacted me saying he's in Africa and he can draw an "American certified cashier's check".

Anyone heard of any scams that sound like this? In fact, I'll post the e-mail.

here 'tis-

Hello Seller,
I'm really glad I came accross your 'ad' for sale,in which I'm willing
to
buy....
My name is Kenn Miller,I'm a citizen of Great Britain;I'm a Qualified
Teacher,and I own a small company here in Morroco,Africa....
An American certified cashier's check is my mostly method of
payment,which
is mostly convinient for me..It can be drawn on in the Banks of USA...
I'll take good care of the shippment procedures,I have my shipping
agent...
Pls,let me know your last price,and its condition as at present...
I'll really appreciate if really you're a serious seller...O.K
You can send me pics if available...
I'll be very glad to await your mail today,
Pls mail me today,
Thanks,
Kenn Miller.....

Thanks for any feedback.

it's a scam, ignore it or you will be wasting your time.

Am I missing something here? At least on eBay, it is customary to ship the good after receipt of payment, making the transaction risk-free for the seller. As a buyer, I protect myself by using only sellers with high feedback profiles and by exchanging emails with them to establish rapport and to clarify any open issues before bidding. I have been very satisfied with most of my purchases and mildly disappointed with two of them, but I have never felt scammed or ripped-off.

I say don't send it until you've received the cashiers check and cashed it. It doesn't look like a scam, but until you get the money, I wouldn't send the bike.

If he's insisting on getting the bike first, forget it. With ebay, the transaction must be completed BEFORE the merchandise is sent. I've never received my goods before the money cleaered, so I don't see how this guy would expect any differently. Just be sure to correctly add in the shipping and handling charges too when giving your total.

Good luck.

Koffee is partly right on this. Don't ship any product overseas or anywhere for that matter, until the bank has cashed the check, you have the money, AND the bank has received their money for the check. The scam here is to use COUNTERFEIT CASHIERS CHECKS that deceive the seller and the bank. When the bank finds out the check is counterfeit, they will hold you liable and deduct the funds from your account. One way to avoid this is to open a new account, deposit the funds from the transaction in doubt, and wait for the check to clear the bank or financial institution OF ORIGIN.

Search the internet on Nigerian Money Scams for more info.

You know, I just decided to re-read that email you got.

Morocco is spelled incorrectly by the guy who sent you that email. How can you spell a country wrong when you live there (even part of the time!)?

Like we said, until you've deposited the cashiers check and the bank sends notification that the checks have been honored, don't send that bike...

Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam

It's a popular scam. DON'T fall for it. There was an article --can't remember where-- about a guy just like you who hasn't been able to get his money and hasn't been able to get any legal help either.

It's a scam! I have three counterfeit cashiers checks from guys like this, totalling almost $10,000.00, that are good for nothing but entertainment value. I have them under a magnet on my 'fridge. You can imagine the comments I get when I have friends over. "Why don't you cash them?" is the most common. I usually answer with something like " I don't need the money right now, I have too much income this year already!". Then we have a good laugh over beer

The U.S Secret Service handle these scams, you can contact them. They are listed in the Government pages of your phone book.

The red flags in this scam are:

They want to pay you with a check that is for much more than your sale price.

They want you to send the excess to them via Western Union or MoneyGram.

These counterfeit checks are very good, and more than a few people have lost considerable money.

thanks everybody for your feedback.

I think there is a sticky thread in the buy-sell-trade section about this very scam, or something bery similar.

-Moab

I get this sort of crap in my e-mail all the time (we call it "spam" :) ). If this isn't a scam I'll walk from here to Murwillumbah nude. Best to ignore that one.

I do some buying and selling on Ebay, and always get a cashiers check or money order before I ship anything. Take the check to your bank and have them check it out if your worried. I had a guy in Indonesia offer much more than I wanted for a bike I sold this spring. He wanted to send me his credit card number and bill it. Never take a credit card number! I figured it was a stolen card, and I have no way to bill credit cards anyway. Everything I've ever looked at on Ebay requires cashiers check, money order, or PayPal borfore any thing is shipped.

This is a scam which has been reported many times before. DON'T TAKE THE CHANCE!

Mr. Winston Smith........I've sold numerous items on Ebay, including bicycles. My item description always includes this statement: "Domestic bidders only, will only ship within CONUS!"

And no one wants that.:D

I hope we don't get pics if you're wrong Chris :D

The Troll might join you tho :D:D

Kenn Miller? I wonder if he might not have stumbled across an old LP of Glenn Miller in some flea-infested casbah in Tangier.

The way he writes is weird: "mostly method...". and this from a GB citizen and a qualified engineer?

Conclusion? This guy is an a$$hole, and a class-1 tosser!

What is going on here is this: He's a professional scammer in some west African country, and his poor use of the English language is due to the fact that he speaks French, and is using Babblefish to translate his come-on.

If you stop to think about it for a minute, things just don't add up. Where on earth does somebody get an American cashier's check in Africa??

What these guys are doing is sending counterfeit cashiers checks (always for more than the price you were asking), and are counting on your greed to blind you to the truth of the matter. Most of the time, US banks clear a check into your account before they have actually recieved payment. You see money in your account, you ship the stuff, then about 2 days later, the bank retracts the money. By then, your bike is on some tramp steamer to an african port.

Actually, Moroccans do not spell it that way. To think that the word we use is the only "correct" one is ethnocentric. "Morocco" is an anglicization of the native name, which is spelled "Marac" in French (the major European language spoken in the country). When I was there, I never once saw the word "Morocco" used, except in english-language pamphlets.

Of course, Arabic is the most widely spoken language there, but I have no idea how they would write the word.

Does this seem like a scam? http://beverlyhills-california.olx.c...sl-iid-8664322

A little too phishy!

I asked for more info and this was the reply:

Hello again. We want to use Square Trade as third part of the transaction. We need your full name , address , state , zipp code , country to can contact them to send you one invoice. In the invoice you have all details about the payment and delivery . You make the payment , send the confirmation of payment at theyr email address from the invoice , they check if the payment is done and will contact us as soon as they receive your email with the confirmation of payment . After they contact us we start delivery imediatly but we don`t have acces to your payment. Your payment will be secured by them till you receive , test the bike and sign the papers with the warranty and for receiving. They give us your confirmation of payment only after they have your signature. Without your signature we don`t receive nothing . It is simple and secure for us and for you as a buyer too. We wait your email with your details so we can contact them .

Best Regards

Google Square Trade Scam.
http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pop/p...raudAlert.html

In years past, the key point about that scam is that you can take it to your bank, the bank will tell you it's good, and then it'll be two or three weeks later before it gets bounced back. I think the bank checks if the number or whatever is valid, which it might be, only the check itself is a counterfeit.

They way I handle suspect Ebay or Craigslist transactions is to demand payment by US Postal Money Order. I go to the post office and cash the money order before shipping anything. I haven't been burned in the 8 years I have done this.

Yay, another 5 year old thread resurrected.

Plus, I even replied to this on 07-19-03, at 04:34 PM

Woo Hoo:rolleyes: