Not sure if this is a scam or not...

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 24 Jul 2009 Posts: 2

Hi Im new got this website from a friend and I wanted to clear things up with you experts
So Im selling my camcorder on craigslist and this person emailed me through it.

There is 2 email addresses that is being used seems to be related.
[email protected]
[email protected]

This is the email conversation we had

Quote:

Dear,
I got your mail.
The price is ok by me,I reside in Utah but needs to purchase for my Son that travelled to West africa for his international studies,he is with his mother who was transfered to work at the united states embassy in west Africa and i want to send him a birthday gift because his birthday is coming up soon..I would have come to pick it up myself but because of distance and nature of my work as a medical doctor at Mormon Tabernacle Choir extension in South Utah,my days are always busy.Pls if you do have a paypal account,provide it to me so that I Make the payment to you.Or your full contact address,full name,zip code,city,state and your country aswell if you wish to receive the money through money order,i can send it straight to your residence.I will be paying you the total of $650 for both the cost price and the shipping...[Please i need the information fast so that your payment will reach you before tommorrow to enable you ship the Packages fast.
Thanks for anticipation.

My reply
Do you want it shipped to Utah? I believe that is the only way I can ship. My paypal is xxxx. Provide me with your address and it will be shipped out today as soon as I get the money

He just wrote back

pls i just want you to mail it to my son in west Africa.pls can you do that for me?get back to now so that i will send the money.thanks

He seems very urgent about shipping. Im not sure if its a scam or not. Thanks in advance Very Happy

Also if this is the wrong part of the forums feel free to move it

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 582

Yes, is a scam.
It could be a check scam: he will send you the check, you cash the check and Western Union money to the 'shipper' and then the check bounces. You are out the entire amount, usually around $2,500.

Or, he 'sends' you money via paypall or another 'escrow' service, he emails you a fake receipt or screen shot, you send the item and pay for the shipping yourself and then the money never shows up. You are out the item and the money.

Either way, it is a scam. He has your real life information, so just stop emailing him and he will go away.

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:48 pm

Pure scam.

The Paypal account will probably be stolen. The money order/check will be stolen. Either ways you lose. They stress urgency in order to fluster victims.

419Eater is my life Joined: 08 Aug 2008 Posts: 475

hi, this sounds very much like the others scams, reported from people selling stuff at Craigslist.

On top of this page, next to " Profile " there is also a " Search " - Button, for search on Eater- pages. If you search for e.g. craigslist , I am sure you will find similar modalites discussed.

And as this person has maybe your RL-email-address, you would not like to bait with your email-account.

--
edit - fraank. is a sloow typer !!

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 24 Jul 2009 Posts: 2

Yep I agree. Good thing he only has my paypal account he can't do anything. Thanks everyone for the reply.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 27 Feb 2009 Posts: 65

Hey, I had someone try to access my paypal account a few years ago and they managed to lock it. It is an absolute pain to try to re-open them so you might be better off transfering any funds you have in out as soon as you can.

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 8:26 pm

Quote:

nature of my work as a medical doctor at Mormon Tabernacle Choir extension in South Utah

I didn't know the Mormon Tabernacle Choir had a hospital. Wink

419Eater is my life Joined: 08 Aug 2008 Posts: 475

Quote:

I didn't know the Morm...

..and every minute there is unveiled another piece of universal truth und wisdom., here on Eater.
live.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 1

well, my experiece with this email id <[email protected]> is similar except that he first dropped me a blank email when he saw my add on craig, and then when i asked , he sent me the same text which u pasted.

I could sense easily that this is for sure scam, since he mentioned he is a Doctor but still insisted on purchasing a second hand item from me Smile

I am not sure how this scam works, how is he able to undo the payment if its already transfered into the account. nevertheless, U can blindly ignore him. hope it helps u n others.

regards

Newbie

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:22 pm

^newbie 2009 - since the cheque will be fake (see Merry Widow's post above) there is no payment for the scammer to recover.

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:50 pm

Good catch ultimadrift, and welcome to Eater.

It is a scam as you thought. It doesn't even pass the "gut" test. It just feels wrong, including the items mentioned above. Why would someone buy an item for $650, sight unseen, and have you send it for him across the ocean?

Well if you were desperate for funds, you might fall for this. He would give you some fake form of payment proof, steal your paypal account and the item would be on the way ot a vacant lot in Lagos.

Another thing to do is search the email address or the "story" he has told you. I'll bet you come up with the same script used by others.

Do drop him and make changes to your Paypal account because he has real life information about you.

Be safe! Very Happy

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:00 am

Most likely the lad will send you a fake e-mail that appears to have come from Paypal. The e-mail will say something like: You've received your payment, but it won't be released to you until you ship it and reply to the e-mail with your tracking number.

Of course, there is no payment, and paypal does not work like this anyway - its is a payment service, not an escrow service.

One can avoid being scammed by simply logging into your paypal account and verifying that no payment has been sent.

If I get something like this I'd say to the lad I did not get the payment so please send the payment already.

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:24 am

Quote:

[email protected]
[email protected]

These names just cry lad!! Especially with craigslist
Lucy Mark, two Christian names so favoured by lads and Henry ARtkins from a corruption of Atkins.
The hairs on the back of my neck would rise and alarm bells would ring but I'm a cynical baiter Laughing

Now I'll read the thread Smile

Edit.
Thread read no cred. Laughing

Welcome by the way.

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 2:13 pm

It seems as though Craigs List is a great way to bait fake cheques lads.

I will have to 'sell' my old laptop and see what happens lol.
Maybe I can get some more fake cheques off the streets.

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