Honestly, sometimes I just feel as though I'm going to snap.

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 07 Jan 2009 Posts: 17

Hi,
I'm Rhona, and don't worry, I won't really snap, but God knows that sometimes I really feel like it! Everybody seems to be 'on the take' these days, and I'm JUST NOT LIKE THAT; can't abide that kind of behavior, and don't TRULY (and naively) believe that people do that to each other. But they do....they do.

I've gotten more than my fair share of polite Nigerian BS letters and they're deleted immediately. The situation I have NOW, however, is a bit different. If you would be so kind as to listen to my short story, perhaps you could help me either avert a bad situation, or move quickly on a situation that may have already taken place.

I listed a camera body on craigslist (from Sarasota, FL) for $400 (I'd had it listed on there for 2 weeks for $300 and had so many idiots saying "I have the money and am interested in getting it IMMEDIATELY; please call me ASAP" and having just gotten the email, I call; NO ANSWER. Obviously after 4 or 5 calls/emails, this idiot is jerking me around, so I get pissed and up the ante; I listed it the next day for $100 more and immedately got a reply via email: *I'm very sorry to do this to you, but I'm going to send you our email communications so that you can see everything that's been said in case I've missed something; it's easy reading anyway, and of course, the first email to read was the last one written, so they're beckwards. They went like this:
----------------------------------------------------------------He *Doug* wrote:
Hello thanks for the mail,i will send the payment and get back to you once i
have done so.here is the address to ship to thanks.

Name:Adedipo Tola
Address;No 8 olusanya,Ring Road.
City:Ibadan
State:Oyo state
Country:Nigeria
23402

On 1/6/09, Rhona wrote:

Okay, Doug,
I'll take your word for the fact that it will cost less than $100 BUT!!!!
to have it 'professionally' wrapped up, it willl have to be done by me, or
by the fellow I know at Pack'n'Ship, whom I'm sure can mail things via USPS
Priority. Do you want it insured and if so, for how much? If you would
tell me WHERE IT'S GOING, Doug, what country, (and please include the
address, name and whatever other information I'm going to need since in
about an hour I'll have the Pay Pal information for you and will then take
the camera, etc. to Pack'n'Ship tomorrow. However, I really, REALLY need to
know the address of where it's going, Doug, and I need to get you the Pay
Pal information so that you can put the funds into the account if there's a
lapse of some sort where they have to process the information. So I'll get
the Pay Pal information to you, and you can get the address of where the
camera is going to me, and we'll be in great shape.

I've got a visitor here from Holland, so that's making things JUST a little
hectic, so I'd like to get it taken care of and out of the way..........I'm
sure you understand! Thank you for your reply and I'll get back with you
soon.

Rhona

----- Original Message -----
*From:* Doug Mills <[email protected]
*To:* Rhona
*Sent:* Tuesday, January 06, 2009 4:47 PM
*Subject:* Re: Nikon D70 Body Used In Superb Condition - $400 (Sarasota)

hello thanks for the mail,and i am sorry for the late response,i will await
your mail before sending payment,and i also checked into shipping and was
told it will not be more than $100 to ship the camera and all that will come
with it.and as long as you pack it very well before shipment,i dont see why
you need to insure it.i just dont like UPS,i am sorry.so please get back to
me later.thanks.

On 1/6/09, Rhona wrote:

Doug,
I will have to wait until my son comes home from school first (3pm) or my
boyfriend in order to get their pay pal information. Both will want to have
the money in the account before I send the camera; obviously (my brother
just lost $5,000 to someone in England). I will go to my friend and have
him pack it up very well, but I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW: what country is this
going to, and why would you want to do USPS Priority Mail when UPS
automatically insures your package? I will find out the postage difference
when I take the camera to my friend to have him pack it up. Tomorrow would
be the earliest that Pay Pal would be available for you to put your funds
into the account, and they should arrive here very shortly afterward. At
that point, the camera will be well on its way. (fyi; you do want it
insured, correct? I will find out from the post office (though I still
don't know what country) how much the postage AND the insurance would cost
for a couple of different countries to get an 'idea' of the cost for you).
Must leave now, but will be back in a little bit.

Rhona

----- Original Message -----
*From:* Doug Mills <[email protected]
*To:* Rhona
*Sent:* Tuesday, January 06, 2009 10:52 AM
*Subject:* Re: Nikon D70 Body Used In Superb Condition - $400 (Sarasota)

Hello thanks for the mail,yes i will pay for the shipping but please i
want you to ship the camera and all that cmes with it via USPS PRIORITY MAIL
INTL.everytging sounds good and i am only waiting for you to give me your
son's paypal info or you just sign up for an account and then i will send
payment.thanks and please remove the posting of this camera from craigslist
and tell all other interested buyer that the camera has been sold.thanks.

On 1/6/09, Rhona wrote:

Doug,
So what you're saying is that if I had it packed up really well
(remember, it comes with a camera bag- if you want it but it will make it
need a bigger box; a manual, a battery charger, two batteries, a strap and a
souple of photo card holders), so if I have it packed up well, then you will
pay the $100 shipping + $400 price of the camera for a total of $500; is
that correct? Please advise. Also need to know the country that this will
be going to, please. I believe that my son has a Pay Pal account, so if I
remember correctly, you pay the funds into pay pal, when they clear then I
ship the merchandise (and I suppose you'll have to trust that I will ship it
and just for your infomation I wouldn't curse myself by NOT shipping it!!!!
bad karma!) ; does that sound right to you? I have a good friend who works
at a Pack'N'Ship company and would pack it up well and send it via UPS to
wherever you need it to go when I have the funds to pay for shipping.
Please let me know if this is a YES, "let's go ahead and proceeed" and if
so, then I will do it immediately. At 3pm I will know if my son has an
account with Pay Pal or I will open a temporary one, as you suggested.

All I would then need is the address you want it shipped to; and my
personal guarantee that you are purchasing a camera body that's not had ALL
THAT MUCH USE for $500 less that they are selling them at the stores; I want
to do someone a favor as someone has done me a favor, and I believe in
returning favors to nice people.

Thank you Doug; I need to go out for a bit, but will check my email later
on.

Regards,
Rhona

----- Original Message -----
*From:* Doug Mills <[email protected]
*To:* Rhona
*Sent:* Tuesday, January 06, 2009 7:26 AM
*Subject:* Re: Nikon D70 Body Used In Superb Condition - $400 (Sarasota)

*He actually sent me 2 emails the first time he wrote; here's #2:
Hello,thanks for geting back to me asap.i want to use the medium to tell
you i wont be able to come and inspect the item or pay for it in cash,that
is why i brought up this idea though i am not a united states citizen i am
willing to buy this item as soon as possible,However am buying this for a
friend who is in need of this item , i would appreciate if you allow me to
pay through pay pal and i will add 100usd as shipping cost..However if you
don't have pay pal account you can just log on to paypal.com and set up
an account it is free easy and secure to pay and receive money through pay
pal.get back to me asap.

--*1st email re: ad written by Doug to me:
Hello there... is it still available for sale...? get back to me ASAP

is this item in perfect working condition,i also need some information on
it.

--------------------------------------END OF EMAILS---------------------------
\
Okay, so last night my son set up a Pay Pal account (which he was going to do anyway) and he (my son) needed the name of the person who was going to be DEPOSITING funds into my son's account; which I gave to my son. Apparently this Doug character could see this, ASKED me in his email this morning if in fact William S. were my son, I said yes, and that to ME meant that Doug could then put the monies into my son's pay pal account. Sounds logical enough. However, my gut tells me otherwise.

First, it took him four or five emails to mention the WORD Nigeria; and secondly, everything was a bit vague, VERY "ASAP", somewhat 'weird' as though they knew more than they're saying. And to buy a piece of equipment that you've never seen before INTERNATIONALLY is JUST PLAIN STUPID. I've done nothing so far, but my next move is to contact Pay Pal, though I'll probably have to wait 15 minutes until my son gets home. I can't imagine that if Pay Pal is as secure as it is, that this Nigerian guy could get ANY infomation out of pay pal that would adversely affect my son's bank account since they (the Nigerians or anyone for that matter) can't access that info! No way! So what's the angle that I'm missing here? Trust me; I've been missing the MOST obvious of all obvious things, so I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!! In MY thinking, if the Nigerian guy puts $500 usd into Pay Pal, it gets put into my son's account and that's the end of that. They have no information other than my email address. Once it's in Pay Pal (and it's REAL PAY PAL not 'fake pay pal'), then it's a done deal, right? I just ship the camera and end of story..........or is it?

PLEASE, ANY AND ALL ADVICE WOULD HELP SINCE I'VE GOT NO TIME FOR THIS SORT OF NONSENSE, ALTHOUGH I AM A PROFESSIONAL 'SCREW WITH YOUR MIND' KINDA WOMAN WHEN SOMEBODY DOES ME WRONG; AND THESE FRIGGIN PEOPLE HAVE tried and tried and tried to screw me, so I'm officially signing up as the Queen Biotch of SLAMMING THE SCAMMERS with you guys; what goes around comes around and gosh, guess they didn't know that it was US who were around the corner- FOOLS!

But any ideas, thoughts, insights into my current situation?

Appreciate it much and thank you for letting me be here! Great forum!
Rhona xx
[/i]

Mod edit - edited to remove all the > and >> from the post - SP

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:31 pm

hello Rhona

if you are not comfortable with the transaction, tell the buyer you've changed your mind. I would also suggest you stop contact with them, you would be surprised what details can be obtained with an email address.

if you feel the desire to stick around and make a dent in lad land, pull up a seat and have a look around.

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:35 pm

Hi, and welcome to Eater! Very Happy

First, this is definitely a scam. They can put money into PayPal and then tell PayPal the sale didn't go through and could they please have their money back.

They could also put in a lot more money than you're asking for and then ask you to Western Union or Moneygram the overage to either a shipper (who'll be them) or back to themselves. They might also send an email to your son, spoofing PayPal to tell him the money has arrived, then email you asking you to wire the excess money back immediately (before you can find out the money isn't really there).

They are not interested in the camera body, BTW. They're never interested in the item, just in the money.

I would drop everything and notify PayPal that any money coming in from the "buyer" should be refused (or however they handle it). The money is bound to be fraudulent in some way - scammers don't spend money on their victims. If they use a credit card, it is likely to be stolen.

If you want to stick around and make life a merry hell for scammers, do it safely. Get an anonymous email account (gmail, hushmail, and the like strip IPs from the header), sign up for a mentor, and read the stickies. We'll be happy to welcome you aboard. Seems like you have some pent-up feelings to let loose on some poor, unsuspecting scammer. Wink

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:44 pm

My advise, considering that your personal details can be considered compromised i.e. craiglist details, paypal etc, is to simply drop it. It may seem paranoid, but your safety comes first.

If you want to get back at these scum, have a look at the FAQ's and the Help & Tips forum for the safe baiting info, take it on board then go and start having yourself some useful 'fun' with these guys.

Master Baiter Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 108

Follow the words of the experts above, do drop everything to do with this transaction (too much RL information floating around or trackable) and then read as much as you can here, particularly stickies, and safe-baiting advice.
(Just say that there's an unforeseen fault with the camera, or the cat's knocked it off the table, so that it can't be sold.)
Lots of sellers on Ebay, etc., won't deal with Nigeria, etc., just because of these kinds of scams and problems.

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:00 pm

It's a vry common scam nowadays. Note that the first email only referred to "the item", which saves the scammer a lot of time when sending out his emails in bulk. Sometimes they've addressed to "undisclosed recipients", which means loads of email addresses in the bcc field.

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:47 pm

Hi Rhona and welcome to the family.

In addition to what Titania wrote as regards the scam, they could also be using a stolen credit card to finance the scam.

As the others have said, and as you picked up on, bells start ringing amd with each new email they ring louder and louder.

The best thing to do here is, as others suggest, to drop this deal. Tell him you had a local buyer contact you, that you have now sold the camera, and thank him for his kind interest. Even knowing it is a scam, it is not worth the personal hassle of insulting him. After all, these lads work in a world where their email addresses are set up specifically for scamming and they can, and do, drop them and start with a new one at the drop of a hat.

He however has your personal email address that all your family and friends use, so for you to change it would be a major issue. The last thing you want is him bombarding you with insulting emails just because you decided to try and piss him off.

So play it safe. If you want to help the fight against these people and you have the time to spare (it gets addictive) then you have come to the right place. Lots of experienced people here who will willingly give advice and assistance.

Just read the stickies, sign up for a mentor, create a character to bait as, get a free email address (googlemail, freemail amongst others) and find a lad. If your lad is still using his email address, then there is no harm in sending him an email, maybe offering a list of items you need to sell desperately. who knows he may bite. Others I am sure will make better suggestions if you want to go after him.

Your primary concern must be to bait safe. Once you are into this work, then you are likely to looking to make fools of these people, so you want to keep your baiting character as far away from your real life as possible. That is why we suggest things like googlemail (gmail) and freemail.

Whatever you decide, please be safe.

Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:17 pm

Welcome rhonalee Very Happy

As suggested before, drop this lad (scammer) and pick up another. Better yet, hand this lad off to someone or everyone here and get a new one to take out your frustration on.

mewing_ghecko wrote:

you would be surprised what details can be obtained with an email address.

And if you graduated college with a "4.0 GPA BAYYYYBEEEE!!!" you might consider PM'ing a moderator or admin to get your username changed. Wink

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 12:36 am

The paypal payment will most likely be a fake - you'll get an email saying you got paid but there is no money in the paypal account.

The e-mail will say Paypal will release the funds once you provide a tracking number to them (they NEVER do things this way)

Or if you DO get a paypal payment, it will likely be funded by a credit card. You WILL later get charged back and they will come after your account.

Honestly, sometimes I just feel as though I'm going to snap.	View next topic View previous topic