Fiddling around with my new pal/lad from Nigeria

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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:04 pm

Hello I have a new friend in Nigeria! He is trying to sell me a violin I already own. My fault, I guess, I advertised it online, and then had the nerve to answer his online advert.

Does that make him a LAD, a PAL or what? I'm still trying to figure out the lingo here. Does it mean it is not a 419?

very much a newbie

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:09 pm

Internet auctions and such are not 419 scam. It may or may not be scam, but it's not 419.

419 simply said when somebody offers you huge amounts of money for little effort. Such as singing few forms and paying procession fee.

You can look up 419 on Wikipedia for more info.

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:32 pm

oh, thanks- i looked at this site for an explanation, and didn't find it.

boy do i feel stupid Embarassed

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:34 pm

No need to feel stupid Wink

For a greenhorn it may be confusing Wink

Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:29 pm

419 generally in composes what is know as advance fee fraud (or scams), they offer you money, but you have to pay an amount for some reason in order to receive the money, as you pay, they will keep coming up for reasons why you need to pay more. The general hook in these scams is that the money you pay is a lot smaller than the end amount you are to (never) receive.

419 can be applied to the selling of goods online, if they sell you something valuable at a small priceand stall the process by demanding payments for release of certain things.

However online goods scams, can and mostly include old school scamming, incorrect product being sent to you, no product being sent.

Or they may send you more money for the product than you ask for, either by way of a fraudulent cheque or stolen credit card, and ask you to pay the difference via another means back to them (and also you get to keep a percentage for your trouble), however the cheque fails to clear or the card is reported, and you are left minus the money you sent them.

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:14 am

While many of these "for sale" scams don't meet the traditional definition of 419 (with the promise of a large payout requiring advance fees), many are carried out by your standard 419 scammers. They do even get a mention in the advance fee fraud section of wikipedia.

Essentially, the traditional 419 scammers have branched out to a variety of tactics to get money from you. While they may not fit the traditional definition, their goal is still to collect your money based on promises of something that doesn't exist--whether that something is millions of dollars; a "happily ever after" ending with the perfect man/woman of your dreams; a new puppy; a great deal on Craigslist; a great-paying job in a new country; or your cash in exchange for a phony check.

In the end, these scams are baitable to varying degrees, though in some cases the scammers will bail quickly if the money doesn't come.

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:07 am

overlap in scammers-- yes, I looked up the 'parent' company that my lad apparently works for, I'm not sure if this company is involved but here is what I found, in addition to back account funds... (?)

Quote:

Musical Arts Limited

Ms Adel Ahmed Mustafa Date of Birth: 1970/08
Ms Adel Mahmoud Yousef Radwan Date of Birth: 1954/09
Mr Christopher Todd Landor Date of Birth: 1963/02
Mr Jonathan Peter Holland Date of Birth: 1965/10
Mr John Randall Landor Date of Birth: 1960/11
Mr Ahmed Ousama Date of Birth: 1961/07
Ms Cathy Ngo Date of Birth: 1977/07
Mr Suhaib Amer Date of Birth: 1968/06
Mr Robert Warde Date of Birth: 1955/07

My pal's name is Geron. Odd name for a Nigerian, eh?

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:33 am

Were you given a website? If so, what was the address?

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:18 am

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it has something to do with this:

Quote:

WTS Knute Reindahl Violin - $5,400 USD

MUSICAL ARTS LIMITED

14 FRAMPTON HOUSE
FRAMPTON STREET
LONDON
NW8 8LY

[email protected]

+447024097883

We offer you the best of Music Equipments cause we love that quality sound,MUSIC IS LIFE and we are using our company to support dreamsby supplying Quality Instruments at cheaper rates,we have from the magnificent Jonathan Cooper Del Gesu Violin to Knute Reindahl Violin down to Vintage French and Hill Bow/Handmade American Violin.

Available products and their prices.

Jonathan Cooper Del Gesu Violin - $8,800 USD
Knute Reindahl Violin - $5,400 USD
Italian viola from Naples, crafted approx. 1930 - $3,000 USD
Hill Bow for violin - $2,300 USD
Handmade American Violin - Joseph Bohmann - Chicago c. 1900 - $1,500 USD
Taylor T5 - $1,150 USD
Rare 8 string Violin c.1920 - $1,150 USD
1895 Czech Violin - Strad copy - w/ Pernambuco bow - $345 USD
Recent Chineese fiddle with Perfection Pegs - $550 USD
Rare Antique French violin lab JTL Barnabetti Loud&Deep - $600 USD
Violin - Old Strad copy and hsc - $580 USD
Newer Unlabeled Violin with Ebony-Crowned Button - $470 USD
For sale 1960 'salvarez montana 5 string banjo w/c - $320 USD
Vintage German Strad Copy -Price Reduced - $350 USD
Eastman VL100 3/4 violin outfit - $200 USD
Vintage French Violin 4/4 - $300 USD
1900-ish German-ish Stainer Fiddle Professionally Setup - $250 USD

Hours of Operation:

Monday-Sunday : 24hours (We are always at your service)

WHY BUY FROM US?

* Your privacy is assured
* Our prices are second to none
* Secure transaction guaranteed
* We ship Monday through Saturday.
* Free shipping on qualified orders
* We offer reasonable discount on bulk purchases
* We ship same day after confirmation of payment.
* We offer a 120 days return policy and a 100% money back guarantee.

To place your orders please contact us via the following options below.

MUSICAL ARTS LIMITED

14 FRAMPTON HOUSE
FRAMPTON STREET
LONDON
NW8 8LY

[email protected]

+447024097883

Garon Fadrick
Sales/Advert Manager
MUSICAL ARTS LIMITED

There is a legitimate Musical Arts Limited in the UK at that address, but they wouldn't be using a +44 70 redirect phone number and probably not an msn email address. If I can get a website or maybe email headers, I'll run with it.

EDIT: I sent for headers. I can't help it. Very Happy

Welcome to Eater, Fiddlehead!

SECOND EDIT: Same 'advertisement' here:
http://forum.singaporeforumonline.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11870

Twisted Evil

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:16 pm

The header thing I can do. We've exchanged a number of e-mails:
41.138.183.47 Lagos, Nigeria
41.155.94.177 Lagos, Nigeria: dial-up
41.155.14.76 Lagos, Nigeria: dial-up
41.71.144.239 Lagos, Nigeria: dial-up

but then I didn't reply for a day or so and the next e-mail came back different:
93.186.31.80
hostname : 93-186-31-80.rdns.blackberry.net
proxy:suspected network sharing device
United Kingdom

@ TheFae, your wild guess ain't so wild, but you're getting close to leaving enough of a trail to identify me!

I, too, found a business registered at that address, but the names of its people (previous post) seem to show up in this forum.

I looked into the first 4 instruments in the list, and they were all posted by separate individuals in separate ads, like mine (legit). His ad came later. I've had his account frozen on the fiddle site.

I've run out of ideas. We've been at the point of an address and Western Union money order. I wasn't sure what to do for an addy. Do they research them and discover if they're legit?

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:18 pm

@Dorothy- sorry, no website given. Just the e-mails from Nigeria. Smile

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:30 pm

^^I don't know who you mean by "they" when you ask if they research. Question

I received a reply within hours. Yep, Nigerian alright:

ipTRACKERonline.com wrote:

Header Analysis Quick Report
Originating IP: 41.155.46.146
Originating ISP: Starcomms Limited
City: Lagos
Country of Origin: Nigeria
* For a complete report on this email header goto ipTRACKERonline

And I found his reply to my question "do you have a website?" extremely amusing:

Quote:

We do have a website but it's currently under reconstruction to enable us update our firewalls and also finish our search engine optimization programme.

We accept payments via Money Gram/Western Union Money Transfer.

It came from a Gar0n as well.

This guy seems to be a scammer who posts to various forums, much like a Craigslist lad. The only thing I can do is go after him if he coughs up a website -- one that's really his and not just using the url of a legit site. I take it he is using legit instruments for sale in his fake ad?

You may want to get with a Mod to see if your information would be good to post on our sister site, ScamWarners. Perhaps that would be helpful in case somebody who's interested in one of those instruments googles the lad's information.

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:38 pm

[quote="FiddleHead"]

@ TheFae, .... you're getting close to leaving enough of a trail.....[\quote]

sorry- my online presence has left enough clues to do that all by myself, i don't mean to blame you. Embarassed

it is spooky how easily posts in this, and other forums show up in a Google search

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:47 am

^^Don't worry Fiddlehead, it's meant to be that way so other people who have questions or have the feeling something isn't quite 'right' can Do The Google and find information. Same for ScamWarners, that's why it's a great idea to post over there as well.

I know you're not blaming me, and you shouldn't blame yourself either! You found your way here, and that's a good thing. Thumbs up

Why not stick around a while? Sign up for a mentor, learn how to bait safely**, read all the stickies, and have some fun!

And by the way, the rest of Gar0n's message to me was just as funny. He wanted to know not *which* "Musical Equipments" I wanted, but HOW MANY. Laughing

(Which leads me to believe that if I say "all of them", he'll get really excited and may suggest what will be a fake shipping/courier website...hmm!) Wink

**By the way, if you are still talking with this scammer using real life details or a real life email account, stop immediately. I'm sure a more seasoned baiter than me will come along with better advice. I'm a mere sitekiller. Very Happy

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:46 pm

EDIT: Yes, he is listing real instruments, gleaned off classified ads on a fiddle site.

I have given no real life info, at least not intentionally- i have an alternate ego (name), alternate gmail (two), even an alternate country, and my name here is different. But, I just discovered a forwarding/responding mistake I was making with my e-mail accounts, left yet another trail...

I do appreciate all the willing time volunteered to a newbie like me on this site. You guys are a great wealth of info, even if I am in the wrong place! Very Happy

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:40 pm

interestingly, he wants WesternUnion payment to

Quote:

Name--Jamie Ross
Address-- 352 UPPER RICHMOND ROAD WEST
City--West Sussex
State--LONDON
Zipcode--SW14 7JT
Country--UK
Amount to be paid:$5,500usd

and, get this!

Quote:

Hope to start a long term business relationship with you.

Regards,
Garon Fadrick.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:39 pm

Hi FiddleHead,

methinks I met you before in a starlit and lonesome thread over at ScamWarners - where I just sent you a PM about safe email providers!!!! Laughing

Trail developping into a highway!

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:44 pm

who me?
couldn't possibly be... i'm on vacation, en route to Gullible Island with my 'boy'
Wink

the thought of someone paying a scammer for something i'm trying to sell really bugs me... how many people fall for these?
just enough to keep 'em trying, eh?

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 3:38 am

@Jeannette, it gets bigger by the minute. Wink

@Fiddlehead, listen to Jeannette. And this:

Quote:

the thought of someone paying a scammer for something i'm trying to sell really bugs me... how many people fall for these?
just enough to keep 'em trying, eh?

You have no idea. Many good people have lost a lot.

Are you going to sign up for a mentor? It might be helpful to you, they've taught me well. Smile

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:33 pm

I thought I did put in a request for a mentor. Haven't heard any feedback, so maybe I didn't do it right.

I think I got handed off to a higher-up. The english in the last two letters is much improved and quite goal focused. (Get thee to a Western Union office)

I am really having a difficult time refraining from blowing up at them!

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 4:23 pm

It may take same time until you get a mentor, sometimes newbies are queuing.

In the meantime, you can use the "Help" thread to ask for ideas, we are all eager to show off our experience. Laughing

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