Split from "Facebook Marketplace Scam"

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 17 Sep 2008 Posts: 1

New to the forums; but was reading up on the scam. I got one of these too; was selling a washer and dryer on facebook. Got an email from [email protected] . Same deal; he's sending me a check for the washer and dryer and I'm supposed to wire him the leftover money for the shipper. I'm not going to cash the check now since I found out about the scam; but I don't know what to do about it. Any ideas? Thanks

more info about the guy. His name was mark fredrick

shipper he wanted me to send the check to:
Name: Eddie Lee

Address: 8 E Main St,

City: Corry

State: Pennsylvania

Zip code: 16407

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 17 Sep 2008 Posts: 1

Hi I got a message for a guitar I put on the Facebook Marketplace:

"HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY? I SAW YOUR ADVERT ON FACE BOOK AND I AM REALLY INTERESTED IN YOUR ITEM , PLEASE MAIL ME ASAP IF IT IS STILL AVAILABLE TO ENABLE ME MAKE NECESSARY ARRANGEMENT FOR PAYMENTS AND PICK-UP SOONEST BEFORE SOMEBODY BEATS ME TO IT.KINDLY LET ME KNOW THE LEAST AMOUNT IT.I WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF YOU TREAT THIS MESSAGE WITH URGENCY AS I REQUIRE.THANK YOU VERY MUCH HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST. HERE IS THE EMAIL ADDRESS TO MAIL ME BACK.
[email protected]

REGARDS.

Michael."

I got suspicious since he managed to spell his own name wrong on more than one occasion. So I didnt email him, but sent a facebook message bak saying that the item is still available. This is the reply I got:

"Hello,
How are you doing and your health ? i'm purchasing this item on behalf of my client. And my client will be using check as the mode of payment. But the issue is that the amount on the check is more than your item fee.I'll take care of shipping myself with my dhl account#. So i now want you to promise me that as soon as you receive the check, you'l only deduct the money for the item and westernunion the balance immediately. I want you to tell me that you're trustworthy. If you can, i want you to get back to me with your full name and home contact address so that i can give to my client to mail you the payment.

Best regards,

Michael."

At this point, I have added him to my blocked list... my previous privacy settings ensure that he doesnt have any personal details of mine except from the name of the university attended...

The only reason I'm posting this here is to share information in the hope that someone more experienced than me can bait him...

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:13 pm

@icedfaith (and anyone else with items for sale on the internet):

One red flag on these scams is the term "item" in their contact with you. They are not interested in the actual item for sale - they don't even know what it is for the most part. They only know you want to sell something, so you'll be happy to receive a check.

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:55 pm

@bob
The person you've been instructed to send the money to, probably doesn't exist. Scammers don't have to identify themselves at Western Union for amounts under 5,000 All they need is the security question and answer to get the money.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Posts: 1

I just received a similar message, except I'm selling a pair of shoes and the "buyer" wants to send me money through Paypal. He is also asking that I ship the shoes to Nigeria. My facebook profile is private and I am using an anonymous University IP address. Is it safe to bait him by replying to the marketplace inquiries? Thanks.

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 12 Sep 2008 Posts: 90

Jbruin, I wouldn't feel safe doing that. I can't put my finger on why, but I think it's best to have complete separation from baiter info and rl info. No conflation or cross-over of any kind, ever. Paranoid, almost certainly, but safer, and if you ever discover that there's been a security breach, or there is a work-around, you won't lie awake at night.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 10

Rule 1 : Keep it seperate.

these people are criminals treat them as such.

Why not try weave him in with a scam of your own from a completely separate source ? With a persona to boot...

Keep it Dirty

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:26 am

Wow, there seems to be a lot of people who've been contacted by this type of scammer! Me, after reading all the things on here and news stories and so on, I would realize that was a scam, but I can easily understand how someone could be taken in, if they'd never heard of it before. It seems reasonable on the surface... that's probably one of the more successful scams, I'd think; more people are willing to believe someone wants to buy their item than someone willed them $3.5 million or something. It'd be nice if there was some way to warn everyone in the world about this... *sigh* Well, I guess the only thing I can do is keep baiting! Smile

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:56 am

since a police department is already involved, it wouldnt hurt anything to call Lincoln police and let them know...of course it wouldnt do anything, but it wouldnt take more than 5 minutes either.

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 7103 Location: Yes

Since this thread was borne of a giant necro, I'm splitting it off and letting it runs its course. Wink

Split from "Facebook Marketplace Scam"	View next topic View previous topic