This scam has been going on for years in the auto industry as well, and every year they keep polishing this dog and pony show. Jake is correct, they will send a check, but in the all too long term it will bounce. Because hi tech printers forge money orders and cashiers checks these days with relative ease, I no longer accept payment through these means for vehicles I sell online anymore, it is too risky. We use bank wire transfer, or cash upon delivery. We have had no problems with that, and the customers understand that fraud is rampant and are happy to comply. I usually credit them 25.00 to cover their bank wire cost on their end as well. Hope this helps someone stay safe, it's a tough world these days.

Tom
Jacksonville, FL
Hobie 16

We've seen many different type of scams but this one hits a new low.

The Nigerian Puppy Scam
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-puppyscam29may29,0,6595076.story?coll=la-home-center

Link to article

Of all the things our government is capable of...why can't they shut down the Nigerian internet scams?

Quote:

---

In April, a Manhattan woman was charged with grand larceny for collecting fees for English bulldog puppies online and then not delivering them. She allegedly told local investigators she shared the proceeds with a Nigerian accomplice.

---

One other thing to be aware of when receiving money via wire transfers: there's not going to be a way for someone on the far end of the deal to know that the money was received by your bank and is in your account. They request the money be transferred, but once that happens, the rest is a black box--they don't have any way to know when the funds will show up in your account. So, if they pretend they do know, be on your guard. (We've received wire payments from clients of my computer consulting business overseas and they have no notion of when the funds show up--and it isn't instantaneous.)

One more thing (and this is astounding that Rick and Mary's bank didn't spot this immediately): a wire transfer will almost always also show a deduction in your account for receiving the transfer ($15 to $30--as per the posting above by stormcloud). There's almost always a charge on both ends and the person sending the money won't know what your bank's charge is so an even amount--like $12,000 is also a danger sign. ($11,975 would be a lot more belivable--but only if they account for their own bank's origination charge.)

BTW, for overseas payments (including large amounts), PayPal works very nicely. We use it to pay consultants in Canada and Australia that do work for us. They have excellent protections for both parties in place.

Ciao!

John

Selling a strip built sea kayak and a road bike on craigslist, I've recieved about 4 of these

ex. an actual email I recieved:

"Hello, thank you for your respnse, am satisfied with the price and condition of the item and i want you to know that am out of town for an official purpose and i want you to go and withrew t he item from the list and keep it for me, i will ask my client to send you a cashier or certified check,overpayment of $2000which when you recieve it, you will take it to the cash point and have it cashed, then you will deduct your item fund and help send the rest to my mover via western union or moneygram, he is also helping picking up some other item in your area and i want you to know that is after the check cleared that my mover will come for the pick up and am very sure that you will recieve the payment before this week runs out and i want you to know that am a person that you can trust, so i need your full name,valid address and your number so that the payment can be made quickly,pls reply asap."


craigslist also has a page about these scams:


http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

LOOK FAMILIAR...This guy is too stupid to deal with...

thom

mikecolins_auto@yahoo.com




mike colins <mikecolins_auto@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thank you for your response,after discussing
with my client who really commended your boat
instructed to move on with the deal at the price of
($4,750),he said he will be going on a vacation soon
and will rest virtually all the transaction on my
shoulder and assign a shipper like wise that i will
work with and stressed that he will be issuing out a
cashier check of ($10,750) which was a refund payment
of a cancelled order earlier made by him but
will be filed in your name,you are only required to
deduct the cost of your boat($4,750) and
send the differece ($6,000) when payment gets to you to a
shipping agent whoose information will be given to
you as at when due, he will be needing the fund to
offset shipping charges, taxes and other c osmetic
repairs/touches,the agent will be responsible for
signing andtransferin! g of title paper and also pickup.
So i require of you to send me your
NAME,ADDRESS
AND
PHONE NUMBER for payment to be delivered to you via
fedex courier services All other information needed
in completion of this transaction will be given to
you in due time.
thanks


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more.

Tell the "agent" to cash the check and bring you the money. Not that they would do that... Saw a forum where a gentleman really worked over the scam artist (in the literal sense) kind of like conning the con man. Not recommended for the average person as it could get dicey.

Clayton

I run online classifieds in another venue. One of my sellers was scammed. Since then I have offered this info:

If you have been a VICTIM of the Nigeria Counterfeit Check Scam (or any scam like this), contact the US Secret Service, the lead agency fighting this fraud. Call 202-406-5572, or write to: US Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 950 H Street, Washington, DC 20001. Send complaints to the Secret Service at http://www.secretservice.gov/contact_fcd.shtml.

It amazes me how these people infiltrate the market.

DJ

Chris Hansen from NBC did a huge expose of these Nigerian scumbags...and yes, some people do fall for these scams the hosebags perpetrate. They order goods with stolen credit cards in Nigerian cyber cafe's and then have poor souls give up hard cash for shipping costs with all kinds of promises including marriage proposals using pictures of hot babes. Hard to catch the scumbags in Nigeria and surrounding countries. If they would just apply themselves to finding real job they wouldn't have to steal from us. Then it would be a perfect world, woundn't it?

Better to be proactive than reactive. Not to be too comercial...but If any one is interested, I market a service that monitors your credit report 24/7 with identity restoration by Kroll the world's leading authority on forensic investigation. It's called Identity Theft Shield. It's $12.95 a month as a stand alone, or $9.95 for husband and wife with our legal plan. Go to www.greatjoboption.com to learn more and see a complete explanation. You can also order the service from my site at www.jcozzi.com. Thanks! Hope this helps. It truly is a great service in today's complex society.