New kind of scam...at least for me

[yoopers]

I have a vehicle for sale listed out on Yahoo auto ads: http://my.autos.yahoo.com/usedcars/detail/index.html?cid=automobiles-1124480613-574162 and received the following email about my ad:

***************

Hello, I am a procurement agent here in England and i have a client who wants your car as a wedding present to his newly wedded son who is resident in Canada. Please provide more details below. Any accident history or air bag deflation ........?

Contact: Tony Keneth
Phone: 44-870-1331129
Email: alabama_autodealer@yahoo.co.uk
Best time to contact: Anytime
Best contact method: Email

Vehicle info:
Make: Dodge
Model: Ram Van
Year: 1995
Price: $0
Mileage: 117000
VIN: 2B6HB21YXSK511847

-- (attached message from Yahoo)
Although there is not a single surefire way to identify fraudulent
buyers, there are certain countries that have a higher incidence of
fraud and often have untraceable addresses. These include: Nigeria,Romania, Macedonia, Belarus, Pakistan, Russia, Lithuania, Egypt,Colombia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. You may want to decline to sell to buyers in these countries, even if the buyer offers to use a U.S. cashier's check. If you are at all suspicious, it's a good idea to do some research. Learn More

Thank you for using Yahoo! Autos

**************
My response:

Tony,

Please pardon my bluntness, but I am very wary of
overseas inquiries of vehicles for sale in the U.S.
Any transactions initiated outside of North America
will need to be cash-upon-delivery deals. Right away,
I have cause to be suspicious as my vehicle is not a
car.

As I have no way at this moment of recognizing
fraudulence, I can answer your question by saying our
vehicle has not been involved in any accidents. You
have the VIN from the Yahoo! ad and can verify the
history of the vehicle via carfax.com.

If I can answer any more questions, please feel free
to contact me at this email address.

Bruce

*******************

As I understand it, one of the scams is for someone to send a cashier's check for a purchase in an amount more than the asking price to cover incidentals, then ask that the overage be returned. Once the money has been returned, the original cashier's check turns out to be a fake.

[john_childs]

Originally posted by yoopers
As I understand it, one of the scams is for someone to send a cashier's check for a purchase in an amount more than the asking price to cover incidentals, then ask that the overage be returned. Once the money has been returned, the original cashier's check turns out to be a fake.

That's one of the scams. There is another scam that involves trying to deposit money directly into your checking account but in reality they are trying to get enough info to withdraw money from your checking account. I'm not sure of all the details on that one.

There's lots of web pages on scams that sellers need to be aware of. Here's the scam warning from Craigs List (http://seattle.craigslist.org/about/scams.html). Google for more scam warnings. Cars and other high ticket items are targets for scams.

[yoopers]

Okay, I'll go with this for now. I can see some possibilities here where they ask me to ship the vehicle across the border only to find out that their check is fraudulent. Thing is, until I have cash in hand and someone signs the title officially taking responsibility for the vehicle away from me, I'm not shipping it anywhere.

Here's his latest response:

Hi Bruce and Mary Edwards,

I hereby acknowledge the receipt of your mail.Meanwhile thanks for your prompt response to my enquiry concerning your 1995 Dodge Ram Van advert.

Please note that as i mentioned earler, my client wants to conclude this transaction as soon as possible since he wants the vehicle as a present for his son who is resident in Canada.As you know,we here in England drive on the right side while those resident in Canada and US drive on the left side.So the 1995 Dodge Ram Van will just need to be shipped across the border to Canada in time before the couple return from their honeymoon.

The details are okay so kindly re-confirm your firm price today by writing it boldly in your next mail and writing the word firm boldly beside it for my client's benefit so that we can proceed.

Have a pleasant day.
Tony Keneth.

[yoopers]

I'll lead him on for awhile:

Tony,

I'm so excited to play a part in someone's happiness, especially when it comes to marriage. What a blessed experience.

In answer to your inquiry, the price on the vehicle is $3100.00 USD firm.

Here are the deal specifics: As I previously mentioned, in this situation, it must be a cash on delivery transaction, no cashier's checks will be accepted. The purchaser must travel here to sign the title in my presence and take possession of the vehicle. I will not ship the vehicle without a signature on the title from the buyer himself and am not willing to have the title leave my possession prior to his signature. If you are still interested in pursuing this deal, please respond promptly.

Bruce

[GILD]

there's just something in the way these guys write that gives me the creeps
nobody but a scammer or an insurance salesman starts a letter 'Bruce and Mary Edwards'
oh, ok, maybe Real Estate Agents as well

[yoopers]

Originally posted by GILD
there's just something in the way these guys write that gives me the creeps
nobody but a scammer or an insurance salesman starts a letter 'Bruce and Mary Edwards'
oh, ok, maybe Real Estate Agents as well
I believe that's how I've got our Yahoo account title set up. So the manner of his salutation sure does remove some of the personal touch, doesn't it.

[GILD]

yeah, it just reads like a form letter that was written by someone who's english isn't quite as good as they think it is

keep us posted on how this one develops
i can't wait to see the scam unfold

[audhumls]

Heh, a P-P-P-P-Powerbook II might be nice.

[Gilby]

Originally posted by yoopers
As you know,we here in England drive on the right side while those resident in Canada and US drive on the left side.

no no no, we drive on the right side of the road.

[onetrack]

Originally posted by john_childs
There is another scam that involves trying to deposit money directly into your checking account but in reality they are trying to get enough info to withdraw money from your checking account. I'm not sure of all the details on that one.
Yeah, some guy tried to pull that on Lucal. He explains it here (http://www.thedan.com/okay/10-23-04.htm).


As you know,we here in England drive on the right side while those resident in Canada and US drive on the left side.
priceless.

[yoopers]

Originally posted by Gilby
no no no, we drive on the right side of the road.
Gilby,

That one blew right by me. I hadn't noticed his mistake. I'll have to call him on it.

Thanks,
Bruce

[yoopers]

Originally posted by Gilby
no no no, we drive on the right side of the road.
Gilby,

That one blew right by me. I hadn't noticed his mistake. I'll have to call him on it.

Thanks,
Bruce

[Loosemoose]

No, we here in England definitely drive on the right side of the road. It's everyone else that' wrong! HAHA

:D

Sorry...

Loose.

[Gilby]

Originally posted by yoopers
That one blew right by me. I hadn't noticed his mistake. I'll have to call him on it.

Hehe... but he was also correct as he didn't specify whether it was the car or the road. But here in the US we say that we drive on the right side of the road. Maybe in the UK, they say they drive on the right side of the car. Afterall, we all want to claim to be driving on the correct side. But then again, this guy is probably from Africa anyways.

[GILD]

Rii-i-i-iight...

hey, wathchit!

[yoopers]

This is interesting. Just got this today.


Hello sir/ma'am, I am a procurement agent here in England.I have a client who wants your Vehilcle for his son resident in Canada. Any accident history or air bag deployment? Are you first owner?Pls e-mail asap.

Contact: ben davis
Phone: 7753635047
Email: graciaway_autos@yahoo.com
Best time to contact: Anytime
Best contact method: Email


I copied the original email I received from the first guy and sent it to the second guy. Gee, I wonder if this confirms that this is a scam?

B

[johnfoss]

Originally posted by Gilby
Hehe... but he was also correct as he didn't specify whether it was the car or the road. Since the conversation is about a car (van), one can assume they were talking right-hand drive vs. left-hand drive. When specified that way, it means which side of the car the driver sits on.

What one cannot assume is that this is a legitemate attempt to buy the not-car. So far the potential buyer has not spoken in any way outside of what seems a structured form-letter type of reply. You could try asking some specific questions and if they get ignored, you've probably identified a scam.

Certainly you don't need to be hearing from a procurement agent in England if you have requested and in-person cash transaction...

[GILD]

Originally posted by yoopers
Contact: ben davis
Phone: 7753635047
Email: graciaway_autos@yahoo.com
Best time to contact: Anytime
Best contact method: Email
and here's the email he just received from me


ben hi
a recent bussiness contact of yours supplied me with your email
i'm situated in africa and have business dealing with a variety of gentlemen who specialise in recently secondhanded motor vehicles
mostly these are in the upper end of the luxury section
we are constantly on the lookout for discerning buyers in need of our services and i thought u and i might have a natural symbioticism in our respective fields

what do u say, u wanna do some bussines?

send word

[yoopers]

Originally posted by GILD
and here's the email he just received from me
I love it!

[yoopers]

New twist. I also called the phone number listed only to get a recording saying the number didn't exist.

*****************

Hello Seller, This is auto spare parts distributors a subsidiary of oklahoma parts inc base in iowa, united states. I am interested in purchasing your motor vehichle for spare parts supply in africa. I will like to offer you the sum of 2,850.00 USD.

Contact: williams james
Phone: 5148360428
Email: atlantic_logistictech@yahoo.com
Best time to contact: Anytime
Best contact method: Email

******************

My response:

Sold. Matter of fact, I'll only charge you $2500.00. Terms are cash upon delivery, no cashier's checks, and personal visit from the buyer to sign the title.

Love,
me

[GILD]

Originally posted by yoopers
I am interested in purchasing your motor vehichle for spare parts supply in africa. yeah, we're just dying for Dodge van parts over here

[yoopers]

I got another email from him in response to my last:

I do not understand you.
could you pls explain what you are saying better.
Thank you


So I responded by typing slower so he could understand.

B

[GILD]

Originally posted by yoopers
could you pls explain what you are saying better.
does that mean u say it better than u type it?Originally posted by yoopers
So I responded by typing slower so he could understand. that'll learn him

[unicycle6869]

Just 2 weeks ago I got the same type of email stating this:

BUYER INFO
Name: David Moore
E-Mail Address: ideal_automobiles@yahoo.com
Day Phone: 448-701-3311

Comments: Hello sir/ma'am, I am a procurement agent here in England and
i have a client who wants your Mustang for his son who graduated from a
university in Ontario,Canada. Any accident history or air bag
deployment? Are you the first owner?


And at first I was all happy and excited so I wrote this back:

Hello,
This car has never been in an accident as far as I know. They title is not salvaged and air bags havent' deployed. Runs great and looks great. I am not the only owner of the car cause I bought it last summer when I got a promotion at work. I want to sell it cause I'm having a difficult time affording it with insurance and loan. Call me at 612-240-8786 or email me with any more questions or concerns.

Jamey

So he wrote this back:

Hello Jamey,
This is an acknowledgement of the receipt of your mail which is your response to my enquiry about your 1999 Ford Mustang Convertible GT advert.
Note that as i mentioned earlier, my client wants to conclude this transaction as soon as possible since he wants the Mustang Convertible GT as a present for his son who is resident in Canada.As you know,we here in England drive on the right side of the steering wheel while those resident in Canada and US drive on the left side.So the vehicle will just need to be shipped across the border to Canada before the formal graduation ceremony which comes up soon.
Your mail sounded quite honest and re-assuring so kindly exercise a little patience while i discuss your firm price of $11,069us with my client.I will get back to you later today or tomorrow morning with my client's decision.
Have a pleasant day.
David Moore.

So I started getting more excited cause I wasn't really aware of this type of fraud. But when he wrote this back, I became suspicous:

Hello Jamey,
I want to inform you that we have concluded with our client and he has instructed me to proceed with the transaction for the purchase of your 1999 Ford Mustang Convertible. He said that I should inform you that the payment will get to you in a cashier check of ($18,925us) which is a refund payment of a cancelled order earlier made by my client.
He informed me that he intends using the refund payment to pay for your vehicle.

Due to company policy, this check has to be made out in this amount($18,925us) to you, because company policy only allows a refund payment on one cashier check, so you are required to deduct cost of your VEHICLE ($11,069us) when the payment gets to you and refund the balance of ($7,856us) to my client's agent VIA MONEYGRAM INTERNATIONAL MONEY TRANSFER, for the agent to be able to offset shipping /pickup charges ,contracting of the Pick up agent, taxes, commission charges and any other handling bills.

After payment has reached you and balance sent back to his agent - the agent will contact the PICKUP AGENT who will come for the pick up of the vehicle to be shipped to my client's son.
My client is making some necessary arrangement with some of the agent and will provide me with the pickup/test driver agent as soon as he decides whom to use as an agent for the pickup of the vehicle for delivery to his son in Canada.

NOTE: MY CLIENT ADVISED THAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO DEDUCT THE TRANSFER CHARGES FROM THE REMAINING BALANCE ($7,856us) YOU ARE TO SEND DOWN TO THE AGENT VIA MONEY GRAM INTERNATIONAL WIRE TRANSFER.

Confirm this whole arrangement and provide the details below for check payment to be delivered to you .
PAYMENT INFORMATION:
1.LEGAL NAME IN FULL.........
2.CONTACT ADDRESS IN FULL..........................
3.PHONE NUMBER(S).................

Regards,
David Moore,
82 Old Kent Road,
London SE15 1JF, England.
Phone NO;44-7040111242 / Fax NO;44-870-1331129.

And so I looked at autotrader.com's fraud tips and responded with this message:

David,
Got your email and am suprised you'd buy a car even though you haven't seen it yet and you'd have to ship it to Canada. I think you could find a better deal in Canada? Nonetheless, if you are really serious about this please call me first at 612-240-8786 before I do any further things with this I need to talk in person with you. Be aware that I am aware of frauds out there and have read this:
Confirm contact information. Before you turn over the keys, verify the buyer's address and phone number. An email address is not enough. Be particularly wary if the buyer is located overseas.

Secure payment first. Do not transfer the title until you have the equivalent of cash at the agreed upon purchase price. Use caution if the buyer proposes a complicated payment arrangement, such as a payment process that involves multiple steps; receiving payment through a friend or agent of the actual buyer; or receiving a check for more than the purchase price and writing the buyer a check for the difference.

Beware of counterfeit cashiers and certified checks. Before you deposit a check into your account, ask the issuing bank to verify that the check is genuine and that the account contains sufficient funds to cover the check amount. Wait until the check clears before transferring the title.

Consider reliable escrow services. For additional security, you may choose to use a dependable escrow service. Shop carefully—there are an increasing number of fake escrow services. Don't turn your money over until you've fully checked the service out. And be sure you understand all terms of the escrow arrangement. As previously mentioned, AutoTrader.com does not endorse any escrow services.

SO, I will be abiding by all of these rules just so you know. You won't recieve anything until I have the cash in my hand. Call me before I give you any more info at 612-240-8786. Thanks.

Jamey

And that was the last that I heard of him. Kinda wish I would've kept him going now like you guys did. Sounds like fun. Kinda like when telemarketers call I try and see how long I can keep them on the phone to piss them off since they interupted me and pissed me off. I try to have fun with it sometimes and start asking them questions, saying stupid things like "I'm in the middle of a blow job can you call me back" or silly stuff like "I'm taking a dump right now, does this make you comfortable talking with me now?". I actually enjoy getting telemarketer calls now that I can have fun with it. Figure since they want to waste my time, I'll do the same for them! I actually get mad if my girlfriend or sister answer and hang up right away without giving me the phone first.

[yoopers]

Way to go, Jamey! Good catch on the scam. It's amazing what's out there scam-wise. Sure pays to keep a cautious mind and open eyes.

I think the next one I get, I'll keep him going until he sends me the cashier's check. Could be fun.

Bruce

[nick]

My father was selling some skis online (Snow Rangers, nice skis). Anyways, some guy pulled that scam, and before my dad could respond with a "you can't have my skis," The guy overnighted a check for $8000.00! (The skis were posted at $400.00). So my dad emails the guy and explains, and of course, gets a story back about shipping the skis, cashing a check and giving a currier $7600.00 in cash.

Needless to say my father called the FBI.

I'm not kidding.

[yoopers]

Way to go, Nick's Dad! I appreicate hearing those kind of stories because it provides a great education on some of the things that are out to get us...or more appropriately, our money. There really is power in being informed, isn't there?

B

[yoopers]

Creative? Innovative? Still just spam in my book.

I forward stuff like this to abuse@yahoo.com or abuse@msn.com or to whatever domain service they're using.



SINOSTEEL TRADING COMPANY
I am Mr. Steven Elliot, we are a group of business men who deal on raw materials and export into America and Europe,We are searching for representatives who can help us establish a medium of getting to our costumers in your country, as well as making payments through you to us.

Please if you are interested in transacting business with us we will be very glad. Contact our Procurement officer Matt Anderson through e-mail (marion_white10@yahoo.com) for more information.

Subject to your satisfaction you will be given the opportunity to negotiate your mode of which we will pay for your services as our representative.

Please if you are interested forward to us your phone number/fax and your full contact address.

Thanks
Steven Elliot, President
SINOSTEEL TRADING COMPANY
Goods for Import / Export & Freight Fwdg. Svcs
www.cmiec.com

[yoopers]

Creative? Innovative? Still just spam in my book.

I forward stuff like this to abuse@yahoo.com or abuse@msn.com or to whatever domain service they're using.



SINOSTEEL TRADING COMPANY
I am Mr. Steven Elliot, we are a group of business men who deal on raw materials and export into America and Europe,We are searching for representatives who can help us establish a medium of getting to our costumers in your country, as well as making payments through you to us.

Please if you are interested in transacting business with us we will be very glad. Contact our Procurement officer Matt Anderson through e-mail (marion_white10@yahoo.com) for more information.

Subject to your satisfaction you will be given the opportunity to negotiate your mode of which we will pay for your services as our representative.

Please if you are interested forward to us your phone number/fax and your full contact address.

Thanks
Steven Elliot, President
SINOSTEEL TRADING COMPANY
Goods for Import / Export & Freight Fwdg. Svcs
www.cmiec.com

[forrestunifreak]

Wow, so many scams...I dont understand them.

Check out this one I got-I still dont get it. Its funny though, with the bad english. Do they do that on purpose or what?

I got it through unicyclist.com.

________________________
This is a message from juliettemark06 at Unicyclist Community Forums (
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/index.php ). The Unicyclist Community
Forums owners cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of the
email.


This is the message:

Good Day,

My name is MISS JULIETTE MARK from cote d'ivoire africa .How are you
today? Hope fine .Let me tell you about myself .My late father Mr MARK
PATRICK KEITA was coco merchant and great politician here in cote
d'ivoire who died during this political crisis .

Before his death he made a deposit with a BANK here $11 million
dollars. Due to my mother died before his death and no one taking care of me,
i ran into catholic church where i stays and wait for Gods intervention
.As the condition of the country is going worst the Rev priest has
adviced me to source for partnership abroad to stay with instead of dieing
here .

Because of this information , i decided to contact you for help,
relocate me and take me as your own daughter and invest this funds with me
into a profit yeilding business .this will help me to complete my
education because since the death of my parents i stoped school , couple with
the current crisis , i dont know who is who, in other not to fail into
rebels hand , i have to with-hold my education till i move out of the
country.

I have all the documents to proof the funds existence in the banque but
will be glad to show it to you upon your confirmation to assist me .
contact me from this my email contact . juliettemark06@yahoo.ca

May God Bless You and your family.
Kind regards,

MISS JULIETTE MARK


__________________

[yoopers]

Originally posted by forrestunifreak
with the bad english. Do they do that on purpose or what?


No, the Nigerian scams, which this seems to be one, are written by people for whom English is not their first language. So they do their best but fall short of correct grammer, spelling and punctuation. It doesn't prove that it's a scam though as anyone who would write a legitimate email from that region might have similar trouble with English. But this email's format is pretty much the same as every other Nigerial scam email. You can pretty much count it as spam.


Originally posted by forrestunifreak
My late father Mr MARK PATRICK KEITA was coco merchant

Coo coo merchant, that's good.

[speedking562]

yaaa, so what if i gave a guy that i believe to be scamming me, my name, adress, and phone number,?

he wanted to buy my car, but says hes outta town, and he sent me a check, however his partner that was sending the checks mixed up the two so the one hes sending me is more, and wants me to send the surplus thru western union to a manager at a shipping depot

[Pseudonym]

You would do best posting your message on a site like www.scamwarners.com, but I'll give you some info anyway. It is a classic over payment scam.

So far, all he has are details that are freely available in phone books and the like. Don't worry.
Here's your check list.
1. Do not respond to him again, block his email. Don't tell him you know it's a scam.
2. If the cheque arrives, do not cash it ever. It is fake and it will bounce.
3. If you have cashed it, do not withdraw the money, tell your bank (They rarely care as long as the money doesn't go missing)
4. If yo have cashed it, do not send the money via western union. Put it back into your account.
5. If you have sent it, go to the nearest WU office and try to reclaim it.
6. Relax. I'm glad you worked it out before you lost money.

You should definitely go to scamwarners.com and post any info you have on the scam. It may help future victims find out that it's a scam. You will also get much better info there than you will from me.

[johnfoss]

he wanted to buy my car, but says hes outta town, and he sent me a check...As mentioned above, odds are about 99.9% that this is a scam, and if any check is coming your way it's not worth the paper it's written on. Just tell them you changed your mind, if anything.

Or, for fun, propose an even more complicated way to send the check back to him. You'll send him a (worthless) check for 50% more than the check amount, and then he can refund you the difference... :)

[Gilby]

Or, for fun, propose an even more complicated way to send the check back to him. You'll send him a (worthless) check for 50% more than the check amount, and then he can refund you the difference... :)

As much fun as that would be, you'd be committing fraud.

[poofengle]

What's a little fraud compared to the loads of fun you'd be having? lol

Check out http://www.419eater.com/html/letters.htm.

It's an enitire website dedicated to seeing how far one person can scam the scammers. Sometimes they even get the scammers to take a ridiculous picture to "prove" that they're not scamming anyone.

The best part of it is the names he uses. He says that his name's like Klench Mychiques or Shiver Metimbers, and the scammers believe him. It's hilarious.

My fav. is "The church of the holy cow"

[GILD]

I'm at the moment in the middle of a Russian girl scam.
We've been corresponding a while, she just won some competition at work and won an international holiday (she 'works' at a travel agent, so it's not that far-fetched.

She's now decided to come spend her holiday in my country.

And she still hasn't asked me for money.

I can't wait to see where this one is heading.

[Pseudonym]

Gild, how long have you been chatting to "her"? My vlads usually wait a couple of months before asking, although I've got one who asked once 5 months ago and hasn't broached the subject again. We're more like penpals for the moment.

[GILD]

This one was rapid.
She mentioned the holiday in her third email and by the fourth day decided she was coming to my country on holiday.
I'm sitting with this nagging feeling that she may just pitch up.
Which will be a bit of a difficult one to explain to the girlfriend.

[Pseudonym]

There will no doubt be a problem that requires your money to fix.

[unstable]

here's another website that turns the tables on the scammers:
http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/

Iama Dildo. heh.