Watch out for scams when selling here

Hi all,

I'm posting this to make you aware of an attempted scam for an item that I was selling in "our" classified area, and a very similar email I got for an ebay item. I made Matt O. aware of this. Basically the person sends an email stating that they are a “broker” or “agent” representing an “interested buyer”. They will want to send a check/money order for the full amount, including shipping and “their commission”. Of course you will have to send their commission back to them. Most of you know what I do for a living, and I’m trying to keep you “Sucker free”. Attached below is the letter I received yesterday:

Hello Seller,
I am an agent interested in immediate purchase of your item, After
several consideration over the advert placed on the website.
My Client has really shown interest in it and would really want to issue
the payment in form of Casher check/Money Order.
The payment that will be drawn by my client would include the cost for
shipping this item to my client and my commission would be included on
the same payment.
We shall solely be responsible for the shipment of the item and let me
know the final asking price without shipment so that i can have it
forwarded to my client for immediate mailing of payment.

Below are the details needed for payment:

Your Full Name:
Residential Address:
City:
State:
Zip code:
Country:
Phone Number: ( Cell,home and office phone #).
Contact me asap via email for further questions as regards this
transaction, if you really show willingness in
selling this item.

Yours Sincerely.
Joe Scammer

Thanks for the heads up. If your ever doing a transaction online use either a credit card or paypal, that way you can dispute the charge and get a refund.

It's amazing the trouble people go to, to scam someone. You would think they can take that energy and put it to something good.

I deleted the user in question. It looked like a scam, but not sure. BUT be aware!!!

I certainly appreciate the "Heads Up"

Matt O.

I can second this, I just received the same mail !
Thanks Chuck for the warning, makes it easier for me not to go deeper into it ... having both the same way of making our living ;-)

If you're still getting mail, or at any time, please advise myself or the staff immediately.

Matt O.

Marnix,
send me your email so I can send you a photo of my new dog, I just got a East German Shepherd. He looks like a wolf

Chuck

on the way ...

Paypal has a security sections on this topic and the many other ways people are duped and how to protect.

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/he...center-outside

Dee
DSG

It may not only be a scam, but a way of identity theft. Recently I found an ad for a '65 Mustang which was dirt cheap and in perfect condition. When I received an answer from the "seller" they told me that the exchange would be thro EBay and guaranteed etc. but wanted my full name and address to give to EBay. When you use EBay, you use an identification number and when I asked them for theirs I didn't hear back.

So be aware if someone asks for your name and address - you never know!

Rob

While it never fails to amaze me that people get suckered in by these scams, the fact that scammers are trying is proof that some people fall for them, and therefore they occasionally work. They play on the eagerness and desperation of the seller, as well as providing a gesture of honesty (where they send you more than the product is worth). By disguising as an agent or broker, they remove the personal contact that you would normally have, and this excuses the fact that the person you'll deal with, will know absolutely nothing about the product other than the price.

As places like Craigslist get flooded with have-a-go scammers, the strategic scam artists have to seek out smaller, specialist sites where scams are not as frequent, and perhaps with the assumption that the population there, isn't as street wise (although evidently not applicable here). This site is a good example of such a specialist site.

Reporting such scams to the community is probably the most powerful weapon, and the scammers will probably just disappear for a bit, before they have a new story.

This can also be seen on eBay. Particularly buyers who have no feedback and write either Dear Sir or Madam or what was just posted by the OP. So watch out. These have been labeled Nigerian money scams.