Seller Beware

Hello. I am a registry member (#427) and have frequented the site but not posted until now.

Perhaps many of you know about the internet scams out there, but I wanted to post so no sellers here fall victim. Also would have posted in the classifieds section, but thought more exposure here.

I have received dozens of e-mails from abroad wanting to buy my car advertised in this site and another early 911 site. All of them involve purchase of the car unseen. Typically here's how they work. Funds will be received in excess of agreed amount via wire, personal check or other seemingly valid form of payment, including cashiers check (counterfeit). I don’t believe there is ever any intention to pick up the car, but I may be wrong. The “buyer” will ask for excess funds wired to a shipping agent (fake).

If you are involved in this type of transaction, do not under any circumstances re-route or wire funds back. Your bank may clear the funds, but ultimately find the transaction to be counterfeit.

Most of my scam offers have originated from the UK, UAE, and the Netherlands or so they say… Most are written in broken English, or appear to be form (i.e., Dear Sir / Madam). A lot have fastermail.com and graffiti.net addresses.

I have not lost anything but time, however here is a link to people that have been duped.

http://www.classicsandcustoms.com/di...=1&postID=2123

A guy in our office had it happen a month ago. He was having trouble selling his car. A guy in Canada offered what he was asking. He sent him a cashiers check for the amount of the vehicle plus 15k for transport. Dan was going to send the guy the 15k back but the bank teller pointed out it was unusal. She checked his funds and found that the cashiers check had not cleared.

I had two attempts on two of my cars,one from U.A.E.,the other from the U.K.....NORTHERN IRELAND,ONE STATED HE WAS AN ENGINEER IN N.I.AND I RECEIVED A THIRD WHICH I JUST DELETED.AFTER SUPPLYING WIRE INSTRUCTIONS,NO WIRE FORTH COMING,I PRESSED VIA E MAIL.THEN AFTER 5 DAYS SENT AN E MAIL STATING THE ACCOUNT WAS CLOSED AND THE PO BOX I GAVE AS AN ADDRESS WAS CLOSED.I WAS VERY CONCERNED FROM THE VERY BEGINNING,JUST DID KNOW HOW THE SCAM WOULD WORK;AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS ID THIEF SO I GAVE A VERY LITTLE USED BANK ACCOUNT AND HAD IT CLOSED

This has been discussed on Pelican & Rennlist...be careful out there guys. The old saying: If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is." still applies.

I got one of those checks and I had saved all the e-mails from the idiots.I printed them and sent them to the Tucson Secret Service office along with the check.Believe it or not,that`s whose handling this.I made 6 phone calls before I got a definitive answer.If you want to do something about these guys ,act on this info. TFM

These are all variations of what's come to be known as "Nigerian 419" scams. where as I understand it "419" is the legal code for fraud in that country.

I am currently involved with one of these whacko's and it's kinda funny......the latest twist is that the scammer offers to buy whatever you have for sale, only there has been an error at the bank and you are being sent a cashiers check far in excess of your asking price of what you are selling. Then they want you to send them back all excess funds in a cashiers check.

For example, right now This kook who is supposedly from Canada wants to buy one of my Bass Guitars, which I am selling for $600.00.....well golly gee...somehow the bank screwed up and made the cashiers check out for $5500.00 and he wants me to send the excess $$$ back in a cashiers check of my own !!!! ...like yeah, right....I'm really going to do this...I'm still waiting for the check to show up, but I think this person knows I'm on to him because I've been sending him whacky emails of my own.

I've saved every email and as soon as I get the check I will be turning it over to the authorities.

For every one's info...type Nigerian 419 into your browser and see all the links pop up....