Warning! New Scam going around.
06-29-2005, 11:29 AM
#1
3.0 BAR
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,558
Warning! New Scam going around.
Basically the scam is getting somebody else to cash fake Postal Money Orders and then wire the money back to them, or to someone else.
Originally the scam was simply have someone cash the money orders and receive some of the money as payment for the help. Sounds stupid, right? Yeah, but there are a lot of idiots out there who need money and don't realize they are being scammed.
Now, one version of the scam (which is how they attempted to scam me) is to contact you about an auction, some item that they want. The grammar is horrible in the emails, and no name is ever used. I was selling some turntables for my roomate on ebay, and this guy contacted me saying "my client wants your item. I deal with U.S. transactions for them and ship the items to them". I thought it sounded weird so I required either a money order or cashiers check to help secure my money. He said, that's fine, what I'll do is send extra funds, then you'll be able to pay the "shipping company" which will come pick up the item. I told him to secure the transaction by using the buy-it-now function, and he never did. The auciton ended without the reserve met, and he send the check was on the way.
Well, I received the package today, and I was expecting around $800-$850, the price of the items was $750. I figured, $50-100 for shipping internationally was reasonable. So I opened it up and yup, an $850 Postal Money Order, but there were 3 of them. Sequential Serial Numbers and all for $850. $1800 to ship seems a little high, so I figure, this guy is just routing money through me. The worst part is that he wants me to "wire" the money throught Western Union to some Chick in the UK and now she'll pay the shipping charges. What?!
Obviously, this all keeps getting more sketchy, so I examine the Money Orders, very bad fakes. The back tells you what security features to look for, and then they aren't even there.
Just a heads up to not reply to any emails regarding purchasing your items for clients outside the states. If you try to cash the fraudulent Money Orders, you are involved in a federal crime, and the authorities will be contacting you.
For more info Money Order Fraud
Originally the scam was simply have someone cash the money orders and receive some of the money as payment for the help. Sounds stupid, right? Yeah, but there are a lot of idiots out there who need money and don't realize they are being scammed.
Now, one version of the scam (which is how they attempted to scam me) is to contact you about an auction, some item that they want. The grammar is horrible in the emails, and no name is ever used. I was selling some turntables for my roomate on ebay, and this guy contacted me saying "my client wants your item. I deal with U.S. transactions for them and ship the items to them". I thought it sounded weird so I required either a money order or cashiers check to help secure my money. He said, that's fine, what I'll do is send extra funds, then you'll be able to pay the "shipping company" which will come pick up the item. I told him to secure the transaction by using the buy-it-now function, and he never did. The auciton ended without the reserve met, and he send the check was on the way.
Well, I received the package today, and I was expecting around $800-$850, the price of the items was $750. I figured, $50-100 for shipping internationally was reasonable. So I opened it up and yup, an $850 Postal Money Order, but there were 3 of them. Sequential Serial Numbers and all for $850. $1800 to ship seems a little high, so I figure, this guy is just routing money through me. The worst part is that he wants me to "wire" the money throught Western Union to some Chick in the UK and now she'll pay the shipping charges. What?!
Obviously, this all keeps getting more sketchy, so I examine the Money Orders, very bad fakes. The back tells you what security features to look for, and then they aren't even there.
Just a heads up to not reply to any emails regarding purchasing your items for clients outside the states. If you try to cash the fraudulent Money Orders, you are involved in a federal crime, and the authorities will be contacting you.
For more info Money Order Fraud
06-29-2005, 12:29 PM
#3
3.0 BAR
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 5,448
Re: Warning! New Scam going around.
Originally Posted by stillnoturbo
go cash those ******* and buy some turbo ----!
he clearly said they where fake. its a kinda good scam where he ghets your ---- for nothing. lol. hm....
06-29-2005, 01:45 PM
#8
3.0 BAR
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,028
Re: Warning! New Scam going around.
It's not exactly a new scam, but the money order part is. There's an entire thread about it on honda-tech.com.
When I had my car for sale on www.hondaclassifieds.com I got numerous e-mails like that, each requesting the same. I just told each of them I would require a personal check and 10 days for it to clear if I were to have anything to do with them.
I'd take the money orders to the post office if they're post office money orders, and say you recieved these but they're obviously fakes, how can we track these guys down. I wouldn't sit around waiting for them to send a real MO, I'd be looking for a way to make it bite them in the ***...especially if they are fake postal money orders, then they're in deep ----.
When I had my car for sale on www.hondaclassifieds.com I got numerous e-mails like that, each requesting the same. I just told each of them I would require a personal check and 10 days for it to clear if I were to have anything to do with them.
I'd take the money orders to the post office if they're post office money orders, and say you recieved these but they're obviously fakes, how can we track these guys down. I wouldn't sit around waiting for them to send a real MO, I'd be looking for a way to make it bite them in the ***...especially if they are fake postal money orders, then they're in deep ----.
06-29-2005, 03:16 PM
#10
1.5 BAR
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 888
Re: Warning! New Scam going around.
yeah yesterday at my job someone was trying to scam us out of $1800 worth of laptop batteries. and as you said it was weird from the get. to make a long story short (cuz i was on the fone for over an hour) this lady calls up and said she works for a company that helps deaf people comunicate with companies via the internet and a "chat room". so the guy types to her she says what he tped and then does the same for me. now we went back and forth for a while befor i knew what they were looking for but once i found out it was all good. then they said they wanted one at 189 ea then they said 10 so we brought the price down to 180 the said ok. then they gave a card number and b4 i could ask for the securety code on the back of the card she gave it to me. normally people dnt even know about the code. so i run that card and it denies it so i get a dif card (similar numbers same code on back) run it no good. so then the guy wants 900 on each try that and samething so then i was like well you can have him send us a check and once it goes threw we will send them. she pauses and "types" and then is like well it looks like we will be signing off now thank you have a good day and hangs up. it was wierd.
edit: sell them to someone for half the price of what they are worth and let them deal with it. thats the only way to make any money off it
edit: sell them to someone for half the price of what they are worth and let them deal with it. thats the only way to make any money off it
