Warning: Tuyet Hung
- Thread starter azguy
- Start date
I had a similar experience trying to sell my boat. There are all kinds of scammers out there BEWARE!!
Yes, it did. I asked him where he saw the ad as I have it on the "ebay" too and he actually said Sailboatowners....
It was sort of sophisticated because he asked how old it was, why I was selling it, general condition and then started in with the I'll pay more, by check and have someone pick it up...
It was sort of sophisticated because he asked how old it was, why I was selling it, general condition and then started in with the I'll pay more, by check and have someone pick it up...
We had a similar experience selling a sailboat. Even received what appeared to be a treasurer's which I promptly marked "mail fraud" & gave to the postal service. The scam was we were to deposit the check (which was more than what we were asking for the boat), then forward the balance to his "shipper"- right! Don't think so....
I like to play with them.. keeping them busy on what they think is a hot target so they waste lots of their time. I'll tell them fine, send the check.. then it will take a really long time until I get it. Then there will be a problem with the bank and I have to wait until it clears.. stretch it out.. lots of ways. Also, they want you to send the return money via a money gram so they can intercept it from out of country. The address they give might be real, but the people who reside/work there have no idea what is going on. Then, after a good long stretch of jerking them around, tell them that you sent a USPS postal money order to the address they gave you, since that is your preferred method of sending money. Sit back and watch them freak out after telling them that! On one occasion, I actually got the guy to send me some cash to cover the costs of 'revoking' the money order to recover my money so I could re-send via a money gram. Of course, at that point, you have some 'problems' with your e-mail, get divorced, befall a terrible injury, use your imagination.
The checks they send look completely valid, and unfortunately the bank they are drawn on will NOT verify it is authentic or not. Even contacting their check fraud division is useless. But you can call the company name that is on the check and verify.. usually getting a response of "Oh, we have been getting a lot of calls about these lately.. it's completely bogus".
Craigslist used to be flooded with these guys.. it's a bit better now. They generally are not too bright, and easy to mess with. Scam Baiting has become quite popular which might be one reason. There are some good web sites with tons of info, stories and advice such as 419Eater and 419Baiter. Some of the stories are hilarious.
Cheers,
Brad
The checks they send look completely valid, and unfortunately the bank they are drawn on will NOT verify it is authentic or not. Even contacting their check fraud division is useless. But you can call the company name that is on the check and verify.. usually getting a response of "Oh, we have been getting a lot of calls about these lately.. it's completely bogus".
Craigslist used to be flooded with these guys.. it's a bit better now. They generally are not too bright, and easy to mess with. Scam Baiting has become quite popular which might be one reason. There are some good web sites with tons of info, stories and advice such as 419Eater and 419Baiter. Some of the stories are hilarious.
Cheers,
Brad
i got a check one time written on the state of Florida from the comptrollers office ..so i call the secretary of state in Fla and they just said oh well ...i would have thought they would like for me to send them the check but they said don't bother....so i said Oh Well.....
regards
woody
My sister got a similar offer for her car once. I stepped in as her attorney, but the guy still only emailed her. He even sent her a check from his "agent", who was also an attorney. I called his office, and his secretary said he'd had this problem before, and that no, it was not a valid check.
On the other vein, on a fishing forum I use, there was one of the regular posters who got the infamous Nigerian email about needing someone to help transfer millions of dollars. The poster strung the guy along for months, and posted copies of the exchange on the forum. The Nigerian had to do so many stupid things, like paint silly words on his bare chest, stand on one foot, etc. it was absolutely hilarious.
On the other vein, on a fishing forum I use, there was one of the regular posters who got the infamous Nigerian email about needing someone to help transfer millions of dollars. The poster strung the guy along for months, and posted copies of the exchange on the forum. The Nigerian had to do so many stupid things, like paint silly words on his bare chest, stand on one foot, etc. it was absolutely hilarious.
I play them as much as I can too. I've even had them call me crying about there poor passed on MOM.:cry: I offered to get him counselling if he told me ware he was... He wouldn't.
I still have a Certafied cheque form the Bank of Montreal for $5600 in a drawer in the shop.
You should have seen my bank managers face when I presented it to her. She wouldn't even touch it physically. She used a piece of paper to scoop it up to look at it. Then she told me it was real... Yea! It's real... But...
She checked the bank it "came from" and found they had no record of producing it! It happens I was at the same bank but different branch.
These scammer guys are getting very good if they are producing cheques that fool ban managers.
I ended up telling the scammer guy that I was independently wealthy and would give his agent cash when he showed up. He never did and buddy just stopped calling...
Actually, it's really easy to print bogus checks.. pick up a pack of blank checks at Office Depot and use any check writing software you might have.. Quicken, Checksoft, Versacheck, etc.. The checks already have all those standard 'anti-counterfit' security features such as micro-print borders, anti-copy backgrounds and watermarks. For all purposes, they are real checks and there is no way to distinguish it from being fraudulent without contacting the party who supposedly wrote it to see if they really did. I've seen banks cash them, only to later find out they were fraudulent once contacted by the company involved.
They are still fun to play with though
Oh, here is an example of how stupid some of them are.. My wife used to work in the check fraud division of the State Attorneys Office. When the scammers asked for an address to send the check to, I would give them the State Attorneys address, addressed to my wife and care of the check fraud division. 9 out of 10 times, they would actually send the check to that address!
Cheers,
Brad