Need help from US people.

[TattooedMoFo 0]

This has been poste on the general discussion forum as well.

Here's the situation. I advertised my rig for sale and got the foloowing reply plus a follow up message, but this all sounds like Rubbish to me and I vaguely remember reading something similar a while back. IF you guys have heard of a scam like this, let me know please. here is the E-mail my first reply and his follow up:

hello,
> > i mailed in order to place a purchase enquiry on your [Complete Rig ]which i got the placement while surfing through the web ,i am to buy at the asking rate of £1600 bo,i am located in the US and my associate in the UK will precare for the payment of the transaction,for payment will you accept a certified bank draft.
> > i will be expeecting your mail .
> > take care and God bless

Hey Damon
>
> Don't take this the wrong but you are straight off asking to buy a rig that you havn't seen or asked any questions about? You will excuse me if I don't take this very seriously at all. If you do have enquires you Partner in the UK or yourself can get in touch with me. Should you still then want to purchase the rig, I mutual person will keep the item untill all funds have been cleared, where upon the item will be released to you.
>
> Please feel free to discuss this further with me.
>
> Thanks
> Kevin
Thanks for the mail, definately i ma to get the pics of what i am paying for and the current detailsas you can see i'm currently in the UK i'm really much interested in the rig ,i'll like you to send me some pics and detailed descriptions of the rig .For the pick up,have arranged for that my shipping agent will come for the pick up as soon as the payment is settled.
Inorder to proceed with the payment further. i will need you to forward me your name,address and telephone number in order to forward to my client in the U.S. who is to pay me 5300pounds in on a return trans transaction we had before i left the states,said he will issue you a cheque of 5,300 pounds drawn from a U.S. Bank in your once the check clears at your end,deduct cost of the which you said is 1600.00 pounds, and go to any Currency Exchange Unit around you and make sure you do wire the remaining balance back via "MONEY GRAM TRANSFER" or "WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER" as this will be used for shipping arrangement ,reason being that it will be used to cover the expenses of the shippers, freight cost, insurance and handling/change of title,I hope the title documents is intact.

So at this junction i will advice that you take the advert off the net so that we can concentrate and have this transaction done smoothly without confusion from left or right.

So if my offer is okay by you let me have your informations in this manner:
NAME(to be written on the check):
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE #:
That will be written on the check so as to make payment delivery ready as soon as possible.

And also tell me if i can count on you for the remaining balance for the shipping payment/arrangement.

I look forward to trustworthy transaction with you, expecting your mail soonest.

Thanks and God Bless.

[scottjaco 0]

I would run!

I would never sell a rig to someone overseas.

The whole thing sounds really shady!


scott

[betzilla 56]

I don't know, but I don't think I'd want to sell my rig badly enough to give a complete stranger my home address, so he could have his "associate" come to my house.

There will be other buyers.

[TattooedMoFo 0]

Quote

I would run!

I would never sell a rig to someone overseas.

The whole thing sounds really shady!


scott

Well he said he is here in the UK now, so i'll take him to a DZ and let him test jump the Eliptical canopy and if he makes it down in 1 piece with his cash in hand then it's his....lol

[TattooedMoFo 0]

Quote

I don't know, but I don't think I'd want to sell my rig badly enough to give a complete stranger my home address, so he could have his "associate" come to my house.

There will be other buyers.

I wouldn't give out those details anyway, not to someone i havn't met and a need to trust on a financial basis like this.

And yes there are already other possibly interested parties.

[CornishChris 5]

There are loads of these spam mails that puport to be from somewhere in Africa offering to give you money then you return some of it to them and keep a commission. The money is generally "stockpiled a after a coup in my country". Basically once they have all your bank accoiunt details they can do funny things with it (allegedly) and screw you.

To see if they are serious, which I doubt, ask them a question that is complete bollocks and see what they answer.

My recommendation - stay away but have fun with them.

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[quade 4]

Yes. This looks a LOT like the Nigerian 4-1-9 Scam, but my guess is that it's simply a copy-cat spin-off and not actually part of that.

In the 4-1-9 scam works slightly differently as well.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[nathaniel 0]

Pure scam. It's called overpayment fraud.

They give you a bad check or draft for too much money and you deposit it in your bank account. The money appears in your account and the check appears to have been good. You send back the difference and all's well and good, until several days later you see their check didn't clear after all and you are out the money you sent "back" to the scammer.

Checks and drafts can take many days to clear -- no matter which bank "issued" them. If the instrument is a cashier's check or bank draft it is just a counterfit. As a service most banks will credit the money to your account before the check is fully processed so it appears the check was good when it is still outstanding -- under the assumption that most checks are good. The check you write to the scammer is good and when their check finally bounces you are SOL.

Professional escrow services can help prevent this type of scam -- the scammer is proposing his own intermediary instead of an accredited escrow service as a diversion here. This "intermediary" if he exists at all is surely part of the scam.

nathaniel

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[riggerrob 643]

Yes, definitely use an escrow service.
Also make the escrow and sale contingent on an inspection by a neutral third party, preferably a rigger.
Ask the rigger to hold onto the gear until ALL the checks have cleared ALL the banks.

[crbizri 0]

I had almost the identical e-mail convo with someone that sounds a lot like this person. It's a scam - almost the same details as this e-mail except my guy claimed to be from somewhere in Africa. Run far, far away from this one!!

[TattooedMoFo 0]

Thanks everybody, during theis time a few people have emailed me from the UK, stating that they have had similar emails from the same people. So everyone has caught on quick that's it's a scam and will be ever careful now.