eBay Scam?
Posted September 13th, 2004 @ 10:04am by Erik J. Barzeski
I got this email via my eBay auction from an interested buyer:
hello, My client is interested in buying ur item and he wants to pay via Cashier check,he will issue a cashier check which will include the money for the item,my commission as an agent and also the shipping charges,Immediately u get the check,you will go straight and cash it instantly at a check cashing place in which u will deduct out ur money and send the excess funds thru western union money transfer to my client shipper in africa the same day u get the check via western union ,If u agree on this,kindly send me ur contact mailing address to send the check to with ur phone number. N.B ; He will be sending u a check of $4800 in which u will cash instantly and send the excess funds thru western union to my client shipper the same day u get the check. I await ur reply. have a great day. Pls if u agree end the auction imemdiately and send me ur name and address to send the check to. I can also send u list of check cashing place in ur area to cash the check when u receive it
Nice try. I checked into things, and Heinrich reminded me that this was just another form of the Nigerian counterfeit Bank Check scam. I didn't think it was possible, with cash in hand, to be held accountable for someone else counterfeiting, but apparently this is how things work.
I'll keep the secret service out of my little scooter sale, thank you very much. Here's more on this kind of scam.
Donate Life
Posted 13 Sep 2004 at 1:00pm #
This happened to me when I was trying to sell my S2000 on AutoTrader.com
Not once, or even twice -- I received similar solicitations from 6 different people. It was always the same scheme, they'd want to send more money that I was asking on the car. Once cashed, I was to return the difference to them via wire transfer.
I immediately recognized the scam, but decided to toy with these fools simply for my own entertainment. After a while of me feigning excitement, yet not agreeing on the 'deal', they'd lose interest.
In fact, the last person that tried to screw me like this had requested additional photos of the car. At this point I was frustrated that the only inquiries I was getting from AutoTrader were these scams, so I replied by sending them an email with the goatse.cx image attached and a friendly message encouraging them to piss up a rope.
Anyway, the car's gone now -- traded for a WRX (needed something more capable of dealing with snow). Just thought I'd share my experience.
Posted 13 Sep 2004 at 2:57pm #
They want you to be the sucker that cashes their falsified cashier's check. The scam has been making the rounds for a while, it tries to capitalize on your greed.
Posted 13 Sep 2004 at 4:41pm #
Did you really need to "check into things" to know this was a scam?
Posted 13 Sep 2004 at 7:09pm #
Though, if you wanted to scam someone, couldn't they even make half an effort to make it a) readable and b) make sense?
It just makes my brain go squish, and I don't like that.
Posted 13 Sep 2004 at 10:15pm #
never trust someone who cant even type out "you" ...or who thinks "UR" somehow means "your"
it's obvious they're either scamming you, or completely retarded. best to avoid in either case.
Posted 30 Jun 2005 at 11:55pm #
A friend of mine fell for this one, he cashed the check but happened to tell me about this deal before he sent the money, he is 18 and not aware of these scams, I stopped him from sending the money and now i am trying to help him undo his potential credit nightmares. As of this writing he is 6 days in and the check has not bounced yet, but we all know it will next week. Even his father is unaware of these scams and neither want to believe it is a fraud, just because the BANK CLEARS THE FUNDS DOES NOT MEAN THE CHECK IS GOOD!! I know i saved the kid 10 Grand cash, and I am aware because I am a recreational scambaiter, it is a rush know I screwed up one of their scams. And yes it was autotrader that he advertised on. Any links to help screw these bas**rds would help. he was supposed to wire the money to lagos nigeria, any red flags here guys?