Another Scam?

Joined
Feb 5, 2001
Messages
808
I sold this item on eBay last night for $480. Flags went up when I saw the buyer was from Benin in Africa.
Does anyone know how this scam works.

Hello,
Thanks for your mail response, i am from Benin republic located i West Africa,i'm okay with the condition and am okay with the price of Carved Mammoth Tooth Ivory Tusks Alaska Dentist, A client of mine is owning me some funds in
United State ($4,000), I will instruct him to issue the cheque for you and as soon as the cheque clear.You will deduct the cost of the Carved Mammoth Tooth Ivory Tusks Alaska Dentist and $80 as compensation to remove the advert from ebay,and the remaining balance will be Send to My Shipper via Western Union Money Tranfer for immediate Shipping Arrangment of the Carved Mammoth Tooth Ivory Tusks Alaska Dentist and also to pickup a Carved Mammoth Tooth Ivory Tusks Alaska Dentist in Wisconsin.
Do get back to me If this is okay by you with your information (Full Name, Contact Address, Phone Number), so that i can forward it to my Client to issue the cheque for you ASAP. Hope to hear from you soonest.

Best Regards,
catherine...

NB:- I will wait for the cheque to clear before the pick up...
 
I don't know how it works but i'm almost 100% sure it's a scam.
I think it involves 2 unfortunate parties though. You and the other person who's going to be issuing the cheque.

Get her to pay you by PayPal or don't do the deal.
Report this to ebay.
 
RIP-OFF!

You deposit the check, you wait until the money appears in your account and then you send the product to him and the money also to him under a different name. You think everything is fine until ... a couple of weeks later your bank says, "Oh, that check wasn't good after all. It was a forgery, and you owe us $4,000 plus fees. We already took all the money in all your bank accounts and it wasn't enough so you have to pay us the remainder right now or you're going to jail. Have a nice day...."
 
P.S. If you're interested in the details of exactly how it works search www.timezone.com and you'll find all kinds of details of how the victims have attempted to recover their money (and failed). The key point, though, is when you think a check has cleared, when the money is available to you in your account, when the bank tells you the check has cleared -- it hasn't cleared in any irrevocable sense, and the bank can still recover that money from you.

People get fooled because they think a check is just a complicated way to transfer paper money -- they think the other guy's bank sends paper money to your bank and when your bank gets that money the check has cleared.... That's not the way it works. Most money is just bookkeeping, just ones and zeros on a computer. The bank doesn't wait till it gets 40 hundred-dollar bills delivered to it -- they just tell the issuing bank they got the check and wait for (what they think is) a reasonable time for the issuing bank to get back to them and tell them it's a forgery. If they aren't told it's a forgery by then, they allow you to withdraw the money (or write checks on it or whatever). The scam works because the bank in Africa takes longer to respond than the American bank allows for....
 
I really hope you didn't sell to this individual. If you did you better cancel the transaction being that this is an obvious scam. When I sell on Ebay I make a point of letting potential buyers know that I will not ship overseas. I received such an email like yours from someone who was interested in my product that was up for auction. My response was simple and to the point...."I do not ship overseas. Sorry." I have not heard from this party since.
 
ACMarina said:
I'd be tempted to "go along" with the scam, just to mess with the crook myself. .

Yeah, just act like you want to get the deal done but pretend to be too stupid to follow the con artist's instructions.

Either try to imitate his bad English or use Shakespearean English.

Use multiple fonts and colors in all your replies.

Tell him about your Togolese ancestors.

Add a PS reading "do you want fries with that?" to each one of your mails.

Ask him if people still use horse carriages in his country and if he knows what an "automobile" is.

Tell him that you'd love to marry him/her.

Let him know that your mafia friends may not approve of your doing business with "outsiders" and whether he could advise you on how to keep them from paying him a visit.

Let him explain every detail 1000 times until he gets pissed off and then just send him the "OWNED" picture below...

misc16.jpg
 
akivory said:
I found this site. These people make a hobby of scaming these crooks. It might be fun if you had time.

http://www.419eater.com/
Thanks for the link, it's given me many priceless laughs. I wanted to post a picture of my favorite trophy there, but it would get this thread moved to whine and cheese. Let's just say it involved a guy wearing a judge's robes and wig, holding a sign that eloquently said: "hairy p---flaps".
 
Can't you make a deal with him and get all his details eg. address for delivery, account, etc.

Then report everything.

Or maybe go through with it. Just wait for the cheque to go through and keep whatever money you get. Don't spend it. And don't send the item either.

That way you get the money and you can sell the item to someone else.

However, maybe at the 0.000000000001% chance that this might not be a scam then you're Fu(k3d.
 
I always say on my auctions that I only ship to the US . The first thing that made me wonder about this guy is that he had 0 feedbacks And he had only signed up a week ago. I reported him to eBay and hopefully they will ban him. He probably spam’s 100s of auctions gets banned and than changes his name.
As the global economy grows I think we will find there are cultures that
take great pride in conning Europeans and Americans.
 
Its a shame ebay does not follow a method used here in Japan with Yahoo Auctions.

Anyone wishing to participate in the auction be it as a buyer or seller must have a user ID that has been verified with a registered post application. Its conceivable that there will be/has been fraud of somekind but nothing to compared to the Cluster F**K that is evilBay.
 
I got this email from eBay tonight.The acted fast and suspended him.I am now able to offer the item to the next highst bidder.

Dear akivory ,

Please be aware that we have recently cancelled bids for the buyer noted above due to our inability to confirm his or her contact information and/or the failure to complete recent transactions. The buyer's privileges to trade on eBay have been temporarily suspended while we investigate this matter further.

Our records indicate that this buyer recently attempted to complete a transaction with you. Since the buyer is not currently registered on the eBay site, you may consider the transaction null and void if you have not already shipped the item.

If you have already shipped the item, we advise you to consider taking the following steps at this time:

1. Contact the company that was used to send payment to verify whether or not funds have cleared.

2. Contact law enforcement in the area where the buyer lives if you find that the funds are fraudulent. Be sure to be as specific as possible, including names, addresses, phone numbers or any other information that you may have about the buyer. If a detective is assigned to your case, please ask him or her to contact us so that we can assist in the investigation.

3. the "Seller Accounts" heading in the middle column.

If you have any concerns or questions about this situation or any other eBay-related issues you can visit our help system by clicking on "Help" on the navigation bar at the top of any eBay web page.

Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay Inc
 
but nothing to compared to the Cluster F**K that is evilBay.

I've done upwards of 100 eBay transactions now both as buyer and seller and ever once had a problem.

I won a pair of silver cufflinks with crosses on them. Then, I received e-mail from the seller asking me to send US Cash to him in Indonesia. I was a bit worried, but it was something like $50, so I sent it. A couple of weeks later, I received the most wonderful pair of silver cufflinks. The craftsmenship is outstanding. The letter with them explained that this family has been silversmiths for generations. They've also been Christians for generations... in Indonesia. These cufflinks have become favorites of mine.

I recently won a knife from a seller in England who also asked me to mail cash. When I suggested a Western Union wire transfer, he suggested that he send the knife first which he immediately did. It's great. I judged it to be worth more than the auction price, so I sent him more money in cash which he received.

Are there scams and ripoffs on eBay? YES! The situation that started this thread is a classic eBay scam. But most of what goes on on eBay is good.
 
I have almost 500 transactions and 300 feedbacks and have had almost no problems. Two items were lost in the mail and two items were returned for replacement or refund. Most of my customers by multiple items.
All fees for eBay and PayPal it comes close to 10%. Without eBay there is no other way I could reach the number of collectors and knife makers with out leaving my home.
 
On occassion i had somebody else pay for the goods i puchased on eBay too (or had them shipped to a different addres, because seller wouldn't ship overseas from the US, for example). I never did anything as bizzare as offering $80 for $48 item though.

My suggestion would be to try to get in touch with the police (somebody who's handling internet frauds). If you can't do that then at least be careful. DOn't give that guy your phone number (why woudlhe need a phone number for a cheque anyway ?), just give him the standard details needed to complete the transaction (name & address). When / if ever his $48 + S&H cheque arrives take it to your bank and wait for it to clear. If amount is anything but sale price + S&H don't don't cash in that cheque (money laundering ?).

That's what i woudl do if i were in your position.
 
One important thing to keep in mind. A check does not satisfy a debt until it is paid BY THE BANK ON WHICH IT IS DRAWN (name of bank printed on the check) -- where the account is located. A seller who does not promise to ship until "paid" is therefore entitled to hold the goods until his bank informs him that the check has cleared the bank on which it was drawn (name printed on check).

Never agree to send "change" on a check. You are not a bank, for heaven's sake. Anyone who can't deliver an instrument in the amount owed is questionable at best.
 
Back
Top