Knife order from London UK scam?

Bruce Bump

Bruce Bump

Joined
Dec 2, 1999
Messages
9,910
Here is an email I just recieved, do you think its legit? They dont sound like they are from England?


Hello ,
We are Mr & Mrs Williams from London Uk , we dealer in
antquies and also into collections of knifes and swords
from different contries...we presently came accross you
contact the the online web directory for the knife makers
and we are intrested in your knife works.

Presently we are looking into purchasing Damascus knife or any other
knifes you carry as well . so please let us know the knifes you have
available as well as their prices and as for shippment let us know if you
ship to London Uk or if we can make arrangment for pickup of the purchase
by our shipper to deliver to us.

And as for payment let us know if you do accept cashiers check or money
orders in US funds for the payment for the purchase .

Hope to hear from you soon.
Sammy & Mary.
 
The names/place of origen just does not match the grammer. Ok, I could accept one or two issues, we all have trouble sometimes on E-Mail, but there are too many things here that scream that they are not native english speakers. I would also be wary of the foriegn money order thing. Steven
 
I got that one, too. I replied, and received a reply back. I thought it was a little odd, but I won't have anything up for sale for a while, and if they end up buying something, and the money goes through, I'm happy. Nothing leaves the shop without checks/MO's clearing first.:)

It may be that they ARE non native english speakers. Lots of non natives own/run businesses in countries not of their origin.
 
It could be legit, Bruce, like Jesse says. I have worked with a lot of people who grew up in England, but are native to places like Pakistan. Their grammar is similar even though they have a good command of the major portions of English. Since they are willing to pick up the knife (their shipper), then they should be willing to deliver green backs, which would solve any problems.
 
I'd be very careful. Says scam to me. This statement "or any other
knifes you carry as well" says they are not too particular about what the scam from you. My bank says Money Orders are being counterfetted (SP)and by the time they tell, your knife is gone.
 
I received this email as well. We emailed back and forth and they decided to buy one of the knives I had available. They emailed me and said that a check would be mailed out on thursday of last week. So basically i'm waiting to see if I do get a check. I told them that it has to clear with my bank and then I will send them the knife.

I compared the email you posted and the one I received and they are similar but also a little different.
Basically now it's a waiting game to see if it was legit?
I'll keep you updated.
Chuck
 
Bruce Bump said:
Here is an email I just recieved, do you think its legit? They dont sound like they are from England?


Hello ,
We are Mr & Mrs Williams from London Uk , we dealer in
antquies and also into collections of knifes and swords
from different contries...we presently came accross you
contact the the online web directory for the knife makers
and we are intrested in your knife works.

Presently we are looking into purchasing Damascus knife or any other
knifes you carry as well . so please let us know the knifes you have
available as well as their prices and as for shippment let us know if you
ship to London Uk or if we can make arrangment for pickup of the purchase
by our shipper to deliver to us.

And as for payment let us know if you do accept cashiers check or money
orders in US funds for the payment for the purchase .

Hope to hear from you soon.
Sammy & Mary.
Click to expand...
Absolutly not legit.

Sometimes they will even send you a fake money order for $1000 more than you ask for. They tell you they screwed up and you should cash the money order and send then $800 back with the knives. You get to keep $200 for you trouble. By the time you find out the money order is fake, they are long gone and you are out the knives and the money. One key is when they say they will have there shipper pick up the package. Tell them you will only ship through the us postal service with insurance and you will only take paypal through a bank account. See if you even hear back from them, I bet you dont.
 
you really can't tell if it's good or bad, un till you add some stuff up..
I got the same one this morning
Mike you are telling of a common scam, these people didn't ask for money being sent back? but things to look for

1st it was sent to undisclosed recipients.
2nd the email address and the reply addy was/is different..
still not saying it's a scam..
I would be on Guard though, Chuck remember if you submit the check to the bank and it bounces for any reason you'll be paying the charges, something up around $35.00 :(

I told them if and when I have any available that are not on back order
are offered to customers that are on a list I have..once contacted the first one to contact me back gets the chance at it..if payment falls through the next one that got back to me gets it.
we'll see if they are still interested..if it's a true blue customer..

if it smells bad it's probably a bad deal..dealing over seas is a hard ticket to deal with something gone wrong..
I just sent a package to France.. it was the last knife won from Bruce Evans auction.. I felt good about it..
 
There have been many scams involving over seas money orders that are good enough fakes to clear through your local bank branch but are discovered soon after. If you have sent them change for it, like an above post mentions you are out all the money involved. If they are really a store they can send a legitimate wire transfer, if you do take the money order tell them that due to problems U.S. banks have had it will be a 2 week waiting period while it clears just like a normal check.
 
I got the same one a few days ago too. The one thing that I noticed was at the very bottom there was a link that made it appear that the email had been translated from Spanish to English. Given the poor English in the email I kinda figured it was a scam and didn't reply.

Seeing as more than one knifemaker got the email I would be really careful with bogus Money Orders in this case.

Good luck.

Sean
 
Dan Gray said:
Mike you are telling of a common scam, these people didn't ask for money being sent back? but things to look for

..
Click to expand...
Yes, Its a common scam. It is not something that I thought maybe could happen, I have heard of it happening and when I looked into it there was nothing to disprove it. Ebay has alot of info on fraud and what to look for and be careful of. If i get a chance I will try to find a link to it.

If a relativly new knife maker gets a chance to sell a few thousand dollars worth of knives at one time they might overlook some red flags that might otherwise be very obvious. I think that is what these people prey on.

I had an order from China a few months ago for 2 knives that were a total of just over $1500 (dollars, not yen), I told him I would ship them to him via USPO and that I would wait untill any money orders or check clear before I would send the knives. He told me he would be sending me cash! I thought I would never hear from him again but about 3 weeks later I got a registered letter with 15 $100 dollar bills in it. There were wrapped up in a page from a Chinese magazine. They were real so I sent him the knives. He never suggested that I use his carrier or that he was interested in "anything" that I might have available. He saw 2 knives that he wanted and he ordered them and sent me cash! He said he does that all the time and never had a problem. Bruce, see if your guy will do that.:D
 
This one sounds very much like a scam, but as Michael Kanter points out, some of them are legit that may not sound like it. However the legit ones dont mass email all the makers they can find too.

In many countries for years in some of the more unstable parts of the world, people would convert their wealth into use 100$ bills based upon the stability of our government and currency (its' taken it's largest ever hit in the last 5 years, but historically it's been very stable) This even caused a panic in russia when the design of the 100 was changed, because in many countries when the design on a bill changes, all the old ones become invalid currency unless swapped into the bank within a certain time limit. The US mint couldnt print 100$ bills and export them fast enough to russia to replace all the old 100$ bills that were being traded in, causing minor money riots.
 
It is legit as long as they give the money first. Don't ship the knives until you get paid :thumbup:
 
Wow dejavu, My wife is a dog breader , she recieved the same type of e-mail
almost a year ago asking the same things about her dogs. I found it very odd at the time as well , I found out through a family friend who was a detective with city police here in town that this is a popular scam from overseas to get boggus money oreders cashed
 
I have receicved 3 of theses in the last month. I have replied (no knives in stock) but not heard back from them.
 
I just got this one this morning -


Hello,
Am Sammy Williams from london uk ..i deal in antiques and i do have collections of various types of knives from all over the world as my antique collections ..presently came across your contact and am intrested in making purchase with you so please do let me know the custom knifes you have available for sale at this period and also their various prices and also as for shippment let me know if you are able to ship to me in uk or if i can make pickup arrangments with my shipper for the pickup of the purchase locally at your store after the order is been completed.

Hope to hear from you soon and have a bliss Weekend.
Sammy & Mary.
 
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