Hi All,
I am posting this in the hope it will make more honest sellers aware of the potential risk to scammers out there.
After reading several topics on this site, I feel alot more aware and certain my conclusion that this posing buyer was indeed a scammer, thank you all for sharing.
TO EXPLAIN:
I recently listed a few "bigger boys toys" on Gumtree. I got almost instant replys via TEXT, now heres the weird part to start with, I was unable to reply via text, so could only send an email in response as the potential buyer supplied their email address in the text. His email was:
[email protected]
They were quick to respond to my email with this:
"Hi thanks for reply, i am a marine engineer, i am at sea right now. I am buying this for my dad as a surprise gift. I can only pay through paypal at the moment as i dont have access to my bank account online(i dont have internet banking with it), but i have it attached to my paypal account, and this is why i insisted on using paypal to pay,all i will need is your paypal email address to make the payments and and how much are you giving it away for me, and if you dont have a paypal account yet, you can set one log on to http://www.paypal.com.au it cant take you less than 3mins to do that, i will be expecting your paypal email so l can pay. I have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up after payments has been sorted, l will be waiting for your reply asap..."
My response was this:
hi mate im after $1700 how would you pick the boat up.
He sent back:
Am okay with the price so kindly let me have your paypal email address so that i can make the payment asap and will also make an arrangement on the pickup once the payment has been cleared in your account ...[/color]
I responded with:
i prefer bank deposit
He then said:
Hello,thanks so much for getting back to me..I would have loved to pay the the way you have suggested but right now am not in the position of where i can handle cash to someone to pay you on my behalf and i do not have access to my bank account which is why i have insisted on paying you withe paypal because its very safe and fast for me to do transaction online...you can easily set an account up wit paypal by gong to http://www.paypal.com and once you have done that and you send me your detail i will then be going ahead in making the payment and once the payment has been made my pick up agent will then come over for the pick up[/color]
I then sent this:
Hi Ray,
Simply forward the $1,700.00 payment to my current paypal account via email (removed for privacy)@yahoo.com
Please supply your full details so I can make note of it for the invoice & trailer rego transfer. Or if preferrable, provide your full info and I can create a paypal invoice for you.
After payment, Let me know which carrier you will be arranging to collect the boat through & when, so I can ensure someone is available to assist.
Pick up will be from <insert suburb name here > NSW 2222
Regards,
Dave
I'm a bit hesitant at this stage as I have never sold something of such high value to anyone who hasn't even bothered to inspect it prior to paying, or asked a whole lot about the condition or history of the boat, but I push my doubt aside which all comes crashing down when I get THIS reply from him:
Thanks so much for getting back to me and for concluding about selling this item to my dad,i really appreciate it,i am going to transfer the money into your account right now but before i do that,i will like to add the sum of $850 to the amount we agreed on and i will like to know if you would help me to transfer it to my shipping agent via western union money transfer here in New South Wales, Australia.I would ve love to do this myself but currently i am very busy on ocean because i am a marine engineer and there is no where on the sea i could send the money and the only payment method the shipping agent accepted is western union.I would be very happy if you would help me and i want you to get back to me with your reply so i can transfer everything together and get back to you as soon as POSSIBLE will also pay all the paypal charges
(note he doesn't mention the item description here, he refers to it as 'the item" like he has used this same message many times for any number of "items" and note his occassional typo or "bad english" which I initially ignored thinking its easy to make a typo and not spell check etc..)
Alarm bells are ringing in my head now, HELLO?!
Who uses western union these days?! and what transport co would ask for such a method of payment....not likely...so I ask him:
Ray,
which carrier are you using? as its not a usual payment method to pay via western union to any transporter in Australia, and is very unsafe for both of us to release funds in this way.
If you wish to proceed, I suggest you get a close friend or family member to arrange the funds transfer on your behalf for the shipping side of things, as this is not my responsibility & I would hate to be held liable for conducting this on your behalf if things don't go to plan. Sorry mate, I just don't trust western union payments. It is already highly unusual for some-one to be buying from me an item of large expense without even inspecting it prior to purchase, but totally your choice due to your explained curcumstances. I suggest you get written proof from the carrier/transporter of their asking price & payment method before proceeding.
Awaiting your full details: name, address etc so I can create the paypal invoice for you, as you will need this proof of purchase in order to get any rego on the boat trailer.
Regards,
Dave.
His reply is:
Message flagged Thursday, 5 July 2012 9:16 AM
Hello,it seems you do not get my message..what i meant was that i will like to add the sum of $850 to the payment which i do like you to help me in transferring it to my shipping company via western union money transfer,as it is the money for the service they are going to render for picking it up..i would have love to do it myself but as i have said before i am on sea presently and there is no where on ocean i can send money using western union which is why i will like you to kindly do it for me so that they can come over to pick it up and this is the only payment method they accept.
What you are going to do is that as soon as you have received the payment confirmation from paypal kindly go to any western union around your place or you can go to the post office there is western union there and have the money sent to my agent to the below address,
Lynn M Smits
52 Hurt Parade
Unanderra NSW 2519
Hope this is clearer to you now?
thank you
So of course I search for details on a shipping agent with the above details and come up with nothing...looks like they don't exist...I have of course ceased communicating with the scammer and have dumped all msgs into my spam folder.
I'm convinced now this was indeed a scam attempt after reading all the clues to look for here on this site. I'm sure his intention was to send me a fake email posing as an paypal confirmation payment notification saying the funds had been transferred then get me to draw on my own money and wire the western union transfer off to god knows who with a fake ID to collect it. Hope this helps make others aware of the potential risk when selling online, always double check details, and verify all payments supposedly sent to you via paypal by actually checking your paypal account to see if the payment is indeed there, unlike ESCROW, Paypal will not "HOLD" funds until you supply tracking info or the like to verify, it should clear instantly....and I would knock back any suggestion to perform payments on a strangers behalf, especially via western union which once paid cannot be claimed back. Heres hoping this post helps you conduct safe selling online!
I am posting this in the hope it will make more honest sellers aware of the potential risk to scammers out there.
After reading several topics on this site, I feel alot more aware and certain my conclusion that this posing buyer was indeed a scammer, thank you all for sharing.
TO EXPLAIN:
I recently listed a few "bigger boys toys" on Gumtree. I got almost instant replys via TEXT, now heres the weird part to start with, I was unable to reply via text, so could only send an email in response as the potential buyer supplied their email address in the text. His email was:
[email protected]They were quick to respond to my email with this:
"Hi thanks for reply, i am a marine engineer, i am at sea right now. I am buying this for my dad as a surprise gift. I can only pay through paypal at the moment as i dont have access to my bank account online(i dont have internet banking with it), but i have it attached to my paypal account, and this is why i insisted on using paypal to pay,all i will need is your paypal email address to make the payments and and how much are you giving it away for me, and if you dont have a paypal account yet, you can set one log on to http://www.paypal.com.au it cant take you less than 3mins to do that, i will be expecting your paypal email so l can pay. I have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up after payments has been sorted, l will be waiting for your reply asap..."
My response was this:
hi mate im after $1700 how would you pick the boat up.
He sent back:
Am okay with the price so kindly let me have your paypal email address so that i can make the payment asap and will also make an arrangement on the pickup once the payment has been cleared in your account ...[/color]
I responded with:
i prefer bank deposit
He then said:
Hello,thanks so much for getting back to me..I would have loved to pay the the way you have suggested but right now am not in the position of where i can handle cash to someone to pay you on my behalf and i do not have access to my bank account which is why i have insisted on paying you withe paypal because its very safe and fast for me to do transaction online...you can easily set an account up wit paypal by gong to http://www.paypal.com and once you have done that and you send me your detail i will then be going ahead in making the payment and once the payment has been made my pick up agent will then come over for the pick up[/color]
I then sent this:
Hi Ray,
Simply forward the $1,700.00 payment to my current paypal account via email (removed for privacy)@yahoo.com
Please supply your full details so I can make note of it for the invoice & trailer rego transfer. Or if preferrable, provide your full info and I can create a paypal invoice for you.
After payment, Let me know which carrier you will be arranging to collect the boat through & when, so I can ensure someone is available to assist.
Pick up will be from <insert suburb name here > NSW 2222
Regards,
Dave
I'm a bit hesitant at this stage as I have never sold something of such high value to anyone who hasn't even bothered to inspect it prior to paying, or asked a whole lot about the condition or history of the boat, but I push my doubt aside which all comes crashing down when I get THIS reply from him:
Thanks so much for getting back to me and for concluding about selling this item to my dad,i really appreciate it,i am going to transfer the money into your account right now but before i do that,i will like to add the sum of $850 to the amount we agreed on and i will like to know if you would help me to transfer it to my shipping agent via western union money transfer here in New South Wales, Australia.I would ve love to do this myself but currently i am very busy on ocean because i am a marine engineer and there is no where on the sea i could send the money and the only payment method the shipping agent accepted is western union.I would be very happy if you would help me and i want you to get back to me with your reply so i can transfer everything together and get back to you as soon as POSSIBLE will also pay all the paypal charges
(note he doesn't mention the item description here, he refers to it as 'the item" like he has used this same message many times for any number of "items" and note his occassional typo or "bad english" which I initially ignored thinking its easy to make a typo and not spell check etc..)
Alarm bells are ringing in my head now, HELLO?!
Who uses western union these days?! and what transport co would ask for such a method of payment....not likely...so I ask him:Ray,
which carrier are you using? as its not a usual payment method to pay via western union to any transporter in Australia, and is very unsafe for both of us to release funds in this way.
If you wish to proceed, I suggest you get a close friend or family member to arrange the funds transfer on your behalf for the shipping side of things, as this is not my responsibility & I would hate to be held liable for conducting this on your behalf if things don't go to plan. Sorry mate, I just don't trust western union payments. It is already highly unusual for some-one to be buying from me an item of large expense without even inspecting it prior to purchase, but totally your choice due to your explained curcumstances. I suggest you get written proof from the carrier/transporter of their asking price & payment method before proceeding.
Awaiting your full details: name, address etc so I can create the paypal invoice for you, as you will need this proof of purchase in order to get any rego on the boat trailer.
Regards,
Dave.
His reply is:
Message flagged Thursday, 5 July 2012 9:16 AM
Hello,it seems you do not get my message..what i meant was that i will like to add the sum of $850 to the payment which i do like you to help me in transferring it to my shipping company via western union money transfer,as it is the money for the service they are going to render for picking it up..i would have love to do it myself but as i have said before i am on sea presently and there is no where on ocean i can send money using western union which is why i will like you to kindly do it for me so that they can come over to pick it up and this is the only payment method they accept.
What you are going to do is that as soon as you have received the payment confirmation from paypal kindly go to any western union around your place or you can go to the post office there is western union there and have the money sent to my agent to the below address,
Lynn M Smits
52 Hurt Parade
Unanderra NSW 2519
Hope this is clearer to you now?
thank you
So of course I search for details on a shipping agent with the above details and come up with nothing...looks like they don't exist...I have of course ceased communicating with the scammer and have dumped all msgs into my spam folder.
I'm convinced now this was indeed a scam attempt after reading all the clues to look for here on this site. I'm sure his intention was to send me a fake email posing as an paypal confirmation payment notification saying the funds had been transferred then get me to draw on my own money and wire the western union transfer off to god knows who with a fake ID to collect it. Hope this helps make others aware of the potential risk when selling online, always double check details, and verify all payments supposedly sent to you via paypal by actually checking your paypal account to see if the payment is indeed there, unlike ESCROW, Paypal will not "HOLD" funds until you supply tracking info or the like to verify, it should clear instantly....and I would knock back any suggestion to perform payments on a strangers behalf, especially via western union which once paid cannot be claimed back. Heres hoping this post helps you conduct safe selling online!
