PlayStation 3 SCAM??? CAN IT BE???

I came across a guy from Nigeria who states that he wants to purchase a Playstation 3 system. I emailed him and he provided the following:

"Ok seller i will buy the item from you and i will like you to send me the
paypal email address so i can pay you and also here is my own shipping
address where i want the item to

Dr Julius Bamidele
No 1,Agbelura Close,Lagos-Ibadan Express Road,Challenge,
Ibadan
Oyo State
23402
Nigeria.
+2348076832528"

His email address is: [email protected] and the name attached to that email address is: Hubert Josh Partin.

He says he is willing to pay $850 for the system. He would have to pay shipping as well as I found out that UPS Worldwide fees = $300. IF I were to provide him with NEW Paypal account data, one that has NOT been attached to ANY of my personal info with the exception of an email address. Please advise. EXTREMELY Sincere thanks!

Hi Hi Whirled_Peas_Lover, I will post my reply that I sent to you in reply to your PM, just for information for others:

The question you asked in your PM an interesting one, because the email address you gave, [email protected], belongs to a person who says there are in Kentucky, United States, it's posted on their Deviant Art website, where they have been a member since 2003:

http://dropped-one.deviantart.com

And also in their profile on a car website where they have been a member since 2003, here:

http://carspyshots.proboards2.com/index ... droppedone

On the Deviant Art site, it says:

Long time, no update
Journal Entry: Mon May 14, 2007, 10:12 AM
As the title implies, I haven't updated in years. Time for that to change. Now that I'm out of college (until I can afford to go back) I will be able to update with some old pics and some new ones.

Which might imply that the real, Josh Partin, might no longer be in control of those sites/profiles, for example, he could have had his password phished by a scammer who claims to be in Nigeria, when you repost in the "is this a scam" section, please post the full headers from the email you received from them, remember to xxxxx out your own email address details. On the other hand, he may be an innocentm or knowingm mule victim who sends shipments on to scammers for them.

If you are unsure how to get the full headers, let us know what email you use, yahoo, Hotmail etc, and we will tell you how tomget the headers for us to check the senders IP address which should give the country of origin of their email.

As per my PM, it would be very helpful to have the full headers from the email he sent to you.

Whirled_Peas_Lover sent me the headers, here they are:

Return-Path: <dropped_one>
Received: from rly-mg06.mx.aol.com (rly-mg06.mail.aol.com [172.20.83.112]) by air-mg05.mail.aol.com (v119.7) with ESMTP id MAILINMG052-a1946cc8f92e4; Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:33:42 -0400
Received: from bay0-omc3-s36.bay0.hotmail.com (bay0-omc3-s36.bay0.hotmail.com [65.54.246.236]) by rly-mg06.mx.aol.com (v119.7) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINMG063-a1946cc8f92e4; Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:33:38 -0400
Received: from hotmail.com ([65.55.130.115]) by bay0-omc3-s36.bay0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.2668);
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 12:32:56 -0700
Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC;
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 12:32:56 -0700
Message-ID: <BAY125>
Received: from 65.55.130.123 by by125fd.bay125.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP;
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 19:32:54 GMT
X-Originating-IP: [208.78.58.130]
X-Originating-Email: [[email protected]]
X-Sender: [email protected]
In-Reply-To: <000f01c7e4e8>
From: "Hubert Josh Partin" <dropped_one>
To: xxxxx (original posters addy deleted)
Subject: Re: PS3
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:32:54 -0400
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 22 Aug 2007 19:32:56.0218 (UTC) FILETIME=[3D6E67A0:01C7E4F3]
X-AOL-IP: 65.54.246.236
X-AOL-SCOLL-AUTHENTICATION: listenair ; SPF_helo :
X-AOL-SCOLL-AUTHENTICATION: listenair ; SPF_822_from :
X-AOL-SCOLL-AUTHENTICATION: listenair ; SPF_from :
X-Mailer: Unknown (No Version)

A quick IP check shows the IP of the sender is in Nigeria, I sent the original poster a PM:

Thanks, those are just what I needed, the IP address in the header that is important, is this one:

X-Originating-IP: 208.78.58.130 = Nigeria

So the email was sent to you from Nigeria, the only problem now is, why is a Nigerian emailing you from an account owned by a 23 year old, from Richmond, Kentucky?

It may be that the real owner of that account has had his password phished by the scammer and they took his email account over, either way, I would suggest that you have nothing further to do with this person, unless you want to lose your money!

So then, a phished account, or a mule who does or does not know he is passing stuff to a probable scammer in Nigeria, phished account I reckon.

If you were to sell him your Playstation, you would probably receicve a fake spoofed email from PayPal saying the payment has been made, and giving you the go ahead to send the Playstation to Nigeria!

I sent an email to this chap asking him WHO Hubert Josh Partin is AND informing him as to the amount shipping via UPS was going to be ($298.98...NO Kidding!). The following is his response...

"Yes...Am here,Am Hubert Josh Partin,and i want to send this item to my
friend in West Africa,Nigeria....But seller i will like you to use ROYAL
MAIL...i mean via postal service(POST OFFICE)that will not be too much
...ok...so please do get back to me now with the total cost plus shipping to
the address given to you via ROYAL MAIL...and your paypal email account so that i can send you the money asap..."

I guess I should tread lightly at this point because this 'gentleman' knows too much of my personal info. I DO plan on asking him HOW he can be this Hubert fella in KENTUCKY when he is a guy in Nigeria sending me an email? I also guess I need to swing by the ROYAL POST OFFICE (Is there one in Newark, NJ?) and get a quote on sending a package to Nigeria.

Hi WPL, please drop this scammer now, he has your personal details, and although he is in Nigeria, he may well have contacts in the US as a lot of African scammers are based there. Don't let on that you know he is in Nigeria.

Send him one final email and tell him you have sold the Playstation to someone else local to you for cash, then ignore all further emails from him, it is not safe to bait scammers when they know who and where you are, you might like to visit our sister site where we bait scammers, here:

www.419eater.com

Our scambaiting forum where it all happens is here, please view the stick topics on the forum concerning "safe baiting":

http://forum.419eater.com/forum/index.php

Once you have read up on safe baiting and our techniques, you can pick this scammer up again using a fake name and email in fake name etc, then bait the life out of him.

Actually, "419" is how I found this site. I found "419" surfing for answers to my dilemma. Trust me, I COMPLETELY realize that I am not in the country (both literally and figuratively!) as you guys! My hat is off as I HUMBLY BOW to you and the job you do.

My goal wasn't to bait, just to learn. But I can see that by them having my info that it might not be wise to let them know that I know they are fraudulent scum! Your answer with the "Spoof Paypal" thing was the one thing of which I hadn't thought. And if THAT guy swears that he paid, how far might he be willing to take it?

I guess at some point an honest person just gets so PO'd that you simply want answers. Maybe I'll wait and get answers from someone who reveres human life a bit more highly. Sincere thanks! DRS

PS What does "419" mean exactly? I know it refers to "payment needed in advance" but is that it? Thanks and God Bless

419 is the legal code in Nigeria that relates to Advance Fee Fraud.

419. Any person who by any false pretence, and with intent to defraud, obtains from any other person anything capable of being stolen, or induces any other person to deliver to any person anything capable of being stolen, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.



If the thing is of the value of one thousand naira or upwards, he is liable to imprisonment for seven years.



It is immaterial that the thing is obtained or its delivery is induced through the medium of a contract induced by the false pretence.



The offender cannot be arrested without warrant unless found committing the offence.



419A. (1) Any person who by any false pretence or by means of any other fraud obtains credit for himself or any other person-



(a) in incurring any debt or liability; or



(b) by means of an entry in a debtor and creditor account between the person giving and the person receiving credit,



is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.



(2) The offender cannot be arrested without warrant unless found committing the offence.



419B. Where in any proceedings for an -offence under section 419 or 419A it is proved that the accused-



(a) obtained or induced the delivery of anything capable of being stolen; or



(b) obtained credit for himself or any other person, by means of a cheque that, when presented for payment within a reasonable time, was dishonoured on the ground that no funds or insufficient funds were standing to the credit of the drawer of the cheque in the bank on which the cheque was drawn, the thing or its delivery shall be deemed to have been obtained or induced, or the credit shall he deemed to have been obtained, by a false pretence unless the court is satisfied by evidence that when the accused issued the cheque he had reasonable grounds for believing, and did in fact believe, that it would be honoured if presented for payment within a reasonable time after its issue by him.

This scam is often referred to as the 419 scam, which is named after section 419 of the Nigerian Penal Code which relates to fraudulent schemes.

Stick around and read on 419eater.com, who knows, you might catch the scambaiting bug and give the scammer some pay back

[edit]

I should also mention, as well as spoofing a PayPal email, the scammer could also say they are having a problem with their PayPal, so instead, they will be sending you a cheque to pay for the item, of course, the cheque will be made out for a lot more than the price of the Playstation, and it will also be a fake cheque, whereby the scammer will ask you to send the difference in the amount to his shipper by Western Union, but in all likelyhood, he will probably go via the spoofed PayPal email method.

I didnt send the PS3 (but I almost did) I dont suppose there is an kind of attempted fraud charge? I would like to get this guy good just for trouble.

Hi Tusk

Unfortunately, there's no chance of prosecuting your scammer if he's from West Africa. Not only is proving anything almost impossible, but due to the nature of the culture and law out there, there's an absolute zero chance of getting a conviction.