Is this one of those Nigerian scams?

moike

100% Scam, the funds may make it to your account, but paypal can still reverse transaction

mandragora_2

Q: Is this one of those Nigerian scams?

A: Yes.

soolin

pgilc1 wrote: »

Go for it!

I bet they offer you more than you want for the item. Then offer to send you a cheque for more than that.

They do the 'fake paypal' scam quite a bit still if they think they have a naive victim. They send a paypal email that can look quite convincing but explains that due to the nature of the transaction paypal will act as an escrow service and retain payment until tracking details are submitted. The victim is urged to ship the goods and enter the tracking details to release the funds.

staffie1

pgilc1 wrote: »

There is no world shortage of Marshall amps, why would someone want someone shipped halfway round the world to nigeria or otherwise?

Would it not make sense for the 'buyer' to have the item sourced in nigeria and delivered to the cousin from a local supplier?

But honestly, when it happens to you, you go for it. Fill your boots.

Well why would anyone buy anything from overseas in that case?

soolin

staffie1 wrote: »

So would it be considered a scam if the enquiry was from some other far-flung country - or just Nigeria?

The actual scam is known as 'Nigerian' or 419 which is the code from the Nigerian penal system. It is more commonly still done via Nigeria but as some people still do fall for it other scammers have of course atarted to try it out themselves. For a while there were scammers working out of Amsterdam and I believe there were a few Italian scammers working the same scam as well. However most countries shut these scams down and hunt out the scammers so they tend not to linger. Unfortunately the Nigerian economy is not in a good state and the Gocernment do not seem to be quite so able to shut this all down, and even if they were pro active I don't actually think they could do much due to lack of available technology and resources.

Bowling_4_Gold

staffie1 wrote: »

So would it be considered a scam if the enquiry was from some other far-flung country - or just Nigeria?

I get almost a constant stream of emails from people in differnt countries replying to my Gumtree ads, with the top two being Nigeria, and surprisingly America- the American scam ggoes a little like this

1. Buyer says they will pay by PayPal but want shipped to legit American state

2. I reply saying yeah, sure, whats the actual address?

3. Buyer gives address and asks for me to ring them on (premium rate) 070 number

4. Buyer pays with PayPal, item shipped, and, of course, chargeback then happens.

Never actually been past step 3, but seen so many people fall for it (up to step 4) on the Gumtree forums.

soolin

staffie1 wrote: »

Well why would anyone buy anything from overseas in that case?

not quite sure I understand your question.

Many things are cheaper overseas or only available from certain places , that's why we import and export items. I often buy from the US and Germany and resell on ebay .uk. However for an item that is freely available in your own country and cheaper there is no reason why anyone would want to pay a lot more to have it shipped in from overseas. Just as an example I might buy a CD from the States if it was a special US released version, I wouldn't buy a tin of beans as that would be silly as I could get them cheaper and easily in the UK.

dacouch

Staffie I have some really nice snake oil, would you be interested in buying it

Tunstallstoven

I'll have 200 litres please.........

.......but can you send it to Nigeria?

(See how quickly I've learnt?)

dacouch

This might amuse you...

http://www.scambuster419.co.uk/index.html