Is this a scam, it weird

boyzie

Hi got this email about one of my items im selling on ebay. It makes no sense to me. Does it to you?

>Hello,
My client is interested in buying your item and he wants to pay via Cashier check,he will issue a cashier check which will include the money for the item,my commission as an agent and also the shipping charges,Immediately you get the check,you will go straight and cash it at a check cashing place in which you will send the excess funds through western union money transfer to my client shipper in africa the same day you get the check ,If you agree on this,kindly send me your contact mailing address to send the check to with your phone number. Pls if you agree end the auction imemdiately and send me the total price for the item and your full name and address including phone number to send the check.Hope to read from you. Regards. <


And then another weird one!

>Hello seller
Am elisabeth jones,i deal with exporting of goods to African
countries
But to start with, we will like to ask some general questions
concerning
the item and the transaction:
(1) Do you accept western union auction payments (bidpay)also
called
money order in which they will bring the money cas to ur doorstep.
(2) Will you be able to release the package for FEdEx express as
soon as
you get the payments confirmation letter from western union??
(3) How many of this items you have readily available instock??
(4) Whats is your best prices?
Give me ur best price and mail me this info for quick payment
name:
address:
city:
state:
zip code:
country:
email:
amount for item:
item name:
quantity:
i will do the shipping myself and you do not need to worry about
shipping , cos i have a fedex account and i dont want any delay in
the
shipment cos the package is going a very place of it's scarcity.
thanks <

nmealey

do not under any circumstances take them up on the first offer, it is a fraudulent scheme trunning froma abroad, usually with bankers drafts. you send the money to them - clean good money, then 5 days later your bank says the draft or cheque is a fake, and take their money back, leaving you worse off than before and minus your item.

If they wont do things your way, sell to someone else.

Neil

PS the second opne is a similar scam where FED-EX end up billing you for the delivery charges etc. and the goods are gone, your down money and feeling silly.

JPS

I don't even need to read them fully to know they are scams...just ignore them or even better report them to eBay.

quoia

The 1st scam can be even worse than that.

You sell something for £30

A cheque/banker's draft arrives for £300

You contact the buyer and this is acknowledged as a mistake by the sender (sent in error by partner, wife, agent, friend) who says don't worry, bank it anyway and send back a cheque for the difference.

Cheque "clears" and you are credited with £300, you send goods and a "refund " of £270.

Several weeks later cheque/banker's draft is found to be fake/stolen or similar, and the £300 is debited from your account.

Alias_Omega

Create a false email account..ie hotmail

Email them back under a false name, and give them a address of your local police station. I called myself Miss P C Plod, and gave the ****** police fraud address. Im sure they would like the cheque than me. You could give a address and frame the cheque on ya wall. Goto 419.com and check the site, tells you about this sort of thing. I got a email from the buyer, saying they would send me the cheque. In a week ill email them asking them to send it again, as of uk postal strikes etc, and then claim to mess there address up etc on sending the item. Maybe worth sending a box to them, with bricks in or something and getting them to pay import duty etc...It costs them cash to send the Cheque too you..!

Scam the scammer..... Its well fun...:)

sparkle_3-2

As everyone else has quite rightly said, do not listen to these msg's!! I have a friend that is a policeman and they are currently investigating these ebay probs.
They do transfer the money into your account, you then forward the money that they want you to forward into another account. By this time the funds that were paid into you account have been withdrawn because the transfer did not clear. You are then out of pocket however much they asked you to forward.

amateur_saver

They can be anything from hundreds to thousands of pounds, and like has been said, the money looks like it has cleared in your account, and then it comes back 'bouncing' and then the police have to get involved.

The problem then occurs where the police will take it on, but INTERPOL will not due to the 'small' amount... yes even say 2 thousand pounds would be still small to them, as there are so many of these scams about. It would cost them nearly this much to get to the bottom of it...

I would just ignore them, or send the details to the police who will pass it to their fraud department.

zeke

I like scamming the scammers too: one of my favourites involves palnning to go meet them in Nigeria or wherever. Example below (I had this guy involved for days before he gave up):

hello ope thanks you I am not happying with western union they are not my friend I like you and I want to come and see you and we can make happy dealings in cash this is a good business not western union they take you money and spend it on big buildings and you get nothing my new friend I have lots of camera phones and camcorders and digital cameras and more phones all new and wnating to come nigeria for doing good business but not western union the prices are very nice and you be happy and make many moneys where you live here raining not happy day I come to sunny lagos for drinking and making special business I can sell you some party smoke machines and nice storage heaters no its too warm in nigeria think i need shorts when i come see you with cameras and camcorders and phones and no western union payments these are not making me happy what is your address I am going to airport to find pricing for flight to lagos is this near your house can i stay with you if i bring a sleeping bag how much are cigarettes in nigeria i smoke 400 a day very expensive in england and you cant pay using western union so i have to sell cameras and phones and camcorders and do good business and special business and i can do special dealings on shipping not DHL they western union tree

Bargainbabe_2

Are you selling items of high value?

don9999

Is eveyone else as sick as me about hearing about these E-mails that usually start off with...

"My client......" or "My relative...." etc.....

Why, oh why, do people consider these E-mails may be genuine?

The ONLY thing to do once you start reading such an E-mail is click on 'delete' and not waste any more time on such nonsense.

Cheers,
Don

soolin

I do have to agree with don9999, each of the 'contact members' emails via ebay start with a warning about scams and not accepting Western Union as it is not safe.

Soo