 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bennytittle
Date: 2003-10-21 02:52
Post Edited (2003-10-23 01:19)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-10-21 03:03
I hate to say it, but this is one of the most common frauds - it even has it's own title: the Nigerian 419 Advance Fee Fraud.
It's pretty obvious - anyone wanting you to cash a check for way in excess of the worth of the goods sold should ring a very loud bell.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-10-21 03:09
Mark, of course, is quite correct. Beware that the country of origin for many of these offers is not always Nigeria...GBK
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Author: bennytittle
Date: 2003-10-21 03:22
Post Edited (2003-10-23 01:19)
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Author: donald
Date: 2003-10-21 09:51
these people are not out to "hurt your country", they are doing it to people all over the world. You sound a bit hysterical- there are con artists all over, you may have met several and not realised. i know i have, in fact there are deceitful criminals known to me who have posted on this board. why is this any more scary because it is someone from overseas? Why on earth did you even give them your land address?
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2003-10-21 11:25
When I talked to the FBI several years ago, they were not interested in Nigerian frauds, because Nigeria has no working legal system.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-10-21 11:42
Ralph Katz wrote:
> When I talked to the FBI several years ago, they were not
> interested in Nigerian frauds, because Nigeria has no working
> legal system.
My mistake - this isn't the 419, it's the overpayment scam. The reason that the government wants the info is because it involves the banking system & counterfeit cashier's checks.
The one interesting thing is that in some cases it appeals to the "greed factor" - the seller will be offered more than the item is worth in exchange for sending the overage on a check back. For instance, you might be selling an item worth $1000, and a buyer will offer you $2000 for it if you'll cash a $5000 cashier's check. They always have to do it "right away" for some reason. So, after you get the check, you hurriedly send then the item and $3000 - it's such a good deal!
And you're out the item and $3000. Always make sure the check clears before sending anything!
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2003-10-21 11:46
yes this scam is pretty abvious. i never heard of it until today, but if someone would offer me this deal i would imediately be suspicious. there are all kinds of scam, so becareful when you sell things without meeting the buyer.
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Author: bennytittle
Date: 2003-10-21 19:12
Post Edited (2003-10-23 01:20)
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-10-21 19:33
TKS for posting this Ben, I hadn't been offered THIS particular "opportunity" to send money. It now joins many other scams I know of. About once a week we get an spam EM entitled "Balance Due", whereby we COULD give someone our bank and CC #'s, so its deleted as quickly as I can. E Pluribus Unum [one of many, its also on our Great Seals!] , much like Ben Franklin's [or someone's?] quote, "A fool and his money are soon parted" Be careful in the JUNGLE, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Henry
Date: 2003-10-21 19:47
Bennytittle: I think you are overreacting. I'm sure some people benefitted from your post and may think twice to respond to anything like that in the future. But you must admit, you WERE a bit naieve to fall into that trap. These scams have been well publicized (which doesn't mean I couldn't fall victim myself to something like it!). Please don't hesitate to visit this BB again!
And, by the way, I think our country is being hurt a lot more by a lot of highly-placed, powerful Americans than by shysters like this!
Henry
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Author: Mark P. Jasuta
Date: 2003-10-21 19:53
I think that the problem with this thread is that we seemed to assume that everyone knows about this scam and all its variants. The truth seems to be that not everyone knows about it. Also we need to understand that what seems obvious to us is not always obvious to everyone.
It's easy to get a land address from an email address. Anyone hear of a "reverse lookup". I do it all the time with phone numbers and email addresses. You get all the info entered when the phone number or email address was established unlisted numbers included.
I am glad that the word came out as someone tried this with me on an item that I had posted here of all places.
Lets ease up a bit.
Best Regards
Mark
Post Edited (2003-10-21 20:08)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-10-21 20:29
Mark P. Jasuta wrote:
> Also we need to understand that what seems obvious to us is
> not always obvious to everyone.
1) Never part with your merchandise 'till the check clears or the money's in the bank.
2) Never take more than an item is worth and refund the "extra".
3) Banks work internationally all the time. Don't let that be anyone's excuse.
4) If someone offers to "split" the money with you - they won't.
We've all been taken by scams - but we shouldn't be taken by the big ones.
See http://www.ifccfbi.gov/strategy/2002_IFCCReport.pdf for last year's stats.
(My scam story - a little one but very clever. Went to park downtown for a large convention. Went to a parking lot, paid $6.00 for a space. Got a parking stub to display on the inside of the car. The guy I bought it from had a uniform, orange gloves, the works.
Needless to say, that guy wasn't employed by the parking lot operator ...)
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Author: beejay
Date: 2003-10-21 21:49
I'm a European. I've twice been ripped off by Americans. What does this mean? Precisely nothing. To hold it against Americans as a whole would be meaningless, I'm sure you would agree, as well as totally against my nature.
The moral is that we should never on an international bulletin board stereotype other people. For the record, one of the most spectacularly honest persons I have ever met was a Nigerian.
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Author: RWW
Date: 2003-10-21 22:20
Thanks a lot bennytittle, I had not heard of this type scam. Obviously, it is not new but now I am better protected because you posted it.
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Author: Bryan
Date: 2003-10-22 13:58
Beejay wrote:
>For the record, one of the most spectacularly honest persons I have ever met was a Nigerian.
Indeed, many of these scams originate in Nigeria is because the "government" there is spectacularly corrupt, not because Nigerians as a whole are corrupt. Many in that country are needlessly impoverished because of it; Nigeria has a lot of natural resources and the "officials" there are busy looting it for personal gain. But that leads to a discussion for a different board, I suppose.
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Author: ClarinetPunk
Date: 2003-10-22 19:23
We actually had something similar happen here in our store, a guy from europe had called to order several keboards and went to pay for each one with a different cc#. We have also had warnings to several others as well. Id be highly careful and suspicious of (especially) people out of the country
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Author: bennytittle
Date: 2003-10-23 00:17
Post Edited (2003-10-23 01:21)
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