 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ralph
Date: 2002-10-10 23:55
I have a clarinet for sale in the classified section of this website. I received an e-mail from an individual identifying himself as interested in buying my clarinet and asking me to provide a total price (including shipping) for a detination of Lagos, Nigeria !! For all of the scams I've read about emanating from Nigeria, I'm skeptical. Has anyone else received a similar inquiry ??
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Author: Brian Peterson
Date: 2002-10-11 00:04
My question is what ELSE is he going to want from you. If he asks for a bank account number so he can wire payment, I'd say you've got a scam on your hands.
Can't recall the URL but there is a website devoted to Nigerian internet scams. Run an Alta Vista search if you're interested. If anything it makes for a good laugh.
Be careful.
Regards,
BP
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-10-11 00:16
Why not discuss this with Mark Charette and see what he advises? That's what I'd do, before going public
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Author: Spence
Date: 2002-10-11 01:28
I have sent instruments all over the world and all you need to do is, get his complete address, package your horn up and take it to the post office and get the cost for mailing it. After you have done that, email him back and let him know the cost for everything. Just make sure you get your money, in U.S. dollars, first.
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Author: Robert
Date: 2002-10-11 07:22
Talk about prejudice! Just because somebody is from Nigeria you assume it's a scam?! I'm shocked and saddened by your postings.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2002-10-11 12:34
I have been repeatedly contacted by a Mr. Ibrahim from Lagos.
Who knows where the message originated? I certainly can't track the sending IP... like MC said, get paid in secured funds up front and ship where you like.
Generally, if you ask for a Cashier's check drawn on a US bank, the scammers will troll elsewhere for 'fish'.
NEVER provide your bank account number online (the reason I won't use PayPal for such transactions), never ship prior to payment.
Never let greed drive you to make quick decisions.
<www.usps.gov> for info on International shipping rates.
Properly boxed, your clarinet will weigh roughly 10 pounds.
And Robert? I have some swampland available in Cozamel for you!
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Author: Robert
Date: 2002-10-11 12:38
Dear Mark Charette- I know I'm going quite off the topic of clarinets here. If you feel that my comments on this topic are inappropriate for this bulletin board, please tell me, and I'll say no more on the subject. But I really would like to respond to the posting of "anon"...
Anon- thanks for CNN article. I've read it and found it interesting. I have personally received similar emails from people with lots of money claiming to be linked to various African officials, and assumed that they were almost certainly "scams".
I would not say that CNN are prejudiced. But they obviously only present one side of the story. I watch CNN, as well as some European news channels, and am often suprised at how differently they report the same story.
Prejudice is a biased opinion formed by people who (usually) have little information on a certain topic. An example of this would be to watch one news channel, or read a few articles on their website, and from that little bit of "research" to assume that all internet users in Nigeria are involved in some kind of scam.
My concern is for this particular Nigerian, who obviously visits this site. How is he supposed to feel reading comments like:
"My question is what ELSE is he going to want from you?", and
"Just tell them that you don't ship outside the USA".?
Personally I'd feel more than a little hurt!
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2002-10-11 13:55
If <i>anyone</i> offers to buy your clarinet, get the money first, as mentioned by others. Get the check or money order in hand and cashed, but definitely <i>don't</i> give out bank account numbers for electronic transfers. Better yet, to protect both parties, get an escrow account like those provided by PayPal. PayPal ensures that they have the money in hand before you send the merchandise and ensures that the buyer receives the merchandise satisfactorily before they forward the money to you.
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Author: William
Date: 2002-10-11 14:54
$$$Cash the check$$$$$ before you send the goods--a basic rule of selling via the internet!!
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Author: m
Date: 2002-10-11 15:09
I received a similar email from the same person. I told him that I would want the money upfront in the form of a money order.
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Author: Mark Charette, Webmaster
Date: 2002-10-11 16:28
Robert,
There are a few countries that are participating in many Internet scams, Nigeria being one of them (and just about on the top right now). It's unfortunate, but, yes, we live with prejudices. Sometimes they end up protecting us, too. Yet another fine line ...
As an American I put up with prejudices within my own country (refer back to a funny thread a long time back where someone was shocked that I was godless), and more serious ones when I travel abroad. We just try to educate people one at a time.
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Author: S J
Date: 2002-10-11 16:51
Last night I got an email from a Josual Williams located in Lagos, Nigeria. I have several items listed in the Clarinet Classifieds as well. He wanted to know the total cost with shipping to that country. However when I messaged him back as to what instrument he was interested in (several listed) no response as of yet.
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2002-10-11 17:53
Scams are the second largest source of revenue in Nigeria, next to oil.
The FBI agent I spoke with says they do not want or need any information about Nigerian scams, because it is a country without a working government or police agency.
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Author: Fred
Date: 2002-10-11 19:08
I received the same message . . . and I don't have an instrument for sale in classifieds!
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Author: RonD
Date: 2002-10-11 20:10
Why would you want to sell or ship anything without assurances of payment? It is of no consquence if the instrument is shipped out of the country or across the street, or what the race of the purchaser is.
GET THE MONEY FIRST. PROTECT YOURSELF.
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Author: Ralph
Date: 2002-10-12 00:24
Thanks to everyone who responded to my posting. My goals with the posting were to see if anyone else had received a similar e-mail from an individual in Nigeria and to see if anyone might have completed a transaction with someone from Nigeria. I certainly will obtain cash before I ship my instrument anywhere !!
I achieved my 1st goal. At least two other individuals received an e-mail similar to the one I received. Apparently Joshual Williams is on a buying spree for clarinets.
I believe that it is fairly well documented that scam rings are allowed to operate with impunity from within the borders of Nigeria. Based on the information available, I won't apologize for being skeptical about completing a transaction with an individual from Nigeria.
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Author: Marge
Date: 2002-10-12 02:16
Having received a number of Nigerian scam e-mails during the last few months, I have begun to wonder whether this BB is being mined for e-mail addresses. (It finally did occur to me not to include my address with this posting, at least, but too late for others.)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2002-10-12 03:58
Marge wrote:
>
> Having received a number of Nigerian scam e-mails during
> the last few months, I have begun to wonder whether this BB is
> being mined for e-mail addresses. (It finally did occur to me
> not to include my address with this posting, at least, but too
> late for others.)
Of course it's mined for addresses. Everything on the 'net is mined for addresses.
You should see the volume of mail <b>I</b> get that's either spam or viruses - and the sneezy mail system rejects a lot of it out of hand! (hint - think sometimes 4 figures in a single day before rejections ...)
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2002-10-12 04:18
This has been discussed on the repair BB also. It seems that there is a group from Nigeria and another from Malaysia that are using stolen credit card numbers to buy instruments. Once shipped, the seller is done for. They can't get the instruments back and MC and Visa don't pay. One music store owner admittedly got burned on such a deal.
jbutler
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Author: JO
Date: 2002-10-13 17:24
I got an email from a "Penpal" telling me that they were trying to keep a president in office and that they had been collecting money for the past few years and that they needed "someone they could trust to keep quiet" who had a bank account in the US. I was promised 10% of what would be put in the bank account- $2million. All I needed to send was my full name, address and bank account #s.
Riiiiiiight.
I think I wrote back..
"What do you think I am, stupid????"
Jo
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Author: David Peacham
Date: 2002-10-15 10:17
I've just been promised 20% of US$8M by a bank manager in that ill-fated country.
But I'm too rude even to reply.
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