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eBay and Classified Ad Scams:
Scammers Posing as Buyers
Selling something on eBay
Scams and scammers using these names: Mandy Coker, ashley_terpeza018, bbb
"The payment (Check)will contain some extra money which you will help me get across to the shipper as we have arranged with a shipper to come and pick up the item"
Are you looking to sell something on eBay? Did "Mandy Coker" contact you? Note that she says:
"The payment (Check)will contain some extra money which you will help me get across to the shipper as we have arranged with a shipper to come and pick up the item".
That's a clue to a scam right there!
Here are the clues that this is a scam:
- The buyer claims that he or she is not currently in your country.
- They want to pay by check or money order
- They want to include extra money in the check
- The buyer wants you to send the extra money from the check by Western
Union to someone else. Western Union wires and Moneygrams are not only untraceable, they're irretrievable. Once the
recipient picks them up (which can be done at ANY Western Union office in
the world), the money is gone, gone, gone!
- The buyer is willing to buy the item sight unseen.
- Often, the writing is poor, also. Often, is it
not pathetically bad, it's just plain strange. It looks like it was written by
someone who is not a native English-speaker, and writes very rarely in
English. This is very typical of scammers, who largely are in Nigeria and
have little formal education and probably none in English.
An actual email that illustrate this type of CraigsList scam:
Any highlighted passages below
are to draw your attention to typical scam clues:
Email 1 - from the victim:
I sold an item on ebay and was contacted by the buyer who said the
following.
The buyer sent me a check for $3000 more than
expected. Apparently he or she wanted me to transfer money to their shipper
(paynship) and get stuck with the fake check when it cleared.
The emailer's name is Mandy Coker
Their ebay username was ashley_terpeza018 and ebay
says she is no longer a registered user.
Email 2 - from the scammer:
I just bought your item on ebay,i am buying this
for
my son in the UK. Payment will be made via
U S Cashiers Check or Money Order
and will be sent you via Fedex Express Next Day Delivery as
i will be living
for Germany in the next few days.The payment (Check)will contain some extra
money which you will help me get across
to the shipper as we have arranged
with a shipper to come and pick up the item from your address.I have few
questions to ask you:1. Will you be able to cash the check the sameday?2.
Will you be available when the shipping agency will come for the pick up3.
Will you be able to help me get the extra money sent to the shipper upon
cashing the check?4. Is the condition of the item the same as described in
the auction.5. I will need you to email me Name,Address,cell phone,personal
email address where you want the check sent.As soon as you get back to me
with all this details,i will have the check sent to you via FEDEX NEXT
DAY.Need a response ASAP
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