Scam Alert!!!

[clawhammer]

Before I even start the thread, mods: I would personally like to see this become a sticky, however if you feel that it breaks rules, please delete the post, but please don't ban me.

I just wanted to start a post with common scams that are out on the internet to try to protect my fellow AF members. I would prefer if people wouldn't comment on them, rather just add to the list. Here's a couple to start:

1. You have something for sale, say your car, can be anywhere. Suppose you're selling your 2000 Honda Civic for $10000, someone contacts you from another country, says they'll send you an overnight check for $15000, instructing you to keep $10k for the car, pay for the shipping, and wire the rest back to them. Say you find out that it costs $2500 to ship the car, you wire $2500 to them. Your bank will immediately accept the check, since it's a certified check, and it will appear on your balance, but a month later it will turn out it's a fraud, and you will loose the $2500 you wired to them. If someone contacts you with this scam, play along, it will cost them like $50 to mail the check overnight, and this way they'll loose the $50, and eventually get tired of scamming people.

2. Suppose you're selling something on ebay, someone from a different country will contact you saying that they need the item immediately and can't wait for the auction to end, and they'll offer you once again more for it than the item is really worth. This is against Ebay policy. They will send you Paypal, you ship the item, and you lost the item plus the expensive shipping. Paypal doesn't cover you, since you broke Ebay and Paypal policy, by ending the auction early and dealing with someone from not an apporoved country.

Other general protection tips: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Try not to deal with people from other countries, it's harder to prosecute. Use paypal instead of wire transfers, Western Union, etc. Be familiar with Paypal and Ebay policy.

[eversio11]

Anyone have the link where the guy was getting scammed on ebay for his powerbook, so he sent the scammer a laptop that was made out of cardboard? Man that was great

[publicenemy137]

Yea this would be a good stickie, my sister got scammed by this. She lost $9,000 b/c she got a $30k check for her s2000, and wired $9k back to Canada. She now owes the bank $9k. She got so mad she decided to just keep her car.

[clawhammer]

All right, I'll add some more to the list:

3. Someone in another country is selling a very popular vehicle, say a twin-turbo Supra in perfect condition for $10k, or a Hummer H2 with 2k miles also in perfect condition for $35k. You think wow, that's a good deal, then you contact the buyer, and they'll ask for 10% for escrow purposes. You'll never see that money again. Bottom line: there are plenty of cars in the US, you don't need to import them from another country.

Some more general protection tips: If a scammer gives you a phone number for you to have just in case (to make you feel that it's legit deal0, call it, don't assume it will be

[knorwj]

well, something i've found out from personal experience. If you see multiple auctions from multiple users all for a similar item and they use the same pictures don't bid because one or more or all of them may be fake. I learned this from trying to buy my little brothers a playstation for christmas off ebay.... now i'm out 200 for the holiday season.

[dantheman00114]

why wouldnt you just buy them a new playstation for 150..?

[clawhammer]

More general ways of telling if something is a scam or not

You have received a letter informing you of a large sum of money that could come your way: a business opportunity, a request for assistance in a financial transaction, or perhaps even an inheritance.

Is it a scam?

Did the offer come out of the blue from a total stranger?
Don't take offence at this, but 'Why you?' No-one with a big financial deal in the offing is going to contact a stranger on the internet. I wouldn't. You wouldn't. They wouldn't. If the offer is for lots, possibly millions, of dollars and you don't know the person making the offer...

...then it is a scam.

What if the offer is for an inheritance?
Ask a few questions:
Do you know the person who supposedly left you this money?
Do you know them well?
Do other people in your family know them?
Can you verify their death?
Do you know of a reason for them to leave you this money?
Can you contact another source to confirm death & will?
Was the original approach addressed to you by name, or just "Dear Sir"?
How did they find you?

If the offer is for an inheritance from someone you have never heard of and your mother never told you about...

...then it is a scam.

Did the offer come by email or fax?
More importantly, did it come addressed to the 'contractor', 'beneficiary', 'director' etc? Any legitimate offer would come to your mail address, would come from a legitimate company, would be addressed to you by name. If the offer did not know your name and postal address...

...then it is a scam.

Did the offer come with a contact email address that is from a public email provider?
I don't care what the excuse, the Director of the Reserve Bank of Nigeria will not be using a Hotmail account. Mind you, the scammers are getting more clever and you are likely to get email addresses from @accountant.com or @lawyer.com. If the contact email is from a public email provider...

...then it is a scam.

Did the offer ask you to 'reconfirm' your details?
If they are fishing for information...

...then it is a scam.

Is it going to cost you money up front?
I am not talking phone calls and bus fares here. Normal business procedure is to adjust any financial settlement for costs incurred in the transaction. If it is going to cost you a sizeable chunk of money and it cannot be offset againt the money on offer...

...then it is a scam.

Is it legal? Are you being asked to assist in a crime?
Think carefully about the offer presented to you. Are you supposed to pretend to be someone you are not, to collect an inheritance or an unclaimed bank balance? Are you supposed to bill someone for something that you did not do in order to claim money that you never earned? Does it involve someone being over invoiced to create a 'fund'? If it seems to be based on an illegal operation...

...then it is a scam.

I am sorry for being the bearer of such bad news, of squashing your dreams of spending the rest of your days checking your portfolio while cruising the Whitsundays but there seems to be no exception to that old addage: if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

[knorwj]

Originally Posted by dantheman00114

why wouldnt you just buy them a new playstation for 150..?

well it was the new slim one and it came with extra controller and memory etc. i priced it out and even with shipping i was supposedly saving a little bit. haha little did i know. So right now i'm still doing emails etc. with paypal and ebay trying to get refunded or something.

[mepammy]

Here's a scam...you get an 'official' looking e-mail from e-bay...saying that they need to confirm your information...anything to do with your personal information DO NOT REPLY. These scammers set up the e-mail to look like e-bay...complete with all the colors, buttons...they are trying to get your credit card information and/or steal your accont long enough to do some damage.

If you are suspicious about these and other types of e-mails, one clue would be to look for typos, wrong language useage...anything that just doesn't look right.

[clawhammer]

Originally Posted by mepammy

Here's a scam...you get an 'official' looking e-mail from e-bay...saying that they need to confirm your information...anything to do with your personal information DO NOT REPLY. These scammers set up the e-mail to look like e-bay...complete with all the colors, buttons...they are trying to get your credit card information and/or steal your accont long enough to do some damage.

If you are suspicious about these and other types of e-mails, one clue would be to look for typos, wrong language useage...anything that just doesn't look right.

That's called phishing. In case you get one of these suspicious emails, do not click the link that they sent with the email. Instead, just to be sure that your account is safe, open your web browser, go to the merchant, and log in from there. Make sure that everything is still fine with the account.

[eversio11]

Originally Posted by mepammy

Here's a scam...you get an 'official' looking e-mail from e-bay...saying that they need to confirm your information...anything to do with your personal information DO NOT REPLY. These scammers set up the e-mail to look like e-bay...complete with all the colors, buttons...they are trying to get your credit card information and/or steal your accont long enough to do some damage.

If you are suspicious about these and other types of e-mails, one clue would be to look for typos, wrong language useage...anything that just doesn't look right.

Thats a good one, I get emails like that all the time that look like both eBay and Paypal emails. However, eBay actually does send emails like that out annually when you have to renew your billing information. The difference between the scam emails and real ones are the scam emails often threaten something like "If you don't update your information within 15 days, your account will be permanently terminated", to try and get suckers to actually do it without thinking. In reality, eBay doesn't terminate your account if you don't update your information, you simply cannot bid until you update.

Also, check the URL of the link. If it doesn't point to "http://cgi.ebay.com/etc etc etc" then its a scammer's website. Often times the scammer's site will point to "http://random string of numbers.com/ebay"

[aloharocky]

There is a saying, something to the effect that only a greedy man can be scammed. I see a pattern here, and it is that E-Bay is simply not doing their job, but now are full of apologies, excuses, while raking in the cash and giving us the finger. They were set up to be an honest enterprise but have let it go to the dogs. It's like the cell-phone companies saying they'll insure protection from telemarketers, then selling your phone number to the very people you don't want to have it. Fuck E-Bay until they get their shit together.

[sameintheend01]

I ALWAYS pay for stuff on the internet with a credit card. I did the international thing once and wired someone $150 on Western Union. I called my credit card company first and asked them if I was protected if it was fraud. They said it was and they reimbursed me for the money I lost with NO HASSLE. That is the beauty of credit cards.

[MagicRat]

Wow, great post from clawhammer. Very useful; I read it all.
Here is another little trick it seems all dealers do.
You buy a car, at a given price, or lease a car at a given interest rate.
However, on the contract is a line that says 'Paperwork' or Contract Preparation' or something for $300, or $500 or whatever.
You are told this fee is part of every deal.
But you say, the Fiat Fettuccini you just bought was advertised for $19,995 now, the real price is $20,495. They say, no, the car is $19,995, but in reality, since they call their little price boost by a different name, you actually cannot get the car for $19,995. So, what is the value of having the adveritsed price? It's to get you in the door so they can work their sales routine on you.

Sometimes, on a lease, the fee is charged annually, as 'renewall fee' or whatever. The lease rate is for, say 6.9%, PLUS the renewall fee. Well, if you factor in the manditory renewall fee, the actual interest rate on the lease is higher than advertised.

[Oz]

Stuck.