[Apparelyzed]

If you are offered a cheque for your goods in excess of what you are asking, and the buyer wants you to send the difference in cash back to them, be aware that this is a cheque scam and will result in you being conned out of both your goods, and the money sent to you.

If you are offered such a deal, ignore it.

[Shanna]

How does that work? We are trying to sell Nick's electric chair for $3000, and a guy emailed me and said he would send a certified check for $6000. and have a shipper pick up the chair. We were supposed to give the excess money to the shipper. I thought it sounded too good to be true.

[Apparelyzed]

Typically, an overpayment cheque scam works like this:

* A seller places an Internet advertisement for a car or other item with a high price tag.

* Later, the seller receives a generous offer for the item, usually via an email.

* The seller agrees on the price, and, often, also agrees to the proviso that he or she refuses any other offers for the item.

* The scammers then send a cheque for the item. However, the cheque is for substantially more than the specified amount.

* The scammers invent some excuse for this overpayment and ask that the balance be electronically transferred to a specified bank account. For example, they may claim that the extra funds are to pay the fees of an agent who is handling the sale or to cover shipping costs.

* The seller dutifully transfers the amount out of his or her own funds.

* Later, the seller finds that his or her bank has dishonoured the cheque. In some cases, the bank may actually have cleared the funds, but discovers later that the check is a forgery or was stolen.

* Thus the seller has been bilked out of a substantial amount, with little chance of recovering the money.

Furthermore, the item remains unsold and the seller may have rejected legitimate offers in the mean time.

The supposed buyers usually originate out of West African nations such as Nigeria. In fact, it is probable that the same gang of con-artists that run Nigerian loan scams and international lottery scams are responsible for the overpayment cheque scam as well. Like the Nigerian scam, the intent is to draw the potential victim deeper into the scam via a series of emails.

To protect yourself against this sort of scam, never agree to a deal in which the payer wishes to issue an amount for more than the agreed price and expects you to reimburse the balance. The scammers use a variety of excuses to explain the overpayment, but any such excuse should be treated with the utmost suspicion.

[Simon]

We had this issue 2 years ago, a 'client' emailed wanting to book 2 weeks, seemed genuine enough at start. However, deposit never came, then a cheque arrived in the post looking like it was from Direct Line insurance (in uk) for nearly twice the amount, with no identification of who it was from. After 12 phone calls to different depts of Direct Line and Royal bank of scotland, the fraudulent cheque dept confimed it wasn't genuine!

[dingle]

Simon, on Aug 2 2006, 01:06 PM, said:

We had this issue 2 years ago, a 'client' emailed wanting to book 2 weeks, seemed genuine enough at start. However, deposit never came, then a cheque arrived in the post looking like it was from Direct Line insurance (in uk) for nearly twice the amount, with no identification of who it was from. After 12 phone calls to different depts of Direct Line and Royal bank of scotland, the fraudulent cheque dept confimed it wasn't genuine!

Greetings All
I have just had one,
the emails are like a spy novel

[dom]

I just had one today simon!! i put something for saleon friday free ads and had a ridiculous cheque offer for £1000 the item is only worth £30! he talked about shipping agents etc what a fiddling

[dingle]

Greetings All
Is happened to me last week,
I have a wheelchair for sale and buyer emailed me and said somebody was sending me a cheque for £4,000 from The Royal Bank of Scotland and I was to take the cheque to my bank and take out £3,400 in cash and go to a western union agent in Aylesbury
and then send the £3,400 to an address in south east London and some body would collect the wheelchair,
I spoke to the person and his english was not very good and he said do as the email,
I told him I was tearing the cheque and he said he had told make sure I would tear it up but it is still in my draw and I never heard from him a gain.
so be warned of a Jacob Tunde,
IN GOD I TRUST AND THE REST PAY BY CASH.

This post has been edited by dingle: 03 September 2006 - 01:54 PM

[dom]

cheers dingle, my one was bill gann

[Santa Cruz Soul Surfer (LRO)]

You know, was in the hospital just after my injury and I started getting multiple emails from arseholes like that... I found great fun in writing them back just to screw with them, finding fun and creative ways to mess with them! LOL, it was quite entertaining!

[raybonda]

hi Dingle,
these days i aint even sure about the God guy either.
Ray

[brooklodge]

Santa Cruz Soul Surfer (LRO), on Feb 27 2009, 12:18 AM, said:

You know, was in the hospital just after my injury and I started getting multiple emails from arseholes like that... I found great fun in writing them back just to screw with them, finding fun and creative ways to mess with them! LOL, it was quite entertaining!

Yep that's the way to go, I lead them along with lots of return emails, build up a rapport and their trust and then when you have them hooked tell them to **** off

[Mitchyboy]

Wow I just had this almost happen to me.I caught it before I was ripped off

[edlee]

There are tonnes of these scams around. Now that telephoning can be done over the internet, so cheaply,, you even get a few that way, too. Generally you find that the person you are speaking to,, or emailing to,, isn't completely fluent in English. The ones I have dealt with,, sound like the things they say are scripted for them,, and they repeat certain phrases to make whatever point it is they are pushing.

I rather enjoy them,, since I am not a particularly trusting individual, in the first place. I like to take up their time and energy,, figuring that it's keeping them from doing it to someone else. I especially like to make them believe that I'm hooked,, and that they are reeling me in. I kept one guy on the string for two months before he finally wised up. It was a hoot,,

This stuff is really pretty basic. Common sense simply needs to prevail over greed. Unfortunately,, it seldom does.
ed

[hooplady]

Oh, it is so much fun to string them along and waste their time so they can't prey on others! An old scam years ago was to receive a phone call from someone claiming to be with the office supply company. They'd say that they just needed the make and model number of our copier or fax so they could verify their records. Or sometimes the warehouse had just had a fire, and they wanted to make sure we got enough toner refills. All they wanted was a name so they could ship their ridiculously overpriced supplies and then claim that someone had authorized it.

I would put on my dumbest eager-to-please voice, put the phone down for awhile, then come back and ask "um, where would I find the model number?" And they'd be very patient with this obviously stupid young girl and explain to me; I'd put the phone down for awhile and make some noise, then come back and tell them it was a Minoltashiba 9000 or whatever. They'd ask me to double-check, etc., etc. Sometimes this went on for quite awhile before they finally hung up.

[edlee]

That's another type of scam that a lot of people aren't aware of. If you get ANY phone call asking you to varify ANY information,,, no matter how innocent it sounds,,, don't do it. Even if they read off your name and address,, NEVER say the word "yes", or "okay",, or anything that could later be constued as an afirmative responce. These calls are taped,, and the only part they need is your saying yes. It's even done by some companies that alresdy have your credit card number. The additions to your card are then usually very small,,, maybe only in the area of 50 cents per month. Small enough that you don't notice them. And that's the secret.

Being aware,,,, knowing that there are a lot of people trying to steal from you,,, all the time,,, It may seem cynical,, and like a hard way to live,,, but otherwise,, you're just buying somebody lunch.
ed

[katicabogar]

Being so new to this game of trying to sell a wheelchair I too almost got trapped!!! The person insisted they wanted it asap as they "were sad to say they need the wheelchair" The also insisted they would pay for it via paypal and wanted my address so they could calculate the shipping costs. I asked them, to be kind, where they were located as I would be willing to drop it off to them if it were close enough to save the shipping cost. They emailed back, in broken english, they were from Cumberland????and insisted they would do the shipping thing, they were willing to pay for. The third email stated she could not be contacted via phone as she was deaf and also considered disabled? It was only through a great friend I was told about the possible scams that are happening even via craigslist or any other selling site. Thanks to my friend, I was put into contact with Apparelyzed to help me and hopefully I can help someone else. Thanks for listening.

[guido]

If you are selling goods via a website you are always going to be a potential target for these scammers. However, knowing a few facts can prevent losing money and make it easier to spot scams.


I have put together a couple of pages of information. Feel free to browse regardless of whether you are using the site or even selling disability equipment - could be a car on autotrader.


Protecting Yourself Against Fraud


Scam Attempts


Generally the rule of thumb is that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.


It's a shame that it would be illegal to entrap these people and fill them in when they reach the doorstep....

[mk78]

This scam is also done through paypal and well as with money orders. Make sure you verify if the money was received in your paypal account and has cleared. Make sure you verify the money order is real by calling in the number for the money order. It sound obvious but you would be surprised how many people don't do this and end up losing big in the end. Their are a lot of scams out there and these people could care less...please be safe

[randomryan007]

I had someone try to get me to give them what I was selling and try to get me to ship it to them. I pay for shipping. they said they would pay me back. I think not. very un-kool. sad part is people fall for this stuff. I do alot for the cumminty. althou it really makes me wonder when dealing with people because I can never be sure they aren't just getting something from me for free and reselling it.

This post has been edited by randomryan007: 18 December 2011 - 02:17 AM