[skanchan95]

These African scamsters will do anything to make a quick buck.

This was one e-mail I received recently. The attachment contained a supposed TT(Telegraphic Transfer) copy for USD 55,000. Once I tried opening the attachment, it took me to a page that looked exactly like Gmail's e-mail login page. If I had used my e-mail login & P/W to login, I would have had to kiss my e-mail account goodbye.

[Dolphin]

I am trying to sell my tyres on Team-BHP classifieds. On 15, May, I got an email from a person called Rose Kim showing interest in both 14” Pirelli and 17” Interstate tyres. I quoted my final price and he/she was OK with the price and then this person insisted that I receive payment via PayPal. (I have pasted the exact emails below.)

As I didn’t have a PayPal account, I created one just to make this sale and receive payment. I got all the credit card and bank account details verified from PayPal and my account was created.
All this while, this person was pushing me for a fast closure of this deal, stating that he/she is a very busy person and wants to finish the deal as soon as possible.

However, as we exchanged more and more emails, I became suspicious about this person. I think it’s a SCAM! Find below the emails from this person:

Mail 1:

Hello how are you doing today and how was the weather over there i
guess it's lovely and kind to you i just want to ask that is this
items you post on Craigslist still for sale and kindly get back to me
with some pix and you last willing prices hope to hear from you soon
bye
cheers...........
rose kim...........

Mail 2:

Thanks for the swift reply,i want you to get back to me with more
picture and what is the present condition of it.Am satisfied with your
advert price,i am buying this for my dad in as a gift.and i want
honest in this and straight forward deal . as am requesting this
transaction should be done via PayPal so the PayPal charges is on
me,If my offer is accepted send me your PayPal email and your name
including your phone# or send me money request so i can pay you right
away.I am busy at work and do not have much time around me, but no
worries as i am willing to handle the picked of this merchandise
through my legitimate mover agent cause i will like it to be picked at
your residence location,Make sure you get back to me immediately, So
no Shipping
Regards

Mail 3:

yes kindly get back to me with your paypal invoice so i can do the
payment as soon as possible thanks
yes kindly get back to me with your paypal email account so i can do
the payment as soon as possible and paypal will notify you as soon i
get it done thanks and nice doing business with you.....

Mail 4:

Hi There,
Thanks for your usual response and i really need you to do me a
favor,i am just about to make the payment when i just got a message
from headquarters of the shipping company that will come for the
pickup for me which is there in Italy, that i need to pay a total
commission of about Rs20,600INR to them before the pickup can be registered
and it should be paid via western union ONLY and there is no western
union outlet at my present location to send the money to them over
here as I'm presently off-shore for now so i will be transferring this
money into your PayPal account and you will help me wire the money to
them for the pickup as soon as you get it, PayPal will be informed
about this process as well.Sorry to put this on you but without the
pickup, the purchase cant hold.And I'm just asking about it to make
sure its in good condition so can you assure me i will not be
disappointed.Do you mind emailing me with more pictures too since i
won't be seeing this in person ?
Thanks for your help
--

Mail 5:

Hello how are you doing today and how was the weather over there i
guess it's lovely and kind to you i just want to ask that is this
items you post on Craigslist still for sale and kindly get back to me
with some pix and you last willing prices hope to hear from you soon
bye
cheers...........
rose kim...........

Mail 6:

Hi,
Thanks for your time,i have just completed the payment and i
hope you must have been notified in your email about the payment i
made through your Pay Pal (la.santhosh@gmail.com), you can check
your e-mail in box for confirmation of payment,you will have to
help me send the Rs20,600 INR i added to the payment to my pick up agent
shipping company so that they can come in-time where they normally
confirm any commission payment to via western union money
transfer (this can be done from the post office,or on-line at
WWW.Western Union.com) as they usually have a western union agent
there) , i added extra Rs5,450 to cover the western union charges ,
Here is my pick up agent Head quarter info needed to get the money
sent through western union money

Address below
Name....Toyin Adebanjo
Address....No 37 olawale street oke ado,
City.....Ibadan
State....0yo state
Zip Code....23402
Country...Nigeria

Please kindly email the necessary details to pay pal :the mtcn which
you will be given at the western union after the Rs20,600 INR INR through WU
as soon as this has been done kindly get back to PayPal.....

Mail 7:

Thanks for the message i hope you received confirmation message for
the payment from paypal and i just want you to know that the money as
already transferred and paypal money is not refundable there is no
alternative to get this transaction moving except you find a way to
send the agent fees and email the western union details to paypal
customer care so that they can credit your account and we can proceed
with the pick up.my advise is please try and send the Rs20,600 INR and
transfer it so that this transaction can be done.
Keep me updated
Regards
I look forward to read from you .
Regards,

Mail 8:

As you can see, paypal protects both buyer and sellers interest.then i
hope you receive notify for the payment i sent from paypal? This is a
security measure used by paypal to ensure the safety of both parties,
so until you send the shipper agent fees and get back to paypal with
the western union details and once paypal verify all the western union
details, paypal we release your money into your account. However the
money has already been deducted from my paypal account as my account
has been debited already.So get the money sent to the mover agent and
get back to paypal customer care to send the western union details and
your funds will be released into your account.so send the money via
western union asap so that we can finalize this transaction okay,
because my pick agent are getting ready for the pick up of the item by
now i have inform them about it.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards

I was not at all convinced with this way of I paying Rs.20600 first for the Western Union pickup and then waiting for things to get cleared and then receive the total amount in my designated PayPal account.

Important points that I noted:

> The confirmation of the amount deposited by this person (Rose) came to my email ID from this ID:
Service@paypal®.com fundfaster@live.com
Whereas all the other verification emails from the actual PayPal came from this ID:
service@intl.paypal.com service@intl.paypal.com
when I created my new PayPal account.
Checkout the change in the domain.

> The person who showed interest in both the 14” and the 17” tyres now wanted only the 14”.

> Also, the payment into my account confirmation emails had a lot of gramatical mistakes, formating errors and were very very assuring (desperate kind).

> I checked my genuine PayPal account and it showed zero balance and no track of any transaction.

I then Googled PayPal scams and was shocked to find some examples of the same type of fraud emails sent requesting transportation/ agent fees to be deposited first by the seller. Oh, man, I must tell you, I almost took the bait!

In my latest interaction I have told this Rose that I can’t pay Rs20600 to this person in Nigeria.

Please share such information if you come across anything like this. It’s sure going to help others.

----------------------

Gosh! I just realized that this is already here on Team-BHP. I didn't search properly.

[Guna]

From what I understand it is not a scam involving PayPal but seems to be scam using 'Western Union' money transfer. Google 'Western Union Scam' and you ill see many instances reported. Online stores like EBay would strongly advice you against making payments to individuals using WM way.
I should narrate my experience for the benefit of others (if somebody can still fall to this kind of trap)
Couple of years back, I was searching for a used Chevy Forester. Came across one on a classified ads and promptly contacted the seller. The quoted price was too good to be true and the car variant was not something which was sold in India.
The seller, who claimed to be an employee who used to work with a consulate and now having returned to UK, mentioned the car (which was an import) is with a shipping company. (This cleared my suspicion about how the particular variant came in to picture.)
According to him, the shipping company, the custodian of the car can send the car to my place with all documents, and if I am not satisfied, I can return it back (again, too good to be true). He also mentioned that he is carrying out the deal through eBay. (I was surprised that he can carry out a deal through eBay when the item was not listed there but I thought this must be another type of service they have ).
I even shared my address for him to send the car (this was the most stupid thing to do) and only when the seller asked me to transfer money (which was totally refundable if I was not satisfied) through Western Union I grew suspicious. He sent me what is supposed to be an eBay invoice (which looked exactly like a genuine invoice) but it took me 2 mins to check the authenticity and conclude it was fake.

[SPEEDY_RACER]

Originally Posted by Dolphin

Address below
Name....Toyin Adebanjo
Address....No 37 olawale street oke ado,
City.....Ibadan
State....0yo state
Zip Code....23402
Country...Nigeria

Please kindly email the necessary details to pay pal :the mtcn which
you will be given at the western union after the Rs20,600 INR INR through WU
as soon as this has been done kindly get back to PayPal.....

so its the same guy who tried to cheat me... but i stopped my transaction in the last moment.

check my post the address is same just a change in the house number.

so be careful. by any chance did you shipped the tyres.

[Dolphin]

Originally Posted by SPEEDY_RACER

so its the same guy who tried to cheat me... but i stopped my transaction in the last moment.

check my post the address is same just a change in the house number.

so be careful. by any chance did you shipped the tyres.

Yes, I checked your post.

No, I have not shipped the tyres. Anyway, it was he/she who was to send a pickup agent after I make a payment of Rs.20600, right?

Apart from my email address, I haven't shared any other information.

[ACM]

I think this (below pasted emails) was an attempt at some one trying a variant of the Nigerian Fraud with me for purchase of my Skoda Laura advertised on TBHP. (It of course is a half hearted advt. and I possibly wont really sell it unless I get an offer that I really can't refuse)

I basically informed the potential buyer in reply to his post below that I do not have a paypal account and that I would want to do a check on the buyer and meet him in person for my satisfaction as well. He reverted back with instructions on how to register for PayPal"

The Fraud email makes for interesting reading:

Second Email:
"Thanks for the swift reply,i want you to get back to me with more
picture and what is the present condition of it.Am satisfied with your
advert price,i am buying this for my dad in as a gift.and i want
honest in this and straight forward deal . as am requesting this
transaction should be done via PayPal so the PayPal charges is on
me,If my offer is accepted send me your PayPal email and your name
including your phone# or send me money request so i can pay you right
away.I am busy at work and do not have much time around me, but no
worries as i am willing to handle the picked of this merchandise
through my legitimate mover agent cause i will like it to be picked at
your residence location,Make sure you get back to me immediately, So
no Shipping

Regards
Jerry Smith"

--
First Email
"IT THIS ITEM STILL ON SALE............GET BACK TO ME SOONEST........"

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by Dolphin

I am trying to sell my tyres on Team-BHP classifieds. On 15, May, I got an email from a person called Rose Kim showing interest in both 14” Pirelli and 17” Interstate tyres.

However, as we exchanged more and more emails, I became suspicious about this person. I think it’s a SCAM! Find below the emails from this person:

Mail 1:

Hello how are you doing today and how was the weather over there i
guess it's lovely and kind to you i just want to ask that is this
items you post on Craigslist still for sale and kindly get back to me
with some pix and you last willing prices hope to hear from you soon
bye
cheers...........
rose kim...........

Your first email itself was a pointer to this being a Scam.

You mentioned you posted it on T-Bhp classified. The first email says Craigslist. You should have known that it is a Scam. Unless of course you posted it on Craigslist.

I guess you were digging your own money pit.

[sameerg001]

So, i got the same mail too,Since i have read this thread before. I got aware and got to know, this is a scam from 1st e-mail itself.

Here's the mails, I received :-

It is this item on sale ( subject being my advert title )

I replied back, Yes it is.

Then got the following mail :

Thanks for the swift reply, what is the present condition of it.
Am satisfied with your advert price,
i am buying this for my dad in as a gift.and i want honest in this
and straight forward deal . as am requesting this
transaction should be done via PayPal so the PayPal charges
is on me,If my offer is accepted send me your PayPal email and your
name including your phone or send me money request so i can pay you
right away.
I am busy at work and do not have much time around me, but no worries
as i am willing to handle the picked of this merchandise through my
legitimate mover agent cause i will
like it to be picked at your residence location,Make sure you get back
to me immediately,So no Shipping


Regards

This e-mail confirmed my doubt and I replied back asking him his location and clearly mentioned that, I will sell my phone ONLY personally.

Then, this guy, named jerry smith, Replied back "Nigeria" as his location.

After which i clearly refused to sell phone to him.

All those guys with advertisement in classifieds, Please be aware of this.

Thanks!

[rajivanoj]

i also got same email from jerry smith jerrywon3@gmail.com,

for my alcatel, i know it is scam, from the first email but since i want to drag this and waste his time, was emailing and communicating with him for more than a week,

and sent paypal, the email spoof he sent from fundfaster@live.com.

• Rajeev Vanoj kumar

Am glad to inform you that I am through with the transfer,
I have added enough fund with the shipping cost...and
i want you to know that i received a
Notification/Confirmation Mail from pay pal that the
money have been deducted from my pay pal account immediately
i made the transfer..I hope you would have received the
Notification/Confirmation Approval mail from PayPal if that
is case,kindly made the shipment immediately Via (Registered
Mail International)**5-10 days to my client confirmed
address giving to you by PayPal and send the tracking number
to the Customer care for more verification.So that your
account will be credit.....The shipment tracking number
will start with (RR) or (RA) or (RE) or (RD) and end with (US)...

--
IT IS THIS ITEM STILL ON SALE ..........PLEASE GET BACK TO ME SOONEST...



Nameaniel Smith

Address:No 22 Abdulai Street
Oluyole ibadan

City:Abeokuta

State:Ogun

Country:Nigeria

Zip code:02234

phone no: 07063475143

Thanks:I trust in you God Bless...
Best Regards
Note : I want you to ship the item Via (Registered Mail
International)** 5-10 days only !!!! because is very fast,
secure and cheap

--
IT IS THIS ITEM STILL ON SALE ..........PLEASE GET BACK TO ME SOONEST...

But the thing is that he even offered me to give USD 70 for shipping, wat a dumb?? though the mobile i quoted for USD 22, nigerian scams never end.

[yaseenar]

Hi Bhpians!

I recently came across a post in one of the classifieds while searching for a used car. Jaguar XJ L Ultimate 2013 registered in Cochin which has run only 8273kms was up for sale for just Rs.19 Lakhs!

http://cochin.click.in/2013-jaguar-x...e-c48-v9788556

It looked like a steal as a new one would cost between 1-2Cr easily. All excited I replied to the ad asking him if it is still available and I got a reply the very next day.

My car was registered in Cochin but is currently in Sweden right now, since i didn't get a buyer earlier and i wanted to relocate to Sweden with my wife, i just took the car along, but if you are really interested and a serious buyer then i can have the car ship back to India for you.

Thank you and i await your reply
Ferdinand

I send him the below reply:

Hello Mr. Ferdinand,

Thank you for your reply.

I am from Cochin too and feel bad that I missed the car when it was in Cochin!

Regarding buying the car, I want to discuss with my dad as I was looking for him.

Kindly let me know the answers for questions I have below:

- As the car is in Sweden right now, will I have to pay custom duties if the car is shipped back?(It is 110% in India)
- How many kms have the car run and what is the expected best price(all inclusive) that you are planning to sell?

Awaiting your reply,

Thanks and Regards,

Yaseen

Then I got a reply in hours

Thanks for your reply also, you won't pay any custom charges because i do have the complete valid documents of the car, i will just have it deliver to your doorstep without any problem and am selling it for just 31,000 usd and the KM is 8,273.

Thank you and i await your reply
Ferdinand

When I calculated 31000USD came out as approx 19Lakhs itself and this was weird as he was charging the same price when it was in Cochin too!

I just tried googling his email id (ferdinandcronard@yahoo.com) and I was !

He had posted many ads from different regions like Dubai, Qatar etc. mentioning amount equivalent to Rs.19 lakhs in AED, Riyal etc.

I made my friend send him an email saying that he is interested in the car and is located in Dubai. He got a reply next day!

Thanks for your mail, my car is no longer in Abu Dhabi but currently in Sweden, since i didn't get a buyer earlier and i wanted to relocate to Sweden with my wife, i just took the car along, but if you are really interested and a serious buyer then i can have the car ship back for you.

Thank you and i await your reply
Ferdinand

[MetalBuff]

Wow! Just wow!

Do you mind asking him to share the requisite documents (RC, receipts and the likes) with you? Would be great fun to see how the drama unfolds after that.

Is there anyway this can be reported to the police? I'm pretty sure using the IP tracing techniques this person could be tracked. Can't even begin to imagine how many peeps can fall prey to antics like these!

P.S. - A reasonable price tag probably in the 40-50L region would have spared him the scrutiny which he invited for himself with the current one. And I thought only Hyundai trumped at pricing their cars well

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

[mayankk]

This is an old, old nigerian scam.
Last year, there was an X6 available for about 9 lacs.

It was relisted about a month later, on the joke thread, I believe.

[undead]

This scam is there for few months. It was shown in a newspaper too few days back. A buyer paid Rs.100000 for a skoda laura through Neft transfer without seeing the car in person , as the price was too cheap . The seller ranaway with the money.
Even now you see few ads on quikr , olx . Eg : - 2012,2013 honda city posted as sale for Rs 300000 only. Buyers need to be careful and verify the documents and inspect the car and then pay the amount .

[batterylow]

This follows the same pattern of the Nigerian prince who claims to have millions lying in some off shore account and he wants your help to transfer it to your account. He proceeds to ask for a nominal sum towards some obscure charges which once transferred, that will be the last you hear of him.

If something is too good to be true, it most probably is not.

End of story.

[The Rationalist]

There are lot of scams like this on OLX, Quikr , Carwale. The bait is the cheap price. And usual words are ' I was working for UN, Embassy of country, suddenly relocating blah blah. And the photo will be if the car from some official site, without any Indian registration numbers.