|   Scam warning for bike sellers... | jcw
Feb 25, 2003 8:49 PM | | Perhaps this is old news, but a guy I know recently got taken to the cleaners so I thought it couldn't hurt to post a warning for others. The story goes like this: friend lists frame and fork online. The guy who purchases it is from Africa and supposedly has an "agent" in the US. When the certified check arrives my friend is suprised to find that it's for an amount far above the selling price. Being an honest guy he contacts buyer (by e-mail) to find out what's up, buyer tells him it was a mix up by his agent, and requests that he cash the check and then return the overage in a money order or certified check, which he does. About a week later my friend receives a call from the bank and is informed that the certified check was a forgery and is worthless. Friend is now out a couple grand. Fortunately he never shipped the frame, so it could have been worse. Not sure what the final outcome will be, but it doesn't look good. Be careful out there kids, it's a mean, nasty world! |
| re: Scam warning for bike sellers... | Chris B
Feb 25, 2003 9:12 PM | | Sounds like some of the famous Nigerian scams (originally done by mail, now mostly done by email) albeit on a smaller scale (they usually cited amounts in the millions on those I've received). A bit of prudence anytime you're accepting a check of any kind is to contact the bank that issued it and make sure it's good; it's amazing what you can do with a computer and printer now! |
| Never heard of that one thank's for the warning [nm] | DIRTJUNKIE
Feb 25, 2003 11:26 PM | | |
| and other scams... | GregR
Feb 26, 2003 3:46 AM | | I read that in Korea a group got hold of a bunch of credit card numbers and is buying high end products on Ebay.
It has been posted on MTBR about people stealing the photo and description from other auctions and listing the the product themselves. A good way to keep this from happening to you is to emboss your auction ID and "EBay" in the middle of the image that you put up. That way if someone steals the picture and tries to put up an auction someplace else, they can't use your picture.
G |
| I had a Fox F80RLT fork for sale in the Classifieds and was sent a similar email... | SS_MB-7
Feb 26, 2003 5:18 AM | | I had a Fox F80RLT fork for sale in the Classifieds and was sent a similar email within a day of posting. Fortunately, I was aware of the issue thanks to the "Fraud Alert!" posting in the Classfieds index page. Sorry to hear your buddy wasn't so lucky.
Here's the email I received from a "John Smith" (smithmotors2000@yahoo.com):
"Good day,
On behalf of my client i wish to buy the aboved named item i'll instruct a coleague of mine in the us to pick it up and arrange the shipping to Lagos Nigeria.Please get in touch with me right away so as to arrange payment immediately.
Yours Sincerely,
smith john"
Ride Hard,
Mike B. |
| "smith john" | Coolhand
Feb 26, 2003 12:24 PM | | Heh heh heh.
Nice!
Coolhand |
| I've said it before | Yeti_Rider
Feb 26, 2003 6:54 AM | | and I'll say it again, Why would anybody sell a bike and/or frame to somebody outside the country! Sure, they got offered more than teh asking price but several of these foreign buyer stories have been posted of late and they all have turned out to be fraudulent. If the deal sounds too good to be true (more money than asking) it probably is. If the foreign buyer is legit, he'll work with you to buy the product but probably not for substantially more than the asking price
Good to hear that your buddy didn't send the frame so he covered himself but let's think about it for a minute people!
Michael |
| here's one version of the email... | turbotoad
Feb 26, 2003 7:16 AM | | Hello xxx,
Thanks for the response to my Purchase-Enquiry. I am ready to
purchase the Bike as soon as possible. The payment($500.00 USD) will be made via Cashiers Check drawn on a US Bank. There is some-one in the United-State who is owing my client some money who i can instruct to make out a check to you But the funds he his owing my client is $4,000 USD(Which i believe is the fastest way the payment could be made, because if the check is to be sent to me it will take
about 30 days to clear here in my country. But if it's paid directly to you it will take up to 2-3 days to clear. So I am willing to
entrust you with the excess funds on the cost, which you must send to me via Western Union as soon as the Check clears in your Bank. My Shipper will be on ground to pick-up the Bike,sign the relevant titles and papers on my behalf as soon as we seal the transaction and the payment is made.
So if my Payment terms is acceptable with you, you can go ahead and forward me your contact details as follows:
Name the check is to be addressed to:
Address of the recipient:
Phone #:
I await your response.
Thanks
(-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a bunch of crap (a stranger is going to entrust $4,000.00 to you?!). Do not reply or accept the offer being made as you will find that the money order/check will be a forgery and you will be held responsible! |
| FYI: more ebay scams in general | PROGRE-SS
Feb 26, 2003 8:28 AM | | The newest one being discussed first in the article.
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y203/m02/abu0089/s02
James |
| The problem with this is... | Locoman
Feb 26, 2003 9:07 AM | | The problem with this is what's his method of cashing the check? If you present a certified check to a bank teller they don't just look for a big 'ole stamp that reads "certified". They run the check to make sure it's authentic.
I don't buy this story. I thinks it's just a story.
If someone (who A: you don't know & B: lives on another freakin continent) gives you a check for four grand -are you going to deposit this check via an ATM, take the cash from your own money and then goto a bank teller and have a certified check made to mail back? Nope. You'd do it in one step by just going to the teller in the first place who would then tell you the check is a fraud.
Or am I missing something? |
| The problem with this is... | milhouse
Feb 26, 2003 10:14 AM | | That's what I was thinking!!!
I almost got scammed at eBay by someone using a stolen credit card. They were from another country, so I waited a few days before sending. Sure enough I got an mail a few days later saying the money did not go through because the CC came back stolen.
The real problem is that there will always be liars, cheaters and thief's out there. The good thing is that bad things usually happen to bad people. |
| yep, you're missing something... | jcw
Feb 26, 2003 8:49 PM | | he took it to the bank (credit union actually) and even explained the situation to the teller, and asked for advice on how he should proceed, as it seemed a bit shady to him. The teller told him that the cashiers check was "just like cash" and there was no need for him to wait, and there would be no "hold" put on it. The bank is now telling him that it's all his problem as they are not responsible for fraudlent checks, but he's hoping that if he pushes hard enough they'll cover it for him, since he did recieve very bad advice from one of their employees. He's just a student that works part time at a local shop, and will probably have to drop out of school if this can't be resolved as the bank has already taken what was left of his student loan to cover the bad check that they cashed. I know we all like to think that it could never happen to us, as we're far too smart, but anyone can become a victim. |
| Same thing here | Spiff
Feb 26, 2003 6:07 PM | | This is the guy's reply to an email I sent him in response of his inquire in the price of the bike I was selling
To: gmarques_br@yahoo.com via 66.218.78.181;
From: "job mark" 216.136.224.86 (HELO web14606.mail.yahoo.com) (216.136.224.86)
Subject: TITUS RACER-X 2002 model
Guilherme,
Hi, Thanks for your mail,
since you said the cost of your bike is USD2,650 my client says there is no problem about the price,but like i told you in my first e-mail i make you to understand that my client is owing me $7,000 and he has just issued you a certified cashier check of $7,000 which you will be expecting while you deduct your $2,650 and wire me back my $4,350.So you will be expecting a cashier check of $7,000 while you wire me back $4,350 via western union as soon as you receive the check which i will be using for settling my shippers.After my balance has been wired to me i will then instruct my shippers to come to your destination to pick up the wheel. So let me have your full contact information to where the check will be sent to like this. name............ full address.......... city.............. state............ country.............. zipcode............ cell telephone number...... Looking forward to your respond, Best Regards, paul mark.......
--x---
Yeah, right...
His "client" is supposely a Nigerian guy
Gui |
| My reply to the scum | Spiff
Feb 26, 2003 6:25 PM | | " Mark,
Hey, thanks, your offer sounds amazingly good. Since we are at it I wonder if you wouldnt have also a bridge in Brooklin (in good condition, few scratches, etc) and also some real state in the moon (you never know) to throw in as part of the deal. Send me the grand total so we can work out the details.
Yours truly,
Gui |
| "without recource" | Mtbum
Feb 27, 2003 9:45 AM | | I recently sold some hubs thru this site, and when I took the check I recieved from the buyer to the bank I had the same reservations about being scammed. So, I aksed for the bank manager, who told me to endorse the the back of the check with "for deposit only WITHOUT RECOURSE". Apparently, this little phrase precludes a financial institution from holding you liable for someone elses check. Plus, its always good to do business with smaller local community banks where you can establish a banking relationship and you get to know the people, I never bank with the big guys like BofA, or Wells Fargo. This philosophy has served me well for business and personal. |
| Interesting, thanks for the info. (nm) | jcw
Feb 27, 2003 6:22 PM | | nm |
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