Is this A SCAM??????

Hey guys need some help, I have my board up fro sale and the buyer is located in the UK. I have not posted anywhere but WW, this person as far as I can tell is not a member, looked up by email and full name. I will attach the e-mails ...(copy from outlook)


1st email seems honest..
Hello,
I mail to know if you still have the above mention(Parks Bio 140) are still for sale as am verymuch intrested of buying ..kindly let me know what your final asking priceis and also send to me its pictures .
I await your reply....

2nd email raises questions..

Hello,
Thanks for your mail,i want all the properties you are selling and after i you which is ok with me,but i want you to know that am from UK and i have a contact who based in US and that will send to you a check drawn from US bank to you on my behalf so,if you are ok with this...reply me back asap with your details needed for the addression of the check such as below:

Name to be on the check:.............
Address where check will be received by you:...........
Phone Number's such as Mobile,Land line and Office number..............
Your Last Asking Offer...........

As regards shippment,this will be handle by my shipper once you get your
money he will immediately come for the pick up...I hope to hear back from
you soonest.


I don't know if he means his shipper as in FED Ex etc, or his contact? What do you guys think?

Poor english = Nigerian Counterfeit Scam. At least that's what I've noticed in the past. Although some people on wakeworld tend to have the same problem with typing so who knows. Plus anyone who calls a wakeboard "properties" is not to be trusted.

Get your check, cash it, and then ship it. If check doesn't cash- don't ship it.

There was a news story in Chattanooga yestrday where a check was cashed and merchandise shipped, 1 week later the bank came back to the seller and said the check didn't clear and wanted their money back. Don't let the item out of your hands until the bank tells you the check is cleared through the originating bank.

Sadly enough, this is a situation where you want a personal check instead of a cashier's check. You also want a personal check from a bank you have a branch of in your area (ex. we have Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Wachovia, BB&T, etc around here). That way you can go straight to that bank and exchange that check for cash. That's how I dealt with selling my truck when the buyer wanted to use a check for part of the purchase price. Since I had the buyer right there, I also had him show me either online or by phone that he had sufficient funds in his account.

Banks trust cashier's checks by default because they still haven't adjusted to the idea that criminals can pretty easily counterfit a cashier's check now. That's what makes the possible (and likely in your case) scam work. George is correct that the bank will go ahead and cash the cashier's check for you and then turn around and ask for the money back if/when it turns out to be bogus. A personal check carries that same risk but the fraudster will actually have to have a real account number, routing number, and account holder information if you go to the bank where the check was supposedly drawn from to cash it. It's usually not worth the effort to steal that information since they can just as easily find a new target for their cashier's check scam.

That second letter sure sounds like the scam letters I received when I was selling my car. When he starts talking about your properties and my shipper will pick it up as soon as you have the check. Next will be the check is for too much and I will need you to refund the difference. I can see cars, but why bother over a used wakeboard worth a few hundred bucks? I vote SCAM!!!

Watch out for this guy - sounds dodgy to me. Anybody who can't come up with the cash up-front without messing around with checks, US accounts, etc is worth keeping an eye on.

As someone else said get the cheque, cash it and then send the board.

What about a wire transfer/US$ draft?

Kenny, I would stay away! There are too many red flags here. Not worth the trouble. Your board will sale, but not to him.

If you have to make a post with the title

Is this a SCAM????

Guess what there is about a 99% chance it is a scam. Find someone else to sell your stuff to.

it's a scam, no question. i get very similar emails whenever i put stuff up for sale. just ignore it, or send him a link to www.ebolamonkeyman.com

ebolamonkeyman.com is NSFW by the way.

Kenny, it's a total scam. Don't do it. I'm sure you will find someone from the US more than willing to pay for it. Also, I highly recommend using PayPal for any transaction. Even though they charge 3%,there are safeguards in place to weed out frauds and if you do get screwed, they have a good fraud policy.

It's been 3 days since you first posted, please tell us you didn't do it?

no I didn't , I sent him a link to western union UK and gave him the address to a western union located here in Sacramento. took him 2 days to reply, said he wanted to do it via check, not going to happen!

(Message edited by ghostrider_2 on February 16, 2006)

Oh GOD, don't do Western Union either! That's even worse.

Ya know, now that I think of it... I don't think that I have seen a SCAM where the scammer wants to use PayPal. It's always Western Union, Money order or personal check.