Hi: I found your blog and thought this might be relevant. First off, I tried selling a utility trailer on Craglist 2 months ago and was BOMBARDED by fake buyers that were trying to scam me out of the trailer. Un believable what these people try to do. Plus there were the whores that inquired asking for sex, etc. What a joke! So yesterday I went on craigslist to look for a pontoon boat. I found one without pictures so I asked and man did I receive. A complete SCAM using Google Checkouts. Here is the first email followed by the second email
From Scammer:
Hi, I am sorry for the delay in my answer but I have been very busy these days.
For sale is a 2005 Sun Tracker 24' pontoon with a 60HP Mercury Motor and trailer! This is a 1-Owner fresh water pontoon. The engine is a fuel injected Mercury 4stroke that was just serviced and has no known problems or concerns. The interior is in clean condition. It has a Bimini top with boot, wet bar, fish finder, docking lights, tanning platform, changing station, 2 folding fishing chairs, rear boarding ladder and CD player with remote. All others extras such as boat cover, motor cover, life jackets, anchors, ropes, float etc. are included in my final price. I’m not interested in any kind of trade. If you'd like to view some additional pictures here is a link: http://imgur.com/a/NRRErThis package will come with clear titles for both boat and trailer. I was recently promoted so we had to move to Pittsburgh, PA. Besides, there are a lot of things which have priority now, so this package has to go. As you probably noticed, the price is rather low $5555 due to the fact that I'm very busy with my work and I don't stay too much at home, the boat is already at the shipping company and will be delivered with "express delivery", shipping costs are included in price. The transaction will be made under Google Checkout plan. This way we can receive assistance for purchase, title transfer, etc.
So, please reply back to this email if you are really interested in purchasing my pontoon boat and trailer and I will provide further instructions regarding payment and delivery.
Many thanks,
Dawie
Name: Dawie Alberts
Home: 501-604-2193
Email: dawie.alberts124@gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
I responded I was interested and here is what I got...
"Hi again Mali,
As we speak the package is already at the shipping company here in Pittsburgh, PA ready to be shipped. I am located out of the city due to occupational obligations so unfortunately this means we can only make the deal through Google Checkout . Since, I presume, you are not familiar with Google's Checkout Plan, I have briefly described Google Transaction steps below:
- Bellow you will find the link to the private Google Checkout page.
View Google Checkout page (click)
- You need to complete your full name, shipping address and email address in order to commit to buy;
- Then Google Checkout will sends you the invoice with payment details for our transaction;
- You will receive all the details that you need to complete this transaction safe and easy;
- After Google Checkout secure the payment, they will notify me and I will start shipping. Shipping will take no more than 3 to 5 days (depending on your location).
- When the shipping process starts you will receive a tracking number so you can track the package whenever you want.
- After you receive the pontoon you will have another 5 days to inspect it.
- When the inspection period ends, Google Checkout contacts you and if there are any issues with the boat, they will fully refund you within 3 business days and the boat will be shipped back on my expense. If all is good with the package, which I'm sure it will be, they will assist you with the titles transfer and release the payment to me.
As you can see, you will receive the pontoon and trailer BEFORE any money will be released to me. You'll get the chance to inspect, test and everything you like while your money are still safely held in Google Checkout trust account.
I apologize if it seems like I'm pushing on this deal but I really want to be sure that everything is clarified.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.Dawie
Name: Dawie Alberts
Home: 501-604-2193
Email: dawie.alberts124@gmail.com
4 comments:
Nice post....
salesmanship
Oh, I failed to mention that the boat they listed was about a 70,000dollar boat with all the bells and whistles..I like to mess with them sometimes. People please beware if it's to good to be true, then 'it's to good to be true' and it IS probably 'a scam' and also note; that you can't win something you did not enter! and there really is no 'widow' in some third world country with millions of dollars looking for you to help them with all of their money and will let you keep most of it for doing so..or 'no banker or Earl or proctor' and Bill Gates isn't going to give you money for answering a few quick questions and no one is really raising money for a poor kids operation.
I recently ran into several scamming situations regarding housing rental, so decided to post a general advice on how to detect and avoid scams on my political blog:
gleeaikin.blogspot.com
I just had a similar situation happen to me. The e-mail was sent through a person named Debbie Findley, dfindley@gmail.com. She advertised a 2005 Volkswagen Beetle GLS for 2,980. She stated that she works on a cruise ship ( I should've known at this point, a cruise ship, really?), and the car was at a shipping company in Arkansas. She stated that she's a single woman and had no one to drive it. She sent me pictures of the car, and then came the talk about Google checkout. After asking her some probing questions, I noticed that the tone of the e-mails changed ( grammatical errors, impatient and quick). Other forums state that they sensed that change too. I’ve read other posts and she used much of the same language as other e-mails ( "I'm a single woman", "I'm glad we can move forward"). The invoice, just like everyone else, asked to wire money through Western Union, and gave another woman's address as a agent representative. In the invoice, there is also "Debbie's" address; I google mapped it and it appears to be a hospital. Just today, someone from Ghana sent me a friend request on Facebook. I have no idea who the person is, but I believe there’s a connection. The person has my contact information, but I didn’t go through with the transaction. What can I do to protect myself now? I'm thankful for everyone posting their story, it prevented me from making a terrible decision. I was so excited about getting a car for a great deal, and I unfortunately let that get in the way of logical thinking!
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