Who should I report this idiot to?

[dgob123]

Is this guy f-ing serious?

 

I get this message earlier tonight:

Question from ken_600west

Item: Mother of all COLECOVISION Auctions (8231354600)

This message was sent while the listing was active.

ken_600west is a potential buyer.

 

I am interest in purchasing your item with no delay,

but first? What is the final price of the item? Is the price firm?

Will you be accepting a US certified Check or money order

Contact me with the present state of the item and your

contact information to mail out the payment to you as

soon as possible.

 

Name you want on check: Home Address: City: State: Country: Phone Number/Office Number

 

I send him back this without a second thought:

> Item: Mother of all COLECOVISION Auctions (8231354600)

> This message was sent while the listing was active.

> dgob123 is the seller.

> ---------------------------------------

> The system and accessory items are all in original boxes. They are

> in great shape and work well. The cartridges are all loose and work

> fine. I will change the auction to accept money order or certified

> check. I would rather do it through the ebay system to ensure we

> are both protected to some degree. If you do the Buy It Now I will

> cover the shipping. just subtract the shipping price when you

> checkout. As to the price the carts alone are worth very close to

> 500.00 buy I would be willing to sell it all shipping included for

> 600.00 just make the necesarry adjustment in the price when you

> checkout or I will send a adjusted invoice. Thanks for your

> interest.

 

Then I get this bullshit:

hello,

thanks for your response,i will like to tell you that you dont need to worry

about the shipping of the item that he have contacted a shipping company that will

come for the pick up of of the item from your home.that is why my client add

extra funds to the payment so that as soon as you received the payment just

deduct your item money and wired back the excess funds back the same day you

received it, get back to me with your address and phone number.

 

And I respond...

>Have you totally lost your mind? Forget it. No one is coming to pick up my >package. The auction started on ebay and on EBay is where it will stay.

>There have been a lot of scams involving exactly what you are describing here >and I for one will not be taken in. Just move along and find

>someone else to purchase your stuff from. Ebay will get copies of these messages

>-Dave

 

I'm reporting him but anyone else think this is weird as hell?

-Dave

Edited November 10, 2005 by dgob123

[rockfistus]

Er....so a van pulls up to your house and some guys in black suits pick up the "goods" now or what?

[finallywed0312]

This is beyond wierd. As for reporting it to someone. I would report it to ebay but i would also sleep with one eye open.

 

Sorry man it sounds like you got one F**ked up person. Good Luck

[Mindfield]

Those wacky Nigerian businessmen and their clients...

[AtariAger]

[Mindfield]

963095[/snapback]

 

Wire fraud, son. Old game. Popular with the Nigerians. 419eater is filled with baiters that love playing with these idiots. They've (the Nigerians/wire defrauders) been hitting eBay lately -- I guess E-Mail spam isn't working out for them like it used to.

Edited November 10, 2005 by Mindfield

[+Omegamatrix]

963095[/snapback]

 

Wire fraud, son. Old game. Popular with the Nigerians. 419eater is filled with baiters that love playing with these idiots. They've (the Nigerians/wire defrauders) been hitting eBay lately -- I guess E-Mail spam isn't working out for them like it used to.

963103[/snapback]

I gotcha. There was a old letter they used to circulate about a soccer team needing some help to secure a million dollars that the government sealed up or something like that. All you had to do was donate some money and they'd give you a cut when they got their shares back plus the money you invested before. Actually it might have been a South Africian team, but same deal. Fraud.

[n8littlefield]

Yup - definately wire fraud. I posted a few things on craigslist awhile back, and all I got for responses were people who wanted to wire me like 10x the price to ship to their kid overseas. Does it every actual work for them anymore? I would have thought people would have wised up!

[+FujiSkunk]

Yup - definately wire fraud.  I posted a few things on craigslist awhile back, and all I got for responses were people who wanted to wire me like 10x the price to ship to their kid overseas.  Does it every actual work for them anymore?  I would have thought people would have wised up!

963219[/snapback]

 

They'll keep doing it as long as somebody falls for it. And sadly, people are still falling for it.

[RickHarrisMaine]

It worked great for me though. In their gratitude for me giving them all my financial information, they will be sending me $10 million, re-naming the Nairobi International Airport in my name, sending me 36 goats, plus a little something they call "Door number 3". I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.

[SimonTemplar]

These people are not even real Nigerians, we call them Nigerians cause they operate from a part of Amsterdam called "Little Nigeria". Shame on them.

[Mindfield]

They still work for the same reasons spam still works -- 'cos ignorant people still buy into it -- and probably because there's still not enough publicity to raise awareness to a level Joe Schmoe will pick up on. The only time you really see any significant sort of publicity surrounding cases like these are when they feature specials on 60 Minutes or (in Canada) W5 -- and the people who watch programs like that are probably already aware enough to know about the "Nigerian" scams.

 

I'm sure eventually the average Bob will get hip to it, but by that time I'm sure there will be new and ever more exciting scams to bait people with.

[ntavio]

963095[/snapback]

 

Wire fraud, son. Old game. Popular with the Nigerians. 419eater is filled with baiters that love playing with these idiots. They've (the Nigerians/wire defrauders) been hitting eBay lately -- I guess E-Mail spam isn't working out for them like it used to.

963103[/snapback]

 

Got a similar message on an auction I had for a 5200 collection. They BIN'd the auction and demanded me to ship it to Nigeria before they paid; once they rec'd the items, they claimed they would wire the money. When I refused I started to receive phony "payment sent through Bidpay" emails. I reported the fraud to ebay but ebay responded there was nothing they could do. I also reported it to Bidpay and they claimed the fake emails would be investigated and never heard again. itsralph wound up buying the collection.

 

Thanks Ralph.

[Mindfield]

Got a similar message on an auction I had for a 5200 collection.  They BIN'd the auction and demanded me to ship it to Nigeria before they paid; once they rec'd the items, they claimed they would wire the money. When I refused I started to receive phony "payment sent through Bidpay" emails.  I reported the fraud to ebay but ebay responded there was nothing they could do.  I also reported it to Bidpay and they claimed the fake emails would be investigated and never heard again.  itsralph wound up buying the collection.

 

Thanks Ralph. 

963537[/snapback]

 

That's just rank amaturism. At least the "pros" try and work out terms of payment before demanding the merchandise -- no one should expect to succeed asking for stuff now and payment later. That's just pathetic -- even for the Nigerian scammers.

[+remowilliams]

Well aren't I lucky - I got my very own scam today

 

DEAR SELLER,

I AM ANITA BUSH FROM HOLLAND, AM HIGHLY INTRESTED IN

BYING THIS GREAT ITEMS FOR ONE OF MY FRIEND IN AFRICA

THAT JUST RELOCATED TO AFRICA AS A BIRTHDAY GIFT. I

WILL LIKE TO BUY THIS ITEM AS FAST AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE

HER BIRTHDAY DATE IS VERY LIMITED I WANT THE ITEM

SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO HER IN AFRICA AND I WILL BE PAYING

YOU WITH MONEY ORDER THROUGH A VERY SECURE ONLINE

WESTERN UNION AUCTION PAYMENTS, KINDLY GET BACK TO ME

WITH YOUR FULL NAME AND ADDRESS FOR PAYMENT I WANT THE

ITEM SHIPPED VIA FEDEX EXPRESS SHIPPING TO AFRICA, DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE SHIPPING COST I WILL SEND YOU MY COMPANY FEDEX ACCOUNT SO THAT YOU CAN JUST GO AND DROP IT OFF. I

WILL BE WILLING TO KNOW ALL THE TOTAL COST OF THIS ITEMS

+ THE SHIPPING TO MY FRIEND IN AFRICA LET ME HAVE YOUR

FULL NAME AND ADDRESS. PLS NOTE THAT I WANT YOU TO SHIP

OUT THE ITEM TO MY CLIENT UPON APPROVAL CONFIRMATION

E-MAIL FROM WESTERN UNION AUCTION. THIS IS THE ADDRESS I

WANT IT TO......

NAME... SEGUN CLEMENT

ADDRESS... 45 DADA STREET IFAKO IJAIYE

STATE....... LAGOS

ZIP CODE...... 234001

COUNTRY........ NIGERIA

PHONE NO.....2348038051730

[YOK-dfa]

These people are not even real Nigerians, we call them Nigerians cause they operate from a part of Amsterdam called "Little Nigeria". Shame on them.

963278[/snapback]

Erm, there is no part of Amsterdam called Little Nigeria. I don't know where you got this info from, but at least the 'name-part' is wrong...

[Mindfield]

AM HIGHLY INTRESTED IN

BYING THIS GREAT ITEMS FOR ONE OF MY FRIEND IN AFRICA

THAT JUST RELOCATED TO AFRICA AS A BIRTHDAY  GIFT.

 

I hope my next birthday gift is relocation to Africa.

 

I WILL LIKE TO BUY THIS ITEM AS FAST AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE

HER BIRTHDAY DATE IS VERY LIMITED

 

Could be as short as 24 hours -- act quickly!

 

I WILL BE WILLING TO KNOW ALL THE TOTAL COST OF THIS ITEMS

+ THE SHIPPING TO MY FRIEND IN AFRICA

 

At least she's willing. Most people prefer to be left in the dark.

Edited November 15, 2005 by Mindfield

[PacManPlus]

[J.Max]

Don't they realize that Bidpay sends you a Money Order? Just tell them that goods cannot be shipped until you receive the MO. That'll get rid of them quickly...

[Mindfield]

Don't they realize that Bidpay sends you a Money Order?  Just tell them that goods cannot be shipped until you receive the MO.  That'll get rid of them quickly...

966569[/snapback]

 

They can pay with a stolen credit card. Mind you I think that would be insured so the seller wouldn't get stung anyway.

[ATARIeric]

These people are not even real Nigerians, we call them Nigerians cause they operate from a part of Amsterdam called "Little Nigeria". Shame on them.

963278[/snapback]

 

are you talking about the nigerian 419 fraud in Amsterdam ?

 

Amsterdam in the Netherlands, a city which is now the internet fraud capital of the western world.

Edited November 17, 2005 by ATARIeric

[Dones]

Curiously enough I was browsing today an ebay auction that had someone with the same m.o. as the one mentioned here. The question and answer was available near the end of the page. Here is what it said:

 

Q: i want to know if really this item is in good condition and also i will pay $200 to end the bid bcos of my ugrency.I will like to make a quick purchase on the item cos i will like to use the item as a gift to a friends son in west africa.he is really going to love it.My payment method is Western Union Money Order Bidpay.If ok by you kindly get back to me with the full name and address of where you want the money to be mailed out to so i can proceed with payment immdaitely.I will take all the shipping responsibilities i have an account with fedex and i will like the item to be shipped through my fedex account.So you wont need to pay any shipping cost cos all the shipping cost will be billed to my fedex account.So once the payment has been approved and you have recieved the payment approval confirmation,i will send you all neccessary shipping document for the fedex pick.plz get back to me with your full name and address and also the lbs of the package so i can proceed to payment immdai

Nov-17-05

 

A: Hi, I appreciate the offer but you will have to bid like everyone else. good luck and happy bidding!

[+remowilliams]

I got not one - not two, but yes three imbecille scams that BINed one of my auctions.

 

Three times I had to list it. That's just way out of hand