06 Oct 2010
My Mini has been on the market only a couple of days now, and last night I received an SMS asking about the purchase price. It was very blunt (which I liked) and basically asked straight out what the firm purchase price was, and included an email address, petercook73@gmail.com. Over the course of the following day correspondence went back and forth regarding pricing (and associated), until an email arrived stating that the interested party would actually offer me *more* than what I was asking!
Well, "this is too good to be true!" I thought to myself as alarm bells started ringing left, right, and centre. I went straight to Google with email addresses and snippets of text trying to search up any incriminating evidence, but I couldn't find I thing.
Then this message arrived:
Thanks for the response,i will take it for $18,000 including PayPal surcharges since i am interested in the immediate purchase for my DAD.he just moved to the Malaysia,where this is needed and i will be making use of a shipping company to have this picked up from you and have it delivered to him .Further arrangements will be made with you in regards to the pick up once i have paid you.I am ready to buying it now for my DAD and i am at sea at the moment as i am a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I really want the goods to be a surprise for DAD so i wont let him know anything about the goods until it gets delivered to him, i am sure he will be more than happy with the Product. I insisted on paypal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my paypal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your paypal email address and the price so i can make the payments asap for the goods and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to www.paypal.com.au and get it set up, after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with paypal so as to put the money through. have a pick up agent that will come and pick the goods up after i have made the payments... Thanks
It sounded a bit weird, and my suspicions were already aroused, but I played along, replying to the message.
Then this message arrived:
I will be sending funds ASAP.Like i said before,i have someone(a shipping company to be precise) who will handle the pick up,i will be needing the exact location/address for the pick up,in order to make arrangements with my shipping company for the pick up.i will be adding their charges to the total amount i will be paying you,i would need you to help me transfer their charges to my shippers via western union once you get my payment confirmation. Thanks
As you can see, I've highlighted the interesting section. Note that if anyone, ever, at any time says Western Union money transfer, then that should definitely be your first and only clue required to drop the deal like yesterdays nasty undies.
Shortly after that email, another email arrived, from PayPal (or so it seemed):
Dear Your Name Here, You have received a PayPal Payment of $19,100.00 AUD from Peter Cook (petercook73@gmail.com). We've placed a temporary hold on the funds of this transaction As mentioned in the receipt of Payment and as per New PayPal Payment policy, we have fully debited the total amount (above) from the buyer's account which included the Transport/Delivery Charges (Courier Exchange Logistics). In order to complete this transaction and get the funds approved in your account.We advice you go to nearest Western Union Office,and send the excess sum $1,000.00 AUD to the Transport Agent and send us a Scanned Copy/Photograph of your Western Union Transaction Receipt (in .JPG Format). NOTE: This is important as a security measure to ensure safety of this transaction. Please, find below the name and address of the Transport Agent where the Funds would be sent via Western Union Money Transfer.
Apart from the Western Union money transfer reference, note that the email address appears as 'service@paypal.com.au' but is actually 'grace00mic@gmail.com on behalf of service@paypal.com.au (paypalaccountantverifier@emailaccount.com)'. If you didn't know you were being scammed before, then you should definitely be aware of it by now!
I simply replied:
Nice try. http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5879&start=15 I've forwarded all relevant information to the police. I hope you get what's coming to you.
So there's the scam, you being gullible enough to wire them AUD$1000 to cover the shortfall in shipping costs. To that, I say: "what a bunch of cock!". Make sure you always research your prospective buyer, always check email addresses, and always drop deals that involve Western Union money transfers.
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