nigerian scammers
Hello Matt
I would like to pay for this item via british postal order,right now i’am presently in singapore, and i want to give it to my son whose birthday is coming up next week and who has traveled with is father to west africa nigeria on a business trip,i just want to use it as
a surprised birthday gift, so i will like to know if you can ship it
to him in Nigeria,i dont mind paying any amount for the shipping cost,please if you
can do this for me i will be very grateful.if you accept, kindly send your full name and address which am going to send the payment to.
Here’s the shipping address.
Emmanuel Tulex
** Shifawu street
off cole st ojuelegba
Sururlere lagos
Nigeria 23401,
and also i will like you to give me the full quote of it including the shipping cost to lagos nigeria, and also i will like you to give me your full name and address so i can made the paymant to you ASAP.
Hoping to hear back from you soonest.
Thanks,
Jones.
Immediately alarm bells start to ring when you read “NIGERIA”. I am not intending to be racist here, but there are so many scams you hear about and they all seem to originate from Lagos, Nigeria. (Check out 419eater.com for some brilliant stories!)
I decided to give “Jones” (the winning bidder) the benefit of the doubt and replied positively saying that once I receive the postal order, I will ship the item out immediately. Nice and simple! I also offered to post the item insured, explaining as it was going such a long distance it may be wise (and it was only ?3.30 more!). Of course, Jones was not interested. They wanted the phone sending as quickly as possible. I soon received the following:
Hello Matt,
i will like to inform that the payment has been done.so hoping to hear from you.
Regards.
Ooh payment’s been made! woo! I should hopefully be receiving the postal order in a couple of days… or so I thought! This email then arrived shortly after…
From: British Postal Order [britishpostalorder@financier.com]
Subject: ****POSTAL ORDER CONFIRMATION FOR EBAY ITEM # (6463500285)****
BRITISH POSTAL ORDER IN CONJUNCTION WITH
Dear Miles From
Thanks for using Postal Order?,well,this is the right Postal Order?, your money is ?86.00, for ebay item 6463500285 and the money is paid in by “Jones Daniel”, Due to the fact that most sellers don’t send the item despite the fact that buyers have paid for the item, so we made the policy that sellers must ship out items withing 24 hours of payment and send us the tracking number for verification.You are not expected in any circumstances to send the tracking number to the buyer.
Below is the address where the postal order will be sent to.if the address is not correct pls mail us back.
Matt Facer
————————————————-
Shipping Information
Attn. Sellers: The buyer of this item has informed us that the item will be sent to this address please DO send the item to the provided shipping address below.
Shipping Info:
Emmanuel Tulex
** Shifawu Street
Off Cole Street
Ojuelegba Surulere
Lagos State
23401
Nigeria.
This is the sample of the postal order that will be deliver to you after we have receive the shipment tracking number from you.
If we did not hear from you the payment will be return back to the buyer,and we are waiting for you to ship the item and mail us the shipment tracking number so that we can send out your payment.
Thank you for using Postal Order?. We look forward to serving your online auction payment needs in the future.
Sincerely,
BRITISH POSTAL ORDER ?
————————————————-
REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE BRITISHPOSTALORDER@FINANCIER.COM
___________________________________________________
Play 100s of games for FREE! http://games.mail.com/
O…K… I don’t know about you, but that’s not the most professional looking email I’ve ever received. In particular, the animated GIFs really made it look realistic. The fact that it was not even addressed to me - “Dear Miles From”… who’s Miles From?! I did the usual, and checked out the source code of the email - and all the images in the header were pulled from other sites!
Having emailed Jones back about how I go about getting the payment, I receive the following:
HELLO MATT,
SORRY FOR THE LATE IN REPLY AND WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS THAT YOU SEND THE PARCEL NUMBER TO THE EMAIL OF THE POSTAL ORDER COMPANY AND THEY WILL PAY YOU YOUR MONEY AND AFTER YOU HAVE DONE THAT PLEASE KINDLY INFORM ME AS WELL AND HERE IS THE POSTAL ORDER’S COMPANY EMAIL ADDRESS……………
BRITISHPOSTALORDER@FINANCIER.COM.
HOPING TO HEAR BACK FROM YOU SOONEST.
THANKS,
JONES DANIEL.
Seems obvious enough! At this point, I was 100% sure it was all a big scam - I mean, who’d honestly believe the above information! A quick google search showed that a number of people have fallen for these scams - but the winning bidders used PayPal, BidPay and other forms to send fake money. This is the first instance I could find of someone actually using a “British Postal Order” to pay for goods. All these scams promise to release payment once you send them the postal order tracking number. Of course, you will never receive anything.
Not wanting to leave things here, I decided to play along a little more. I replied:
Hi, Sorry for not replying earlier, I have been away on business.
Luckily I am home now and can get the phone in the post first thing tomorrow morning.
I will rush to get it in the first post so your son gets it as soon as possible.
I do not want to disappoint him! I am sure he will be happy with item 
So I will post the item - it will need to be registered post to receive a tracking number.
I then send this number to britishpostalorder@financier.com?
Will they then send me the postal order?
Looking forward to your reply,
Warmest Regards,
Matt Facer.
I received a reply confirming that once I send the item and reply to the “British Postal Order” email I will receive the money. Excellent! However, what I planning to send is not exactly what they bought. It’s pretty close… but not quite there.
| Here’s the original phone | ….and the one Jones will be receiving…. |
 (click for larger) |
 (click for larger) |
Nice hey? Looks almost identical!! Except the new one cost me only ?1.99 from the local newsagent. It’s got some very realistic ring tones and even has a “built in camera” which doesn’t appear to work - but it sounds nice.
So things are now ready to post. I’ve just received another email from Jones asking have I posted the item yet - he/she seems to be getting inpatient - I guess as it’s her son’s birthday coming up! I decided I had better check out the situation further, and mention the smell of a scam cooking….
Hello!
I have not posted the item yet - my friend has advised me to check out the website where you sent the postal order information. He thinks this could be a scam of some kind. I don’t believe it is? I have read a few people’s stories on the internet of people not getting paid.
I just need some sort of reassurance that I will receive the money. I believe you are genuine, but I just need to be sure. I loved this mobile phone and I want to make sure it’s going to a safe home and I get the money for it.
I hope to hear from you soon,
Fond Wishes for the festive season,
Matt
PS) When I post the item, do I just press the “reply” button on my email program to the Postal Order company? Thank you in advance.
I love this. Wasting some scammers time is surprisingly entertaining. I await a response form this new contact.
………….watch this space!
scam cop said,
December 24, 2005 @ 3:01 pm
they have a right nerve some people. I have seen the 419 eaters site before and find it very amusing!! I hope other people read this and take it all in - some people fall for these scams and I dont know how!! Thanks for letting us know about it - cant wait to see the next installment!
Charlie Harvey-Evers said,
January 5, 2006 @ 10:06 am
It is a sad fact of life now that anything you try to sell on the internet is open to this sort of scamming… I had the same thing when trying to sell my car on Autotrader!. I too recognised that it was a scam straight away and “batted” them for a while…
Here is my emailing to-ing and fro-ing
i am quite satisfied with the condition of the 2000 BMW Z3 2.8 2dr and will also meet your qoute of ?12,295 but it will be good to let you know that i will be paying you with a u.k bank draft intended for me through services rendered. I have a client in the u.k who owes me ?17,200 i would instruct him to make out a u,.k bank draft to you in that amount and as soon as it clear in your bank you can now deduct your money from it and wire the balance to my shipping agent who will in turn intruct their representatives to take up shipping the car to isreal on my behalf.i have implicit trust in their services .Although the value of the cheque is more than the cost of your car but i think i should be able to trust you with my balance. The reason why i am doing this is that it would take a u.k bank draft sen tfrom over here in isreal 32days to clear over there,whereas bank draft sent from within the U.k would clear tops within 2 to 3days to clear in your bank.and it will be much quickly in u.k because immediatly you receive it you are going to take it to the cashed in your bank with 3day because it was drawn out from united kingdom banks . I will also use part of the balance to do the picking up in any location of your choice by my shipping company,i just have to pay them and they will contact their agents in the isreal .so if my terms are acceptable to you,i would like you to deduct the western union international transfer charges from my balance as well.Pls send me affirmative response with this information give me your full name address and phone numbers so that i can instruct my client to make out the check to you. Pls get back to me as soon as you get this mail so that i can know your stance.i will want you to providet his information so that i can forward it to my client in u.k that you may receive the payment early and i also thing the car looks really great.Thank you so much.
FULL NAME……………….
ADDRESS……………….
ZIP CODE…………………
STATE……………………
CITY…………..
OFFICE PHONE #………………
MOBILE PHONE………………
FAX NUMBER …………….
Regards
Mr & Mrs Hampton
Charlie Harvey-Evers wrote:
Here is the description again.
Petrol, 44,000 miles, . Silver. Manual, PAS, Trip computer, Service indicator, Driver & Passenger airbags, ABS, Traction control, elec roof, 18′ alloys (minor scuffing), Red leather interior, M-Spec Steering Wheel and GearKnob, Tonneau Cover, wind deflector, FBMWSH, Had Warrenty till May 05 so anything needed doing was done. Tax till 10/05 MOT till 02/06. Sat Nav system shown in pic NOT INCLUDED in sale, original BMW system inc. 6 CD changer will be refitted. SAT NAV Poss for sale by separate negotiation. Excellent overall Condition. New(ish) Tyres all round. UK Car.
Please be advised that I will NOT be releasing this car untill FULL cleared funds are in my account. This is NOT negotiable and if you are not happy with this then I suggest you look at buying from someone else.
I am not happy to find that that you say you are from Israel but your internet IP address tells me you are from Lagos Nigeria. Please clarify.
Regards
Dr. Harvey-Evers
Marilyn Hampton wrote:
> Hello wrote:
>
> Thanks for your mail and also i will want you to know that i am really interested to buy your 2000 BMW Z3 2.8 2dr from you but please i will want you to re_ list the condition again because i am purchasing the car for my son wedding birthday in October ending ,
>
> Please get back to me with more condition about the car because i will like to arrange for the payment as soon as possible so that everything should meet with the date ok
>
> And also i will want you to know that i am a far away buyer from israel but i will be responsible for the shippment ,Payment will be made in United Kingdom ,And also i will want you to get back to me as soon as possible because i will like to arrange for the payment in time because after i purchase it i will have to take to the expert for more service which will take almost one week to do that ,please get back to me as soon as you got my message,Yesterday on my way home i got my Phone missing i could have called you to discuss more about it on the Phone but due to that missing phone i could not untill i get my phone fixed Next week ,i am so sorry but it will be solve within one week
>
> Best Regard.
> Mr & Mrs hampton
>
>
>
> Charlie Harvey-Evers
>
> Hello,
>
> Please tell me what you would like to know… The avert says all there is to know about the car. If you have any specific questions please mail me and I will answer them.
>
> Regards
>
> Dr. Harvey-Evers
>
> Marilyn Hampton wrote:
>
>> I saw your advert on the web and i am interested in your 2000 BMW Z3 2.8 2dr Roadster,and also i will want you to get back to me with more condition regarded to the car because it is needed urgently
>>
>> i am ready to pay ?12,295
>> please kindly reply to me
>> if is available so that we can arrange for fast payment thanks
>>
>> Best regards
>> Mr & mrs hampton
me said,
January 5, 2006 @ 3:28 pm
Thank you, I have just had somebody try this on with me but I have already declined to post to Nigeria and am reporting them to ebay now.
Grr.
Miss M said,
January 18, 2006 @ 11:57 pm
Hey thx for this. The exact same thing happened to me and Im glad my bf step dad told me all about ur website! Im selling a phone as well! I thought it was a bit weird when I said that the item is only to be sent in the UK but they wanted me to send it to Nigeria!! :O! No way man am I gona pay for it all the way there…! Thx for putting up this site! I hope many people will find out about this and be very careful in future!
Anonymous man. said,
February 2, 2006 @ 10:59 am
Same here. Tres ridiculous.
If you get anything asking you to send something to Nigeria, disregard it. You WILL get scammed if you follow through on it.
Mark said,
February 2, 2006 @ 4:25 pm
This is my last email to this knob who keeps sending me rubbish to my email address.
*****************************
You must think i was born in a barn. You are a con artist and have been reported to ebay, you already have negative feedback and have been banned from ebay.
I have checked with the Post office, there is no such method of payment. You never despatch the goods until payment has been received. If i was not to send the goods after receiving payment, then i would be reported to the appropriate authorities as i am regular Ebayer member.
You are a fake, a conman, a scammer, the drabs of society - criminal. Once the payment has been received that is when the goods are sent. End of!!! Now if you seriously want this item i suggest you get get your made up postal order and pick it up from the fake post office and sprinkle it with some magic fairy dust so that it turns into cash or a cheque and then attach some butterfly wings to the envelope so it magically flies straight to me.
In all seriousness once i receive this payment i will despatch the phone. Now make up your mind or GO AWAY!!!
*****************************
I thought selling my phone for that price was excellent. great saying - things arent what they seem!!!. My father is a high status fraud investigator in London and is onto the case already.
I look forward to some of you emailing me and discussing these matters further. For people that did fall for the scam - u r stupid i’m afraid. Sorry but I speak the truth. You NEVER EVER EVER send something such as a phone accross the world without payment first. It’s logic!!!
Cheers,
Mark
Jackie said,
February 8, 2006 @ 12:09 am
I had almost identical to you today, even the same name and address to send it to! I rang the post office to check the ‘postal order’ arrangements and they laughed at me for half believing it in the first place!!
fran said,
February 16, 2006 @ 11:46 am
hi-i have just done a search on an address given to me via a buyer on ebay…and guess where i ended up! i was also suspicious as my item sold for a ridiculous amount of money. it was actually bid for by two scammers, both nigerian listed. i hope that other people have the sense to check out the address and NOT send the item to these people. i have reported them to ebay but suspect that the problem is so huge that it wont make much difference.
J said,
February 22, 2006 @ 8:28 pm
Dude, after i read this, i went all over the net and realized that I had sent out a computer, like sent it. Then I called FedEx and they told me that all was not lost, and had the package turned around. Its really funny now, that I am not gonna be screwed for all that money and they got their time wasted. they are also very scared because I am no longer cooperating. Its just very funny.
But thank you so mch man, I had no idea this shit was so widereaching. You saved me a lot of humilation and $350, so…good for you. Keep screwing those assholes
Kev said,
February 22, 2006 @ 11:04 pm
Thanks for this I have had the same thing for the last couple of days unfortunatly its to late for me. I have already sent the phone and its a shame because it was a really classic bit of kit, you know the original mobile phone. The one with the two bean cans and a length of string!!!Ha ha ha aha!! Now whose been scammed!!! Ha ha ha ha!!!
Kev (again) said,
February 23, 2006 @ 6:34 pm
Hi again thought you might all like this one
I have just had another two people try to scam me again, so decided I might play with them for a bit and waste of much of there time as they have wasted of mine. after recieving the first e-mail about the fact that it has got to be sent to Nigeria I replyed with “You are in luck as Im going out to Nigeria at the end of next week on an expedition to a place called Lagos is this of any help to you?
Thought it might save you some money on postage. Please forward payment to
Mr P Ness (unoriginal I know but could resist)
Up Rick Street (read it again!)
Look forward to hearing from you soon”
Lets see how stupid these people really are!!
Once is annoying twice in as many days is taking the p***
Matt Facer said,
February 23, 2006 @ 6:38 pm
It’s great to hear these stories - well, not great to hear them - but it’s nice that people are sharing. I’ve actually been getting a number of hits from search engines searching for the address of the scammer in my first post. At least this should now stop at least a few people falling for it.
Kev - I love the idea of you saying you’re going over there and can deliver it - class!! Keep us posted on that situation!!!
natasha said,
March 1, 2006 @ 12:19 am
unbelievable but i think im being scammed too…to send a phone to nigeria as well…BEFORE i get payment. The online postal order made me suspicious so i googled and got directed here. Thanks…dont think il be sending it now!!!
Keith Hill said,
March 25, 2006 @ 4:49 pm
This scam was tried on me today.
Tealer said,
April 3, 2006 @ 11:31 am
I have had the same British Postal order e-mail, and soon as I received it, I was highly suspicious.
Currently stringing them along, but in the meantime, already reported them to Ebay, and made the 2nd chance offer to a genuine Ebayer.
Will let you know how I get on.
Philip Sharland said,
April 10, 2006 @ 4:45 pm
Nice one Matt.
This is actually the second time this has happened to me on the same item. The first time I got sent a dodgy paypal email and this time its the postal order thing and will you send it out to nigeria for my son’s birthday. Sounded very convincing and the lady lives only 10 miles away from me so was almost half beleiving it. But got the postal order link and it took me to your website. Very much appreciated. Phil
MARIA O'NEILL said,
April 12, 2006 @ 5:42 pm
WISH I HAD SEEN YOUR SITE EARLIER…
shelagh hull said,
April 12, 2006 @ 5:43 pm
well we have just realised the scam ,after 2 items we had on ebay sold to people that both wanted it shipped to nigeria,thats when it dawned on us. unfortunately like many people it was to late for us ,we had already sent one item out (a video camera ) and ?22 to send it .but your site has calmed me down now ,after reading some of your e.mails it made us laugh . but there has got to be a way that ebay can stop themin this day and age of technology . we phoned the post office to stop the item from being delivered ,but they said that they cannot stop it now ,even though we only sent it yesterday.so all you people out there . DONT SEND YOUR ITEM UNTIL YOU GOT YOUR MONEY IN YOUR HAND. s . hull
Aumir said,
April 13, 2006 @ 6:54 pm
Thanks very much to Matt and everyone who has posted here you guys have saved me getting scammed the same way.
Mr Paul james said,
April 14, 2006 @ 10:19 am
Just came accross this doing a google search, as some bastards just done the same thing to me for a PSP. Wankers…
Simon Langley said,
April 19, 2006 @ 6:53 pm
Brilliant story!!! I had a similar experience when selling my Samsung d500, it went for ?230 (a very high price!!) and I was instructed by a very amateur looking email to send the item to Nigeria. As I work in a bank I know that everything to do with Nigeria dodgy. I went along with the scam and pretended to have posted the item…I am also awaiting to hear from the fraudster!!
Good on everyone who messes the scum bags around, they dererve everything they get!!
unknown said,
April 25, 2006 @ 3:49 pm
god will punish all of you we will keep scamming you people as you are all fucking swines
Tina said,
May 24, 2006 @ 7:09 am
Response to 25/4/06 by ‘unknown’. You low-life!!! The only person that God will punish is people like YOU who have nothing better to do than ATTEMPT to steal off innocent people and the reason you can only attempt, is because there is not enough people in the world as dumb as you!!! The moment my ’scammer’ bidded on my item on 22/5/06 and emailed me immediately after auction and requested my bank account details, full name and address etc, and told me he wanted to send a postal money order, alarm bells rang. I wasn’t born in a barn either. The more he peristed to ATTEMPT to obtain my personal details, the more I dug my heals in. I NEVER gave him anything and feel better for it. You see u scamming dimwits - when we cotton on to you - you get nothing and you waste YOUR time, not ours. I hope you all rot in hell!!!
Lukas said,
May 25, 2006 @ 12:45 pm
God will punish us? Your God you pagan. You don’t have any God, only thing you have is your deep buried sense of worthlessness.
Terri-Ann Rogers said,
June 10, 2006 @ 10:52 pm
I just typed in google, british postal order@financier.com and found your site. The exact thing is happening to me at this moment, i sold my phone on ebay to these filthy scammers, but luckily knew something dodgy was going on and havent sent the phone so decided to look into it. i am still in the process of emailing them and they are emailing me saying i should scan the reciepts, ha funny thing is they cant even spell. they keep asking for a tracking number how dare these people do such a thing. the worst thing is some people fall for these scams and they get away with it. the B%?&^ARDS!!!! I am planning my revenge i will make it sweet. so glad i found your site, hope lots of people find out about your site so they dont fall for the same scam, nice work!
Craig said,
June 26, 2006 @ 1:36 am
hey Matt,
Great website mate. I think you should do a poo, wrap it in a clear sandwich bag, place it in the envelope in such a way that it opens when the letter opens. My fioncee thinks i’m immature. I don’t. I just don’t like being taken for a ride from time wasters. They deserve shit. Smelly shit.
On a lighter note, nice mobile phone idea but £1.99? I wouldnt pay £1 for these jokers. Shit is worth the postage alone before you ask. I read in a paper the other day, that the mail posted for us with free return envelope should not be wasted. This is from people who send us all kinds of rubbish we dont want. Ripp up the letter and post it back to them. I could also think of other things to post ^^^
Anyway, take it easy fella and keep posting on the scammers…. really quite funny
Craig
DANNY(GR)HATES,NIGERIANS said,
June 29, 2006 @ 6:17 pm
HELLO I’M FROM GREECE AND I’VE SCAMMED,TOO.I SAW A CLASSIFIED SAYS:HI,WE ARE PHONE DEALERS REGISTERED TO THE REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AND SELLING PHONES AT THE LOWEST PRICES EVER.I WAS INTERESTED IN NOKIA N92 AND I SAW IT ON THE LIST,AT THE PRICE OF 200$ WITH SHIPPING AND V.A.T..I WERE TOO HAPPY ON SEEING THE PHONE AT THIS PRICE,SO I SENT THEM AN EMAIL TO FOR THE PAYMENT AND (WHAT) THE PACKAGE WILL CONTAINED.THE TOLD ME THAT THE PHONE WAS ORIGINAL FROM THE FACTORY,SEALED,WITH HANDSFREE,CHARGER,E.T.C..WHEN I SAW IT I WAS TOO HAPPY,TO START THE DELIVERY,BUT I DIDN’T KNEW ABOUT NIGERIAN SCAMMERS,SO I TOLD THEM:HOW CAN I PAY YOU?THEY answered me we accept payment via because it’s 100% safe for both of us and is also very fast for us to take the money and you to take the phone.I WAS STARTING THINKING:(I WILL PAY THEM FIRST?HOW WILL I BE SURE THAT I WILL RECEIVE THE PHONE AFTER THE PAYMENT??AND FROM THE OTHER SIDE I WAS THINKING A BRAND NEW SEALED PHONE.ISORRY,BUT I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT DOES MEAN?I STARTED SEARCHING ON GOOGLE ABOUT PAYMENT VIA WESTERN UNION AND I SAW THAT THE 80% OF WESTERN UNION PAYMENTS WERE SCAMS AND ALL THE PEOPLE LOST THEIR MONEY.I SEND THEM AN E-MAIL ASKING TO SAW ME FIRST 5 PHOTOS OF THE NOKIA N92 IN IT’S BOX AND THEN I WILL STARTED THE PAYMENT.THEY REPLIED ME WITH 5 SH*T PHOTOS STOLEN FROM WEBSITES I HAVE SHOWED BEFORE,AND THEY EVEN TOLD ME THAT,I WAS TOO ANGRY THAT I WANTED TO CUT HIM IN THOUSAND OF PIECIES.I SENT THEM AN E-MAIL SAYS:I WILL BREAK YOUR BONES,STUPID,ASSHOLES THAT YOU WANT TO TAKE MY HARD EARNED MONEY AND DON’T EVEN SENT ME A PLASTIC PHONE…3 DAYS AFTER:(LOOK PEOPLE WHAT THEY HAVE SENT TO ME!!…….)WE THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE ANOTHER ONE VICTIM.YOU CAN’T STOP OR CATCH US BECAUSE (WE ARE ALL SAME)!!.I NEVER REPLIED AGAIN.I AM NOT TELLING LIES,THAT’S THE REALITY.BEWARE PEOPLE!!!!!……I WAS TOO HAPPY BECAUSE I DIDN’T LOSE MY HARD EARNED MONEY.I’M NOT A RACIST BUT I HATED THEM.SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH,I HOPE YOU UNDERSTOOD.IF YOU WANT TO SEE HOW MUCH MONEY THEY MADE WITH SCAMS,YOU SHOULD VISIT:http://www.nigerianscams.org/
Yujian said,
July 14, 2006 @ 4:03 am
Hi guys,
i’ve been scammed too! i stay in singapore but these guys (nigerians) tried to scam me too! i received the SAME email!!! from another address though… uspspostageonline@usa.com…
After i tell him that i want to pull out from the transaction, he warned me that he will give me info to the FBI… OMG… wat a joke…
i’ve warned him that i’ll bring him to the press….
thanks for confirming with me that this is all a SCAM!
dino said,
November 13, 2006 @ 2:22 pm
Hello, just to ask if you have ever heard of postal scams where as they claim to be an investment banker in a big company and someone with the same last name as yourself has died and left loads of money with no living relatives and needed you to pose as a relative to receive the money to benefit both parties. The e-mail address is based in singapore as well as the phone numbers. I have not replied but was thinking to try to waste their time if possible.
Barry said,
November 13, 2006 @ 8:58 pm
In the US, an added trick is to actually send a moneygram or payment for more than what you originally asked for. The scammers then claim the secretary made a mistake and just “send back the difference” and keep a small amount for “your trouble”. Of course, the money you send them is real. The moneygram they sent you is fake. For more information on this type of scam see http://losangeles.craigslist.org/about/scams.html
fakman said,
November 14, 2006 @ 10:00 am
@ Dino
These are the most common scams - play it a bit asking for some sort of proof that they are real. Say something like “I’ve heard a lot of news about scams like this and I want to be sure”. Just remember to pull out when they start asking for money. Maybe set up a fake email address so they dont use your real one. The more time we waste with these scammers, the less people they can target.
@ Barry
I’ve heard about this type of scam on the news recently. People buying high priced goods like cars etc and paying way over the odds then asking for the difference back. Thanks for posting the link.
dino said,
November 14, 2006 @ 7:31 pm
Thanks mate I will, it’s quite satisfying knowing I’m wasting their time. I will keep you posted.
Ian said,
January 6, 2007 @ 4:07 pm
Quality
TJ said,
January 13, 2007 @ 4:25 am
i think these nigerians are educating themselves. which makes it scary as hell.
believe it or not, last night i got a message on my JAPANESE yahoo auction (to register you’ve got to be able to read and comprehend japanese) asking to buy my PSP.
just like matt, I wanted to give “janet lewis” the benefit of the doubt so I replied..
Hello Seller, I am Janet Lewis,I am from Uk.I will like to make an urgent purchase of this Auction and i will be willing to offer YAN 40,000
(Note: s/he means *YEN* it’s about 370 USD btw)
I will like to know if you still have More of this item?also i will like to know present condition of this item. I will pay for this Item via BANK TO BANK TRANSFER and your money will nbe transfer to your BANK ACCOUNT via BANK OF AMERICA (BOA) AND SHIPMENT VIA UPS OR POST OFFICE. For fast deal you can contact me via My email address Oluwajuwonlo@Hotmail.com or +447024055413. Hope to read from you soon. Janet.L
(Note: so far so good, but the only problem? why does she interchange WOULD with WILL, is that how british speak? not to my knowledge…)
My reply:
hi, I guess my first question to you would be, how did you know I speak english? second, you’re in the UK but you can read Japanese Auctions? Impressive.
Yes, to answer your question I have a lot more PSP consoles. they are all in perfect condition, but not *brand* new, altho they could pass for it. (I can get brand new PSPs but I wouldnt be able to auction for this price)
her reply:
Hello Thomas Francis,
Thanks for your quick responds, (eh, i think s/he means response? not a very educated british… but miraculously can read japanese, heh.)
Really i was just searching through yahoo Auction for the psp because it quiet expensive here in Uk
(Note: another problem, I searched ebay.co.uk and PSPs are auctioning for 150 pounds.)
and i am buying them as supply items to my customers in west africa.
I want the branded new ones,i need 20pcs and i wil be wiling to offer 700 usd each.
(Note: that’s a hell of a price to pay for a console that retails for USD 200 TOPS)
so let me know if you can get them for me,so as to arrange for the payment and shipment and i realy need these supply to be ship to my customer duirectly from Japan so let me know the shipment and the insurance cost.
I will be making payment via BANK TO BANK TRANSFER and your money will be transfer directly via BANK OF AMERICA ONLINE TRANSFER DEPT (www.bankofamerica.com)
I will need this informations to make the payment
Name of tha bank
account number
account holder Name
Swift or sort code
kindly get back to me so as to go ahead with the transfer and to be able to meet up with the supply because its gettting late already.i will still need more of this product but i want us to start with the 20pcs
i will appreciate if you can call me (+447024055413) or send me your phone number to call you.
(Note: I called the number, it’s invalid..)
Best Regard Janet.L
so, all in all, s/he is way too hasty to my liking and seems perfectly comfortable sending 700 pounds x 20 pcs to a perfect stranger without asking me my name, what i’m doing in japan, where i’m from, etc…
i’m still replying her, but playing it safe.
btw, it’s true these morons can withdraw money from your bank account with your account information? what the hell are banks doing anyway? you’d think they would come up with a way to counter that.
anyway, to make a long story short, if these con artists are willing to learn a foreign language to rip ppl off, god knows how far they’ll go as technology gets better and better…
Rick Redfield said,
March 17, 2007 @ 10:44 am
I have had a scam pop up where a person by the name of Tina Lewis (Email Address tinalewistampa@yahoo.com ) has had a friend from Nigeria wire money to an account wanting me to send it back to nigeria via western Union. Do not fall for this. I was suspicious, She worked me for several months. She stated she was taking care of her sick mother. According to my Bank Manager, the scam is they get the account information from another person, Wire the money from another account into mine then have me send it western union to nigeria. Don’T Give out your account information. The laws do not allow for recover, prosecution or extradition from that country.