Another Scam Attempt

[FireBug]

Well, I encountered my first email scammer today. I posted on houstonbands.net and got this reply:


From: feafe dede
Subject: SWR Goliath III
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 10:14:14 -0800

i am interested in your SWR Goliath III[$650].i will like to pay with a check payable in america fund.i will like you to send the pics via e-mail. am located in switzerland.don't worry about the shipping,i have a shipping agent that will take care of it. as long as the deal is on i will like you to send down your name and address in which you will use in receiving the checkin american fund.
waiting for your quick response.
regards;;;;
feafe dede


My response:
"Sorry man, I don't plan on selling it anywhere but locally. If you're in Houston any time soon you could check it out, but honestly this looks like a textbook scam. You going to be in Houston any time soon?"


P.S. I don't plan on selling the cab over Talkbass.

[billfitzmaurice]

It could be legit, all he wants is a name and address to send you a check. Now if he asks for your bank account number and your social security number it would be a different story.

What I can't figure is how come I have so many dead millionaire relatives and why all of them have Nigerian lawyers.

[Cristo]

Somebody just posted another one like this somewhere around here the other day.

Apparently the Nigerian long distance scammers have discovered the wonderful market of used music gear.

[RickBlair]

I have received emails like this for just about everything I have ever sold over the Internet. The 'buyer' will tell you that he has a bank check of some kind but the amount is way in excess of the selling price of your item. He'll ask that you deposit the check and do an electronic transfer or a money order for the difference, and there is always some urgency. The problem is, if anyone is stupid enough to bite, that the bank check is bogus, and by the time your bank determines that the guy has cashed your check. Since the money order you sent is deducted from your account your bank really could care less that the check you deposited is bogus.

Rick B.

[FireBug]

Originally Posted by RickBlair

I have received emails like this for just about everything I have ever sold over the Internet. The 'buyer' will tell you that he has a bank check of some kind but the amount is way in excess of the selling price of your item. He'll ask that you deposit the check and do an electronic transfer or a money order for the difference, and there is always some urgency. The problem is, if anyone is stupid enough to bite, that the bank check is bogus, and by the time your bank determines that the guy has cashed your check. Since the money order you sent is deducted from your account your bank really could care less that the check you deposited is bogus.

Rick B.

Exactly. He offered much more than I asked for on the ad. That's what is considered the bait.

[westland]

Originally Posted by FireBug

Well, I encountered my first email scammer today. I posted on houstonbands.net and got this reply:


From: feafe dede
Subject: SWR Goliath III
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 10:14:14 -0800

i am interested in your SWR Goliath III[$650].i will like to pay with a check payable in america fund.i will like you to send the pics via e-mail. ....

Definitely a scam ... I hate these guys because they make it so hard to do legitimate business internationally.

[ArwinH]

Same thing happened to me when selling my goliath III but with "jack from england". Persistant scammer too. I told him that I knew he was a scammer and that I did not feel like completing the transaction. He responds, I am not a scammer I think you are incorrect, please send me your account information.
...life sometimes

[bassisten]

Hi all...!


Yeah, wanted to sell some bass-gear in the UK last year, same thing. Deal price was £125 and I recieved a cheque with £3,500 instead of the correct amount.

I burned the fake cheque and sent him a nasty e-mail... what a freak.

Don't let those idiots ruin the good society within the bass-player community.

[ArwinH]

Same scam happened to my guitar playing friend with his cabinet, he took a 4500 dollar hit and still has the cab that he wanted to sell

[smo]

I had a similar thing happen a while ago - but i actually waited for the cheque to cash/bounce.
Problem was - check was for the right amount, but the date was wrong - he'd written the month as a 00. eg 12/00/03
Bank can't accept it.
When I asked him to write another cheque he bauked. (Ass)

I'll never accept a cheque again from the internet.

[tadawson]

Originally Posted by bassisten

Hi all...!


Yeah, wanted to sell some bass-gear in the UK last year, same thing. Deal price was £125 and I recieved a cheque with £3,500 instead of the correct amount.

I burned the fake cheque and sent him a nasty e-mail... what a freak.

Don't let those idiots ruin the good society within the bass-player community.

Bad idea. Turn the check over to the authorities, and send him a cop instead of what he ordered. These f-tards need to spend some serious time in prison - preferably getting butt-hammered frequently!

- Tim

[tadawson]

Originally Posted by smo

I had a similar thing happen a while ago - but i actually waited for the cheque to cash/bounce.
Problem was - check was for the right amount, but the date was wrong - he'd written the month as a 00. eg 12/00/03
Bank can't accept it.
When I asked him to write another cheque he bauked. (Ass)

I'll never accept a cheque again from the internet.

Amazing. I have had banks readily cash checks with no signature, with dates in the future, and when confronted, they claim that it does not matter . . . . . I guess it only does not matter when they get to charge you an overdraft fee or otherwise make money on the deal. If it's actually in the customers favor (like here) then, magically, it matters . . . .

- Tim

[smo]

Originally Posted by tadawson

Amazing. I have had banks readily cash checks with no signature, with dates in the future, and when confronted, they claim that it does not matter . . . . . I guess it only does not matter when they get to charge you an overdraft fee or otherwise make money on the deal. If it's actually in the customers favor (like here) then, magically, it matters . . . .

- Tim

That IS amazing! Cashing a cheque without a signature?
WOW - no wonder there's internet fraud.

[Sippy]

I was curious to see if this would work so i took a friends blank check (he knew I did it, and I asked his permission, and was waiting in my truck at the time) and I went to cash it... it wasn't signed and had no ammount when the teller pointed this out to me I wrote in $1,000 and forged his signature...I was then handed $1,000 cash.... I went to my truck and gave the money to my friend and he went back in there and gave everybody a new one.

[Low E Louie]

Dangerous... Forging a check is a pretty serious crime


I get e-mails like this also where they want me to ship the instrument to Africa when I wrote I only sell locally. I don't reply to them.