SCAM???

[Real Bad Attitude]

Trying to see if this is a scam or not. A little background, I’m selling a motorcycle and have it on a few web sites. Looks like this guy found it on the AMA site and e-mailed me this.


Hello Seller,
   How are you doing today...Hope all is well with you...am hear by to
confirm if you still have the 2001 SUZUKI SV650S BIKE for sale..if yes get
back to me with the details, the final price, the conditionb including the
picture if available . Hope to read from you soonest.Thanks.

Best Regards,

I E-mailed him back asking for $3500. He responded with this

Hello Mark,
 
        Thanks very much for your response ,The reason I am sending you this email is to make final reconfirmation of the 2001 Suzuki SV650S BIKE, which is ok by me $3500, and also to let you know that payment will be by certified cashier's check. In view of this I need you to email me any information that may be required to send the payment as I do not want to send the check to a wrong location lest they get into the wrong hands. Regarding the shipping, I have a company that takes care of the pickup of my consignments for me and ship to my destination in anywhere in the U.S.A, you do not worry about shipping, the company will send down a representative to arrange the sales documentation and the pick up from your end for onward transfer to my destination. I also want to alert you on the fact that you will be receiving an overdraft check, which will cover the money for the pickup (pickup and shipping to the final destination) as well as the money to be paid to the company that will take care of the pickup and the documentation with you. So please, as soon as you receive the payment, go and cash it immediately, deduct the money that accrues to you, and send the balance to the Head Office of the company that handles the shipment via Western union.The check will be in your name to make it easier for you to receive payment, please reconfirm your details one more time.I will give you the details of the company that will be shipping the 2001 Suzuki SV650S BIKE as soon as we seal this deal.Once the money is received by the agent , the shipping agent will contact you immediately to arrange the documentation as well as the pick up immediately. So in view of the above, here are some of the details I will need for final issuance of the check to you.
 
(1) Full Name.........
(2) Mailing address....
(3) your direct telephone.....
{4} accept my offer...........
 
Once you get back to me with all the above, the check will be issued out immediately and it will be sent to you .Hope to hear from you immediately.Looking forward to your swift response.Thanks and God bless.
Best Regards,
So I E-mailed my full name, address and phone number.
He responded with this last E-Mail


Hello Mark,
      Thanks for the responce i will contact my personal assistant immediately to send out the payment to you on monday and you will definately recieve the payment this week . as soon as  he send the payment i will contact you with the tracking number so that you can track it and confirm that the payment as been sent out to you. Thanks once again and i hope to read from you.

My plan is this. If I do receive a check I’ll deposit it and wait until it clears. Then proceed with his wishes.

Thoughts??????

Thanks

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

Isnt a certified cashier's check good as cash  

[FlowBee]

Sounds legit to me.  Go for it.  Is he paying in Nigerian dollars?

[atypical1]

Yes. This is a pretty classic scam (typically these guys live in Nigeria). If you Google internet scam you can learn more about these.

james

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

Sounds legit to me.  Go for it.  Is he paying in Nigerian dollars?

I just saw that one on the news about the scams they run holy crap  

[Fat Boy]

Dont waste your time. Or get the check and call the police.

[motospeed9058]

This is a classic one.  They have typically changed by now, but this guy is behind the times.

[Mach VIII]

Without question THIS IS A SCAM!!!!!!!!  The check he sends you is bogus, but you don't find that out until after you've sent him the "overage."  After a couple of days your bank discovers that the check you deposited was no good (NSF), then charges the amount you sent on against your account.  There is no shipper.  There is no buyer.  It's just a scam.

If this person contacted you through the AMA's website, you should notify them so that person can be kicked off for the protection of others.

[hobbes]

Fake cashiers checks can take weeks to come back to your bank. DONT DO IT.

[dm_gsxr]

Scam. The cashier's check will appear to clear but in a week or so, your bank will come back and tell you it didn't clear and you're responsible for the funds if any. You're out the money and the bike. Cashier's checks aren't "cash" any more. When I bought the 'busa, the guy refused the cashier's check. We actually met at the bank and I paid him in cash and I got the signed over title in exchange.

Just "return to sender" when you get the envelope and send him a reply with a link to a scam site.

A recent newspaper article said people are still getting scammed out of an average $5,000 each (or thereabouts).

Carl

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

How about certified money orders same thing? What is the best besides cash the best route to go?

[R Doug]

How about certified money orders same thing? What is the best besides cash the best route to go?

Just as cash can be counterfeited, so can all other legal tender documents (personal checks, money orders, etc...).  The best thing to do is make it a policy to make sure whatever is sent clears before the bike departs your hands.

An electronic transfer is the best (wire, ACH, PayPal, etc...).

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

Frickin technology today.  

[JamesG]

When (if) the check arrives, frame it or put it in a scrap book so you can tell your friends and family how you once got one of those infamous Nigerian scams.

If you are feeling mean, you can mail the amount that you were supposed to "forward" to the "shipping company", in monopoly money.

[dm_gsxr]

Frickin technology today.  

Hey, anything that can be made my man, can be counterfited by man. All it takes is sufficient technology. It's easier now only because the internet makes it easier to reach out and touch more gullible folks. Heck, if I could get a buck from everyone in America (heck, it's only a buck), I'd be rich

Carl

[Chriscb750]

I didn't even read his response but I know it's a scam.   Just plain human behavior......there's way too much writting in the email response.  No legitimate buyer sends an email back that long for that bike (please don't take any offense).  If it was a collector's item, then it may be a different story.  Best to keep the sale relatively close to home.

[bizarro]

When (if) the check arrives, frame it or put it in a scrap book so you can tell your friends and family how you once got one of those infamous Nigerian scams.

If you are feeling mean, you can mail the amount that you were supposed to "forward" to the "shipping company", in monopoly money.

 

[greench440]

Isnt a certified cashier's check good as cash  

Not if it is counterfit

[trotsky]

When we were selling a car we had this exact same thing. He said he was in London, sent us a check for way more than the asking price, we went along with it to try and reel him in so we could report him to the to the police. When he sent the check it came from Nigeria via fedex and was a spoof bank supposedly in Buffalo. We went to the cops with the check and they said there was nothing they could do unless he actually got money from us...and even then it was unlikely they would actually catch him.

This is a classic scam (it was even on dateline a while back). If you go to craigslist you will see the SCAM warnings...this is in there...along with the "widow" of some foreign dignitary who is trying to smuggle her dead husbands money out of the country and she promises to give you a percentage. All she needs is your bank account info.

It never ends.

If you have a PO box or a work address to have the check sent to, you will be scamming him out of the Fedex fee to get it to you. I think if enough people do this these scammers will soon be out of pocket and stop scamming like this.

[RBEmerson]

It's a "Nigerian letter" scam, of course.  Simply walk away and don't waste time thinking about involving police, postal inspectors, etc.  They already know there's little to be done.  

Certified checks...  A friend, who is a boat broker in MD, sold a boat to a guy, got a certified check in payment, signed off the title, and the buyer went off with his boat.  The check was as bogus as a $3 bill.  The boat turned up, sold in VA, and the scammer is, AFAIK, still loose.  Asking my friend the broker about this episode doesn't make for a cheery discussion.  

[Mookie]

You should totally do it.  

[TheRedOnesAreFaster]

Send him a bogus cashier's check for the difference....or maybe a model of your bike instead of the real deal.

[denydog]

Trying to see if this is a scam or not.

I'm not criticizing you, but I find it amazing that there are still people that have not heard about these, what I consider, very publicized scams.  But I guess that's why they are still so popular.  Only takes a few uninformed, or naive, or gullible people to make this a profitable operation.

[Cal24Master]

It's a well documented scam.  You get a bogus Cashiers Check, deposit it, give the additional funds to the guy.  Then 10 days later your bank calls to tell you the check is bad, you have lost your bike, and the money.  Write back and tell the guy you will ship the bike 20 days after the Cashiers check clears.  I bet you don't hear from him again.

[MisterEd]

I figured everyone knew about this scam by now.  The check will be no good - most likely drawn on a fradulent account, etc.  If you deposit it, it will "clear" (because the banking system allows the money in to your account before the check is known as being fradulent) and you'll then be on the hook for the whole amount of the bad check once it ACTUALLY makes it through the full clearinghouse process.

When you get the check, turn it over to the cops ASAP and correspond no further with this scamster.

[Playinthestreet]

Tell the guy you want a U.S. Postal Service money order.  No one's counterfeited those, yet!  There are more bogus "cashier's checks" in this world than legite ones.

[Y.B Slo]

THIS A SCAM!!!!!! I hope you didn't give the guy ANY personal info! The check is fake, your bank won't know for about a week. You will then have to pay the bank the FULL amount of the check! This is an old scam that has burned alot of people.RUN!!

[Real Bad Attitude]

I reported the scam attempt to AMA were my add was and were the scammer got the info. Here is there response.

Mark,

 

Thanks for your alert about the scam attempt in response to your ad on the AMA website. Over the weekend, that individual sent identical ads to numerous people advertising items on our site, and we have since blocked that address from sending responses to ads through our online form. Unfortunately, because it happened over the weekend, the fraudulent responses had already been sent before we blocked it. But at least that person won't be able to use that e-mail address again to respond to AMA ads. The bad part is that the scammers switch e-mail addresses frequently, so there is no way we can stop them all.

 

Thanks for being alert and responding appropriately to the situation.

[ducowti]

Trying to see if this is a scam or not.

Hello Seller,
   How are you doing today...Hope all is well with you...am hear by to
confirm if you still have the 2001 SUZUKI SV650S BIKE for sale..if yes get
back to me with the details, the final price, the conditionb including the
picture if available . Hope to read from you soonest.Thanks.

Absolutely a scam. I'll give you my bike if it's not. I don't need to get past the 1st sentence to see the other red herrings others have identified. The diction and lack of vernacular alone are dead giveaways characteristic of these idiots.

[Max Wedge]

I just have to wonder why some rich guy, who has a company to handle all the items he ships from the US would buy and go to the extra cost to ship a $3500 bike. With that kind of money, why not buy new?   SCAM!
 Tell him the bike is rare factory optioned, and Suzuki told you not to sell it to anyone, so you have to meet him, in person, to take the check from him. Bring a taser.

[Snowbird]

Sounds legit to me.  Go for it.  Is he paying in Nigerian dollars?

Yeah, definitely legit... but he should send his social security number with the check, the name of his bank and his mother's maiden name.  

[Hardware]

...How are you doing today...Hope all is well with you...am hear by to confirm if you still have the 2001 SUZUKI SV650S BIKE for sale..if yes get back to me with the details, the final price, the conditionb including the picture if available...

The way "2001 SUZUKI SV650S BIKE" is inserted into the text indicates these numpties are just cutting and pasting descriptions of for-sale items and shotgunning out replies.

The reply could just as easily have read:

...How are you doing today...Hope all is well with you...am hear by to confirm if you still have the 2005 FORD F-250 XLT LARIAT TRUCK for sale..if yes get back to me with the details, the final price, the conditionb including the picture if available..

The ultimate revenge is to scam the scammer though...

[Allan]

This kind of crap amongst all the other types of scams, internet or otherwise, makes me glad the only bike so far I had to sell, the buyer and I both belonged to the same bank. I rode the bike to the branch office. The teller transfered the funds over. We both got recepts showing the transfer. The teller was also a notary and was able to do the title transfer to.

In the future if I sell a bike its greenbacks or wire transfer.

[RBEmerson]

[...]In the future if I sell a bike its greenbacks or wire transfer.

Sigh... even greenbacks can be bogus.  I sold a VW GTI to a guy who paid cash (brown paper bag included!  ) for it.  The deal worked out but some of the bills were old "small head" bills that are easier to counterfeit.  

[HipGnosis]

Open a new account at a convenient bank.

Deposit the check in a interest bearing account.

Sure, it'll clear... but a week or 2 later... it will miraculously un-clear.

The bank will take the amount of the check back.

Take out your initial deposit and interest.  Close the account.

[Crankitup]

There is a group who bait the scammers. With a lot of success it seems.

[keystonejenks]

Isnt a certified cashier's check good as cash  

No, they're counterfit cashier's checks. The banks cannot even tell the difference and have issued funds upon them. Here is the part I don't get though. Once the bank realizes they've issued funds to a bad cashier's check, they hold YOU responsible for the money - even though they were fooled.

[DNA]

I have heard of guy who gets these all the time and asks them to send a $20 bill along with the check to cover his costs of processing the cashiers check at his bank.
Then he sends the scammer back $1 of the money.
This way, he is up $19, the scammer is down $20 plus fed ex, and he can show losses ($1) for the cops.
Then the bad guys relatives show up and things get ugly.
-DNA

[bikerfish1100]

i've gotten these jerks for 4 or 5 bogus checks. String them along, make them pay REAL delivery fees (usually DHL or FedEx, about $10.) to get the bogus check to me, then just yank their chains some more. If i were to believe the guy from 5 years ago (yeah, it's at least that old a scam!), there are a band of thieves & robbers who are now after me, looking to kill me, cuz I walked off with the guys "money". and no, i don't lie awake at night worrying about it.

[Kootenanny]

One thing no one's mentioned is the possibility that if you try to deposit one of these bogus cashier's cheques, you may be accused of mail fraud, because you've been involved with sending fraudulent documents through the mail.  Dunno if this is correct or not, but I've heard rumours...

[Berry G]

Just for fun. Scam the scammers.

http://www.dumbentia.com/gallery_scammers.html

[Corbeau]

Then the bad guys relatives show up and things get ugly.
-DNA

All the way from Nigeria?  

[Stray Cat]

Just for fun. Scam the scammers.

http://www.dumbentia.com/gallery_scammers.html

Sister Lillian Gant... Jayed Garhoover....  

[DNA]

All the way from Nigeria?  

Everybody in the whole world has at least one has a cousin in NYC LA or DC.