What's going on here?

[yeffe]

I placed an ad seling a bessa R3a here about six weeks ago. A woman in England offered

to buy (no haggling) and said arrangements would be made through a relative in the US. I

was to expect $500. I was to take my price, and shipping, and refund her any difference.

After weeks went by, the American relative contacted me saying the buyer's daughter had

died in a plane crash but she still wanted the camera. I received an envelope today

postmarked London UK, but with five postal money orders each for $500. Total of $2500.

On the PMOs the sender was located in Cameron Pk, CA. But as I said, the envelope was

postmarked London, GB.

This smells.

[michaelging]

There are many scams going on right now with cashiers checks from Europe being phony.

Are they US money orders? If they are, you can take them to the Post Office and find out if

they are legit. It sounds fishy, maybe they are trying to launder money somehow.

[think27]

Scam... I hope you didn't send the Bessa. Don't try and cash the checks and absolutely don't refund any money if you did already. The money orders will bounce. This is a very very common scam.

[yeffe]

The MOs look pretty bad compared with the Post Office's guide to authenticity. No Ben

Franklin watermark and the USPS security strip has the letters going only one way. Rather

crude copies. If deposited, I'd be stuck for the amounts.

[john falkenstine]

wow, sounds like this is a good one for the FBI. A lot of these scams are organized gangs. I know of an Engineer that lost $2500 this way in a matter of hours, dealing with a Canadian "lottery"

[scott_clarke]

I am a Police Officer in Canada. This is going on everywhere. And for amounts you would not imagine. They will be frauds. You will most likely get aked to deposit the rest in an account, and here some story how they made a mistake. Most likely the bank will not know they are frauds. Most are very hard to tell. Contact your local Police fraud division before cashing them. Just a suggestion.

[jeremy freeland]

Jeff - take a look at <a href="http://ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/overpayalrt.pdf"> this publication from the FTC</a>.

[j_sew]

Check with your financial instituition. Overseas cheques, money orders are held for 3 weeks. The bank may provide you with the funds, but if these money orders are frauds, they will come back and remove the funds from your bank account. Your best bet, hopefully you did not send them the bessa, but turn this over the authorities.

[yeffe]

Here's the next step from my would-be scammer: "Please, take the money orders to your

bank today and get it cashed immediately and get back to me as soon as you have the

money with you so that I can instruct you on how to get it forward to my shipper as we

have agreed."

 

I'm thinking of stringing them along as they have me. I'll tell her I have the cash.

Then...silence for a few days. See what happens. Of course I won't 'cash' the checks but

turn them over to the local postal inspector.

[mottershead]

I don't think you should play games. Just turn the matter over to the police, would be my advice, and follow their instructions on how to deal with the other party.

[johncrosley]

It's too late to 'play games'. Your knowledge and intentions are part of this public forum, which your 'buyer' has ready access to, and may indeed already have read. Also, if criminal, may have some means of retribution.

 

I do know a Nigerian man who while in the U.S. who was oil scammed (the old Nigerian oil swindle which almost everyone knows about, and when the scammers had him 'hooked' they thought, they wanted to talk to him personally on the telephone after his letters, then e-mails, and then he balked, saying he was 'DEAF' and could not speak over the telephone. Being a Nigerian, he ran then down to South Africa to pick up their money, then back to an institution in Lagos, then to another city in Nigeria before having them arrestred. Good story? It's true.

 

I'm thinking of writing it up for publication as I know the man. I and almost everyone's been scammed by some relative of somebody who's a relative/wife/widow of a minster of petroleum, etc. of Nigeria who allegedly scammed $100 million in 'untraceable funds' and it's just sitting there for someone to 'launder it in return for a share of the proceeds, and somehow they picked 'you' or 'me'

for a 10% share in return for getting the money to a safe haven. (But of course, first you'll be asked to share your bank account details, and of course, they'll drain it with phony checks, and or some other schemes and devices, and your credit rating will be revoked.)

 

By the way, I've even heard of greedy would-be launderers from the U.S. who went to Nigeria with 'good faith' money who never came back -- just disappeared. Truth or fiction? Who knows?

 

 

In your case, swindling the swindlers doesn't pay to take chances.

 

They know your name and your intentions.

 

Be smart.

 

John (Crosley)

[cappoldt]

http://www.419eater.com/

[jimadams]

If they're U. S. Postal Service money orders, you should contact the Postal Inspectors. The guy at the p.o. can tell you how.

[yeffe]

Going through 'official' channels got me nowhere...automated telephone systems tailored

to keep from employing people, etc. But my next door neighbor is the recently retired

postmaster general of the Portland area. He promised to get me a name. But even his first

inquiry on my behalf got him a half-hearted response. He's going to try someone else, or

whatever. But I'm left with a feeling that the bad guys are just overwhelming the

authorities with sheer volume and off-shore protections.