Jan 3, 2009, 5:19 AM
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Username: vela58 -- Classified Buyer Scam
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From: <cvela58@yahoo.es> Date: Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 15:45 Subject: Dropzone.com Classifieds - Response to your Ad
On 2-Jan-2009 someone submitted their contact information in response to your ad in the Dropzone.com Classifieds. Please reply to this email to contact the person directly.
Username => vela58
Name => carlos vela
FromEmail => cvela58@yahoo.es
City => madrid
Country => spain
Comments => Hello i have a client thats interested in the purchase of the Katana 120
need to know the final price of it or if you can let go for $1200 and would love to see more pics if available thanks
DO NOT do business with anyone who offers to send you payment for a higher amount than your selling price with the understanding that you'll send back the balance.
Be suspicious of anyone claiming to be acting on behalf of a "client" or another "customer".
Be suspicious of anyone claiming to be from Nigeria or West Africa
If you agree to accept a check payment, then do not send anything, gear or "change" before the check cleared. And be careful, if you manage to clear a fraudulent check then you may be liable for the damages if the bank finds out later. Make sure your bank authenticates the check.
If it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is.
I have had a couple of emails from cvela58@yahoo.es inquiring about the sabre2 that I am selling. It is not clear to me how I would get scammed. That is unless he just wanted my name address & phone number.
Guys........ just from reading the first line of his email it is 100% clear it is a scam. Just read through a few other scammer threads, or sell some more on dz.com you'll get it in no time
The real scam of course comes when they offer to pay more than you're asking and ask you to refund the rest to them, accompanied by a sob story of some kind to explain. Their check of course is false yours is not, voila money made. Since basically they don't even WANT whatever you're selling they offer arrange freight themselves (now who even DOES that ) if so you're lucky you didn't lose the item too.
So either believe the longtimers here who spot these scammers in 0.1 second flat or go ahead and mail with them a few times see if my scenario plays out.
(This post was edited by dragon2 on Jan 4, 2009, 5:02 AM)
Everything I post in here is in regard to an ad response that's a virtual copy and paste of everything else in here. They all use the same wording or variations of it. Many claim to be acting on behalf of a "client," which is how they avoid answering questions about their own skydiving.
The actual scam works on a flaw in how banks process checks. When you see that a buyer's check is deposited in your account, the deal isn't really done yet. Checks typically don't really clear for a long time after a bank actually releases funds. (If you followed the credit crisis in the news, this flaw was explained pretty well -- checks are actually a form of loan.)
In almost every case, there's an offer to make the "certified cheque" out for more than the asking price to "cover shipping." When the check arrives, you'll notice it's made out for far too much. When you ask why, he'll say something like, it was to make sure there's enough for shipping or he'll give some other BS story, and ask you to please refund the rest of it. You deposit the check, and when it bounces, you're liable for all the money you "refunded."
All of the above can happen in the space of time between when you deposit the check and the bank tells you it bounced.
Have a look at some of the other threads in this forum -- they're all basically the same. If you get a response to your ad that sounds similar, report it right away so I can get a warning out there.
On 2-Jan-2009 someone submitted their contact information in response to your ad in the Dropzone.com Classifieds. Please reply to this email to contact the person directly.
