Is it a scam and what is my risk?

[bsrodeo540 26]

Hey guys, I am selling my gear now, I am in Canada and the guy from England got back to me saying he would like to buy it from me and he needs it as soon as possible. He wants to pay with a "cashier check". I said I won't be able to send gear as long as I wait for the funds to be cleard so PayPal is the best and fastest and safest way to go. He said he's ok with waiting, but he wants to pay with, again, a "cashier's check". Here's his last email:

"i am okay with the cashier check i will like you to get back to me with your full details with the format bellow to enable me to make an out right payment with my cashier check which will be sent to you by my Financial institution..

Name:....
Address:..
Amount:..
Car make and year:..
Email address:...
Phone number:...

Thanks" end of message

Now, I am interested in selling my gear - but I don't do it too often and a lot of things kind of raising red flags to me - why he doesn't want to use PayPal, he needs it "urgently" but ready to wait and why he needs all this info (especially my car make and year??) Also I understand my add is pretty thorough and detailed but he didn't ask any questions - right in the first email said he would like to buy it from me right away and asked to send him this info...

What risks do I bear giving him all this info, cause to me as long as he waits till funds are cleared, it sounds fine, but at the same time don't want to send all this info just to some scammer that might possibly use this information to get me into trouble?

What would you do?

Thanks!

Every life comes with a death sentence. Until then, who's in charge?

[mjosparky 3]

His use of the English language makes me think he may not be from England. It doesn’t sound right. I would pass on it. Jmo

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[jumpsalot-2 2]

Scammers will refuse to use Paypal. Scammers will not give out phone numbers, and answer. If you can't get the phone number, stop emailing this person. Sell your stuff to someone else.

Life is short ... jump often.

[sundevil777 93]

When a check truly "clears" can be a very long time. Banks will release funds long before a fraudulent check is realized to be a fraud. You will be responsible for that. The scammers can make very convincing looking checks, but don't trust them.

Wants to know about your car? Obviously not right.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[airgord 1]

Straight up scam.

[bsrodeo540 26]

Yeah, on my question about the car he replied "i mean item name and year..i will wait to hear from you tomorrow", and never answered my question about his home dz and name of the rigger.. no doubts now it's a scam, thanks for the input guys!

Every life comes with a death sentence. Until then, who's in charge?

[Melliandra 0]

Also in England we call it a cheque, not a check. This is a scam.

[jclalor 12]

You should check out the security and scam alert thread.

[Travman 6]

Car make and year? Seriously dude, total scam.

What would I do? Cut off contact and sell your rig to a real buyer.

[DBCOOPER 1]

Make something up, play along, make them go throught the expense of sending you the fake...

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[RMK 3]

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Also in England we call it a cheque, not a check. This is a scam.

Yes, also no one in the UK would call it a cashier's cheque - it's called a bankers draft. Definitely looks like a scam.

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[Divalent 89]

Yes it absolutely is a scam. Here's a direct link to the thread in the scams forum that gives the best summary of how the scam works.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3463257#3463257

You can play along with him if you want to cause him trouble, but keep shopping your gear to others. (and whatever you do, don't try to cash any check he sends you.)

[ChrisL 2]

Quote

Make something up, play along, make them go throught the expense of sending you the fake...

I agree. Screw with the guy for a while.

__

My mighty steed

[riggerpaul 1]

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(and whatever you do, don't try to cash any check he sends you.)

If you took the check to your bank, and tell them you suspect it is fraudulent, is there anything they are interested in doing?

Will the banking authorities at the other end get notified? Will THEY do anything?

[CSpenceFLY 1]

Quote

Quote

Make something up, play along, make them go throught the expense of sending you the fake...

I agree. Screw with the guy for a while.

We did that to a guy once. After they sent the check we cut off contact. They demanded their money for a few days. Then we sent them pictures from a boogie and told them we cashed the check and threw a party and they could fuck off or come get us. Never heard from them again.

[Tink1717 2]

This is a total scam. The check will be fake abd if you send your gear, you will never see it again. Wlak away and find someone else.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[JohnRich 4]

His next step will likely to be to send the check for MORE than the amount of the purchase, and ask you to send the overage to his shipper, to pay the shipping costs. Of course, that's just his way to get you to send him valid money, from an invalid check, and the "shipper" is himself. This is illogical - he should pay his own shipper, and not ask you to do it for him. That's another sign that this is a fraud. And that's all he's really after - he doesn't care about the rig, it's just a means to get money through a fraudulent transaction.

Play along with him. But do NOT send him any money or your rig.

[Divalent 89]

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This is a total scam. The check will be fake abd if you send your gear, you will never see it again.

Just to be clear, the scam is not that they steal your gear, it's that they steal your money. They send you a certified check for way more than the sales price, and you wire back the excess money once the check "clears" your bank. (3 weeks later your bank informs you the check was a forgery, and takes back the full check amount.) They never get your gear, because then there would be a shipping trail that potentially would allow you to find them. Wherever it is that they *say* they live, they live in another country far far away (some place where your local law enforcement will have no ability to help you, even if they were able to locate it).

[hokierower 0]

You need to do this: http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/ but with a rig instead.

Get a backpack, some 550 cord, an old calculator with the words AAD written on it, and a painter's dropcloth, rig it up, hike up the price so the guy has to pay a shload of import tax, and sell it to him.

Oh, and post the whole thing for us to read.

[JohnRich 4]

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You need to do this: http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/ but with a rig instead.

Good one.

Sometimes these idiots even do things like ask for photos, when there were already photos included with the advertisement. That's because they just have a standard generic template that they send out to thousands of people every month, and they don't want to waste their time customizing each response to the specific ad. That's another clue that it's fraud.

[DBCOOPER 1]

I'll contribute a dollar toward shipping

Replying to: Re: Stall On Jump Run Emergency Procedure? by billvon

If the plane is unrecoverable then exiting is a very very good idea.

[Scrumpot 1]

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If you took the check to your bank, and tell them you suspect it is fraudulent, is there anything they are interested in doing?

Will the banking authorities at the other end get notified? Will THEY do anything?

Short answer unfortunately Paul, - No.

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[beowulf 1]

Email him back and tell him that you will need to hold on to the gear for at least 3 months to be sure the check is legitimate before shipping the gear out.

He probably won't respond anymore.

[Scrumpot 1]

Different scam entirely. In that case - they actually did WANT THE POWERBOOK.

In this case - as others are already pointing out, this scammer rather wants to turn a worthless, forged "Cashiers Check" into CASH, and is trying to use our seller as his vehicle (pun intended) towards committing bank fraud.

They have absolutely no (real) interest in receiving the rig. Heck - they don't even know what (or care) it is!!

Total waste of time (and even minimal $ on "getting the backpack" - or whatever) on trying to orchestrate this "prank" in this case - and the fraudster will never see it (again - in this case) anyway.

FWIW

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[jshiloh 0]

It's a scam. Most of these scams center around an "overseas" purchase of automobiles, which is why his original message asked for the car make & model (sloppy copy & paste). Here's how the scam works....

He'll want to send you a cashier's check for the price of the goods plus a buch extra for "special shipping." His shipper will be in touch with you shortly. He'll tell you that it's easier & cheaper for him to cut one check for the whole amount & have you use the excess money to pay the shipper. The shipper will insist on getting paid before picking the item up...he'll want you to mail a cashier's check, wire the money, or provide a bank account number for electronic transfer. He will NOT accept a credit card for payment.

Now, typically banks won't put holds on cashier's checks. Even when they do, they are limitedby federal law to something like 10 days (I don't recall the specific time limit). So, you'll deposit the check he sends, and believe everything is fine once your bank releases the funds. You then pay the shipping company. Problem is, the check they send you is a forgery & usually drawn on a foreign bank (which delays notification). And the "shipper" is completely ficticious & part of the scam. At some point after you pay the shipper, your bank tells you the original check was a forgery/fake & yanks the total amount back out of your account.

Net result: that $$ you paid to the shipping company (typically several hundred or even thousand dollars) came out of your pocket & the scammer just got your cash. If you provided a bank account number for electronic transfer, it's a good bet the account will be drained.

There are a few variations with regard to the need for excess money (asking you to forward the excess to another "seller" or somesuch) but that's the gist of it.