The bottom of the barrel
 

HI all, their still are low lives out their that would think nothing of stealing your jets. Here is the scam post I was sent, never got a chance to give him a piece of my mind, as he was just suspended by RCU, Thanks RCU, and for others, never fall for these crooks.
PS. He did not want to deal through RCU, and send a wire transfer, as I requested in the add.

Hello,


How are you doing over there …. I really appreciate your response to my email. I want you to consider it sold, pls do withdraw the advert from site to avoid disturbance,I don’t have time to come over to take a look because of my Business but you don’t need to bother yourself with the shipment, I’ll take care of that by engaging the services of a mover, hence I’ll be sending a certified cashier check and it will be delivered to you via Fedex, so I’ll need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the mailing of the check.
1.full name on the check.
2.Full Physical address to post the check
3.City, State and Zip Code
4.Home & Cell Phone to contact you.
Note: That the payment will be shipped to your address via FEDEX SERVICE and I will like you to know that you will not be responsible for shipping i will have my mover to come over as soon as you have cashed the check.


Jeremiah Smith.

Is their more to this story because i really don't see anything done wrong yet by the buyer. Am i missing something?

It's a standard scam format Melvin. The guy replying to your ad can't come in person but will send a rep. You'll get your money electronically beforehand, and all you need to do is give the respondent your bank details. Then he'll see to it that your account is emptied, along with any other accounts like credit cards and paypal which he can hack into.

I had an exact same format reply to an ad for a caravan awning I was selling. The guy said he was really keen, but as a marine engineer on a ship he couldn't come himself but he would pay by Paypal and then his transport agent would come to collect the awning. When I told him to get his agent to bring cash, he replied with the exact same email he'd sent originally. So I ignored him.

Let the seller beware!!

Gordon

NO - you can't empty a bank account with just those details. In the "old days" every cheque you wrote had exactly that information on it anyway.

If anyone manages to get money from your account with just name, number address and sort code then your bank is seriously insecure and you should change it.

I agree this is a scam but for my information, what are the risks with using PayPal if you are on the receiving end?

Craig

Guys, I work these cases far too often. If you deposit the check that was sent via FedEx it will take a few weeks but invariably bounce as a counterfeit check. Now, if your model is already gone you are out the model and the entire amount of the bogus check you deposited will be withdrawn from your account weather you spent it or not, you are on the hook for the money.

I shut down these "check plants" all the time. Funniest one I ever saw was a check made out to Hugh J*******. Clearly the victim figured out it was a scam and was jerking the bad guy around. I guess the bad guys don't get American humor, HA!

Good catch on your part.

Hi Gordon
I didn't see any mention in the op's post about a electronic wire transfer! He (the buyer) said he would send a certified cashiers check in the mail by fed ex. I don't see anything wrong with going that Route. If the check doesn't go through ok the buyer doesn't get the plane.If the check is good than the guy should be good to go!

Melvin, you would be surprised (and offended) by how long it will take the bank to come back to you and say the check is bad. You will be credited the money and then weeks (or more) later, out of the blue, they will pull all that money back from you. Usually long after your merchandise is gone.

Wow!! Melvin it's a good thing you're not selling any jet lol. Last month about 2:00am I woke up to my cell phone notification going crazy. At first I thought it was a date I cancel on without calling...But it was my paypal account..someone hack my paypal and was trying to pay themselves $60.00 7 times in 5 second..probably If they just did one payment for $420.00...I wouldn't have notice it. I call paypal and told them that wasn't me then cancel the account.

There is more to the story if you play along. He'll decide to give you MORE money than you asked, and then ask you give him a portion of that over payment back to him after you cash the check.

PS: I recommend putting on your add that you will net sell overseas only USA. 99% of the offers from over seas are scams.

It's not like that in the UK. Here you wait three days for the money to appear in your account and another three days for it to clear then it is yours and there is no risk of losing the money.

So you could avoid the scam by waiting 6 days before sending out the goods.

See http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/contact-an...heque-clearing

Not so - you are actually safer selling to some other countries - eg UK.see my comment above.

If receiving funds from overseas ask the sender to use TransferWise - safe for both parties and a much better exchange rate than any bank.

Sounds like you responded to some other Phishing scam - you don't need to give away any information that would make hacking easier just to receive money.

Well First off i'd say their is a BIG difference between getting hacked and accepting a certified cashiers check. I just got off the phone with a lady at my bank where i have had an account for over 40 years and talked to her about this issue.I would never take a check and accept it on face value that it is good until it has shown that it is good. I wouldn't send anyone a plane or jet or whatever till my bank said the funds were available and transfered. The bank officer i talked to told me that yes in some circumstances the bank might make the funds available to you before the check is verified if you have a good and long time standing with them. All a person has to do though is inform their bank that you want the check verified before making the funds available..My account shows two amounts on my bank statement and my online account Current Balance and Available Balance. Current balance is the amount before the deposit of the check and Available balance is the amount after the deposit of the check. When the two balances are the same that means the check was deposited with no problem and the institution or account that the check was drawn did indeed have the funds and all is well and good.Believe me i am as leery of people than most.I would not just take for granted that just because i received a check that it must be good and that i would send whatever i sold immediately to the buyer. The check would have to clear first. That's just common sense. Once a bank says the check is good they can"t come back a month or two later and say oops we made a mistake and so we are removing the funds from your account

Western Union may be a good alternative to Paypal or checks. The buyer must pay WU cash and then WU will PAY YOU in cash.

Another interesting fact i learned from the lady at where i bank at is that wire transfers are really the safest way to transfer money. Once the money is sent,it is instant.Their is no backing out. It's a done deal!.

I wouldn't discard the offer so soon. Let him pay you. Hold the model unitl the check clears. If someone shows up to pick up, state that package isn't ready for shipment until payment is processed.

Exactly! Agree with you 100%. At least give the guy's check a try. It might be good and then send him the plane

Did you even read my posts? Your response doesn't even address what I said.

Craig,
the problem with using paypal for pickup items, is the seller has no proof of shipping via tracking information. So if they are dishonesf, they will agree to pay full price and the 3% paypal fee, come pickup the item and then in a few weeks claim they never received it. Since you have no hard evidence of shipment (tracking information) paypal will side with the buyer and refund their money.


The Only way i take paypal during a local pickup deal is if they send it via the "friends/family/gift" option as there is no buyer protection with this, once the money is sent, its a done deal.

Melvin...this is a scam. While YOU may not send the plane prior to a check clearing, others might. The scammer sends out a 100 of these offers, prints the checks (easy to do, zip cost), and waits for 10% of the suckers who actually send the plane. Cost to the scammer? Nothing. Benefit to the scammer? Anything sent by the sucker. Pure profit. While you appear to want to resist reality on this, the fact is that this is a well known, well advertised, well established scam. It is what it is.

You just can't help some people...these bad guys are fairly good at what they do, especially against those that think they are savvy. The paypal scam to pick up the item in person, instead of having it shipped, has been around for a long time.

Good luck...if nothing else you will get a bad check or money order to frame and at worst you will have your accounts hacked in to, your income tax return sent to someone else, or an emptied bank account.

Are you guys kidding me, that is a super obvious scam. We have someone using my address to receive checks right now. We are getting four figure checks to our address all the time and they are legit checks from all over the map. Got one from a college for $1300 last night. Not sure why they chose our address, our mailboxes are locked and none of the info jives. Our post office is taking them all and investigating.

I had someone get my SS# and file a 2014 return in my name. Luckily the IRS caught it. Crazy world we live in where people wake up in the morning with the sole intent to steal from others. I didn't come with that gene, I cannot fathom ripping someone off.

Yep, it is a scam. I have even had the old PayPal, pick it up in person played on before as well. There is no such thing as fool proof to a talented fool.

I just don't get the pick up in person part. The scammer picks it up? Fedex picks it up? ......all traceable.