Hi Guys, Some of you have probably already heard of this scam. Someone emails you offering to buy your item...cool right! Then they say that they will be sending a check for a couple of thousand bucks more then the selling price, and they would like you to sendthe excess back to them...yeh right! Anyway, below is a copy of the email offer that I received, followed by my reply to them. What do you all think of this?
Take care & beware!
Rob Bailey / Pickupsticks

Offer email:

Hello seller,
i am interested in purchasing your( Mackay/Moki 215 cc )and i saw the price to be $2000,and i will also like to know the present condition,i want you to forward me the pics.I will like you to know that my mode of payment is by certified cahsier's cheque,don't worry about the shipment i have a shipping company that is working for me.
Ive immediately contacted my patner over there in the Us that's going to make the payment to you on my behalf.However there are few things i want to explain to you in this mail,which actually made the mail important and i would want you to handle everything with all honesty and sincerity.My client is going to make a payment of $6,500 to you, which is over the amount for your ( Mackay/Moki 215 cc ).But ive already told him the money covers for the ( Mackay/Moki 215 cc ) and the shipping arrangement.Therefore he has promised to raise the check and get it across to you ASAP.Why im explaining this to you now is the need to let to you know after
colllecting the payment and get it cashed that you will need to send of the money($4,200) to my shipper after you must have deducted the money for your ( Mackay/Moki 215 cc ) out of it and you should keep the remaining ($300).You will send the remaining balance to my shipper through western union Money Transfer so as to facilitate easy pick-up of the ( Mackay/Moki 215 cc ) at your location.Pls let me know if i can entrust you with my balance and you can act as i have rightly said.I would like to hear from you and pls l want you to remove the advert from the intenet.Thanks and God bless.
Regards.
N.B I will like you to give me your full address in which the cheque will be send to,including your name and phone #.Hope to read from you soonest today.Thanks once again.


My response:

Hi, Thanks for your offer...but no thanks. I am onto this scam, as are most other RCUniverse members. So, why don't you just pack your head up your behind and go away.
Sincerely
Seller

i have seen them all,i have had a guy try that when trying to buy a 1989 volkswagen passat off me,he was trying to get me to ship it to ontario-that was before it had been paid for!

I always tell them that I need to hold the check for at leat 14 days, for verification. They never seem to get back to me.
Yours is the first time I have ever seen them ask about condition of the item. Usually they just agree to buy with no questions asked, sure sign of a scam.

Watch out for cashiers checks in general. They are easy to fake. You need to wait for it to clear the bank before turning over the goods. Otherwise, you just gave away what you were selling.

That must be a form letter! I had a couple of those when I was selling the Boss! Happily I sold the car via the local paper ad and didn't have to go through the ordeals from the responses I was getting from an internet based ad. Though much of the interest I had was probably genuine I had similar email offers etc from Sweden, Nigeria and a couple from within the USA!

With most of them, that isn't even the worst of it... they couldn't care less about the item you're selling.
They just hope you'll be naive enough to send them a check for the balance remaining.
If they get your stuff too... that's just a bonus. (Though they typically won't even try to receive it)

Nice one.

Yeah thats obviously wither a bad check scam or a really STUPID money laundering scheme the guy is trying to pull.

The really sad thing about this is that people actually fall for this crap.
Randy

That is why I always request Postal Money Orders as payment. I can check it out, and the added benefit is that if a fraud occurs and one of these is used as payment, the Postal Inspector's office has jurisdiction wherever the mail goes.

That is also the only form of payment I will send for the same reasons.[8D]

I have been down this road and the check will bounce

Lol thats funny, why would anyone send you a check for $4,500 more then the motor is worth and expect you to pay them back, what a dumba§§

The point of this thread has been made and it is going to be closed as it is now becoming a venue for name calling. Thanks for your understanding, Dave, forum moderator.