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Vlade

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 2, 2003
966
4
Meadville, PA
So I'm trying to sell some stuff locally over craigslist, and I get two messages from scammers, for both my PC and my Dell LCD. Here are the messages below (two different email addresses)

Hello am so immepresed in the item you listed on craigslist and am willing to purchase it*for my son studying overseas.i will like to ship the item directly to him.

I will be paying with (USPS) United State Postal Money Order payment .
This is how it works, as soon as i make the payment, they will contact you and as soon as its approved .

I think its safe and secured because, once payment is approved,it gives you the opportunity to monitor the payment details directly from their website and it for sure that the seller or whoever thats involve will definately receive the money order and thats why it takes them hours to approve after pending.Iwill offer you $510

I will like to ship the item imediately through My Fed-ex account, you dont have to pay a dime for it cos i will be responsible for the shipping to destination.

Let me have your full name and address as it will be written on the money order that will be sent to you.
Thanks and best regards.

Thanks for your prompt reply. I will be paying with (USPS) United State Postal Money Order payment .

This is how it works, as soon as i make the payment, they will contact you and as soon as its approved . I think its safe and secured because, once payment is approved,it gives you the opportunity to monitor the payment details directly from their website and it for sure that the seller or whoever thats involve will definately receive the money order and thats why it takes them hours to approve after pending, to this end,as soon as my payment is approved by (USPS) United State Postal Money Order, i will like to ship the item imediately through My Fed-ex account . I will like to offer $210.00 if you are willing to sell it to me.

As for the shipping, you dont have to pay a dime for it cos i will be responsible for the shipping to destination. Upon approval of payment, i will send you a fed-ex prepaid shipping label to you which you will need for the shipping of the package. I will like to read from you if this is okay by you.

Let me have your full name and address as it will be written on the money order.

Thanks and best regards.


After being the victim of a stolen credit card and Paypal (a horrible company), I would love to screw these guys over. Its obvious that its a counter-fit money order and an overseas address.

So... who wants to give me some ideas on how to screw the scammers? I'm thinking after I take the money orders to the post office and verify they are fake I could take the prepaid Fed Ex labels and fill boxes of not so pleasant garbage and send them to them. That way they have to waste money on the shipping and get some sort of surprise. Maybe I could make the value of the box high enough so they have to pay some sort of importing tax?

Any ideas, or is this just a bad idea to get involved with?
 

slabbius

macrumors member
Aug 7, 2006
86
0
Actually what they are doing is very illegal and if you google 419 Resources or 419 Scam, you should be able to find plenty of info. I was nearly the victim and I was told to contact the local FBI with information (i.e. did I recieve a check or mo/did I send my goods yet, etc).

There is a method known as scam-baiting where they try to target you and scam you and in turn, you end up costing them time and maybe money if you're good enough. Google that and a good recipe for chocolate cake
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
Vlade said:
So I'm trying to sell some stuff locally over craigslist, and I get two messages from scammers, for both my PC and my Dell LCD. Here are the messages below (two different email addresses)






After being the victim of a stolen credit card and Paypal (a horrible company), I would love to screw these guys over. Its obvious that its a counter-fit money order and an overseas address.

So... who wants to give me some ideas on how to screw the scammers? I'm thinking after I take the money orders to the post office and verify they are fake I could take the prepaid Fed Ex labels and fill boxes of not so pleasant garbage and send them to them. That way they have to waste money on the shipping and get some sort of surprise. Maybe I could make the value of the box high enough so they have to pay some sort of importing tax?

Any ideas, or is this just a bad idea to get involved with?
LOL... i'd love to hear the end of this... for sure ship a box of... something bad
but make sure yourself is untraceble, aka false name and false address...

perhaps old newspaper or some other heavy garbage from your garage...
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,358
2,769
First rule of dealing with scammers: Don't try to out-scam the scammers. More often than not, you will get burned...they do this for a living. Occasionally there will be a stunning success like the p-p-p-powerbook, but the chances of you coming out on the short end of the stick somehow are pretty good.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
WildCowboy said:
First rule of dealing with scammers: Don't try to out-scam the scammers. More often than not, you will get burned...they do this for a living. Occasionally there will be a stunning success like the p-p-p-powerbook, but the chances of you coming out on the short end of the stick somehow are pretty good.
what will they do to you if you ship them oversea a bunch of junk? provided you dont give them any true info like ur name and your addy?
 

mmmcheese

macrumors 6502a
Feb 17, 2006
948
0
You could just send back and forth email leading them on, but never actually doing anything (like accepting money or sending a package)....just waste their time...
 

1dterbeest

macrumors regular
Feb 14, 2006
212
0
Waupun, WI
I usually send them an email saying that I've
reported their scam operation to some made-
up but official-sounding government agency that
deals with online fraud. If they believe me, they
have to abandon the alias they were using and
start another one. Just give them a little hassle
in return for the hassle they give ME.
 

Kitrik

macrumors member
Apr 25, 2005
43
2
Minnesota
Two wrongs don't make a right. Don't try to scam them - it's illegal.

However, I also get these annoying emails when using Craigslist. I make sure to inform the scammer that I am not an idiot, that they are wasting their time so tell their friends to stop contacting me, and that there is a special place in hell reserved for them.
 

Vlade

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 2, 2003
966
4
Meadville, PA
Thanks guys, I decided to hold of on a while because I don't have time to mess with these guys or another address to use, and I don't want to use my own address. Maybe if I get bored some day though... :D
 

MattyMac

macrumors 68000
Oct 6, 2005
1,692
17
NJ/NYC
Vlade said:
Thanks guys, I decided to hold of on a while because I don't have time to mess with these guys or another address to use, and I don't want to use my own address. Maybe if I get bored some day though... :D
Good Idea...don't bother and just ignore it.
 

Razorhog

macrumors 65816
Sep 16, 2006
1,148
116
Arkansas
I've been trying to sell my 4-wheeler (which did sell today on ebay W00t! $3,000 for an iMac :D ) I had it on several online sites and started getting lots of scammer emails. The last one I got I told them basically to stick it where the sun don't shine and they actually replied back and acted all offended. The whole time they were mis-spelling words and using poor grammar. Just can't believe the gall of these people...
 

ITASOR

macrumors 601
Mar 20, 2005
4,398
3
SMM said:
What I did was start sending them boxes of IT junk I no longer wanted. None of it was sent back and they soon left me alone.

If I pretend to scam you, can you send me all your IT stuff you don't want anymore too?
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,358
2,769
skoker said:
Wow, is it just me or has vB code gotten stupider?

At least now it doesn't hiccup when URLs have trailing slashes...that used to be really annoying.
 
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