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TheT

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 5, 2002
485
0
Germany
Alright, so I got this mail from someone, I don't even know how they got my eMail address. Then, they sent it through some free mail system (one of them was usermail.com). It was a real "to-good-to-be-true" offer, but I though I'd just write them back to see what happens.
And then I got this mail:
Greetings from Mac Deals Exporting Sales Manager!

We have just received your inquiry about the product we have for sale, and
we hope that this email will completely answer the questions which you may
possibly have to ask regarding these G4 and G5 offers.

This is not an automated system ,so you may feel free to ask any of the
additional questions which i may have not covered in this message.

<I removed a G5 offer because of lenght>

POWERBOOK G4 OFFER! AMAZING PRICE ,VERY LIMITED STOCK'S

7 of the Apple PowerBook's G4 currently left in stock. Each unit cost is
only $1225 US Dollars including all
shipping and handling charges. You will only have to pay $90-100 fee to
process transfer of the funds.
Because of this fee for sending, we will fairly cover the shipping charges,
and you will not have to care on the rates for delivery!Please note this as
it is very important question,
if matching to our history in dealing with other international customers.

We do ship worldwide as we will be using our Corporate FedEx account. The
method for the delivery is Express!

There is HARD TO BELEIVE ,AND AMAZING discount for the order of 5
PowerBooks as 1 order,
that will make you able to get a price for them of $5200 US Dollars total
for all 5 delivered express!

The total on your order for 1 Apple PowerBook G4 1.25GHz is :

$1225 US Dollars transfered for the Apple PowerBook G4 delivered by your
door within 3 business days + estimately $100 paid to company
transfering your funds to our company,charged as processing fees.

The original pictures of the merchandise are also included to this email as
an .jpg format files.
( They show the same similar system you will be geting , not the right one
you are ordering as it will be factory sealed and in unopened box).

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PICTURE SHOWS 512MB EDITION OF THE POWERBOOK.THE ONE
YOU MAY ORDER NOW IS 1GB EDITION.

Here are the complete specs for the system : <I removed most, basically Max>

Apple PowerBook G4 1.25 GHz


RAM
Installed Size:
1 GB

Storage Hard Drive:
1 x 80 GB - portable - internal

Warranty
Service & Support:
1 year warranty
Service & Support Details:
Limited warranty - 1 year
Technical support - phone consulting - 3 months

SPECIAL'S MAY BE BUNDLED,ONE PER POWERBOOK G4 ORDERED AT YOUR CHOICE :


1. AIPORT-BASESTATION AND DVI TO ADC ADAPTOR INCLUDED IN PACKAGE FOR FREE!

OR

2. BLACK LEATHER CARYING CASE AND ADDITIONAL 2ND BATTERY INCLUDED IN PACKAGE
FOR FREE!

____________________________________________________________________________
___


Let me describe a little history on this sale,and try to explain why the
price on these unit's is SO MUCH lower then they retail for in regular US
stores.
The products are being delivered to you from our corporate warehouse which
is located in Eastern Europe,Ukraine,
and we are subsided by the local trading giant :
"Discovery Technologies" dealing in electronics and computers all over the
planet, these company-giant supplies the Russian,
Ukrainian and nearest countries market range.

These items are absolutely legitimate, and the only reason for a such low
and even cheap price you may buy them for ,
because they are being sold for almost under wholesale prices,not any profit
will be avaiable for us at this time,
but it is a very needed experience and feedback for us, as we are planning
to establish a long-term business relationship with many vendors,
which are already in contact with us,so the reason for this sale is to gain
a name of a stable,affordable and leading trading company.
Here is the explanation how to place and order with our company and set up
payment for it.

The business trough which you will be sending funds to our company,called
Western Union, and the service you should use for the payment is Western
Union Money Transfer service.

PLEASE, READ CAREFULLY THE FOLLOWING NOTE, IT DESCRIBES HOW YOUR PURCHASE
WILL BE MADE SECURE FOR BOTH SIDES,
AND INSURE YOU THAT DELIVERY BRINGS YOU THE PROPER MERCHANDISE AS PROMISED
BY SELLING PARTY.

Basically, there are 4 steps to completely process your order.

First, you have to send us an email message informing us that you are
willing to place an order with our company,
and notify for which of the products we offered. Also you will have to send
us :
Your complete name,shipping adress, your contact phone numbers and best time
you may be reached at later time if we need to confirm anything on your
order.
After I get your details, ill comply the initiating receipt for you,
containing the information on products you are ordering and the total on
your order.

The second step. After getting the receipt, you have to go to the Western
Union Agency of your location,
and set up a money transfer under the sales representative name of our
company which will be currently working on your order.
(For example at this time your sales representative would be Elena
Kolesnichenko)
Money transfer has to be set with the instructions you will find next in
this message.
When you done with the transfer and funds will be set, you have to scan your
Western Union's receipt paper,
confirming that money sent and with MTCN number on it, which will give us
the ability to track your funds while they are on the way from you.

The third step is final processing of your order.After we get your copy of
the Western Union's receipt confirming that money are sent, we will prepare
the delivery at the warehouse.
Finally, after that,we will ship you the merchandise, i will send you the
final order receipt with a scanned copy of the FedEx bill, containing
tracking number for your package and showing its location at the current
time.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING NOTE!
To protect your money, you will be holding your exact senders adress you
will use with Western Union,
it is required by the picking side to supply the Senders Adress to Western
Union agent when we try to pickup the funds you have set.This means our
party will not be able to get your funds,
until you get your product,inspect it, and send us the complete adress you
have used as senders.

Here are the instructions to set up the Western Union Money Transfer :

Visit local branch of an agency which is called Western Union, and transfers
money digitally worldwide,they often reside in mall's and post office's of
your area,and of course banks.
They only take cash payments,so please be sure to withdraw cash from your
bank before visiting them.
You may look for a nearest office of them with yellow pages of your area or
Western Union's website,
but usually it is not a problem to find a location of
Western Union in any area.

At their branch,fill out the form to send a new money transfer for the
amount which
covers your total on the order, use the details of the sales person working
on your
order, at the current time they are the following:

Ellana Kolesnichenko

Odessa, 65114
Ukraine
+380-67-2950486

After that you have set the payment you will have to email us the following
information's required to process your order :

Your complete name.
Shipping adress where you would like your item to be delivered.
( Billing adress will be holded by your side until you receive,and inspect
your merchandise )
The products you have ordered.
Amount you have transferred, for double-check.
Scanned copy of the WU's receipt, with MTCN number.


Please take our's sincerest appologies,but the warehouse managers restricted
payment method available only to Western Union transfers from their branch,
as it is the most insured and fast available payment method.
I do understand,that it would be much easier and quicker for you to use a
PayPal account of yours ,not leaving home, but we also will do many possible
things to get our customers very satisfied as the prices you see ,
which we are selling for only for a promotional period,like for the price
they have gotten them in numbers ,so do not be worried as you just have got
the deal ad in right time and you may get one of these computers with such
an affordable pricing.
They also notified me that each customer will be getting a free carrying
case with their laptops as for a holiday gift,
so please enjoy the offers.

We thank you for your interest in our products,and hope we will have alot of
positive business in near future!

Will be waiting for any of your questions and comments,

With best regards and wishes,


Vitaly V Reinberg

Premier Manager, Sales Department

MAC DEALS EXPORTING 2003

http://macdealsgroup.cjb.net/
Then, there are some pictures with the eBay-Picture Logo in one corner (see attachment).
Also look at that link,
http://macdealsgroup.cjb.net/ .
So what is your opinion? Would WesternUnion be a safe way to pay?
No, I'm not completely crazy and I don't really want to send them my precious money, but is there a tiny possibility that this could be true?
 
Why do people (me included) always forget to attach files? :D
 

Attachments

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    pb 2.jpg
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Very important rule here folks, if it looks too good to be true, then it almost certainly is too good to be true, don't touch it with a very long barge pole.
 
Wow, this is awesome! Even better than those Nigerian scams!

EDIT: On second thought, have them give you the serial numbers for the machines you would supposedly be getting. If they are units reported as stolen, I can help catch them. Here's how you can wrangle the serial numbers from them:

You are supposedly getting five unopened new boxes from them. The serial numbers are located on a white label on the side of the box. They cannot say that they don't know the serial numbers unless it isn't legitimate product.

Tell them that you cannot buy them without knowing the serial numbers because you have to be assured the product is brand new. And if they don't give you the serial numbers, oh well.

It'll be cool if you can get them, though. :)
 
All out of country Western Union deals are scams - I spoke with WU about this and they said it's a scam b/c alothough the seller tells you "wire th emoney but keep the 'security number' - wait till you ge tthe machine and check it out and then call me withthe number".

WU Told me forieign WU offcies do not need the numbner - they will release funds w/o.
Basically, you are NOT going to get a NIB Mac for 30% or more off.
AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.
Unless it falls off a truck (then email me...) - just kiddeing
 
You should forward that website, email, etc. to the FBI because some poor sod is going to take them up on the offer and lose a lot of money.
 
Well, like I said, I was not going to give them my money... but I'll try to get some more info... if I get any, I'll let you know :)
 
One more thing: Can a PB with 1GB of RAM even be factory sealed? I mean, when you BTO, are the packages sealed?
 
I notice you're in Germany. Was the email sent to you in English or did you translate it for us??

In either case, it's a good attempt at translation but falls far short of proper English.

My advice, send your money to sethypoo


At least Seth promises to buy a Powerbook. Not likely he'll send it to you, but heck, it's for a good cause.

m
 
Originally posted by winwintoo
I notice you're in Germany. Was the email sent to you in English or did you translate it for us??

In either case, it's a good attempt at translation but falls far short of proper English.

My advice, send your money to sethypoo


At least Seth promises to buy a Powerbook. Not likely he'll send it to you, but heck, it's for a good cause.

m
I'm saving my money to get my own PowerBook (legally in germany) :)
No, it's not my lousy English, it was sent that way to me.
 
yup scam, i just hope that no one reads the first post and goes "holy crap" i'm gonna contact that person and get this deal"
 
Originally posted by Calliander
Wow, this is awesome! Even better than those Nigerian scams!
Tell them that you cannot buy them without knowing the serial numbers because you have to be assured the product is brand new. And if they don't give you the serial numbers, oh well.

It'll be cool if you can get them, though. :)

Dude, don't waste your dough! Even if they give you serial numbers I would not touch it...ever! Western Union? Why can't this big compnay do credit cards? I know why...if you do credit cards the credit card company can not pay them if you don't receive the product and they fight for your money...Western Union will say...sorry Charlie.

But if you feel like donating money to Ukraine then go ahead...just don't expect more than a fax if you even get that.

By the way...you are saying they can sell it this cheap despite having to ship it half was across the world...twice...not to mention the cost it must take to send a fax that long of distance, etc.

In addition: the offer reads

"so the reason for this sale is to gain
a name of a stable,affordable and leading trading company."

Well if this is true, then how on earth are they going to gain a great name by selling 7 powerbooks world wide. I am sorry, but this is a joke...they are gaining credibility with potential partners by selling a handful of powerbooks. Even Best buy sold more Apple's with their crappy sales staff.

By the way, I have a three story house for sale...only $1,000...send me the money through WU and I will send you a fax of the deed.

:D
 
Originally posted by flyfish29
Dude, don't waste your dough!
...
But if you feel like donating money to Ukraine then go ahead...just don't expect more than a fax if you even get that.
...
By the way, I have a three story house for sale...only $1,000...send me the money through WU and I will send you a fax of the deed.
:rolleyes: Alright people, one more time: We know it is a scam. We will not pay any money. You don't have to say how stupid this is; we know. But some people might not see it... so why don't we catch those thieves, if possible? And why not ask them for the Serial Numbers? No harm will be done, at least not for us.
 
I also received this email and thought it to be too good to be true. I sent them an email stating that "How can I verify the authenticity of your company and this deal to assure that I am not being ripped off. It seems too cheap to be true!
this was their reply

Thank for your interest in our products on this sale. I do understand your
worries ,so please let me describe, why this pricing is so low.
Computers are absolutely legitimate, and they were originaly purchased
trough an Apple authorized resseling party with a truly great volume order
of
200-300 pieces of this G5 Bundles and much of other systems as PowerBook's.
They were purchased by the CybernINC which is one of our subsiders and were
all ranged for the whole current Ukrainian market range.
After they almost all have been spread over the stores there was litle
amount of bundles left which was holded for this sale, as a CyberNIC and
EXIM Connection are doing their best , to promote our new birthed company
called Mac Deals Exporting and Importing. This means that the price you pay
for the whole bundle ( $2750 with display and warranty ) is the wholesale
price our subsiders where originaly purchased for , and it is applies only
once to this single sale, as this is a part of a great promotion campaign.

To place an item on hold and initiate an order process please send me your
complete name ,ship to adress and contacts for day and evening time.

With kindest regards ,

Vitaly V Reinberg


Well, as much as I'd love one at that price, he didn't really answer my question.

I'd say SCAM!
 
i think it's a rule of thumb that 99.99999% of the times someone goes and seeks YOU out, they're most likely trying to make you their next victim.
 
Go Ukraine!


Those diRRRty capitalists deseRRRve seRRRious punishment! :) :) :)

Did you know that prices in countries other than US are 20+ percent higher?
 
I got it too

I have sent several emails to this person in the Ukraine, I have looked into it and have informed my lawyer of this. While I realize this is PROBABLY (99.999999%) a scam, I want to do some more research (which is how I found this forum). I was wondering if any of you, before accusing this person, have actually been scammed by him. Yes, I'm looking for more than just speculation. My lawyer, I'm sure, will help me. I will inform you of the results.

Thank you,

k_1701
 
Originally posted by TheT
One more thing: Can a PB with 1GB of RAM even be factory sealed? I mean, when you BTO, are the packages sealed?
YES, when the factory is a fraud mill.
attachment.php

Of course sending him some money will immediately flush out this guy, if it's a scam.
attachment.php
 
So what now

Well, say its a scam. What can I, or my lawyer, do about it. Contact Apple? Contact the authorities? What?

I did fax the copies of the emails to my lawyer, so I''ll keep everyone posted.

Thanks,

k_1701
 
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