Scam attempt when selling on Hififorsale.com free advert facility.

Posted by: Wiltshireman on 23 November 2005

I thought I should tell of a scammer using Hififorsale.coms free ad site. I recently advertised and had a reply from Norway. I replied stating that he was not the first to show interest and that if the first chap pulled out then I would contact him. This didnt stop him from trying it on though and I recieved this today. It's the usual scam but for a change not on ebay. This is the email I recieved.

Hello,
Thanks for your mail,and i will allso want you to know that am verry much intrested in buying,and i will allso want you to know that my method of payment is by Secure Cheque,and i will allso want you to know that my international shipping company will be comeing for the pickup of the item and i will want you to know that ,As soon as payment has cleared to yourself. Concerning payment, I would contact my assocaite in U.K that is oweing me £1,000 for the goods he bought from my company ,To make out the secure cheque to you .Please as soon as you have the cheque, I want you to cash it as soon as possible,So that shipment can commence immediately the funds have cleared to yourself.I will like you to send the difference of the Funds,i.e(The excess meant for shipping expeneses that will be included in the Cheque) to the chief accountant in U.K. So that he can offset all shipping costs for the shipment of the vehicle, and keep the rest in the companys account . In order for payment to be effected without any further delay,I will need your,
FULL NAME .................................
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS............
YOUR PHONE NUMBER.............

I have reported this to Hifo for sale so BEWARE of this chap. He claims to live in Oslo and his name is apparently Podber.

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by Wiltshireman

HI all, Can you believe it but the other chap who showed interest is on the same scam as podber. This chaps name is (again apparently) one Robert Scott. This is his letter

Hi ,
Thanks for your mail, the price is fairly okay by me i will instruct my Secretary to issued the check to you but she will include shipping fees and as soon as you received the check you are to deduct your selling price and the remaining funds would be send via westernunion to my shipping company who will later come for the pickup of all my goods alongside that i am buying from you.

I will like you to get back to me with the Name that will be on th e check alongside your contact address so that payment can be made to you as soon as
possible.

Details needed below for the addression on the check:

Name to be on check :
Address where check will be received by you:
Phone Number's such as Mobile,Land Line and Office
Number.

For me to instruct my Secetary to issue the cheque in your name asap.
Thanks for your understanding in anticipation and hope to read from you asap today.
Regards....
; Robert..

I think I will have to abandon my sale for the time being.

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by Jezzer

Hmm. Always get messages like this when selling on eBay or HiFiForSale...

If the scammers were able to exhibit proper grammar then they wouldn't be so obvious!

Ignore these fools.

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by Stephen Tate

Good move wiltshireman. ( abandon sale sounds like the thing to do)

regards,

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by NaimThatTune

Hi Folks,

I too had something similar recently when selling my 2nd system via HiFiForSale.com. A buyer was very interested in my CD 3.5 and Flatcap (now successfully sold to a serious buyer). However he wanted to send me a cheque straight away, once I'd sent them detailed pictures and serial numbers.

Not wanting to put off a possibly (but not probably) serious buyer I let him know he wasn't the first in line and suggested that should the person in front of them drop out, he should come around and have a listen then we do the deal for cash. All of a sudden he was interested in my ES14s instead, wanted pics and serial no.s etc but was 'on a project in France' when I stressed the importance of a demo.

Still - I didn't back out of selling, but the serious buyers were quite obvious by their willingness to be available to listen and the high standard of grammar we've come to expect from erudite Naim customers.

Happy selling!

Rich.

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by paul_g

quote:
Originally posted by NaimThatTune:
... and the high standard of grammar we've come to expect from erudite Naim customers.

I assume that you accidentally omitted the smiley from the end of this sentence ?

The posters on this thread excepted of course .....

Paul

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by NaimThatTune

paul,

er, wha? you talkin' to me?

Indeed - smiley was omitted to see if anyone noticed!

You've won a free advert on HiFiForSale..

Best Retards,

Rich.

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by paul_g

Fanks a millyon - yor two generus Rich.

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by garyi

I think perhaps you should take his money then cash it immediately.

Just don't send the goods or send money to the UK client.

hehe.

Posted on: 23 November 2005 by nap-ster

I had a piece for sale there. The buyer sent a cheque from Southampton City Council for £20000 for a £200 unit. I passed the cheque on to Southampton City Council which passed it on to the police.

the email address was traceymoore005@yahoo.com

The wonders of the internet

Posted on: 24 November 2005 by Shayman

Why can't you, as a seller, cash the cheque, cause a short delay whilst keeping in friendly e-mail contact, tell them the item has been dispatched and then disappear when its too late for them to recover their cash?

These people are obviously so greedy I'm sure they'd go along with you if they didn't suspect you were on to their scam.

Jonathan

Posted on: 24 November 2005 by NaimThatTune

Hi Shayman,

Apparently there are ways in which a cheque can 'bounce' even after its cleared.

I don't understand it either - I always thought that when a cheque cleared the money was yours -(you're in the clear, the money clearly belongs to you etc.)

Of course there's always the chance that the buyer really was genuine - in which case you've become the bad guy and will rot in jail/burn in hell/be forced to listen to Britney...

Its just tricky, whichever way you look at it.

Cheers!

Rich.

Posted on: 25 November 2005 by Martin Payne

quote:
Originally posted by NaimThatTune:
Apparently there are ways in which a cheque can 'bounce' even after its cleared.

Yup, even six or more months later!

cheers, Martin

cheers, Martin

Posted on: 25 November 2005 by JamH

I read somewhere that with forged cheques -- bank drafts -- it can take months to recognise them but eventually they take the money back out of your account.

If you got credit of £20k for a £200 unit and sent back £19,800 to buyer you then owe the back nearly £20k.

Same thing happens with forged money -- years ago I lodged some US$100 notes in the bank [left over from a holiday] and they told me 'we will check them before we lodge them to your account and if they are forged it is your problem'. [They were real -- I had bought them from the same bank and they were left over].

Than bank always wins !!

ends===