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Old 03-01-2019, 10:17 AM   #1
rosenkranswa
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Default Scammer warning

I'm selling a '28 Phaeton on both of the national club classifieds. I've been approached by an individual named Richard Garcia who claimed to want to buy the vehicle, sight unseen for full price. On follow-up he wanted the shipping cost added to the purchase price. It sounded a little hincky so we Googled the name and email address and discovered he is a known scammer on both collectible car and sailboat sites using some variant of this game. I've now had an identical approach, and I mean word for word, from a different name, John Smith. Scammers are bad enough, but scammers that think we're stupid are beyond the pale.

Sellers - beware!
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Old 03-01-2019, 10:54 AM   #2
Ruth
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Default Re: Scammer warning

Thanks for the reminder to always be cautious. The old adage, never release your car until the bank clears the check.
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Old 03-01-2019, 11:18 AM   #3
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I don't get it. If this guy has a history of playing this game why has he not been prosecuted and why is he not in jail. Why do we have to accept bad behavior with impunity???
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Old 03-01-2019, 12:18 PM   #4
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I don't get it. If this guy has a history of playing this game why has he not been prosecuted and why is he not in jail. Why do we have to accept bad behavior with impunity???



because the cops cant possibly keep up with all of these guys.
if the guy is in Africa, who has jurisdiction? Africa has enough problems of its own, let alone follow up with email scammers..........


It costs BIG money to prosecute.
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Old 03-01-2019, 12:57 PM   #5
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Hey ronn, I get it, no one is going to chase someone in Africa or any other foreign country for that matter. But if this guy is a domestic there is no excuse for him not being arrested and prosecuted. Why do we pay HIGH taxes for law enforcement? If the cops can't keep up with it then hire more cops. Ignoring it just makes it proliferate.......
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Old 03-01-2019, 05:06 PM   #6
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thumbs up Leo!
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Old 03-01-2019, 07:11 PM   #7
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John Smith? Not a very original name.
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Old 03-01-2019, 07:47 PM   #8
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how is the guy going to make money on a scam if he is paying you the money?
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Old 03-01-2019, 09:06 PM   #9
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Default Re: Scammer warning

Had the same story to me couple years back . Asking price add shipping and then send some BS PayPal think to pay by. It wasn't PayPal ..
Had another guy that only text because he couldn't talk . I hate selling stuff .. Like to buy not sell because of the BS .
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Old 03-01-2019, 09:21 PM   #10
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Default Re: Scammer warning

I'm a police officer and deceptive practices are the worst crimes to investigate. Just yesterday my department took a report of $2500 in Google play and iTunes cards being transferred via telephone. I've had cell phones bought and shipped off to other shipping agents and become untraceable. To say just because they are domestic doesn't make it to where they can't be found. These people are good at what they do and route things all over the place.

Please be cautious and aware of possible scams. Look for key words like agent, shipping agents, misspelled words, people writing like they talk (broken English), common stories of being in the military over seas, or purchasing something over the asking price and asking to send money back.

Think of what you are selling and where they are located and why they need MY item. I live 2 he's south of Chicago and if I place a 32" tv online there is no reason I should have to ship that item. They are a dime a dozen, it isn't like a specialty item that only comes up for collectors.

If you get phone calls claiming to be from the irs or other gov agency, check the time and day of these calls. No gov agency besides the men in blue are open at all hours of the day, weekends, holidays. No gov agency takes gift cards.

Computer scams where they contact you from Microsoft or apple are big scams that lock up your comp. Turn it off, disable the wifi and take to a tech. Do not call the number provided on the screen.

Emails from PayPal, Google, apple, shouldn't need you to reset passwords from emails without you initiating it. Don't use the links in the emails. Go to the sites themselves and contact the company if you have any questions.

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Old 03-01-2019, 09:54 PM   #11
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Default Re: Scammer warning

Quote:
Originally Posted by kimlinh View Post
how is the guy going to make money on a scam if he is paying you the money?
He adds to shipping charges to the cost of the car and pays you with a bogus certified or bogus bank check. His shipping agent contacts you to collect the shipping cost of the car prior to picking it up. You send it to him. You never hear from either again. You're out the money since the check was bogus.

There are as many bogus cashiers checks out there as there are bogus personal checks. Make sure funds clear before doing anything.
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Old 03-01-2019, 10:04 PM   #12
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Kimlinh, The way this works is the scammer sends you a bogus check ( no good) you deposit and he has a shipper pickup your car or what ever you are selling. You have paid the shipper with the extra money he has sent you and off he goes. Then your bank notifies you that the check he sent you is no good . So the scammer gets the car and shipping for free and you get screwed. I get this all the time when i advertise something for sals
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Old 03-01-2019, 11:12 PM   #13
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Default Re: Scammer warning

I got a call from a chap with an ozzy accent about a car I was selling. Much the same, pay full price plus the shipping fee and some bonus if it could go fast. I hung up and the next day I got a call again. sounded like the same person and he asked my price. I said that if he had seen my ad he knew the price and slammed the phone down. Well the next day he called back and said he saw my asking price and could I tell him my bottom dollar price. We chatted a bit and he gave me his name and address and sent me an email. He now owns Vermin down there in Australia, rude as I was. Second caller was not the scammer.
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Old 03-02-2019, 12:08 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by daveymc29 View Post
I got a call from a chap with an ozzy accent about a car I was selling. Much the same, pay full price plus the shipping fee and some bonus if it could go fast. I hung up and the next day I got a call again. sounded like the same person and he asked my price. I said that if he had seen my ad he knew the price and slammed the phone down. Well the next day he called back and said he saw my asking price and could I tell him my bottom dollar price. We chatted a bit and he gave me his name and address and sent me an email. He now owns Vermin down there in Australia, rude as I was. Second caller was not the scammer.
Would that be the guy you asked me about? Too much of a coincidence for it not to be, I reckon.
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Old 03-02-2019, 12:23 AM   #15
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nothing leaves my property until I have the cash. If the buyer sends a bank or any other check I call them when they can pick up the item, usually 2-3 weeks or more and only when my bank tells me they have the funds, no exceptions. I do not take paypal as payment. When prospective buyers come for a test ride , I go with them again no exceptions, if it is a two seater the buyer can ride or drive, I am in the other seat. Cash is king, I have had people come with briefcases full of it to buy classic Mustang fastbacks which I use to restore. Over the last 50 years I've sold about 100 vehicles all this way. I pretty much demand a face to face, and once you look and decide it is what you want, it is yours with no guarantee mentioned or implied, and clearly stated in the bill of sale.
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Old 03-02-2019, 09:21 AM   #16
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Hey rrich1, thanks for the work you do. I should have known that with today's cell phone environment it gets very difficult to track these bastards down. Maybe another aspect of this would be when you do catch one "THROW THE BOOK AT THEM" and let it be known so that the others in that line of "work" will know no slaps on the wrist if they are caught. I may be foolishly nostalgic but it seems there are a lot more crooks around today than there were in my youth......
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Old 03-02-2019, 09:29 AM   #17
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I HAD THE PROBLEM THAT rrich1 MENTIONED. MY COMPUTER STOPPED WHEN I WAS USING IT AND A SIGN ON THE SCREEN SAID TO CALL A PROVIDED NUMBER TO GET IT FIXED. THE TECH WALKED ME THROUGH A SERIES OF STEPS TO FIX IT AND WANTED 650 DOLLARS VIA MY CREDIT CARD. MY SON-IN-LAW CAME IN ABOUT THEN AND UNPLUGGED MY COMPUTER. UPON PLUGGING IT BACK IN, IT HAS WORKED FINE EVER SINCE. JACK
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Old 03-02-2019, 10:26 AM   #18
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Default Re: Scammer warning

I take people at face value.

Never had any problems but I have dealt almost entirely with country and rural folk. No problems until recently. I did get caught by scammers and in both cases off shore scammers. The second I’ll write about in the near future.
I contacted an email address with Microsoft included in their name. When it became obvious this was a scam I didn’t proceed. They became very angry when I refused to purchase their product.
I then got a letter from a collection agency demanding the full amount. Conversation and commonsense couldn’t overcome their demands. I contacted our government advisory agency which deals with scam fraud, reported them and advised them, that pesky agency. Boy did they back peddle and agreed if I was to withdraw the complaint they would conclude their demands. I agreed and I never ever heard of them again. I did endeavour to keep my part of the agreement but was never able to withdraw. I did try, I am sincere.
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Last edited by woofa.express; 03-02-2019 at 11:30 AM.
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Old 03-02-2019, 10:43 AM   #19
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Scam callers.

We continually receive calls from the tax department advising we owe money. This is easy to deal with as I say "that is not a problem, just post us a bill".
The most common is calls, sometimes recorded messages, advising we have a bug on our internet. I endeavour to keep them talking as long as possible then when conversation is exhausted comment there must be some sort of mistake. They ask why and I respond “I don’t have internet”. Sometimes they simply hang up and sometimes they become angry.
My favourite is not a scam but a rejection of a fair sales pitch at the likes of a shopping mall, and I visit these places so infrequently. There is an upmarket and fancy car being offered by raffle. The sales representative will ask if I’d like this BMW (or simular) parked in my drive. I give it a thorough look over carefully scrutinising all details and declare “not particularly”. Usually they are lost for words as they have never heard that responce before. I enjoy doing that.
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Old 03-02-2019, 11:10 AM   #20
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And some people wonder why I generally request payment via USPS money order. I have been targeted 3 times with similar scams (never lost a dime or part). The first time it smelled like a rotten fish but played along until I received the payment, so I contacted the company the the bank draft was drawn on and they told me it was a fake and they changed account numbers. Next I contacted the the States Attorney and was told this was a typical SCAM with lot of this going around and since the originating address was not in our state there was nothing they could do. So I contacted the FBI, had a very insightful discussion with the agent, the bottom line the agent said do not have any further contact with them at all. The one plus was the SCAMMER was out about $25 for the cost of the over night FedEx envelop.
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