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Scam
Alert!
Please
be aware of a scam has been become widespread in targeting
sellers advertising pets, livestock,
automobiles, and other items. Often this involves
buyers from Nigeria, Africa, and recently,
even Holland.
Usually
these offenders send email offers to purchase your animals
or other items at a price much higher than you had
asked, then mail you a worthless Money Order
or Cashier's Check for an even larger amount and ask you
to refund part of the overpayment to another person they
owe money to for some other transaction or service .
continued ...
Sometimes this person is said to be a Secretary, or is
represented as the person who will provide transportation for
the animal purchased. Of course, the funds they
have sent you are not good, and they are hoping
you send them good money which they will cash before you
realize you have been defrauded. Your bank will
withdraw the amount of the bad check or money order from
your bank account when it is returned to them unpaid ... which
it will ... even if they previously gave you credit for the
amount. So, you will have lost the animal or
merchandise you sold, plus losing whatever amount you
sent their representative!!
Two
people have reported to me that they actually received these
bad money orders from ads they ran on our site ... so we know
these scammers have found their way to Wamego.
Fortunately, these sellers suspected something was
quite wrong, and waited until the bank found out
if the payment was good. Naturally, it was not good,
but it gave the crooks time to disappear, change their
names, email address and other phony contact
information, and go on their merry way. It is very
difficult to catch these people.
These
scammers apparently send out thousands of these solicitations
in order to catch someone unaware of the attempted
fraud. Often the letters are written in broken
English, contain misspelled words and are not
appropriate for the ad they are responding to. They
always offer far more for the purchase than your stated
price. I recently received a $1,000.00 offer to purchase
a free kitten I had listed on this site. I replied that
I wanted a million dollars and would share the details of
this generous offer with the State Attorney
General. He didn't bother to send the money.
Your
best protection is to use common sense ... if it sounds too
good to be true, it probably is. NEVER refund an
amount from a payment made in this manner for any
reason! You have no protection. Don't provide
any bank information until you have complete confidence in the
buyer. Be suspicious of offers of more money than you
asked for, especially when the "buyer" has not
asked enough questions regarding the animal to warrant such an
offer. Get everything in writing, including all
contact information and details of your agreement. Don't
be pressured into a quick sale and delivery of the
animal.
If
you suspect that you have been approached by a person using
these tactics, you can report the incident to:
US Federal Trade Commission Consumer Complaint Form: https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
In Canada: contact the Royal Canadian Mounted Police: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams/scams.htm
Typical
Email Solicitations
Good Day,
I deal with horse as I was just searching by for a used horse.I saw your sale and I am very much interested in it so I will like to know the cost of the horse so as to start the transaction immediately I will also like to know the present condition of the horse and mind you I will be paying by a certified cashier check payable to usa bank. As per the shipping I have a reputable shipper in usa who will come for the pick-up after this transaction. Thank you for your understanding. Your urgent respond is higly
needed.ASAP. because i want to sell them
lee.
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>
From: "Kojana Smith" <kojana_smith@uymail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 8:42 PM
hello,
i'm Kojana.i am on business affiliate in Africa at present.i'll
like to purchase a dog/puppies with humble & respect from your site.i need
your Chihuahua puppies,for my wife as a present for her
35th birthday in the united states next month.i will like you to provide me
the price in which you would like to sell it last.We are paying you
by cashier cheque.so,if you are ready to transact with us,you can kindly
send down the following information:
(1)your full name(as it will appear on the cheque)
(2)your postal address.
(3)your postal code.
(4)your phone number.
(5)your fax number.
i'll like you to send the pics of the products to me.
i'm looking forward to hearing from you soonest.
Thanks...
Kojana.
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