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Is this fishy?

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I had a PDA posted on craigslist, but the replies I've gotten from the person seem fishy. Attached is all of our correspondence, as well as a supposed email from USPS about a money order transfer (this doesn't look official to me, especially since there is a spelling error in it. What do you think?)

http://www.homepage.mac.com/rs1sensen/Email.jpg
http://www.homepage.mac.com/rs1sensen/Emailp2.jpg
http://www.homepage.mac.com/rs1sensen/Emailp3.jpg

It also seems strange to me that the USPS would use an email from Mail.com




LAST EMAIL
Hello,
i have just gotten an approval email notification from USPS that my payment for your item has been approved so all you got to do now is to get the package ready for shipping, i will be sending you a fed-ex pre-paid shipping label which you will affix the package before its picked up from you but before that,i will like to know the lbs (weight) of the package so that i can forward the shipping label to you and also for you to copy the tracking number on the label and send it to their customercare department @ [email protected] for verification.

I will be waiting to hear from you soonest so that Fed-ex can pick it up today from you. Please ensure that its packaged properly cause i have to pay an extra fee to USPS for them to procees my payment fast.
Thanks

On 11/19/05, Ryan Sensenbrenner <[email protected]> wrote:
$150 sounds good, postal money order is fine.

Ryan Sensenbrenner
ADDRESS

Ryan


This is a copy of an email I sent to someone else in regards to the condition of the iPaq:
It is in very good condition. There is a slight wear
and couple scratches on the back.. There is a small
(approx 1/4 millimeter) scratch on the screen, but it
is also not noticeable. The casing has no wear or

scratches on the front. Theres a small (1/4-1/2mm)
scratch by the headphone jack. The iPaq 2215 had a
problem with all of them in that the side grips didn't
want to stay on. I contacted HP and they sent me

replacement grips which I installed myself (they were
easy to install), and have stayed on since. I also got
a new battery cover with the grips, so I'm pretty sure
I still have an extra of that. Hmmm...I'm trying to

tell you everything I know or can
see about it, and I
think that's it. The battery still holds a very good
charge (I don't see any difference between now and
when I bought it). All my information is cleared out
of it. It has the newest ROM update. The USB cradle

for it is in good shape and works fine. I still have
the original cd and documentation for it.

I bought this for around $400 a couple years back,
used it for a year, and then I bought a 17" Laptop,

and I never used it since then. It's been sitting in a
drawer.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com






2ND TO LAST EMAIL
Ok...thanks for your response.
i will like to buy it now and i can't meet you any where due to the programm am controlling in New Jersey,so i will like to pay you through Money Order, or US Postal Money Order, so get back to me with your full name and address of where you want the money to be deliver to and am going to pick up my goods after , so i will like to handle the shipping myself. and if the item is ok i will pay you $150 for that .

On 11/19/05, Ryan Sensenbrenner <[email protected]> wrote:
Yes it is. The current highest offer is $125, if you
can beat that, it's yours.

__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com






FIRST EMAIL
craigslist Advisory: Fraud and Scam Warning!
Please read our scam advisory page before replying to this message:
http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

This warning is automatically attached to
ALL craigslist forwarded emails


hello seller
i found your item and it look nice let me know if this item is still for sell
Mrs James
this message was remailed to you via: [email protected]
 
H

Harryc

Guest
None of that looks legit to me. Also when selling goods to a stranger, (particularly online) never deliver the item unless you have the cash in hand first. Believe me, the USPS would not misspell 'shipment'.
 
U

UncSki1218

Guest
yeah...those are about the fakest emails i'ves seen. i think usps emails would have better pictures and graphics. and i agree, the usps doesnt misspell shipment. i would notify the website about this. make sure he doesnt try to rip off anyone else.
 
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20" G5 iMac; 14.1" G4 iBook; 60Gig iPod Video
I would highly reccomend forewarding that information to the USPS Inspection Service. They can tell you if that email is authentic, and if it's not, they take USPS crimes very seriously.

http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/

-Chris
 
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Stay far away from this buyer. The emails and his activities are clearly fraudulent. Save yourself the trouble and fine a new buyer.

I also concur with bassplayrr that you should forward all of the information to the USPS.
 
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ibook G4 14in
i say trust your instinct. if for any reason you doubt the validity of the buyer/email, i'd back away.
 
OP
rs2sensen
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Yeah, this is obviously a scam, check out this new email from him, which was sent from yet another address, with another name.

Thanks for getting back to me,
Like i said earlier i am based in the Western africa
.there won't be any probs about the shipment,after payment ,the pick
up will be made at your
place. i have made arrangements with the prepaid
shipping company.
As regards payment,this is what i am going to do;I
have a client in the US
who is owing me US4,000 i would instruct him to
makeout a certified check to you in that amount and as soon as it
clears
your bank. you can now
deduct your money from it and send me my balance,i
will be using part of the money to pay for the shipping and other
expenses
.you will then send my
balance by via western union money
transfer.Although
the value of the check
is more than the asking price but i think i should
be able to trust you
with my bal! ance.
The reason why i am doing this is that it would
take a check sent from over here in Nigeria 31days to
clear over there,whereas a ch eck sent from the! US would
clear tops within 48hrs. So i would like you to
deduct the western union
charges from my balance.So if my terms are
acceptable to you,i would like you to give me your
full
name,address and phone number so that i can
instruct
my client to make out the check to you.
Pls get back to me as soon as you get this mail so
that we can round things up in a timely fashion..i
will be trusting in this business transaction. get
back to me.
Thanks in this regard
 
B

badmojo

Guest
I had a 'Canadian' buyer trying to purchase a car from me in this manner. IT IS A SCAM, believe me. Why would someone go to this much trouble to purchase something as ubiquitous as an iPaq?
 
Joined
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I would get the check and take it directly to the police station. Print out the emails you received from this person(s) and let them handle it from there.
 
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Deal with local. Craigslist is full of scammers. If it is Money Order, forget it. These guys are frauds.

have them send PAYPAL then tell them its theirs!!
:)
 
L

lil

Guest
Now I know what to with those scammers!

Pure genius, laughed my arse off at that!!

Vicky
 
P

Pizza God

Guest
Ryan-
All of your responses are totally bogus-I don't know what it is about Craigslist, but something about electronic equipment seems to shout "IDIOT" and "WILL BE EASY TO SWINDLE...."

I've flat out told them no, that I was on to them, as well as I was glad to hear from them because I needed money desperately to complete my doomsday device to enslave civilization-which was replied to with "Please send your address so my courier can contact you..."

D'oh!!!!
 
OP
rs2sensen
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Pizza God said:
Ryan-
All of your responses are totally bogus-I don't know what it is about Craigslist, but something about electronic equipment seems to shout "IDIOT" and "WILL BE EASY TO SWINDLE...."

I've flat out told them no, that I was on to them, as well as I was glad to hear from them because I needed money desperately to complete my doomsday device to enslave civilization-which was replied to with "Please send your address so my courier can contact you..."

D'oh!!!!

Yeah, I had a feeling from the start this guy was a scammer. I wish I would have had the time to play with him a bit more though, like the guy in the link in the post above did.
 

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