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Possible internet scam?

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Hello, I have my iMac listed on Craigslist. I have been getting emails from some guy in Africa about it. He says I'll not have to ship it to him, I ship it to somebody here in the states who will take care of that part. He sent me an email this morning saying he'll buy it but wants my name, address and zipcode. All this has my B.S.-o-meter pegged but I could use the cash, has anybody else ever heard of this?
 

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Hello, I have my iMac listed on Craigslist. I have been getting emails from some guy in Africa about it. He says I'll not have to ship it to him, I ship it to somebody here in the states who will take care of that part. He sent me an email this morning saying he'll buy it but wants my name, address and zipcode. All this has my B.S.-o-meter pegged but I could use the cash, has anybody else ever heard of this?

It's undoubtedly a scam. Tell him to send you a money order and then you will send him the merchandise. No other methods of payment will be accepted. If you don't hear back from him, or if he starts to argue, you know it's a scam.
 
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I asked him for his "shippers" contact info. I tried to dissect his email but its a yahoo address so he could be anywhere.
 

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I asked him for his "shippers" contact info. I tried to dissect his email but its a yahoo address so he could be anywhere.

I would just make it completely clear that you will need to have cash in hand before the merchandise leaves your possession. Once that happens, I wouldn't care where he wants it shipped to - as long as you have some sort of delivery confirmation.

Just be sure you use a solid medium for the transfer of funds. Money order is best - but PayPal offers a certain degree of protection too.
 
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Oh yeah, nothing is leaving here without the $$$. I read somewhere that people are spoofing money orders now, do you know anything about that? How long does it take for a money order to clear the bank? I figured if I barraged him with questions he will go away if he's not legit.
 

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Oh yeah, nothing is leaving here without the $$$. I read somewhere that people are spoofing money orders now, do you know anything about that? How long does it take for a money order to clear the bank? I figured if I barraged him with questions he will go away if he's not legit.

I've never heard of a money order being spoofed, I thought they were as good as cash. I would just check with your bank to be sure, and if you're really paranoid, just cash it.
 
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it is more than likely a scam, plus shipping to africa is going to be insanely high. tell him youwill only ship to the us
-chris
 
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he claims to have somebody here that I will ship to and they will ship to him. I am waiting for the details of that situation.
 
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HAve fun with him. Tell him you sister just moved into his neighborhood and is lonely. Go look up ugly people pictures on yahoo and send it too him, telling him if he will take her out on a blind date, then you will sell it to him for half price because you're desperate to hook her up with some one that seems as caring and honest as the person interested in your note book. Oh...and get him to take a picture of himself holding up a sign that says "I'm a fruit" or something else you can laugh at...
 
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I've never heard of a money order being spoofed, I thought they were as good as cash. I would just check with your bank to be sure, and if you're really paranoid, just cash it.

Money orders can be fraudulent. It's the same idea as a check. You cash it, the bank doesn't know whether or not it's real for several days and then you get reemed with the fact that you just got scammed.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/consumeractionguide/P122096.asp

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/consumer/articles/fakeMONEYorderSCRIPT02152007-CR.html

http://www.local6.com/money/9299273/detail.html?rss=orlpn&psp=money

Just search "Fake money orders" on yahoo.

If you don't take my advice of screwing with the guy, then just walk away.
 
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Don't give him your address.

HAve fun with him. Tell him you sister just moved into his neighborhood and is lonely. Go look up ugly people pictures on yahoo and send it too him, telling him if he will take her out on a blind date, then you will sell it to him for half price because you're desperate to hook her up with some one that seems as caring and honest as the person interested in your note book. Oh...and get him to take a picture of himself holding up a sign that says "I'm a fruit" or something else you can laugh at...

Do do this though - it'll be funny. Tell him your name is Ikiss Monkeys. Try and get him in front of a webcam somewhere, so you can laugh and point at him.
 
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Hello, I have my iMac listed on Craigslist. I have been getting emails from some guy in Africa about it. He says I'll not have to ship it to him, I ship it to somebody here in the states who will take care of that part. He sent me an email this morning saying he'll buy it but wants my name, address and zipcode. All this has my B.S.-o-meter pegged but I could use the cash, has anybody else ever heard of this?

Fun and bs aside, if you were in his place wouldn't you kind of like the return address of the person you were sending cash to on a purchase... Not unheard of i would say. Just be sure you have an understanding with him that the machine will not be shipped until payment has cleared the bank. May take a few days to clear, but that's life.

The fact you only have to ship in country is good, overseas shipping would kill you on charges. It's bad enough coast to coast. And be sure you insure the package. Doesn't cost all that much to insure and it is well worth it in case something gets broke which happens often. Be sure you ship it where they have to sign for it...
 
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It's a scam. Everytime I post something on Craigslist I always get a similar e-mail.
 
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The fact is it's simply not worth your time trying to figure out if it's a scam or not. The chances of it not being a scam are so slim you may as well wait and find a buyer who will collect with cash.

Also, PayPal don't protect you from anything. They won't even help you with ebay purchases unless both parties are registered and confirmed!
 
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Fun and bs aside, if you were in his place wouldn't you kind of like the return address of the person you were sending cash to on a purchase... Not unheard of i would say. Just be sure you have an understanding with him that the machine will not be shipped until payment has cleared the bank. May take a few days to clear, but that's life.

When it comes to selling something to a guy in Africa, I'd much rather forget it and lose a potential sale than give them my details. As someone who recently had his PayPal account hacked by someone in Iran I might be paranoid, but better safe than sorry.

Edit: And No, PayPal don't protect you from jack. When I was stung it took them over a week to decide that 6 fraudulent payments to random sites within five minutes of each other from an IP address in Iran weren't carried out by me, siting here in the UK. A 30-second check of IP addresses would have settled it, but that's obviously too much hard work for PayPal.
 
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This is TOTALLY a scam. They did a segment on this sort of thing in Dateline a few months back.
 
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When it comes to selling something to a guy in Africa, I'd much rather forget it and lose a potential sale than give them my details. As someone who recently had his PayPal account hacked by someone in Iran I might be paranoid, but better safe than sorry.

Edit: And No, PayPal don't protect you from jack. When I was stung it took them over a week to decide that 6 fraudulent payments to random sites within five minutes of each other from an IP address in Iran weren't carried out by me, siting here in the UK. A 30-second check of IP addresses would have settled it, but that's obviously too much hard work for PayPal.

I got screwed by them. I called in when a buyer sent money and right after I shipped it, claimed non receipt of item.

I called in after I found out and they said that the money would be put back into my account and they would remove the complaint since I provided them with a tracking number that proved the item was delivered.

I got a credit card statement a month later with $200 going to paypal. I called back in and they said that they had no record of the previous transaction and that there was nothing to do since the dispute was closed.

Thank god for credit card companies that stick up for their customers. The CC company removed the charge and did what ever they do for fraudulent charges...
 
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Yeah, I don't trust Paypal either. I had an issue with someone over an Ebay transaction and they just kept pushing the issue into "negotiations" with the other person who never responded and it was obviously hopeless.

Also, it seems that Paypal is completely controlled by computers and everything is automatic, because they can never do anything to adjust or cancel a transaction. I know that's complete bull because I've worked in several business where even after a transaction is started, a cancellation or adjustment is as easy as a 2 minute phone call or on a computer. I think they just have people to answer phones and say "no".

That's why all my transactions are done with my AmEx. They never let me down when I have a problem with a merchant.
 
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I got a credit card statement a month later with $200 going to paypal. I called back in and they said that they had no record of the previous transaction and that there was nothing to do since the dispute was closed.

I've had that in the past - "dispute closed, unlucky." In one case, it was too soon for PayPal to investigate, and too late for eBay. Neither of them ever bothered.
 

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Interesting. I've had the exact opposite experience with Paypal. I once had a seller who never shipped product. They promptly refunded after a few business days.

Just recently, I had a seller that I paid immediately set his eBay store on "away" after the transaction had been processed. He claimed to not be returning until 11/07 (this was in 5/07). Paypal promptly refunded the charge.

That's not to say that I have absolute faith in them, but I have yet to have an issue thus far.
 

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