Having fun with a scammer

ArmenK

Golden Member
Oct 16, 2000
1,600
1
0
My roommate was selling an item on craigslist and got an interesting email:

Good day seller,
I'm enquiring about your said ITEM.Can you please let me know if it
still for sale and also i will like to know the last offering price. so
that payment can be made out to you via .U.S.A cashier check and also
make sure you get back to me with the present condition of the ITEM.hope
to hear from you now,my regards to you and your family, thanks.........

Smells fishy already. Lets keep playing. We respond giving him a price, he responds:


Thanks a lot for the mail and the price is now okay by me so this is how
we are going to seal this transaction There is an associate of mine in
the US who is owing me $7,000 i am going to instruct him to send you a
check for that amount,and when it clears your bank you can now send my
balance by WESTERNUNION.The reason why i am doing this is that a check
sent from over here in UNITED KINGDOM would take like 40 days or more to
clear whereas a check sent within the US would clear almost immediately
check.Although i know that the value of the check is more than the price
of the ITEM but i am willing to trust you with my balance So if this
offer is acceptable to you,let me have your contact information so that
i can instruct my associate to send you a check,that is your
name,address and phone number Please get back to me as soon as soon as
you get this mail so that i can know your decision.I am banking on my
balance so that i will be able to settle my shippers here in united
kingddom in there local office because it is cheaper and faster. My
regards to the family.
Regards.
THANKS..........

I love it. Time for some fun. We emailed the guy back telling him to call us so we can discuss the details. About 2 minutes later we get a phone call.

Me: Hello
Operator: Hello, this is a relay service, have you used this service before?
Me: No
Operator: The person who is calling you will type a message, I will read it to you, and then you can respond.

At this point I'm "talking" to the scammer

Me: Ok, why are we using a relay serivce?
Scammer: Im in a conference and I cant talk right now
Me: Ok can you call me back when you are free?
Scammer: Ok but isnt it better if we discuss it now
Me: No, I would rather talk to you directly
Scammer: Ok, Ill call you when I am free
Me: Alright, I look forward to your call

I cant wait to see what happens next.

Edit: I forgot the best part. After the scammer hangs up, I told the operator how it it was a scam. The operator told me that he knew and that its very common. He also said that they are not allowed to give any warnings and that they hope that people figure out the scam on their own.
 

ArmenK

Golden Member
Oct 16, 2000
1,600
1
0
Originally posted by: Dufman
Get the money, delete the e-mails, format the computer. $7000 for you.

That doesn't work. It's a common scam and the cashier's checks they send out are fraudulent.
 

LuNoTiCK

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2001
4,698
0
71
Originally posted by: ArmenK
Originally posted by: Dufman
Get the money, delete the e-mails, format the computer. $7000 for you.

That doesn't work. It's a common scam and the cashier's checks they send out are fraudulent.

Lots of fraudulent cashiers checks. My mom once sent a couple packages UPS COD, it was insured by the way. It was over $5000 dollars worth and the person she sold it to gave fake cashiers checks. It was so obvious it was fake though, the person like bought a stamp that said Cashiers Check.