This may get booted off here, but I come here with questions because I think this forum probably has the most down to earth collective wisdom than about anywhere in the world! Scams! What is the scam that as soon as you advertise something of value, someone contacts you wanting your address to send you a certified check. It usually goes “ I have looked at your item for sale and I am OK with the price. “ bullshit! Then they ask fir your address, then phone number, and can seem knowledgeable about your item after the second or third contact. ..... What is their end game? Anyone? I hope this stays up as we all need to know how to recognize and understand scams! Thanks in advance , Bones
We have to sort them out. As soon as they talk like "I will send you the money" without much other conversation is a red flag. If it smells like a skunk, it is a skunk. Most of us would ask how you'd like to get paid and often it's pay pal. Good Luck!
Generally this is the scam: You receive an offer for the item from a "buyer"/scammer, usually by email. The “buyer”/scammer will send you a cheque or money order for the item, but for an amount much larger than the asking price. For example, you’re selling your item for $1,500 but the scammer sends you a cheque for $3,000 instead. Sometimes, the "buyer"/scammer may pay with a stolen credit card or with stolen online banking credentials. The scammer will claim the extra money is to cover the costs of shipping or customs fees and must be sent to a third party. You deposit the cheque or money order into your account and then send the additional funds by e-transfer or wire transfer to the specified third party account. Later, once the cheque or money order is processed, you will discover that it was fraudulent. You will not get any of the funds promised by the “buyer” and, worse, you will have handed over some of your own money to the third party account that is actually owned by the scammer. In other cases, the “buyer” might claim he or she may have sent a larger cheque by accident. However, the outcome is the same; once you send back the “extra” funds, you’ll discover the cheque was fake.
I reported a possible Scammer to Ryan a few weeks ago after the guy intercepted a posting in a thread where a guy was looking for something. The response was from a; NEW MEMBER, FIRST POST, NO LOCATION. I called him out in the post and notified the Mods who in turn notified Ryan. Two days later after implying he was not a scammer he posted his address. Still implying he was not a scammer two days after that he changed his user name. I do not know the status of the individual or the final outcome but three of the known issues were all present. Hopefully Ryan sent him packing.
If you look at the current people looking on the HAMB. It`s like 6oo members, 400 robots and 3000 non member lookers. I bet they look at the classifieds as well. I just bought a set of skirts for a decent price. Was okay with it. I also offered a guy 5 bucks more one time for a really affordable priced item. He preferred paypal. I don`t have it so I offered more. Thinking it would be easier for him to sell to someone else.
Thanks for that explanation! I was thinking maybe they were trying to get my info or possibly just building a list of names and addresses to sell. You never know these days. Many times I have sent payment larger than asked, but just a little, for curtesy. Check comes to me too large....I would be hard pressed to send any money back! But I guess it would be a lot larger. Thanks Bones
Sometimes I think we can be too paranoid. 1. Go by your terms, not theirs. 2. They have to know your address to send payment. 3. The only money order I recognize or will accept is a United States Postal Money Order. I actually think that is is a good way to go. If I'm buying with a USPMO I pay at the PO and mail it to the seller. If I'm selling, I have the items boxed. I cash the USPMO right there at the PO label it pay shipping and stuff then I'm out the door. No Bank Money Order. No Western Union bullshit. No Wal-Mart gift card bullshit. No horseshit extras like I'll send you $500 more, you mail me the 10 percent of the change to be a member of the Royal Nigerian Goat of the Month Club.
I don’t know about now, but 10 or so years ago your bank would clear funds, then a few weeks later they find out the check was fake and pulled the money back. They prey on the folks who in this day and age, still can’t see a scam. Kinda like telemarketing. Call 1000’s of people, maybe a few bite. Right? Heck, anyone with a decent printer can run off a bunch of fake checks for pennies each.
The other one is “I’ll send my shipper to pick it up, give him the overage for shipping please “. Uh, send your shipper the check, have him hand me the cash
Big difference in sticking a few bucks that will cover a roll of packaging tape, some bubble wrap and the gas to hunt a box to fit an odd shape item than asking to have some serious money forwarded to a third party. Still any inquire on something for sale that doesn't include asking the cost of shipping to ______ and how one wants to be paid should raise a red flag outside of the things that are advertised to be picked up in person only.
maybe I am paranoid, but giving out my address, and after a few emails back and forth to arrange a pickup time, - you start to give away details of when you are and aren’t going to be home. Maybe they will clean your house out ................
I have't been burned here, yet, but I have elsewhere. I hate the lurkers and looky loos who contact me wanting something I have I've talked about, like one of my Hurst Auto Stick 1 Shifters. I ultimately did sell one of them to a guy with just a few posts, but after all the running around, to get shipping quotes, just so they can pick who they want, is too much. I think I'm done selling or answering "just asking if you'd sell" for a while. I see something I want, I buy it, leave it up to the seller how they'll ship, and I'll pay with PayPal, up front. Some guys don't like PayPal however. I refer to all the thieves as, gypsy's, tramps, and thieves. If it looks too good, or sounds too good, it is too good. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
You got to come to my place, gotta have cash, and you gotta get it out of here. There is no other way.
BTW, it's sometime just phishing for info. If they can't get you to fall for the money scam then they have more info (your name, phone, address, email.....) to look more real so the next person might fall for it.
Oh no, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOO !!!! Please don't tell me this is not real.............. They told me I was their finest member... Seriously though, if they are reluctant to do business the old fashioned way, NO DEAL.
Yeah, there are a lot of scams out there and new angles coming up everyday! Luckily I have been able to spot a scammer before problems, but lately they have upped their game. I was just trying to understand what this one is and what they are after , because I have stopped communicating with them before the second email. I had one guy that was really good about a year back. He talked about the merits of the vehicle I was selling, pros and cons, lengthy emails and all. Almost had me suckered, until my wife predicted his next correspondence to the letter! Glad I have her on my side! Be careful out there guys. Bones
This is the way I like doing business also. Faceto face, cash on the barrelhead. The purchaser side of the deal gets to see the items for sale, and the seller gets to see the cash. Then let the bargaining begin... At that point I like a good haggle!
The biggest scam out there is the "Bait and Switch" My husband is always buying me Perfumes and Jewelry gifts online.............And these scammers always manage to switch them for Race Car parts or Tools.
Not a HAMB related scam, but I just strung along some curry-slurping asshole for 15 minutes while he tried to convince me that someone in Canada had used my Amazon account to buy an iPhone. If I'm not busy doing something, I will typically waste as much of their time as possible and then when I tire of the entertainment will tell them that is exactly what I am doing, wasting their time so they can't bother someone else stealing their identity, or make their quota of ill-gotten cash. The Amazon scam they use is to have you type in a web address and connect to a "remote access" application so they can steal info from your PC. Please do the same when those assholes call you. String them along as much as possible, and just when they think they have a sucker, BURN 'EM!!
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