is this inquiry about my TBN classified a scam?

[charlz]

I've gotten that exact message in response to craiglist ad's I've run. It's a scam.

Now, if you want to have some fun you can do something like this:

best of craigslist : Dear Mr. Scammer..I am sorry - m4w

 

[tallyho8]

I have received dozens of these identical scams when selling items on-line. From the very first email you can be sure that it is a scam. I decided to try and waste their time and money and have a little fun at the same time, so I go along with them for a while.

First, I tell them that I'm going to charge them $100 more for the trouble of wiring them the funds and they always quickly agree to this. They usually send the check UPS or FedEx Express overnight and as soon as you sign for it they have the shipping company email them, then they email you directions to hurry to your bank and cash it and go to Western Union and wire them the excess payment for the shipper. When you don't send it, the next day they send an email threatening to report you to the FBI for fraud. I keep delaying them with different reasons and finally tell them forget it, my dog ate the check.

Over the years their checks have gotten better and better and most of them are now indistinguishable from real cashiers checks. I have a collection of over $200,000 in great looking cashiers checks, certified checks and Wal Mart money orders.

The scammer usually has an accomplice who works in the shipping department of a large company who is able to send the check through UPS without it costing him anything. I have contacted the companies who UPS charged for the shipment and they usually say they have a large mail room and are unable to find out who sent the unauthorized letter that cost them about $20 in charges.

Our police department has no interest in pursuing charges as they say this is out of their jurisdiction. The scammers avoid mailing the checks because they are probably fearful of mail fraud charges through the feds.

These scammers are people working out of their homes in Romania, Nigeria and other countries with little to no expenses and if even 1 in 10,000 people are dumb enough to fall for their scam, they realize a good profit. They actually sell information in Nigeria on these "Work at Home" scams where people learn how to do this and are given contacts in the USA who will help them for a share of the profits.

Capitalism at it's finest!

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

Tallyho8, you old scambaiter, you!
Shame on you for wasting those nice peoples' time and energy trying to make a living!

Some of the advance fee fraud scambaiting stories here are the work of some real geniuses.

 

[LMTC]

A sad side effect is that we (and many businesses) now pretty much have to confirm any check coming in. When we have a customer come with a bank check/certified/cashiers/whatever....we tell them they have to come during open banking hours, and we need 15-30 minutes for our bank to confirm the check. I call the info to our bank, they call the supposed issuing bank with the details, and get a confirmation. Never used to bother with this. Even cash we have to test with the counterfeit pen.

Probably because we have a frequently visited website we get more than our share of the scam emails. I used to string some of them along, but then it quit being fun. They always want something listed on our inventory, but it never makes sense. "Sirs, I please want to buy three of your grader blades, 5'. Please to send a cost and I will arrange with my shipping agent to make shipment. I will send to you a check and when my shipping agent determines the cost for making shipment you can forward that amount to him from the check." Because of some statements on our website they often include some supposedly religious greeting.

I too win some huge amount at least weekly, or am offered to help a widow/orphan get their husband's/parents' money out of the country....all they need is my banking information.

I've had a couple that were really well done, probably American/British educated individuals from the writing, but the tipoff is that they want to make a small deposit via CC with no prior sales contact and they avoid phone contact. The first one aroused my suspicion because "he" wanted to put a $100 deposit on each of two cards....with consecutive numbers. They were "what's in your wallet" cards. I didn't just fall off the tomato truck (no, that happened years ago :>), and I thought....hmm, stolen cc list, trying to see if the cards have been reported or still work. I put him off a day (it was a Saturday) and tried my darndest to reach that bank's security people....which I could not do until Monday. Turns out apparently I knew that a list of numbers had been compromised before they knew. If they had talked to me on Saturday....oh well. Same thing has happened a few times since, I just ignore them and they quit after a few emails.

 

[texasjohn]

Tallyho.... your collection of scammer info should go into a traveling museum... or possibly onto the net to show people how scams work and have improved over the past 10 years.....

Congrats on having such a collection!

 

[tallyho8]

A sad side effect is that we (and many businesses) now pretty much have to confirm any check coming in. When we have a customer come with a bank check/certified/cashiers/whatever....we tell them they have to come during open banking hours, and we need 15-30 minutes for our bank to confirm the check. I call the info to our bank, they call the supposed issuing bank with the details, and get a confirmation.

Although I have received very many counterfeit cashiers checks by UPS, I have never received one in person even during my 38 years in retail business. Most of the counterfeit cashiers checks originate from outside the US and are never delivered in person. If you meet someone face to face, you can identify them in court and they can be charged by your local authorities with fraud, forgery, counterfeiting, etc. They might as well rob you with a gun because they are taking the same chances. This does not apply to the individual who gives you a regular bad check because the laws are much more lenient with this type of person.

I still feel pretty confident about accepting a LOCAL cashiers check from someone in person.

I had brought one of my first out of state "cashiers checks" to my bank to see if they could verify it and they told me that the only way to find out if it was good, for sure, was to deposit it and wait 2 weeks. Supposedly they could only check some of the info with the issuing bank but not everything by phone or computer. If a bank is able to positively verify a cashiers check before cashing it, then you should be able to bring it to a bank that you don't have an account with and get it safely cashed because they know they won't have to debit your account if it bounces.

 

[LMTC]

Tally--my experience is similar with folks. We do get many people from outside the area, and I trust the people, but it is possible for them to have a bad check unknowingly. I've never been given a bad personal check. Our bank tells me they can contact the issuing branch with adequate info and either the branch will not confirm it (which may not say it's bad, but rather that the bank won't cooperate) or an officer at that branch can personally confirm it. In the latter case, my bank people tell me I am good even if it bounces. Not likely, considering they ask for everything on it including the name of the signing officer at the bank. It just sits badly with me, as I have always been one to conduct business on a word and a handshake. Things have changed, most for the worse, IMO.

 

[MikeD74T]

Have him send a postal money order. MikeD74T

 

[dejswa]

Yes, I frequently try to bait the scammers and usually exchange a few emails, but have never been sent a cashier's check

I have wanted to see what a fake check looks like. Perhaps I am not convincing enough. I figure at least I can waste a bit of their resources and effort.

 

[George2615]

I was notified by e-mail the other day that an atm for 1.5 million dollars was available to me and all I need to do to get it is to send the fedex express shipping money. There was a number to call to set it up and all. I decided to forget about it. My wife said she had no idea what we could do with that much money so she didn't want it.

Good one woodchuckie but part of your statement is untrue. There is not a woman in the world who wouldn't know what to do with 1.5 million dollars.