Scam Question

[djjsin]

Can someone read these and tell me what they think? I put my Mitsubishi WS-55511 in the recycler, and i've gotten a couple interesting responses. But i'm starting to wonder, do alot of scams for this go on?

Tell me what you think:

Hi,
Thanks for the mail,i am still interested in your MITSUBISHI WS-55511 Widesceen HDTVI am an overseas buyer located in west africa working on a long term project.
I actually just got transfered like two weeks ago from the states along with my whole family..As long as the MITSUBISHI WS-55511 Widesceen HDTV is still in good condition am ready to buy from you,because i cant get anywhere good enough to get a nice one here.
Concerning the payment,here's what i will do:i have a client back home owing me a sum of $5500 but due to some circumstances i couldnt get it before i was transferd down here.I will ask him to make out a cashiers cheque to you in that amount and as soon as it clears,you can send me the balance via western union or to my shipper who would be bringing part of my other belongings.
Concerning the shipping,you dont have to bother about that my shipper would be responsible for the pickup at your location.I have spoken to them and they have agreed for pick up as soon as we have concluded our own part of the agreement.
The reason why i am asking my client to issue you a Cashier's cheque is because if i send it from over here it might take ages to reach you but sending one from over in the US will take about 2 or 3days to clear.Please if this offer is cool with you and you are still interested in selling to me,i would need you to provide me with the name you want to appear on the cheque,your address and a phone number for contact purpose.
I sincerely hope i can trust you with my balance moreso the item,as the value of the cheque i will be sending you is more than the value of the MITSUBISHI WS-55511 Widesceen HDTV which is $1600 Since this aint the fist time i am doing an overseas transaction ,i will be trusting you with my balance.
Thanks and hope to hear from you soon

-------

Hello,

I am MR XXX and am intersted in buying your MITSUBISHI WS-55511 Widesceen HDTVl'm okay with the condition,give me the last price and i would like you to know that payment will be remitted to you by my client in the US that is owing me over goods I bought from him but due to delayment over coming for the pick up he had to sell it off to someone else hoping to get me another before i will come for the pick up but couldn't,so he will issue you the amount beening a cancelling order which i placed with him and it will be remitted to you on a certified cashier check.Also,my shipper will make an arrangement to come for the pick-up at your location.If this is okay by you,provide your contact details and phone number on which payment can be remitted to you immediately.
Name to be on the cashier check.............
Address..................................
Country...............................
State...................................
Zip code.................
Cell phone no..................>I wait to read from you soonest.


------


Hello,
I was just going though the Classified ads and i then came accross the advert concerning your MITSUBISHI WS-55511 Widesceen HDTV Integrated for sale and am very much interested in purchasing it and kindly let me know the features,condition as well as the price you are willing to sell it and

i belive that busness is based on trust so i would like you to assure me that they are in perfect working condition. I would like to know the least price by mail,because am currently not in the US so i wouldnt be able to view it or inspect before purchase .i would be handling the shipping my self so i would like to know your least price. I have decided to make payments with a Cashiers Check payable through my client in the US who would be issuing and making it payable to you on my behalf.
Let me get a response from you soon.
Kindly get back to me ASAP

 

[djjsin]

it just seems really weird that they all mention trust, and want to pay me through other people, maybe they are trying to launder money or something, I don't know.

 

[Sean Mota]

sounds like it to me. I would not give my personal information to them.

 

[wasch_24]

Shady, shady, shady. Stay far far away from these jokers.

 

[Mr Tony]

looks like a scam to me

West Africa??? Home of the spam e-mailers

 

[tdillon]

What they do is place their own ad for some other bigger product and get a real victim to send you a cashier's check. Of course the check is good, and you send the tv and the "extra" amount on to the scammer. Then the victim realizes that they have been scammed and they sue YOU because they paid YOU and YOU didn't send the victim whatever it was that they thought that they were buying from the scammer. Scammer had their shipping company pick up the tv from you, it is shipped to a warehouse and then sold in another auction.

 

[bbqman]

Run, run as fast as you can. In other words how do you spell S-C-A-M!!!

 

[Mr Tony]

run away
run fast
run like Mexican water through a first time tourist

RUN!!!

 

[djjsin]

ya thats what it sounded like to me. I just wasn't sure exactly how i could be affected if I had the money in advance, but now I see. Thanks alot guys.

 

[slacker9876]

It is a scam and involves giving you a phony cashiers check then having you "wire" the balance back to them. They are doing this with vehicles too. Anyway they are phishing for your account numbers, once they get them, you have no money

So uh yeah ... run away.

 

[Ilya]

HDTV in West Africa??? I am not sure they even have NTSC there !!!

 

[djjsin]

LOL the NTSC was the first thing that came into my mind.

 

[Ilya]

It's either PAL or SECAM depending on the country. US TV sets do not work in Africa!

 

[dankgus]

Wow, that is a pretty neat scheme. I didn't see it coming, but a guy sure can tell that something strange is going on. A guy can feel pretty street smart in his own town or state, but when you leave the state or country, there are TONS of scams out there you don't have a clue about. This being one of them.

--Dan

 

[Walter L.]

Hey djjsin,
Just for fun, why you don't reply to the West Africa guy telling him that his offer is good but the WS-55511 won't work in his country because of NTSC. Also ask him if they have HDTV I wanna see his reply.

 

[wobbie]

It's a scam. Had a few done here in my home town. They will send you the cashier check, which will be no good, you send the T.V and balance of the cashier check and then the bank will come after you for the $5500.00. All you will end with is a lose of $9400.00 and the T.V. You should contact the attorney generals office.

 

[djjsin]

ya i actually already did reply saying that africa isn't on NTSC, so how will the TV work? but I did also mention that it looks like a scam, so he probubly wont' reply

The other thing I noticed that threw me off, was on the 3 offers, 2 came from hotmail accounts, and one came from a yahoo account. The thing I don't get though, is if the cashiers check is fake, wouldn't the bank catch it before they credit your account with the money? I thought checks of that amount had to be processed and confirmed before they give you the money. To me the first scam seems to be the most logical in this situation. Either way, i'm not doing it, seemed really wierd that I get 3 different people asking to do this have my friend in the US send you a check thing, who are willing to purchase it no matter what the condition is, and all mentioning Trustm yet not one legitamate buying saying I would like to come see how it works, etc.

 

[Indy]

That is a pretty old scam. The cashiers check is bogus and you are not only out the Mits but the cash difference you send to the scam artist from the check when the bank comes after your account. A Friend of mine on AVS took the bait all the way to see where it would end up. Sure enough the check was Fed Exed overnight and the shipping company arrived to pick up the merchandise but the check was bogus. Entertaining experiment though!

 

[Hightech]

The other thing I noticed that threw me off, was on the 3 offers, 2 came from hotmail accounts, and one came from a yahoo account.

Why not look at the email headers and find out what there IP addresses are and try and have some fun with them at least, lol Thats what I would be doing, at the very least I would trace the emails back and cause them some distress anyway just for sending such stupid emails and thinking they are anonymous because they use hotmail or yahoo, how surprised they would be anyway, I would also notify there isp, just for a special level of fun. (not that it will have much effect though)

 

[Indy]

Why not look at the email headers and find out what there IP addresses are and try and have some fun with them at least, lol Thats what I would be doing, at the very least I would trace the emails back and cause them some distress anyway just for sending such stupid emails and thinking they are anonymous because they use hotmail or yahoo, how surprised they would be anyway, I would also notify there isp, just for a special level of fun. (not that it will have much effect though)

Cause them distress and play with them for fun? Obviously you have no idea who these folks are. Russian Mafia operating out of Andorra. All fine and dandy but just remember to have them send the check, they know where you live. This was a serious thought when we "played "with them at AVS. Luckily nothing became of it but who knows what might happen down the road to another "player".