Nigel et al,
I have a stack of checks made out to Daffy Duck, Bullwinkle J. Moose, Rocket J, Squirrel, Wrongway Peachfuzz, Bugs Bunny, Speed Racer, and on and on.... Soon to be a web page.
The overpayment scam is prolific at the moment. I have emailed or telephoned many of the issuing banks and the story is always the same - no funds or no such account. I even have one series of International Money Orders that were issued by the U.S. government in the 1990's as part of the Bosnian relief effort - stolen - washed - and used to scam internet sellers.
The method of contact - "Someone else owes me money and I'm having them send
it to you; by the way it's more than your asking price so wire me the
excess" - is a dead giveaway it's a scam. Then there's the urgency with
which the "buyer" wants the excess forwarded.
http://www.ftc.gov/
These scammers are usually in Nigeria or Somalia working through email addresses in the UK, the States, or the Netherlands. If you fall for the scam there is absolutely no recourse.
********** The Hot one to be alert for right now is the use of Qchex, a wire service that issues a legitimate 'counter check' drawn on the senders account and mailed to a seller. Of course, in the case of a scammer, the account the Qchex check is drawn on, though a bonafide account, is always nearly empty.
Qchex does not investigate the background of the sender except to verify the
sender's bank account exists. They are merely a pass-through service and
disclaim any responsibility for the sending account having Sufficient Funds.
Checks can be sent from on-line so there's never any contact between the
sender and Qchex except for a website form. A dangerous system, but it
exists.
http://www.fdic.gov/
It's too bad this kills an ebay sale. Its the nemesis of on-line selling
right now. Makes the PayPal fee look good.
http://ebay.com/
Welcome to the internet.
Wayne Fort Collins, CO
> -----Original Message-----
> From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org
> [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org]On Behalf Of NIGEL LAND
> Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 10:51 AM
> To: eastwindacupuncture@comcast.net
> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]Cinelli Sale and eBay scams
>
>
> Ben,
> I am sure this has been covered already through CR but I just wanted to
> pass on some recent experience with selling on eBay. I had a 1938
> Sunbeam Roadster for sale some months ago and was amazed to receive a
> bid from a Thai. ZERO rating got me worried and I discovered, through
> Peter Brown, a pal in North Lincs, the 'shipping scam'. This works on
> the basis that you get a (very) high bid. The buyer (from overseas)
> offers an international money order for much more than he bid, with a
> request that you give a cheque to a shipper that he owes money to for
> previous buys. The draft arrives, you dispatch the bike, you give the
> cheque to the shipper when he comes to collect the bike. Your cheques
> are cashed. The bank draft bounces (possible for drafts from some
> countries), you are left with no bike and a big financial loss, just to
> rub salt into the wounds. My remedy was an email to the Thai guy to
> request withdrawal of his bid, followed by my cancellation of his bid.
> Problem solved. Sadly, I would guess that the sale item is dropped off
> at the nearest disposal/recycling site.
> Nigel Land
> North Lincolnshire UK