Wow! Don't I feel Special!

[John]

I have an ad in the classifieds here, and I recieved a response from a 'Jeniffer Donald' asking about the item. I gave them the description, and today I received a reply from 'Jeniffer'. The message says that she is interested, and agrees to the price. BUT she can't pay for it directly, and want's me to accept a money order drawn on a US bank, from the person that owes her the money. The amount was $2900. I was to cash it, and deduct the amount from the cash, and send the balance to her shipper via Western Union.
Well, this is my first scam...so I didn't quite know what to do. I replied and asked what kind of stupid where they? It must be of the worst kind if they thought I was going to fall for that, and I told them that I was forwarding the message to the FBI, and to have a nice day.
**&#kin' idiots.

[ratbyk]

Scam

John, you should have "played" with them a bit. Find out where her "shipper" was located. His address etc. then sent the info to the FBI. They actually do catch the bad asses scamming on the net if they get a bit of help.
Ken/Sooke

[sixtysix]

Wow, scammers are hitting $2000 bikes now? Is eBay out of bikes or what.....I think they will find the average guy here is smarter than the average guy on eBay.

[randy]

I think I just got a bite from the same scammers on my two classified ads. Both inquiries asked about the condition, the price and if I had pictures. The clue for me was that all of that information is in the ads! And no bikes, just brake lines & TCI repairs!

Someone named jeniffer@firstgroupsecurity.com

If this turns out not to be a scam, I will update and please webmaster please delete this post. For future reference the domain info on them is:

Domain Name.......... firstgroupsecurity.com
Creation Date........ 2004-11-16
Registration Date.... 2004-11-16
Expiry Date.......... 2005-11-16
Organisation Name.... Micheal Olasubomi
Organisation Address. 108 West First St
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. Port Angeles
Organisation Address. 98052
Organisation Address. WA
Organisation Address. UNITED STATES

Admin Name........... Micheal Olasubomi
Admin Address........ 108 West First St
Admin Address........
Admin Address........ Port Angeles
Admin Address........ 98052
Admin Address........ WA
Admin Address........ UNITED STATES
Admin Email.......... Micheal@firstgroupsecurity.com
Admin Phone.......... +1.3605845862
Admin Fax............

Tech Name............ MSN NOC
Tech Address......... One Microsoft Way
Tech Address.........
Tech Address......... Redmond
Tech Address......... 98052
Tech Address......... WA
Tech Address......... UNITED STATES
Tech Email........... MSN-PA-TECH@msn.com
Tech Phone........... +1.4258828080
Tech Fax.............
Name Server.......... pdomns1.msn.com
Name Server.......... pdomns2.msn.com



The previous information has been obtained either directly from the registrant or a registrar of the domain name other than Network Solutions. Network Solutions, therefore, does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Show underlying registry data for this record



Current Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
IP Address: 65.54.132.254 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: US(UNITED STATES)-WASHINGTON-REDMOND
Lock Status: ACTIVE
DMOZ no listings
Y! Directory: see listings
Data as of: 08-Jun-2004

[John]

Yep, That's it.

They asked me the same questions, and I'm sure you've seen my ad. It has all the information that they asked for. I thought that was wierd. I really did forward it to the FBI's tips and info page. I copy n' pasted the whole message. I don't know what good it will do, but maybe ,just maybe...

[stal871]

Ya, that all sounds a little goofy.....I mean why can't the guy that owes her the money just pay her with that money order instead of you? But what if you played along with it? As long as the money order was valid, from a US bank, where is the scam?

can someone explain? maybe i'm one of the idiots out there.

[ratbyk]

Scam?

We currently have at least 3 Forum members who live in the Port Angeles area.
Carolyne, Johnny Yukon and Jeff Wags. I don't know if any of them are following this thread but if any are, maybe they could "drop in on" 108 West First St. and ask for; Mike Olasubomi and/or Jeniffer. Kind of find out what is going on.
Scammers living up in Port Angeles may think they are out of reach from you guys in Texas and Long Island. Could be good for at least a laugh. I would go myself but there is about 14 miles of ocean between me and PA.
Ken/Sooke

[CA.XSer]

Ran across this in some mag or something awhile back. They are just scamming. I even had 2 calls at work through a TTY operator looking for Jeep parts. Why call a Jeep dealer in a town of 17,000 people for 4 sets of headlights, to be shipped overseas. I am glad I had looked at this site before spending time to get cost of parts and shipping.

BUSTEDUPCOWGIRL

[Dragonrider]

It's a scam. The MO would be bad, but your bank won't know that for up to 30 days. Guess who's liable for it when it comes bouncing back? And if you've given the scammer the "extra money" well then . . .

There are net-bots scanning for any ad type pages on the web and mail these things out. It is one of the most common current scams on the net.

If someone wants to buy from you, make sure you can make phone contact and have a real address or license number if you take other than cash.

[ratbyk]

stal87, many of the cheques, certified cheques , money transfers etc. are phony. They look perfectly legit. You deposit them, transfer the money they request and about two weeks later your bank tells you that the money transfer was phony and take back their $2900. In the mean time you have sent the scammers $900. of your good money.
To protect yourself on deals-like this demand that they use Pay Pal. Pay, Pay Pal their commission just for the piece of mind that got real money. Even at that I would transfer the bulk of the funds out of the account that Pay Pal made the deposit to protect yourself. It is a very crooked world out there. CYA-(cover your ass)
Ken/Sooke

[stal871]

ok, thanks, makes sense now.

a lot of retail merchants have these instant check cancelling machines these days to prevent that crap. you write your check at the grocery store and they put it thru their scanner to make the electronic debit immediately. then it shows up on your bank statement as an electronic withdrawl. you would think that you could take that money order to your bank to have it checked for authenticity right on the spot.

[Wayne]

Best bet, If it sounds weird or to good to be true... IT IS.

Here is a little info from scambusters.org on a variation of this very scam.

Scambusters