Dodgy dealings online?

[Hornsup]

so i list a bike for sale on trade me and get a txt message from Susan with her email adress,says she whants to buy the bike strait away,so i email her she requests more photos and what mode of payment i want.I do this she says she is on buiseness in china and willl not be abel to veiw the urgently need bike in person but will pay the asking price and organise shipping agent from china and directs me to paypal the only way she is prepared to do the deal, says she has been burnt with money transfers and cheques before. This is all starting to sound intriguingly suspicious to this old kiwi and Susan hasnt responded to polite prompting on her location ,reasons or made any mention as to the details of the bike she so keenly wants to buy ,she is however happy to direct me a number of times to this paypal web site for her payment option.So i go to this paypal site ,an ecomerce buiseness that handels money transfers all over the world I sign up and observe that to be verified you need a credit card which i have no intention of getting but i also have no e banking so i load my details onto the site to become a nonverified customer..then i notice that as a nonverified customer i am only abel to withdraw 770$per month ..thats as far as i went to damn dodgey for me so closed the site and my acount droped the deal with susan,who once again said that the only way she would deal is thru paypal...Resurched paypal and there have been alot of cases of frozen funds and dodgey deals and the like to do with paypal but on the whole seem to be a legite bisness altho not one i would whant to deal with after what i read.....SO THE QUESTION IS...wheres the scam? I followed thru out of interest sake until i got a good reason from paypal (re the withdrawl limits for nonverified customers) to stop and i did.BUT .i stlll cant see the scam I think it is unlikely that susan was after the bike be damn near imposible to get it past me,my weapons and pitbulls if i havent got the money eh?I think it is more likely that she was after some crazy charge back deal and money runaround to do with credit cards and the like with paypal and me and my bank but she whould have to deposit her own money into paypal to start the runaround cause i dont have any ...Or was she for real and realy did whant to spend 17 grand on some bike she only seen photos of and hadnt asked any questions about> so what do you think? has this hapened to others? wheres the scam in this? can it be that theere is a bogus phantom out there trying to steal our bikes over the web?

[PirateJafa]

Generic Nigerian scam.

Ignore.

[bogan]

good god man, learnt to write! I tried but could barely read any of it.

If you think you are getting scammed, don't put up a cent of your own money, and piss them round and waste their time as much as possible.

[Rockbuddy]

pay-pal is a legit thing i've used it several times but you should type in the pay-pal web address yourself not click a link in an email, but what you've said does sound dodgy though

[CookMySock]

good god man, learnt to write!LOL !

But yeah, paragraphs, punctuation, etc just makes the world go around. ;)

edit: oh yeah, don't do it. It's a scam. Think about what they said - it's complete bullshit.


Steve

[george formby]

Lots of scams using stolen credit card details. They pay then ask for a refund leaving you with a healthy percentage to keep you sweet & not worry about the poor bugger who is getting ripped off. I have seen it for accommodation bookings & large reservations for restaurants, perpetrated by alleged tour guides. They have even gone so far to email a scanned image from a passport to verify their identity but when you look closely it has been doctored.
Walk away.
Dunno about your pitbulls but if anybody breaks into my property, the greatest risk they face is tripping over mine.

[Coldrider]

you are selling the bike, yes, why would you need to be giving YOUR credit card number to an e-commerce site?:weird::weird:

[spacemonkey]

Paypal is legit, but you can still get stung thru it.... it is a common scam overseas.
I wouldn't touch this deal fella, tell her to take a hike.

[Virago]

This has been covered at length - just a few of the threads on the topic:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/118655-WARNING-scam-targeting-bike-sellers

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/121061-Trade-and-exchange-and-scammers.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/118872-Warning-warning-warning

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/118482-Trademe-scams

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/113690-Caution-SCAM

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/111373-Being-scammed-thru-from-my-ad-on-Trade-and-Exchange

[nallac]

Yip a dodgy scam, met a guy a couple of weeks ago who fell for one like ths one, paid out 2.5k to keep his own bike.....

[quickbuck]

pay-pal is a legit thing i've used it several times but you should type in the pay-pal web address yourself not click a link in an email, but what you've said does sound dodgy though

There is the SCAM!

She was hoping you had a credit card, and set up a Pay Pal account using her link... and what do you know.....
Credit card gets maxed, and the bank will wash their hands of you, because you gave out your card details.....

The real pay pal is fine though.
Used it heaps.

[p.dath]

I'd stick to selling your bike to people with an address in NZ. If something goes wrong as least you stand a chance of doing something about it.

[CHAPLIN]

After doing all that you really cant see the scam?

[bluebird]

"on business in china" that alone is enough to make me walk away.

[ynot slow]

I have a perfectly good bridge to sell in Brooklyn New York.

[=cJ=]

I have a perfectly good bridge to sell in Brooklyn New York.

Oi, that's mine, I paid for it fair and square!

[sefer]

There is the SCAM!

She was hoping you had a credit card, and set up a Pay Pal account using her link... and what do you know.....


Actually that's not the scam at all in the case of every current email like this I've seen. The link they give you to Paypal is the genuine link (though usually through the wrong country site).

Rather they attempt to prey on people who aren't aware of how Paypal works. They tell you they've paid but because of shipping cost/over payment/some similar thing you'll need to send some cash via (untraceable) Western Union transfer before paypal will release funds for you to withdraw. Then they send a fake email from Paypal saying the funds have been transferred, and will be available as soon as you do the above.

I don't doubt some people fall for this, though fuck knows why, it's a pretty obvious scam and I'd only take a quick google search, or visit/email to the paypal site to see it's not legit.

[Conquiztador]

I have a perfectly good bridge to sell in Brooklyn New York.

I could use that one. I have this island outside Nigeria and some land on the moon that I need to connect.

[Hornsup]

no i dont see the scam i dont have the credit card or on line banking so how ?

[Conquiztador]

no i dont see the scam i dont have the credit card or on line banking so how ?

Well clearly the warning bells started ringing. Good.

No, the scam is not that clear straight away. The pattern is very similar:
- The buyer is on a "business trip" and will not be back for a while. But keen on the item.
- Does not seem to be too interested in the item, does not want to know much...
- Does not answer to questions.
- Asks you to use Pay Pal. You have a look and can not see how it could go wrong, so you say OK and sign up.
- They deposit the money. (Normally by using a stolen credit card)
- You get a message telling that they have deposited too much and could you send the over-deposited back by Western Union, and as soon as you do the Pay pal money will be released... And this is the scam: You send the money (You can not cancel the Western Union payment).
- If they have ever deposited the Pay pal money they now withdraw it and you are poorer. As Pay Pal relies on the buyer accepting the item...

Just don't go there. Sell locally. Or if you are OK with shipping, then get the cash up front before letting the bike out of your hands. And even then, get the buyer to organise everything re the shipping.

Suggestion: If you have problem selling, then suggest to a keen (but poor) buyer to get finance, or have a chat with a friendly bike shop that has finance in place and see if he/she can buy using them as middleman.

Good Luck!

[fliplid]

It's possible to be scammed online? Lawks!

[MIXONE]

It's possible to be scammed online? Lawks!

Only the gullible...

[jamessmith]

had the same thing happen to me. But like somebody's already said, The buyer deposited the cost of bike + $1500 into paypal and requested that I pay $1500 to the shipping company via Western Union. They had good looking emails to back it all up. Obviously I didnt do this. At which point, I started recieving email from paypal threatning legal action. and even one from the FBI!. anywho. If your unsure, easiest thing to do is forward a suspisious email to paypal and a representative from there will tell you if it real or fake.

[scumdog]

so i list a bike for sale on trade me and get a txt message from Susan with her email adress,says she whants to buy the bike strait away,so i email her she requests more photos and what mode of payment i want.I do this she says she is on buiseness in china and willl not be abel to veiw the urgently need bike in person but will pay the asking price and organise shipping agent from china and directs me to paypal the only way she is prepared to do the deal, says she has been burnt with money transfers and cheques before. This is all starting to sound intriguingly suspicious to this old kiwi and Susan hasnt responded to polite prompting on her location ,reasons or made any mention as to the details of the bike she so keenly wants to buy ,she is however happy to direct me a number of times to this paypal web site for her payment option.So i go to this paypal site ,an ecomerce buiseness that handels money transfers all over the world I sign up and observe that to be verified you need a credit card which i have no intention of getting but i also have no e banking so i load my details onto the site to become a nonverified customer..then i notice that as a nonverified customer i am only abel to withdraw 770$per month ..thats as far as i went to damn dodgey for me so closed the site and my acount droped the deal with susan,who once again said that the only way she would deal is thru paypal...Resurched paypal and there have been alot of cases of frozen funds and dodgey deals and the like to do with paypal but on the whole seem to be a legite bisness altho not one i would whant to deal with after what i read.....SO THE QUESTION IS...wheres the scam? I followed thru out of interest sake until i got a good reason from paypal (re the withdrawl limits for nonverified customers) to stop and i did.BUT .i stlll cant see the scam I think it is unlikely that susan was after the bike be damn near imposible to get it past me,my weapons and pitbulls if i havent got the money eh?I think it is more likely that she was after some crazy charge back deal and money runaround to do with credit cards and the like with paypal and me and my bank but she whould have to deposit her own money into paypal to start the runaround cause i dont have any ...Or was she for real and realy did whant to spend 17 grand on some bike she only seen photos of and hadnt asked any questions about> so what do you think? has this hapened to others? wheres the scam in this? can it be that theere is a bogus phantom out there trying to steal our bikes over the web?

Fark, my eyes.my eyes..

Reading THAT just about did them in - it must be an anti-grammar post scam...

[marty]

What's her name? Email address? Google it.

[CHOPPA]

I just sold a bike on trade me, the sale went through all good but i found out someone had been contacting all the people that were bidding saying the auction fell through and if they deposit the money they would deliver the bike!!

[Joe Blogs]

Susan Hawkins? susan.hawkins@live.com? Did the email look something like this

Hello,
Thanks for the swift reply, I am pleased with your price but I want you to get back to me with more pictures of it because i am presently in China on business trip and could not come over to check it out,but no worries as i am willing to handle the pick
up of this vehicle through a legitimate shipping agent based in china, it will be picked up after payment, so i really need to know the mode of payment because i need this vehicle urgently. Hope to read from you asap.

????

Yeh, been there done that.

I strung it along for awhile to try and figure it out. Had a lot of people saying go for it (I didnt in the end).

Advise I got was to open a new account at the bank which they cant trace your other accounts through, as soon as money clears then withdraw the money and then they cant get it back, then how can it go wrong?

Still sounded to dodgy for my likings tho, if only visiting china why do they type like a asian?

I had someone else become interested in the bike so I sold it to him.

The fact she was trying to buy many bikes tells me that it probably was a scam.

Anyway thats my 2 cents.

Cheers
JB

[malfunconz]

hey brother , shouldnt be selling mean arse shovels to gooks anyway .

Never trust someone you can blind fold with a shoe lace .

Hey i got a joke . Why are there no maoris in star trek ..... they didnt work in the future either .