So, in my line of work as an anti-fraud person for a bike mag/website, we get quite a few scammers hitting us each week with 'the PayPal scam' - basically how it works is the scammer poses as an interested buyer (you can spot these questions a mile off with their dodgy english and stuff eg. "hello am interested in this your lovely item, what is your firm price' etc.), then says they can't come and see the bike as they work on an oil rig offshore but will send money by PayPal and get a courier to pick up the bike.
Once the seller agrees to this (yes, occasionally they do), the scammer sends a fake PayPal email saying there are uncleared funds (usually to a greater value than the asking price) and all the seller has to do is send $800 by Western Union to the courier company and the funds will clear. Seller sends money, money is collected, scammer disappears and seller is $800 out of pocket (at least I assume they do, no-one has ever sent money because by this point they've usually had an email from me telling them it's a scam).
Recently we've had the same email account used in the scam questions, which i'm trying to get shut down. But until microsoft shut it down (4 days and counting so far) i'm having fun pretending to be a gullible seller. Incidentally I work with a guy called Cal, and the email address is an office in-joke.
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From: calsmum69@hotmail.com
To: fergusmcdolphin@live.com
Subject: My bike
Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 10:05:00 +1030
Hi yes the bike is still for sale, I really need to sell it this week though, so if you are serious please get in touch.
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From: fergusmcdolphin@live.com
To: calsmum69@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: My bike
Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 03:41:43 +0000
Hello,
I will like to know when last you service the bike and how long have you run the bike mileage (KLM). I will be paying you through bank to bank transfer which is faster, safe and reliable method of payment.. And i will take care of all Shipment Preparations for the bike to my home in Birmingham,United Kingdom by shipment company.
Email me if there is any defect or problem with bike.
Thanks,
Fergus
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From: calsmum69@hotmail.com
To: fergusmcdolphin@live.com
Subject: RE: My bike
Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 11:57:15 +1030
Hi Fergus,
The bike was last serviced about three months ago, I did it myself as I am a semi-qualified mechanic. I replaced all the fluids and used only the highest quality Tizer brake fluid and Quatro oil. The bike currently has 14803 earth kilometres.
There are only a couple of minor blemishes on the bike, just stone chips and that sort of thing however one of the rear axle bolts is missing. Like I said nothing major and doesn't affect the overall handling of the bike.
It's funny as I am originally from Birmingham, and brought the bike out to Australia with me seven years ago. I used to live in Edgbaston, yourself?
Look forward to hearing back from you shortly.
Thanks
Calsmum
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From: fergusmcdolphin@live.com
To: calsmum69@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: My bike
Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 03:21:40 +0000
Hello Calsmum,
I'm satisfied with the condition of the bike as you are described. I will be paying you through Bank to bank transfer which is a fast, safe and reliable method of payment and i will be paying the necessary fee regarding the money transfer.The shipping company are located in United Kingdom,they are going to be travel to your address after the payment cleared to your bank account.
Email me with the last price you are willing to sell the bike in EURO or GBP Pounds.
Thanks,
Fergus
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From: calsmum69@hotmail.com
To: fergusmcdolphin@live.com
Subject: RE: My bike
Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 16:52:22 +1030
Top banana Fergs,
Well the bike is listed at $10500 Australian Dollars, which at the current exchange rate is about 15600 Great British Pounds. I'm not sure what it is in Euros but i'm sure it will be somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand Euros. I don't know what the exact exchange rate is so will leave that to you to find out.
If you could provide the IBAN and SWIFT codes for the bank account that will be sending the funds, I can provide this to my local bank so that they can 'lube up the passage' as it were, ready for the funds to make a smooth entry into my gaping account.
Also, I should probably have mentioned that i've swapped the front and rear wheels so the bike handles much better now. All the rage among modders, and I can see why! I hope this doesn't affect our transaction, and if it's a problem I can swap them back over.
Hugs and stuff
Calsmum
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From: fergusmcdolphin@live.com
To: calsmum69@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: My bike
Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 12:19:30 +0000
Hi Calsmum,
Ok,no problem about all.I will like to know if you have a paypal account.I think is more faster than bank to bank transfer.
Thanks,
Fergus
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And still we're going. So, now you have the email address for Fergus McDolphin (awesome name!), feel free to drop him a line (I recommend setting up a Hotmail or Yahoo account for this as invariably the email address will end up getting loads of spam) and string him along - you know the drill though, don't give any personal info etc.
THe more people that do this, the more frustrating it is going to be for Mr I'm-sitting-in-an-internet-cafe-in-Lagos dealing with all the responses. Even if hotmail kill the account, if you've managed to get the initial email off to him, he'll contact you from a new one and you can carry on.
THere was a chap I knew back in England who was damn good at this and his efforts can be seen here:
http://www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/temp/scammers.html
Enjoy!
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Originally Posted by Maki
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