Scam ?? Need quick answer!

1403 · 05-08-2008, 07:48 PM

Hi, I have received this message regarding one of my sales in market place on Facebook. Hello,
I'm Mr Smith James a medical doctor.i want to buy this Item as my grandson's birthday present.he stays with his mum who is an off shore engineer in West Africa. i want you to ship to him directly via post office to save time and money as his birthday is only next week.i will pay $200 for the item and $100 for shipment via post office( Post office).I will pay you through a bank transfer to your personal account or paypal .I will expect you to send me your paypal account details so that i can make the transfer as soon as possible.my grandson would really like this piece.do an old man a favor by replying fast as his birthday is only next week.i will send you his contact address when you reply.so you can cantact me on hotmail..... smithjames01@hotmail.com
Hope to read from soon.
Thanks for your anticipated co-operation.
Regards
Mr Smith James

Is this safe?? If not, why ?? I thought Paypal payment is not reversible?

iedwardsIII · 05-08-2008, 07:53 PM

I've gotten at least ten of these emails from people on craigslist. If it ever mentions an amount between $200 and $250 and they want you to send it to West Africa then it's most likely a scam. Especially if you're selling it for way less than that. Not everything on the internet is final and that's why I don't always trust PayPal. Anyways, I wouldn't do it. Sell whatever you're selling to someone else who lives near to you.

Andromeda · 05-08-2008, 08:03 PM

Well it says from West Africa, And right not all i see on ebay is " I will not ship to anyone in Nigeria, due to scammers" and Nigeria is in the West of Africa,
Must be a scam, who writes there name as "Mr Smith James" its Odd...

blacker09 · 05-08-2008, 08:25 PM

it doesnt reallymatter to me where or how much they want to me... I DONT KNOW THEM SO THEY DONT GET MY $$$

Klause · 05-08-2008, 10:48 PM

I agree...when someone offers to pay a load more than what you're selling it for and doesn't live anywhere near you...Don't go for it.

The same thing goes if someone says they'll buy it from you, but won't pay for it until they receive the item.

Brock_Samson · 05-08-2008, 11:39 PM

silly wabbitts, africa is the scam nation.

fubar42o · 05-09-2008, 12:24 AM

Yes, agreed. It is %99.99 beyond a doubt, absolutely, positively a scam. Especially when the sender never mentions the item you're selling, but instead keeps referring to it as "the item", then it's definitely just a template that some African loser put together to mass-send to ppl on ebay/craigslist/whatever. NEVER SHIP TO WEST AFRICA, EVAR!!!

P.S. SMITH JAMES?! Puh-lease. Fakest name ever!

Klause · 05-09-2008, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fubar42o

Yes, agreed. It is %99.99 beyond a doubt, absolutely, positively a scam. Especially when the sender never mentions the item you're selling, but instead keeps referring to it as "the item", then it's definitely just a template that some African loser put together to mass-send to ppl on ebay/craigslist/whatever. NEVER SHIP TO WEST AFRICA, EVAR!!!

P.S. SMITH JAMES?! Puh-lease. Fakest name ever!

lol

very well said

fubar42o · 05-09-2008, 07:38 AM

Hehe, I almost learned the hard way a long time ago. When I had first set up an eBay account a couple of years ago, I put my first PSP up for acution. I got the same kind of message saying that if I would end the auction now, they would pay $800 for my modded PSP plus another $150 or so for shipping. I had no idea what a West African Scammer was, and so I had actually agreed to send it to him/her. The person offered to send the payment via MoneyGram. I have never heard of Moneygram so I Googled it and the first two or three pages of search-returns were all about how these scammers used fake MoneyGram accounts/checks to get people from the UK and US to send these West Africans their expensive electronics. It was a very good thing that I had Googled it because I was going to ship my PSP out to them the very next day. I reported the scammer to ebay Security and left a negative comment. The scammer in turn left me a negative comment saying that he had sent me $1000 (which he didn't) and never got the item. It was a big hassle, but luckily after a couple of weeks, ebay banned the user and removed all of the feedback that he/she had left.

In conclusion, just as mentioned beforehand by other people; if it's too good to be true, guess what?

Klause · 05-10-2008, 08:06 AM

That sucks man.

Good thing ya looked it up ^_^

danny563 · 05-31-2008, 11:18 AM

most prob a scam

liddlefedder · 06-04-2008, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brock_Samson

silly wabbitts, africa is the scam nation.

Oh? XD

And by the way, I get these too. They are always in a different format, however under the same premise. Google "Paypal Reverse Transactions" and you will see what the scam is about.