SCAM attempt through VCA Classifieds

[AbsolutHank]

Just wanted to bring this to everyone's attention since I honestly didn't think this would happen here. Got an email from Lewis Telflol [email protected] asking about a Gen III Differential I have in the classifieds. It just felt fishy from the start. Turns out, he has scammed on a few other websites with emails written in the exact format. Just wanted to post it up to potentially help any other members in the future. Here is our correspondence:



On Apr 17, 2013, at 10:21 AM, "Lewis Telflol" <[email protected]> wrote:

Gen III stock Differential

I want to purchase your Gen III stock Differential is still available for
sale,What is the last asking price,I will like to pay using PayPal,After
payments has been made,I will arrange for the pick-up and will you let my
pick-up agent to come to you house for the pick up?Because i don't want you
to worry yourself about the shipment,Kindly get back with more pictures.

Regards

http://classifieds.viperclub.org/showproduct.php?product=6452


On 4/17/13, Ryan Hartley <[email protected]> wrote:
Good morning.

The lowest I will take is $650. Can you clarify what you mean about your
pickup agent coming to get it? Do you mean UPS/FedEx/DHL?

Ryan Hartley

On Apr 17, 2013, at 11:24 AM, "Lewis Telflol" <[email protected]> wrote:

I appreciate your response,I'm an marine engineer and at this moment
am presently working offshore,Sometimes access to regular emails and
phone calls is very poor offshore due to inefficiency of the immarsat
service,I located in Pacific WA, and i want you to know that I am ok
with the condition of the Gen III stock Differential and the asking
price as well,I am buying the Gen III stock Differential as a gift for
my father and I want to surprise him.I don't have access to my bank
account on-line as i don't have internet banking but i have my bank
account attached to my PayPal account and this is why i insisted in
paying you through PayPal,kindly get back to me with your PayPal email
address and if you don't have PayPal account yet,it is very easy to
set up at your bank or online and get it set up,after you have set it
up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with
PayPal so as to put the money through,I can proceed with the payment
and after the payment has been done,I have a pick up agent that will
come around for verifications and to pick the Gen III stock
Differential after i have made the payments for the Gen III stock
Differential.So I will need you to provide me with the following
information to facilitate the making of the payment.

1.Your PayPal full name.
2.Your PayPal Email Address.
3..Your phone number.

Once again ,I will like you to know that you will not be responsible
for shipping. I will have my pick-up agent come over as soon as you
have receive the payment confirmation.

Regards.

 

[KNG SNKE]

I had a similar one from the Alley a while back. Damn scammers. It must work fairly well since these types of emails happen quite often.

 

[Steve M]

I'm not even sure why you replied in the first place...anything that poorly written automatically raises a red flag with me, and to top it off they mention a third party to pick the item up? Yeah, I don't think so.

 

[shine]

Yeah I got the email this morning too for my car in the classifieds. It looked fishy so I googled the email address. It's a well-known scammer. I just deleted the email. If he really wants the car, he can bring cash and pick it up

 

[gb66gth]

I had a T-10 tranny listed over on the Shelby site awhile back. I immediatley started getting these kinds of messages.
It's pretty obvious who is legit and who is not. I mean, you can almost hear their accent while reading the letter.

 

[viperman4125]

Hi All,
Got the same thing last night , right after I placed my Ad. Same Guy, Watch out,

 

[PootyP]

I agree the guy writes like an idiot, but how does this scam work exactly? do any of you know.

Seems like if u sent him an paypal invoice and he paid it you would have the money

Or is he asking for your paypal name, email, phone number then asking to pick up from your house so he now has your home address and with all 4 somehow he can get in to your account

 

[Natrops]

Here's one way it might go down: http://blog.chron.com/frugalconfess...cammed-on-craigslist-how-to-protect-yourself/

I've also heard they can have their shipper pickup, then file a claim with PayPal that you never shipped...you would have no proof, because they picked up...you didn't ship.

They can send out thousands and thousands of these emails a day...it costs them nothing. If someone falls for it...easy profit.

I saw a 20/20 or 60 Minutes episode where they attempted to track these guys down overseas...they are ****. I'm pretty sure every bit of it is automated...you can tell by the template style of the email. Now, I'm not sure why they don't clean up their grammer...that would probably increase their "catch" by 50%.

 

[Green viper 1]

I got the same email this morning also

 

[Husker]

This is an old scam. I had a very similar experience in 2010 when I was trying to a different car. Luckily I did not go for it.

 

[slysnake]

This is from the email on the link above.

We also received a plea from “the president of PayPal” to send this money (he referred to himself in the email as Mr. Richard Wright and signed the email as Scott Thompson

OK Thompson racing!! lol, just kidding.

 

[AZTVR]

I always assume that a response to any on line ad has a 50-50 chance of being a scam artist. No reason to think the classifieds on this particualar web site have special protection, unless they were only open to VCA members and that sure would limit the market.

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

EIAS again here and its in the papers everyday. Wake up and smell the daily scams. Been going on for years.......

 

[Mopar Boy]

Is everyone getting these spam email through the forum classifieds? or as a PM or???

Im confused.

 

[denniskgb]

He called himself marine engineer. Most likely he is a Somalian pirate.

 

[shine]

Is everyone getting these spam email through the forum classifieds? or as a PM or???

Im confused.

Mine was an email directly to me.

 

[ViperTony]

If you list your email address in the ad you will get SPAM, count on it. Folks can also inquire about your add by leaving a Comment with your ad that gets approved through moderation. I believe your ad will show you if you have messages waiting that were submitted through the comments feature. Users with valid accounts on the site can PM you about your ad. If you opt to have an email sent to you when you receive ***, you will get an email stating you have PM waiting for you. Otherwise, there's no way for someone to email you directly from the classified ad unless you put your email address in there.

 

[mad0953]

I always answer the email with a two word sentence: F You

 

[Wiretech]

I always answer the email with a two word sentence: F You

Good one

 

[slitherv10]

I just respond with ..

I am actualy coming over seas...where are you at....I can bring it with me....I need a vacation anyway....

 

[Speedy G]

paypal are scammers!!

 

[DrumrBoy]

Couldn't they be scammed back (by people in the know) by having the Paypal transaction go through, YOU collect the money, THEN arrange for the pickup....which you document with a receipt and photos. That way you have their Paypal money in your bank and leave them with very little recourse thru PayPal. If 1000 people did this, they might lose interest in the scam. Perhaps its more complicated than this and the approach wouldn't work. Seems unfortunate that there are enough folks out there who're ignorant of the scam and fall for it only to lose money they really can't afford to lose......