SCAM ALERTS FOR SELLERS:
There are individuals who travel through the ads found on this classifieds website looking for easy prey. These people are trying to trick you into sending them money with no intention of purchasing your animal or item. Become informed and protect yourself from scam artists!
Please pay close attention to the way that the scammer below is attempting to pay for the item that is for sale. Also, all communications have been by email at this point. ALWAYS try to talk to the buyer in person before completing a transaction (especially on large-ticket items). Note that the item in the example below was listed at around $3000, yet the scammer is willing to send $7000.
potential scammer:
Hi <seller name omitted>,
Thanks for your respond am happy to hear from you. Right now you know i'll instruct my Business Associate to send you a US Certified CASHIER cheque of $7,000 before he leaves for Korea(He's a multiplebusiness man, and you'll send the excess funds to my shipper via western union,for him to come for the pick up at your location,I'll give you my shipping agent's datas as soon as the cheque gets to you,and he will handles my shipping arrangement.I'll be very grateful if really you can do everything the same day you recieve the cheque for a faster transaction....You must send the balance to the shipper the sameday you recieve the check,i hope this all clear to you. I'll compensate you with $280 for the (efforts and western union charges)running around in sending the balance to my shipper..
I'll need your datas for the cheque to get to you soonest..
NAME..
ADDRESS..
ZIP CODE..
CITY..
STATE...
COUNTRY..
PHONE NUMBER
(HOME,OFFICE,CELL)
Pls mail me today,to let me know what's good. I know I can trust you, hope all my explanation is clear to you bcos i will arrange the shipemnt with my private shipper which has been in service for shipement long years ago.
Regards
<potential scammer name omitted>
Here are some user submitted potential scams. We will post more here as they become available.
user submitted report:
Thanks for the mail, i am buying this for my son as his birthday gift because i would not be around to celebrate with him i am a petroleum engineer currently on a rig offshore and due to the nature of my work,phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I really want this item to be a surprise gift for my son so i wont let him know anything about the item until it gets delivered to him , i am sure he will be more than happy with the item.I insisted on paypal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address so i can make the payment as soon as possible for the item and pls if you don't have PayPal account yet,it is very easy to set up, go on www.paypal.com 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 have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up immediately you have receive the payment in full.what is your final price including the paypal charges?.
user submitted report:
Hi seller top of the day to you well i was browsing through the site for a horse to get for my family because my wife and kids have troubled me to get one at home since the former one we had was sold out so i decided to come to the site to check for one and urs got my attraction so i want to get it,i would like u to get back to me with ur last asking price and more details about the horse and if u are intesrested to sell to me,well i want to remind u i would be making the shipping myself with my shipping agent ok and payment would be made through a certified cashier check or money order to ur address that u would be sending to me ok.Pls get back to me because i have made everything ready for the horse if u would sell to me it would be in a clean and big ranch that i use for my former horse ok.
user submitted report:
Individuals offer you what you want without ever seeing or talking to you face to face or even by phone.They tell you that they need your name and address and that they will send an amount large enough to cover shipping. When you receive the money you are given a contact # for the shipping and are expected to wire the money to them.