General Info. Scams and how to avoid being caught.
The 419 Scams & Others The Nigerian Scams.
Baiting the Nigerian 419 Money Scammers ...or how to get your own back!
419 Eater ...more examples of the best ways to treat your own scammer!

At present, the majority of the attempted frauds are aimed at sellers. Further, the attempt is not usually targetted at you alone, similar emails are sent to many people in the hope of catching one vulnerable person unaware.

The usual method is to offer to buy an item using a cashier's cheque mailed via a third party. The scammer will often state that an 'agent' or 'carrier' will pick the item up from your address.

Another approach is to offer in excess of the asking price with the balance to be forwarded to the purchaser after the cashier's cheque has been received. Invariably the cheque that is sent to you will be worthless but you will NOT find that out until a couple of weeks later (unless you pay for express clearance at the bank). Do not make the mistake of treating a cashier cheque as cash payment.

There is little point in listing scammer email addresses here because they change them too often.

If you are at all suspicious of an offer made to you then check this page first, you may well find a similar example. Please send me any new examples you receive (make the subject line of your mail 'Scam Email' and I will put an accept filter in place to collect them).

I do not want to suggest that ALL foreign buyers are potential scammers, far from it - there are many amateur astronomers outside the UK and it would be a shame to exclude them simply because of the actions of a few petty crooks. I have posted below some guidelines which I suggest you follow if you propose to sell internationally. Use a little common sense and there will be no problems.

As a last resort, if you are still unsure whether an offer is genuine or not and are worried about replying, then forward the email to me (use the 'Scam Email' subject line as above).

• Firstly, does the initial email sound like it is genuine? This may sound simple but quite often the scammer replies to multiple adverts using the same email - only the name of the item being substituted. Further, it often appears the buyer does not seem to know much about what he's buying. 99% of the scams can be identified by these simple observations.

• Do not give out more information that the deal requires. In the first instance, your name and address is all that is required for a cheque to be sent to you. The buyer should be willing to provide as much information as he is asking for, so get his name and full address.

• Always insist that a recognised carrier will be used to ship the item. If the item is expensive then the price of additional shipping insurance should be negotiated between you. Having the item picked up by the buyer's 'agent' should not be considered.

• A cashier's cheque is normally an excellent method of payment. However, be aware that it will take at least 14 days to clear (check with your bank when you pay it in). Be quite certain the funds are cleared before posting the item - NOTE: the bank will often credit your account with the funds even BEFORE the cheque has fully cleared! Seeing the monies credited to your account DOES NOT mean the cheque was valid. Other methods of payment include PayPal (or other on-line transaction services), or wire transfer. If the buyer requests your bank account details for direct payment then request similar details from him/her as to which account the money is originating from.

• Under NO circumstances accept payment which exceeds the price of your goods plus any shipping costs. This is definitely indication of a scam or money-laundering scheme.

A few examples of scam emails:

From: rule quimby 
To: ***"***.**.**
Date: Monday, August 30, 2004, 2:18:40 AM
Subject: [whatever....]

HELLO ,
 i cordially write this as a proposal and order in yo ur advertised
purchase.i want to make a purchase from you .
 it will be appreciative if i can know the best offer and payment will be
made out by check.
 if its still available for sale ,kindly provide me the details of whom to
send the cheque immediately you ! ! receive and accept the terms.
 NAME..............................
 ADDRESS........................
 TELEPHONE FOR BETTER CONTACT..................
 POSTAL CODE........................
 COUNTRY.....................

 REGARDS


Van
: chris ramsdell [mailto:chrisautos62@hotmail.com]
augustus 29, 2004 11:55 PM

HELLO ,
i cordially write this as a proposal and order in yo ur advertised
purchase.i want to make a purchase from you .
it will be appreciative if i can know the best offer and payment will be
made out by check.
if its still available for sale ,kindly provide me the details of whom to
send the cheque immediately you ! ! receive and accept the terms.
NAME..............................
ADDRESS........................
TELEPHONE FOR BETTER CONTACT..................
POSTAL CODE........................
COUNTRY.....................

REGARDS


From: peter nill [mailto:auto_mart3 _ AT _yahoo.com] 
Sent: 21 August 2004 12:08
To: **** _ AT _******
Subject: Vixen Skysensor 2000 PC equipped 

Good day,
I am Peter from Spain. I am writing you i respect of your advert placed ..... for sale, 
i am interested in buying it and i hope the condition is okay? i will like you to forward 
me the recent pics of it and i will like to know your last offering price immediately. 
looking forward to hear from you. thanks 

Do you Yahoo!?


Subject: i want to buy your (whatever...)
Author: "Mc Moore"  
Date: 11/08/04 06:19 

Hello, 

My name is Mcmoore,i am an agent of sanctuari de lluc agency,mallorca,spain,we 
assist various beneficials\clients in setting up their personal business 
firm,regardless of their little financial strength. 

In an attempt to help put together a second hand astronomical instrument 
shop/studio for a client of ours,i came across your advert on the internet 
concerning the used astronomy equipment,i am willing to purchase the 
product,kindly send to me your current information about the goods, 
pictures,your last selling price;and don't hesitate to facilitate me with faults 
affectig the product. 

Best Regards.Mcmoore. 

4th August 2004
From: Matt LafrenZ 
To: ***** 
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 4:42 AM 
Subject: YOUR Helios (Synta)150mm / 6-inch f5 refractor OTA 
Hello , 
How are you and your family,i come across your site and i am really intrested in buying your 
(Helios (Synta)150mm / 6-inch f5 refractor OTA.) and i will be more than happy if you can tell me 
more about the condition and the picture including the price you are willing to sale it and i will like 
to know if you accept uk cheque for payment? and i look forward to Hear from you ASAP......... 
Best Regard... 
Matt Lafrenz

28th July 2004
--- mathew mary  wrote: 
Dear seller,
I'am Interested in your [whatever],i will
like you to e-mail me the last offer(PRICE),
condition and thepicture if avaliable.

Hope to hear from you soonest.
Regards,
mathews

18th June 2004
Dear Seller, 
I 'm interested in purchasing your advertised Aluminium Tripod for EQ5 
mount and i will like to know the price if is okay by me. if I can pay 
with a cheque drawn in an United Kingdom Bank. If this is okay with you 
do get back to me immediately for me to arrange the payment. Concerning 
the shippment, my shipper will come and pick it up from your location as 
soon as we seal this transaction. Do get back to me immediately with your 
Full Name, Contact Address and Phone Number for me to instruct my client 
to make the payment ASAP. Hope to hear from you soon. 
Best regards, 
jim . 

Dear Seller, 
I 'm interested in purchasing your advertised Meade Standard Equatorial
wedge and i will like to know the price if is okay by me. if I can pay 
with a cheque drawn in an United Kingdom Bank. If this is okay with you 
do get back to me immediately for me to arrange the payment. Concerning 
the shippment, my shipper will come and pick it up from your location 
as soon as we seal this transaction. Do get back to me immediately with 
your Full Name, Contact Address and Phone Number for me to instruct my 
client to make the payment ASAP.
Hope to hear from you soon. 
Best regards, 
jim . 

Dear seller,
I hereby wish to inform you that i am interested in the purchase from 
you. I saw the advert on the internet today, Kindly give me your best 
offer.
Will you accept a certified cheque/MONEY ORDER as payment?
I have a client and colleague of mine who will be ready to send you 
payment by post when we both finally agree on terms. 
If its still available for sale, provide the details below...
YOUR NAME...........
MAILING ADDRESS.....
TEL. NUMBER.........
Kind regards 

Greetings,My name is mr tony,I hail from UKRAINE and i am 
highly interested in buying your {Set of 3 1.25" RGB filters in a case}
from you ,I will like you to give me the ASKING price
and also scan the pics for me for proper verifycation . As for the
shipping,I have a liable shipper that takes goods care of all my
shipping .Cashiers check is the payment method.
So pls email me back so that we can
conclude about it. and i will like you to feed me out
of this info...
Name...
Address...
City...
State...
Country...
Phone#
I await ur this info so that i can fax it down to my client that will
send u the cashiers check.hope this is acceptable
           email me ASAP....... pls
                                  REGARDS mr tony obie

HELLO,
 AM INTERESTED IN PURCHASING YOUR Haskel Air-driven Fluid Pump model 
DSF-60..,IF IS STILL AVAILABLE FOR SALE LET ME KNOW THE LAST PRICE AND IF 
CASHIER'S CHEQUE IS OKAY FOR PAYMENT. ABOUT THE SHIPPING I HAVE A 
SHIPPING COMPANY THAT WILL HANDLE THE SHIPPING FOR ME JUST LET ME KNOW THE 
PRESENT CONDITION OF IT AND THE PICS.
THANKS,WAITING TO READ FROM YOU.
RICHARD.

Thanks for your mail, the price(£600) is firmly ok but i will be looking
forward for pics so that i can view it and also is certified cheque ok for
the payment,if ok, kindly get back to me with the name you will like to be
on the cheque and your address so that i can inform my partner who will made
payment on my behalf about this transaction, i will be looking forward to
hear from you soon. 
Regard, 
Roseline.

Hello,
thanks for getting to me fast. mere reading your mail i see how honest you are.
haven read your mail i will contact my colleague who is indebted to me.so he 
will be sending you the uk cheque. mind you he will be sending a cheque of 
the total amount of money he owes me which is £4500.when you get the cheque,
go and deposit it in your account and when it has been transfered to your 
account you deduct your £755 and forward the remaining to my 
shipping company in spain through western union money transfer.

The shipping company will be coming for the pickup of the HELEOS SKYWATCHER 
EVOSTAR-150 , that is three days after you have sent them funds.the funds will be 
meant for the shipping and clearing  arrangement of the HELEOS SKYWATCHER 
EVOSTAR-150 .

i hope i can count on you for my portion after you have deducted your £755 

REPLY ASAP 

Hello ,
     i was surfing the web when i came across your E-mail
     address and the{ Olympus OM10)you place on the web for sale,
it's been four months now that i had been showing interest in it and 
all my effort had been fruitless. But i was determine to get result 
today and i got it. But i want to ask this question,are you the owner?,
  do you have the pics?,is it in good condition?,can
  you tell me more about it ?and above all how much
  is the last price you will be willing to sell it for me?
  I will be glad if you reply to me soon as possble,
  for us to talk more extensively about this .
  Regards.

i was surfing the web when i came across your E-mail
address and the{TELEVUE RADIAN 6mm)you place on the 
web for sale,it's been four months now that i had been showing
interest in it and all my effort had been fruitless.
But i was determine to get result today and i got it.
But i want to ask this question,are you the owner?,
do you have the pics?,is it in good condition?,can
you tell me more about it ?and above all how much
is the last price you will be willing to sell it for me?
I will be glad if you reply to me soon as possble,
for us to talk more extensively about this .
Regards.

Hello, 
Thanks for your mail,i am still intrested okay with the price.
this is how i will want us to seal the transaction cos i dont want 
any delay at all.So all i am going to do is to contact my associate 
in the UK to issue you a bankers draft check of £4,000 which 
will be for both the shipping and your own money £240.00 
So all i will want you to do when you recieve the check, is to 
deduct your own money and send the remaining shipping funds 
through VIA WESTERN UNION to my inetrnational shipping agent , 
once he recieves the balance will come over to your location the 
very next day for pick up, now the money wired to the shipper 
is his fees for his services, transportation to your location and 
back to me, also for all charges that may arise along this 
transaction cos i will want it to be delivered to me safe and 
sound without problems, i shall send you my shipper address as 
soon as i contact him. So if this terms are okay by you i will need 
your contact address and phone number so thati can forward to 
my associate who will be issueing you the check.I look forward to 
your reply. 
Thanks and Regards, 
N/B the shipping funds will be wired to my international agent that
will come for the pickup of the Mintron Video ccd camera he will be 
the one to arrange the shipping to where i am living.now that we have 
an agreement I will like you to remove the advert you placed on the 
website so that you will recieve no more offers.the cheque will be 
sent to you via fedex. I will give you a call as soon as you reply.info 
required to send cheque:
NAME ....... 
FULL ADDRESS......... 
CITY............ 
STATE......... 
COUNTRY..... 
ZIPCODE........ 
Phone number Office / cell 
All these will be used in issue you the check.
Thanks ones again....i will look forward to your reply..
Jeremy.....

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