DIFFERENT SPIN ON THE NIGERIAN-UK SCAM........

Old 07-29-2008, 07:30 PM
  #1  
oldcarparts
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Default DIFFERENT SPIN ON THE NIGERIAN-UK SCAM........

This is "NOT" a dealing directly encountered by Me, just something I found on a scammer forum and decided to share with others. Please respond appropriately. Thanks.



This SCAM will work for any big ticket item...read on.



I had a property for sale on eBay for $389,000. The property was located in Tennessee, it had a home and a school on it, twelve acres of property total. The auction was a good deal, the property was easily worth a half million but the owners needed to sell. So I get an email from a guy named Victor. He wrote me and said, “I want to find out more about that property. Could you tell me more and the let me know the price?” He saw an ad that I put on an FSBO site so I sent him to the eBay auction. He said, “Oh, I love it, this is perfect, this is what my family and I have been looking for. We really like this property.”

Over the course of a month I’d been having communications with him, and he said, “Okay, here’s what I’d like to do. I want to put half of the money down on the property, and then I’ll send my wife and children over with the other half. We’re in Liberia, and right now this is a war zone, and I’m really afraid my wife and children might get hurt. I’m really scared for their lives, and I want to get them over there.” I said, “Fine, how are we going to move money from Liberia over to the United States?” He said, “Well, let me get back to you.”

So another three days, four, five days go by and I get another email from him, and he says, “Here’s what we have to do. I have to send the $200,000 from my bank to an offshore bank, but you are going to have to open up an offshore bank account. Here’s the name of the bank, here’s the guy you need to talk to, and here’s their site.” I didn’t really pay much attention to that because it wasn’t enough information for me. I wrote him back and said, “This transaction’s going to work like this: We’re not going to use realtors, you’re going to give me the money now, you’re going to come to closing, and you can get a lawyer if you want to. All the paperwork will be taken at closing,” and he agreed to those terms. Then, he reiterated, “My family is in danger, we really want to get them to the States, and we really love that property.”

Two or three weeks goes by, and he said, “Okay, here’s what my bank told me. What you need to do is open up an offshore account in your name. It’s going to cost $5,000.” I thought, “Ugh, it’s the Nigerian scam.” Then I read on further, and he said, “I have a friend in the States who will give you the money to open up the account, so you don’t have to use your own money, you’ll be able to keep this account, it will be yours forever. He’s in Florida, he will send a check to you.” I thought, “Oh, great, that sounds fine.” I said, “I also need for you to send $1,000 to put down on the property so that we can hold it in your name.”

About another week later, he said, “Okay, the check’s going to come on Friday, I’m sending it via Federal Express, just be prepared for it.” It’s been almost three and a half weeks that I’ve had this relationship with this guy on the net, and I’m still worried that it may be a scam. I missed the package when it came, it came on a Friday at about 1 p.m. I went to Federal Express at about six o’clock in the evening, and I looked at the package—it was a Federal Express package, but it was from Lagos, Nigeria. I thought, “Oh, God, it’s the scam.” It was supposed to come from the States. Right then I thought, “Well, if he can send me a check from Nigeria, then why not send me $200,000 instead of this small check?”


Then I went on the Internet immediately, and I looked up “check scam,” and what I found out was that this variation was not widespread yet. What they were doing was buying cars on the Internet. Let’s say they bought a car from you, and you were selling it for $10,000. They would say, “I can only write one check, and I’ve got two purchases to make in the States. I’ll send you $20,000 and I need you to send $9,000—keep $1,000 for your troubles—to this other guy, so I can kill two deals with one stone.” It’s really hard to get money into the States, so this is how they were pulling the scam. And then they would walk away with the $9,000.

So the check came from Nigeria. I think the whole thing was from Nigeria in the first place. There was no Liberia involved, he just said he was from Liberia. I opened it up and looked at the bank check, and it’s from a bank in Florida. It has the signature of somebody I’ve never heard of, and the signature on the Federal Express was from another person who wasn’t Victor. I immediately said, “I know this is a scam, but I’m going to see how far this will go.” So I took the check to the bank the next day and I said, “I believe this is a fraudulent check. Let’s open up a brand new account.” I did that, because I wasn’t sure. I was thinking, “Man, how does this scam work? Do they suck money from my account or something like that, once I open an account?” I wasn’t sure if this check was really valid, and it was really weird, because in my mind I still believed that this was really going to happen, that the sale really could still happen. The check is beautiful, it’s an actual check from Florida, it’s got the watermarks on it, it’s perfect. I put it in the account and I asked them, “If I put this in an account, when can I write against it?” She said, “Two days.” I said, “When will you know this is a bad check?” She said, “Probably about ten or fifteen days.” They said that if the check bounces, I would be responsible for the amount.

When I was on the web researching this, it said that the first thing that they do after you get the check is that they’re going to tell you, “Immediately send money to me! Immediately send money to me!” The next day I get this email: “Immediately send the $5,000 and open up the offshore account. Here’s the guy you’re going to send it to.” So the scam is that they give you a fraudulent check, a fake check, and then they ask you for part of that check to be sent by wire transfer to them, so that money comes out of your account. Then ten days later, boom! You’re responsible for that check and whatever money you sent overseas.

The thing that caught me off guard was that I understood the Nigerian scam and everything that was going on over there, I’d heard of variations, but I’d never seen it in this way. I didn’t realize the relationship this guy was building with me—I mean, he sent me pictures of his family. I really thought this was a real person. Even though I got that check from Nigeria, I still believed at that point that there was a possibility this could have been a real transaction. I really wanted to help this family, get this family over to the United States. Also greed gets the best of you and can make you blind to the truth.

As far as I know, I’m one of the first persons scammed using this variation. I’m trying to get the word out about the scam, but it’s just something to be aware of—that there’s going to be people out there taking advantage of anyone selling these big-ticket items. If you ever have a suspicion about a bank check, look into it with your bank. It will pay off for you.

I COPIED THIS FROM EBAY SCAM SECTION.......
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Old 07-30-2008, 02:50 PM
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Scooterz
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"We’re not going to use realtors, you’re going to give me the money now, you’re going to come to closing, and you can get a lawyer if you want to."


Wow... A "Realtor" could have saved you on all of this... aside from scams, you have no one doing market comps, no realtor checking the escrow service, title company protection, no real estate firm representing you & protecting you from disclosure/non-disclosures, no Earest money agreement to protect you on times, deadlines, inspections, & the overall agreement is so you can protect you & your family if the other party defaults on something. A realtor would not only get your property sold, but he/she would keep you from entertaining a deal with a DING DONG like the Nigeria guy. No offense, cut corners on something else, not your home!! Most the time you can make up some% on the price... you are open to all kinds of BS with out a realtor!! JMO... Good luck
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Old 07-30-2008, 10:42 PM
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oldcarparts
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read my post ending a little more closely, this is not about me or any dealings with me. I copied it from ebay scam notice section just to give people here a heads up about the new angle the Idiots are using.......so I don't belive the wording of your response was appropriate....just my .02
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Old 07-31-2008, 02:31 PM
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Scooterz
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OK, I feel a little stupid for that one... sorry, I missed that part, my bad.

Having said that, I still feel the same way towards the example given. You have a buyer & a seller with no realtor, the buyer is from Nigeria & wants money sent to 3 rd party, he talks a about setting up"off shore accounts" (anyone smell a red flag there??) Anyways, all on E-bay!! So in the end, a deal pushing the most important purchase of a lifetime (your home) is not exempt from scammers...

My case & point: (not trying to be rude) Why the hell would you buy or sell a house on E-bay to a non-represented Nigerian stranger who wants funky 3rd party & offshore transactions in the first place??? that is so ignorant that they almost beg to taken advantage of!!! Whore out the property, get screwd... A+B=C.
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