Scam attempt averted

Hi,

I have advertised to sell a couple of my lenses on the local version of eBay a few days ago. A few reactions followed and I have accepted a good bid from an English speaking "lady" for both lenses. Her way of dealing has made me suspicious, but I have sent a payment request per paypal nevertheless. After that, she came back with a shipment address in Nigeria and told me to ship asap while "she" is busy transferring the money! Can you imagine that? What a scam! <anger>

PS: I have reported the details of this scam attempt to paypal and eBay of course.

Cheers,

Cem,

So glad you caught it in time! I'm happier selling in person. Even then I go to a place frequented by cops having coffee for the exchange!

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Cem,

So glad you caught it in time! I'm happier selling in person. Even then I go to a place frequented by cops having coffee for the exchange!

Asher

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Hi Asher,

Selling in person is my preference too, especially with these expensive lenses. But I would not object to shipping them if I'd get what I asked for.

Cheers,

I don't do business with people who live in Nigeria. This country has made a name for itself as being the source of many scams.

I also filter all my emails for the word "nigeria". They go straight into the trash.

No racism here. Just sound business practice based on experience.

Oh, good gravy. As if the Nigerians don't have it tough enough, now it's being used for scamming.

Alain Briot said:

I don't do business with people who live in Nigeria. This country has made a name for itself as being the source of many scams.

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Hi Alain.

I think that a large portion of all Internet/Mail scams originate from Nigeria according to a report I have once read. I cannot provide a solid reference though, I don't know where it was I read it.

Cheers,

Cem

Rachel Foster said:

Oh, good gravy. As if the Nigerians don't have it tough enough, now it's being used for scamming.

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Yes indeed. Although it is not a recent development, this has been going on for years. We all have heard of the scams about general this and that who needs to transfer 20 Million $ to a foreign bank account and I you'd help you could get a fat commission. And BTW, please help us pay the bank transfer costs of some 10K$ in advance, etc. Gullibility is the reason why these scams have had successes in the past.

Cheers,

Cem_Usakligil said:

Yes indeed. Although it is not a recent development, this has been going on for years. We all have heard of the scams about general this and that who needs to transfer 20 Million $ to a foreign bank account and I you'd help you could get a fat commission. And BTW, please help us pay the bank transfer costs of some 10K$ in advance, etc. Gullibility is the reason why these scams have had successes in the past.

Cheers,

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Oh yeah, additional to those generic scams, I have also received ridiculously tempting offers for things I´ve put for sale on the internet (of course, they try to make you send the item with no real guarantee of payment). These scams are a BIG issue, I remember having seen a couple of years ago ( I think) a newsreporter from a major TV network in the US who went all the way to Nigeria to investigate how these scams operate.