Planet 9

Hello all,

I just wanted to inform our members who have cars or other valuables for sale in the classifieds that there are some people on this board (as there are on almost every board) trying to run 419 scams.

I got an email today from edwcrouch_us@operamail.com, expressing interest in my classified ad here on Caymanclub, he wanted details and photos and a bottom line price. The message was sent through the website's email system. I provided him as such and then he sent me a follow-up email agreeing to the price and then giving me the classic 419 approach that he has a client (or agent) in the US who owes him $19,xxx and the cashiers check is already cut (other scammers say that they were trying to buy another car for that amount but the deal fell through.) and all you have to do is deposit the check and wire the remaining balance to them. The scammer on this website went as far as to say that it takes 24 hours for a cashiers check to get to cleared and he wants the wire transfer sent in 24 hours. This is not true; however, the check they send is an out of state check and takes several days to truly clear.

I got this all the time from autotrader, and actually went along with one just to see how far the scammer would go. I received a cashiers check from them, and you it looked very legit, it was from Chase and had the watermarks and everything. However, you can tell it's a fake because it's a U.S. check but it comes from an international address with int'l postage! So, I emailed him and told him his check did not clear after one week and that he should call me... and he actually did!!! He told me he did not know what went wrong and he will send another check lol.

Just wanted to make you guys aware in case you put a car, or something else valuable, in the classifieds section.

Ken, I hope you boot the user, I'm sure you can find him by email; the messaging system didn't send me his user-name.

- Suneet

I also got an e-mail from edwcrouch_us@operamail.com regarding the wheels I have posted in the classifieds. He asked if they were still for sale and wanted more pictures (which I sent). Haven't heard anything back yet...but it's probably the middle of the night where ever this scammer is hiding. Thanks for the heads up Suneet!!!

His username is "edwcrouch_us"
He just registered today. If he is not legit I can ban his account, but of course a determined spammer would continue to come back...

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My Garage | My Gallery | My Articles | My Blog |My Classifieds
K-Man S

No problem I figured he sent a couple out to see if he could get someone to bite.

scam.com is a great resource for info on scams, they have a sticky on 419 scams. I was taking a comparative politics class on Nigeria; which is where I first heard about 419 scams because it makes up a big chunk of their GDP.

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=16565

- Suneet

This is one of the reasons I hate selling things online - con artists.

I have a pair of sport seats for sale in the classifieds section. I get this message from the

Black Sport Seats w/ Porsche Crest

Please confirm availability of this ad, send me recent pictures, last asking price and detailed information.

Sounds like a real inquiry right? We go around a few times and I give him a price. This is the response:

Hello Terry,
Thanks for your mail i want you to know that the price $x,xxx is okay with me.In respect of payment i have a client in the U.S who is owing me $5,510.All i need to do to make payment easier and faster is to instruct him to issue a cashiers check and mail it to you on the address and name you want on the check and you know it takes 24hrs for a cashiers check to clear in the U.S.
But i would want to know if i can trust you to send my balance to me via western union or money gram after the money must have cleared in your bank to enable me prepay the shipping company here so that they can instruct their office in the U.S to come for the pick-up from your location.pls mail me asap to enable me arrange payment.Furnish me with your name and address,so i will forward it to my client for payment.


Best Regards,
Edward Crouch
edwcrouch_us@operamail.com

My reply was simple - "Kindly F*ck Off"

What kind of idiot falls for these scams?

Before someone brings it up - Ken has no control over this kind of BS. It's just part of life on the web. Suck it up, get used to it.

[QUOTE=drvreg;121028]

My reply was simple - "Kindly F*ck Off"

What kind of idiot falls for these scams?

/QUOTE]

LoL damn man, I just told him they weren't for sale anymore. I got the exact same emails though, I think he's using a template.

You'd be surprised how many people actually DO fall for these... especially when they first started a couple years ago. Like I said in my other post, I have one of their cashiers check and it looks pretty real, I keep it as a gag to show friends, it's a cashiers check for $22k lol. None of them can tell it's a fake.

- Suneet

Suneet, visit http://www.419eater.com and enjoy.

Thanks for the tip - I don't usually troll the website feedback forum.

Feel free to send Mr. Douchebag your loving thoughts and admiration until he closes that email account and moves on to scam another board.

Hey "Crouch-bag", here's a link to a WRX Forum - go scam a ricer!

Sure, send Mr. Douchebag an email to get your email address registered permanently on the National Nigerian Scam Mailing List.

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2006 Porsche Cayman S, Lapis Blue, Tiptronics, 997TT-style wheels, Sprint Booster, HIP clear engine cover, Schild trunk liner, Milltek catback exhaust

Ummm - Mr. Moderator, why'd we move my post to "website feedback" section. I don't think this one gets anywhere near the traffic that "chat" does.

This thread started first here in Website Feedback. So in an attempt to not have two separate but same topic threads, they were merged. Yes, Cayman Chat does get more traffic, but this really isn't a Cayman Chat. However, a redirect was left in Cayman Chat so that folks in that higher traffic area will still be exposed to the thread.

Make any sense?

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Gator Bite
PCA Cayman Register Advocate

The forum is attacked by unscrupulous scammers preying upon the "Classified" section here (I got an email from them too).

The 'powers' that be trundle the incident off to an obscure corner where nobody goes, that has nothing to do with adverts in general, and think they're doing the right thing. Uh huh.

Meanwhile, there's no notice on the 'home' page- you know, like a "WARNING" to the membership.
Jump over to the "Classified" section- nope, nothing there either.
Just a little note in 'chat' that gets you here.

Begs one to pause, "What's the sense in that anyway?"

To an uninitiated person, one who might not have heard of this kind of scam, CC just fell flat on their arse playing ostrich and left 'em out in the cold.
I'll thank y'all for being so forthwright and concerned.

Here I was thinking I'd come over and warn folks to be careful.
Nah, just dump it in wastebin 'website feedback'.
Smart.







.

So we trundled it over to some obscure corner did we? The thread was created here, by the original poster. Is he the 'powers that be' that you are refering to?

For your information, we ('the actual powers that be') are trying to guage the severity of the problem and already dicsussing how to best handle this and/or warn the group.

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Gator Bite
PCA Cayman Register Advocate

Or we could dump Kaiser in the wastebin as well. The offending account was terminated. For half a day 2 threads sat around in 2 separate spots, they got combined and since it involves the website and NOT the Cayman they came here. If you choose not to read this forum then you make that concious choice you assume the risk of not being thorough, the same way you assume the risk of dealing with someone trying to buy something of yours in this manner.

Can we stop scammers? No, we'd have to shut the website down to do it. If people don't want to be exposed to scammers they shouldn't be on the Internet, they shouldn't list their goods in their local newspaper because scammers pray on those as well. They should probably go live in a cave somewhere.

If there was a serious breach of security of this site we would have a front page announcement, but this is a random scammer using a bonafide feature of the site (emailing someone with a classified) so a due diligence on the part of the seller is all that is needed, it isn't the end of the world.

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My Garage | My Gallery | My Articles | My Blog |My Classifieds
K-Man S

hi, this scam is a world wide problem, i had the same con happen to me when i was selling my m3 through auto trader in the uk, the guy's story was so long i had to read it in instalments !

I got an email from this douche bag as well. What I need to do is have someone whip up a VBS script virus and email it to the POS.

Folks,

Just a little update for you on this. Because there are only 50 unique users out of our entire membership who have classified ads posted here at the Cayman Club, we have decided to contact each of those members by Private Message to warn them about this attempted scam and call their attention to this thread, just in case they missed it.

Thanks to Suneet, Cayman S Columbus and Drvreg for bringing this to our attention so quickly. I am confident that we have contained the damage.

If you should be contacted by the con artist, tell them to go screw......

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Gator Bite
PCA Cayman Register Advocate

See that the mangement of CC really DOES care about its members, I was really hoping to see crouch reply on the forum

I suggest that you make a contest on CC. Call it 'Moderator for a Day'. You complain, you get to see the flip side of it. Simple disagreement or questioning wouldn't get you the prize but those who oversimplify the role could be the winner!

One reason why I left management last year - tired of the second guessers who wouldn't have half the information but were always ready with an answer as long as it didn't come with the accountability. Ok - time to take my happy pill......