ODD e-mail

[DevilDog]

I'm selling my laptop on craigslist.com and someone responded wanting to know the condition of the laptop so I told her and she responded with this e-mail. My parents find the whole e-mail odd. What do you guys think?

Hello
How are you,am very sorry for delay reply.Am glad that you respond to my interest on Barely used HP pavilion zd7000 i will pay you the amount.. . aspa the payment am out of the states now ,cos i have been posted to resume work in England[UK]. i will use The oppoturnity to have one of my client in the states that owes me money to issue you a cashier cheque for the payment.once the cheque clears in your bank. you will deduct the money for your Barely used HP pavilion zd7000 and send the rest
to my shipping agent..please don t look at it that i am stressing you over the amount.this's the only oppurturnity i can use in collecting my money that he owes me.please i am entrusting you to release the Barely used HP pavilion zd7000 to my shipping agent and send the balance of the money via western union to my shipper so that he can arrange for the shipping of it to my location provide me with your name and full address so that i will have my client that owes me money issue and send the cheque to you as soon as possible i will be needing the
following information
NAME
ADDRESS
CONTACT PHONE NUMBER
Reply me soon.please let me know if there is anything you don't
understand,Thanks for your co-operation.
Regard,
Sarah

Nick Rose

[c72]

Shady!!!

[screaming_emu]

even if its not, it sounds way more complicated than selling a computer should be.

[ptbodale]

Leaves me suspicious.

[uy707]

Broken English
From unbalanced to craggy description.

I would think twice and then require a payment thru PayPal

Alain

[RingwaySam]

Very shady......

Sam

[Katamarino]

Well know internet scam. Ignore it, or send an insulting email back.

[Genessee]

When buying or selling something over the internet, I avoid anything that makes my eyes cross as I read it

[slate]

Just google shipping agent scam and you will find lots of entries. Here is an excerpt:

Typically, an overpayment cheque scam works like this:

* A seller places an Internet advertisement for a car or computer or other item with a high price tag.

* Later, the seller receives a generous offer for the item, usually via an email.

* The seller agrees on the price, and, often, also agrees to the proviso that he or she refuses any other offers for the item.

* The scammers then send a cheque for the item. However, the cheque is for substantially more than the specified amount.

* The scammers invent some excuse for this overpayment and ask that the balance be electronically transferred to a specified bank account. For example, they may claim that the extra funds are to pay the fees of an agent who is handling the sale or to cover shipping costs.

* The seller dutifully transfers the amount out of his or her own funds.

* Later, the seller finds that his or her bank has dishonoured the cheque. In some cases, the bank may actually have cleared the funds, but discovers later that the check is a forgery or was stolen.

* Thus the seller has been bilked out of a substantial amount, with little chance of recovering the money. Furthermore, the item remains unsold and the seller may have rejected legitimate offers in the mean time.

Basically the buyer overpays you with a bogus cheque, you refund him the difference with real money and send the item, then the bank cancels the phony cheque and you are out the item and the cash you sent.

[uy707]

Pretty interesting, thanks for posting the developpment scheme.
Alain

[JJR]

cash it and keep the cash...... actually dont go near this one with a 100ft poll..... your gonna get screwed...... then 2 years down the road, your going to be linked to funding a terrost training camp or somthing..... you never know..... cash in hand would take it tho......
-Jay

[MemphisBelle]

Seems a little fishy to me too...

[Cubana]

Well know internet scam. Ignore it, or send an insulting email back.

Amen to that!

[DevilDog]

Last night after my parents read the e-mail, I decided reply to that last e-mail she sent. She replied to my e-mail this morning.

Here is what I wrote:

Sarah,

I had my parents read this e-mail, and like me they thought it sounded odd. Why whould you get me in the middle of you and your friend that owes you money. Also why would you trust me with the rest of the money.

Nick Rose

Here is her reply:

I JUST WANT TO USED THE OPPORTUNITY TO COLLECT MY MONEY FROM MY CLIENT THAT IS OWING ME,AND MY PAYMENT AND SHIPPING ARRANGEMENT BASE ON TRUST AND THAT'S WHY YOU CAN SEE IN MY LAST MAIL YOU AGREED TO SEND THE BALANCE TO SHIPPER THEN LET
ME HAVE YOUR INFORMATION.
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE NUMBER

She is really stressing on getting my info. I wish I could send this to the FBI or something like that to see if they can find out something.

Nick Rose

[Genessee]

She is really stressing on getting my info. I wish I could send this to the FBI or something like that to see if they can find out something.

No one with a legitimate purpose would push that much. I'd just have my email program automatically delete any other incoming messages from them. (Maybe tell them I didn't wish to deal with them first, and not even bother with seeing their replies)