Here are several general scams that we see fairly frequently:
1. "Give-me-access-to-your-credit-card" scam
"I can make payment via Money Order (or Cashiers Check) but to make it easier and faster for both of us
I'd like to wire transfer to your credit card. This is the information needed for the transfer to be made
to you:
Credit Card Number?
Payment Address Of The Credit Card?
Phone Number?"
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The intent may be to wire you a bogus check which won't be discovered until after
you send the desired materials, but they are more likely trying to gain access to your credit card.
2. "My-bad-payment-for-your-good-payment" scam
Sorry for not getting back to you...My (Cashier) will issue and send out a Money Order for the cost of _____ and as for the
shipping don't worry about that because i will arrange for the pick up at
your location. Am presently located at ______ USA but am not in the country right now. I would have also
loved to forward you my phone number but it is out of service but I promise to forward it to you as soon as it
is back online. So i will like you to send me your full contact information...
or
"I'm interested in your ______ . I will send you a check, and as soon as you receive the check, please deduct
_____ for your trouble and send the balance to _____ by Western Union, since I have some other items I need to
purchase from him. If you are OK with this, please send me your full name and address, so that I can send you the
check ASAP."
or
"Someone contacted me from Ireland interested in the ______ I have posted. He seemed honest, even telling me to
check the shipping because it would be much more to send to Ireland ( I didn't realize how much, so I appreciated his
honesty). However, the last email I got from him, informed me that his "colleague" was sending me a certified
check for $2450! Then I was to take what was owed to me and send the rest by Western Union to him and to take
$10 out for my trouble!"
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What is wrong with all this? They send you a (big) bad check, you send them a (slightly smaller) good check or money order. By the time
your bank discovers the problem, they are gone (with your money).
What you can do
Be careful out there. If it feels odd or sounds too good to be true, don't continue.
You may want to report the scammer immediately to their email host (i.e., aol.com, hotmail.com, etc.), to the
police department at the address to which they want you to send the check, and/or
to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.
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