Scams and Online Frauds
The online world presents many opportunities for scam artists and fraudsters. Many scams, however, are simple old-fashioned confidence tricks rather than technological wizardry.
The vast majority of ads and ad respondents on this site – and other sites – are genuine, but there will always be people trying to take advantage of your assumptions. The things that raise suspicion in traditional print and broadcast media should be viewed with the same scepticism when encountered online – most particularly, beware of anything that involves transferring money in advance, or accepting an amount of money which is far larger than the sum you are selling your item for (under the arrangement that you then forward the 'change' to another, or the original, party). Many scams, at the time of writing, seem to originate from Nigeria. Curly brackets around the name of the item you are trying to sell are another warning sign. Those looking for work should be aware of Pyramid Selling Scams which offer home-based 'work' consisting of recruiting others to the scheme and demand an upfront payment.
A scam that turned up in early 2008 involves the landlord asking for a deposit before even allowing the
prospective tenant to view the property. The property turns out to be non-existent, and the "landlord"
vanishes. However desperate you may be for a space in Oxford's cut-throat housing market, transferring money before you've
seen the property is never a good idea: if the landlord insists on it, there's something wrong, even if it's not a
scam.
Another recent arrival is a scam in which people looking for a new
flat are asked to send money to themselves by Western Union Money Transfer and then give the receipt to a prospective
landlord, in order to prove they have enough money for rent and deposit on a new property. We're not sure how this
benefits the scammer, though it may help them gather personal details, but it is not standard practice in house-letting
and we advise people not to do this!
New scam: An advert is placed offering an attractive payment for Mystery Shopping. When you respond, the scammers propose to send a much larger amount then the payment due and ask you to refund the difference. This is a variation on a familiar scam. Be careful: it is not necessarily simply a matter of waiting for the cheque to clear; a cheque can still be rejected by the bank after this, if found to be invalid, leaving you out of pocket.
Here are a few typical scam emails (note that these can often be identified by their incorrect/unusual use of English - however, the level does seem to be improving!):
Hello Seller,
I'm so delighted to keep you aware that i have found your (car roof spoiler crome £20) very interesting to purchase. Please update me if it still very much available for sale.More importantly i will like to know if there is any body damage on it.. I will required of your last price, your contact phone #and also your mailling address. It's will also be nice of you if you can provide me with the picture.So that i can be fully satisfied with it, and my mode of payment shall be paid by (cashier cheque). Once you got it deduct your price and help me forward the balance to the shipper who will be handling the shipping of all my consignments via western union. If everything is ok with you, Email me back.....jsworcott@gmail.com James. |
I NEED A ROOM URGENTLY Hello, Am jessicabrown from u.s.a,26years of age i school in holland likewise a modeling, coming to model in u.k and i will like to be your roommate. i like you to please give me the detail of your room,and the amount per three month my terms of payment will be by cashier bankers cheque,or u.k bank draft Your quick response will be highly appreciated you contcat me on this email address jessicabrown2008@yahoo.com Hope to hear from you soon, Best Regards, jessicabrown. |
| I won't get any money from you now. the reason why am doing This is because I have been fooled several
times and i don't want that to happen to me any more. because i have to come down to BATH for the viewing, So before
i can come down for the viewing I will need you to show me a prove of your ability to rent my property Cause I'm right
live in another city by now and I'm relocated there with my family cos i was transfer to another cty from my company
and for me to believe that you are honest as you said i will need to get a prove from you and i want a prove that i can
make a confirmation on it before i come bath for the viewing. You will go to the nearest MONEY GRAM TRANSFER office around
you or out let Deposit the sum of 550 pounds in your partners or
relative name. this will be between you and your partner not my name also with a month rent and security deposit fee. So
all I need to see is the only the senders name or the receivers name on the receipt you are giving from the MONEY GRAM office
what i need to do with the senders name is to call the money gram office and give them the senders to confirm if the money
you deposit is there. i will get back to you in 20minte time after i make the confirmation then you can go back and pick
your money back. then i will know you are really capable to get my property. will can arrange a viewing. after the viewing
and you like it we can now reach an agreement on how to move into the property. and don't worry about the money gram transfer
charges i will be refunded back to you in cash wen you are here for viewing. If you don't understand, Here is an examples
of how to do it.
A month rent and security deposition fee SENDERS NAME....................YOUR NAME RECEIVER' NAME...................YOUR PARTNER OR RELATIVE NAME ADDRESS......CURRENT ADDRESS WHERE YOU LIVE NOW AMOUNT SENT.....................450 + 550 POUNDS. Don't forget that i tell you the Security deposition is going to be refundable also remember i will refund the money gram transaction charges to you when we meet for the viewing and also don't forget that what i am asking you to do is still within you and your recipient. Waiting to read from you.. |
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And here are some sites that describe typical scamming techniques:
Once you know scammers exist, it is usually a simple matter to distinguish them from genuine respondents to your advert.
If someone tries to buy your item or pay a rent deposit in advance, try to make sure that you speak to them first, in person or by phone. A scammer will try to avoid actual contact. And never, ever cash a cheque that is for more money than you've asked for - your bank will not necessarily protect you.
Masking your email address (follow the instructions when you submit your ad) should cut out the automated scam programs, and cut down, at least, on responses from human scammers. Good luck!
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