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macfantn · Jun 30, 2007, 10:19 PM

So I am selling my ipod mini on craigslist for $100 w/ home charger and car kit and had this person contact me and ask me about the condition. I wrote them back and told them it is in mint, then I get this response back. What is bidpay? sounds like a scam to me.

I'm high impressed and very satisfied with the condition of this item and the condition of the item has movitated me to offer you $150.00 for this item of yours.

I will be making my payment through my Bidpay account in which the money will be delivered to your contact address without being stressed.

For the whole shipping process, all will be done by me via my fedEX account as soon as the payment gets through which you won't be charge. Kindly get back to me with your full name, address and phone number, so we can proceed with the transaction as soon as today.

I look forward to hear from you.

Warmest Regards

Eug · Jun 30, 2007, 11:31 PM

ok
thanks for the reply i would like to make your payment through bidpay and i need your full name and address please send me your full name and address the shipping would be handled by me and my fedex account

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hi
i reside in belgium but i want to buy the PowerBook + Samsung LCD for son as a gift for his birthday because i'v promise him to get him something good.
pls let me know if uyou will sell for me hanks

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Hi,
Thanks for your email response; I am in Wisconsin right now, but will be leaving for London soon for a coaching job in a few days time.
The item is for my son's birthday present; he travelled to spend time with his mum where she works in the US Consulate office in West Africa .
I'll be paying you through Storm-pay money order as soon as you make your decision and final price/shipping cost; it's secure and protects two parties in a transaction.I will like you to provide the below requirements in your reply for me to send it to storm-pay Office for payment before you ship it, I'll have to add $300 extra for you to send it to him as soon as possible.
Full Name:
Full Contact Address:
Tel Number:
All this information should be provided correctly please to avoid wrong payment. I will forward my wife residential address to you for shipping as soon as the payment reaches you.I will be very grateful to hear from you soon.
Best Regard

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hello,
i will like to order for the item and i will ship to my son and tell me the condition of the item and am paying throught moneygram.so get ack to me with your full information,
thanks

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Hello,
thanks for ur message...and about the shipping,i ll handle it myself cos i have an account with a courrier service,which immediately the money is confirmed,they ll come for the pick up.......u dont need to pay a dime and u dont need to stress urself about the shipping..just send me your name and address..so i can make the payment tomorrow.......till i hear from u asap.

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etc.

Atomic Rooster · Jun 30, 2007, 11:54 PM

I saw this on Dateline or 60 minutes. It ends up in Nigeria and you are ****ed.

OreoCookie · Jul 1, 2007, 12:17 AM

Always settle for cash. If someone tries to have you pay in a different method, decline. Some of those suckers are actually quite persistent. I wanted to buy a lens for my dslr and one guy wrote e-mails back and forth, trying to explain to me why he doesn't accept cash.

irunat2am · Jul 1, 2007, 07:54 AM

My rule is: If anything feels in ANY WAY out of place, I say no thanks.

Somebody else local will want it at some point. Do cash only pickup or delivery. Better safe than sorry.

mduell · Jul 1, 2007, 08:57 AM

I agree it looks fishy and I wouldn't make the transaction, but I'm not sure where the scam is.

If he waits to ship the product until he has the money 'in hand' (from BidPay), there's no risk there.
If he uses the other guy's FedEx account number, there's no risk there (FedEx should tell him immediately if it's bogus).

ebuddy · Jul 1, 2007, 09:05 AM

I do a lot of selling on Craigslist and ever since reading the story on the PPPowerbook, I've wanted to scam the scammer. Does anyone here know of a good way to get back at these guys? Is there a way to scam the scammer?

Eug · Jul 1, 2007, 10:28 AM

I've gotten LOTS of scam emails on Craiglist. It's quite irritating. Nowadays I just flat out state I won't ship anything out of the country right in my listing.

I haven't bothered with trying to scam a scammer though, because it would be a huge time waster.

Angus_D · Jul 1, 2007, 04:31 PM

I've heard about people doing this. They send forged bidpay notification e-mails to try and trick you into thinking they've paid. If you actually log in to your account you'll see that the money isn't there.

If only people were less stupid, they wouldn't fall for such ridiculousnesses.

Eriamjh · Jul 1, 2007, 04:56 PM

Craigslist is for cash. Tell them that.

macfantn · Jul 1, 2007, 05:53 PM

just met someone else he paid $100 cash no hassle, F the scammers

MacosNerd · Jul 1, 2007, 08:19 PM

The only reason why I use craigslist is so that I use cash and do the exchange in person - no shipping. Otherwise it makes more sense fro me to use ebay and paypal.

wallinbl · Jul 2, 2007, 07:31 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

I agree it looks fishy and I wouldn't make the transaction, but I'm not sure where the scam is.

If he waits to ship the product until he has the money 'in hand' (from BidPay), there's no risk there.
If he uses the other guy's FedEx account number, there's no risk there (FedEx should tell him immediately if it's bogus).

Because the 'payment' he receives from BidPay is just a link with a spoofed URL that looks like BidPay's site. Then, in order to get his money, he has to create an account and link the account to his bank account. Then, he's screwed.

FWIW, I never click on the PayPal payment emails even when I'm expecting a payment from someone - I always pop open a new tab and go to PayPal's site on my own.

IceEnclosure · Jul 2, 2007, 08:18 AM

don't worry, in a few months another 'nn lounge reader will post another "OMG is this a scam??" craigslist post.

I just finished up dealing with a guy on ebay. I sold him a device, brand new in the box. It worked, I tested it. The instructions included with the device are rather difficult to follow, and unless you follow them, you basically have a device that lights up its included LCD with just random digits.

about a week after he received it and positive feedback was left, he wrote me.

worst.english.evar. I could barely understand what he was trying to communicate, so much so that I wrote him saying that he'd help his cause by finding some english dude to write to me for him. I don't do returns, so that was out of the question. still don't really know what the guy was on about.

He wrote just like these scam posts, only worse. I thought it was some new-fangled after-purchase scam.