Odd reply to advert

Hiya guys,

Who was it at icebreakers who had a strange VAT fraudlike email
exchange as a result of an advert placed on ukdiving? Something to do
with someone else owing money in a different country? I've just put my
old twinset up and got a very odd reply which appears to be just that
and wondered how it compared to the one that (Steve? Dan? Danny?)
previously received.

Cheers,

Ben

--
Ben Panter, Edinburgh
My name (no spaces)@bigfoot which is a com.

Ben Panter wrote:

> Hiya guys,
>
> Who was it at icebreakers who had a strange VAT fraudlike email
> exchange as a result of an advert placed on ukdiving? Something to do
> with someone else owing money in a different country? I've just put my
> old twinset up and got a very odd reply which appears to be just that
> and wondered how it compared to the one that (Steve? Dan? Danny?)
> previously received.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ben
>
Twasn't me...

Danny
--
The box said windows 98 or better, so I installed Linux

Header is false, correct is Danny at danshome dot org

"Ben Panter" <See@the_end.not> wrote in message
news:3FFD496E.7000404@the_end.not...
> Hiya guys,
>
> Who was it at icebreakers who had a strange VAT fraudlike email
> exchange as a result of an advert placed on ukdiving? Something to do
> with someone else owing money in a different country? I've just put my
> old twinset up and got a very odd reply which appears to be just that
> and wondered how it compared to the one that (Steve? Dan? Danny?)
> previously received.
>
It wasn't me but if you want to let me have a look I do a fair knowledge of
both VAT especially in respect of Eu frauds.

Dan

Daniel Taylor wrote:
> Ben Panter wrote:
> > Who was it at icebreakers who had a strange VAT fraudlike email
> > exchange as a result of an advert placed on ukdiving?
>
> It wasn't me but if you want to let me have a look I do a fair knowledge of
> both VAT especially in respect of Eu frauds.

Well thats got HM Customs & Excise interested then... :)

Al.

A cautionary tale .............

I was selling a MMIIEx plus a few other bits and ....
I've just lost nearly £3000 due to the complete tossers at HSBC.

I had a reply offering to buy my MMIIEx camera ... after a while he
suggested that he pay the money direct to my bank, which I declined so
he then offered to send a cheque overpaying for the camera and I was to
wire the balance to Nigeria (alarm bells were ringing). I duly received
the cheque and paid it into the bank, he then starts pressuring to have
it express cleared which I declined, he then starts pressuring to have
the excess funds wired which I kept puttinf off, I then phoned HSBC and
checked with them that the cheque had cleared completely into my account
which they confirmed, I then asked HSBC if it was safe to use the money
which they again confirmed. Wire the excess funds off and BANG his
cheque failed to clear and I'm out of pocket £2600. It looks like HSBC
will refund the money eventually as they've admitted the info they gave
me was incorrect.

HSBC have refunded my money so at least I'm not the one out of pocket

Names to be aware of
Kerry Larry (The so called purchaser)
seamoore shippingagentconsultant
<seamoore_shippingagentconsultant@yahoo.com>

Nick

P.S Does anyone want to buy a MMIIEx plus YS60 strobe plus Macro lens?


Alasdair Allan wrote:
> Daniel Taylor wrote:
>
>>Ben Panter wrote:
>>
>>> Who was it at icebreakers who had a strange VAT fraudlike email
>>>exchange as a result of an advert placed on ukdiving?
>>
>>It wasn't me but if you want to let me have a look I do a fair knowledge of
>>both VAT especially in respect of Eu frauds.
>
>
> Well thats got HM Customs & Excise interested then... :)
>
> Al.

Nick Bruton <nick.bruton@bristol.ac.uk> writes:

>wire the balance to Nigeria (alarm bells were ringing). I duly received
>the cheque and paid it into the bank, he then starts pressuring to have
>it express cleared which I declined, he then starts pressuring to have
>the excess funds wired which I kept puttinf off, I then phoned HSBC and
>checked with them that the cheque had cleared completely into my account
>which they confirmed, I then asked HSBC if it was safe to use the money
>which they again confirmed. Wire the excess funds off and BANG his
>cheque failed to clear and I'm out of pocket £2600.

There's a lot of this about, and not just confined to scuba diving:

For example - http://www.4x4web.co.uk/scamexamples.html
where the following advice appears:

"Should you decide to accept a personal or company cheque (not
recommended), be VERY aware that although your bank may confirm that
the cheque has 'cleared' after 3 to 4 working days this is NOT
confirmation that the cheque has not been returned unpaid. Given
postal delays your bank may not discover this for 5 to 6 working
days. The only certain way is to again verify with the issuing bank
that the cheque has debited the buyers account."

Pete

--
__________________________________________________ __________________
Pete Young pete@antipope.org Remove dot. to reply
"Just another crouton, floating on the bouillabaisse of life"

Nick Bruton wrote:

> Names to be aware of
> Kerry Larry (The so called purchaser)
> seamoore shippingagentconsultant
> <seamoore_shippingagentconsultant@yahoo.com>

Okay, now had 3 similarly dodgy emails. Since these are mass produced
I'm not sure if they can be classed as "personal correspondance" - in
the interests of nobody falling for their scam I'm putting their entire,
unedited (except to remove my address) emails up:


Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 14:12:24 -0800
From: calplank auto <calplank_autobm@zappo.com>
To: benpanter [my address here]
Subject: your Otter Extreme Neoprene Dry Suit

Good Day,
As regard to your advert on web for sale of your 2 x 10l Faber
Cylinders price £160,which i will like to know the selling price and the
present condition, i will like to know if you will accept a certified cheque
drawn from united kingdom bank, is it negotiable? what is your last
offer.Concerning heshippment,my shipper will come for the pick up as soon as
we seal the transaction. Do get back to me immediately with your:-
NAME..
ADDRESS..
ZIP CODE..
CITY..
STATE...
COUNTRY..
PHONE NUMBER
(HOME,OFFICE,CELL)
Pls mail me today,to let me know what's good,for me to make the payment
ASAP.I
know I can trust you, Hope to hear from you soon and have a nice week ahead.
Best regards,
Thanks.



Greatmail.com pays you cash back when you shop online -- Learn more at
http://www.greatmail.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2004 19:12:46 +0000 (GMT)
From: dereke willy <derekewill@yahoo.co.uk>
To: benpanter [my address here]
Subject: 2 x 10l Faber Cylinders
Parts/Attachments:
1 OK 9 lines Text
2 Shown 3 lines Text
----------------------------------------

Hello,
I was surffing the web when i came accross your adverts of your above
property placed for sale, is it still available for sale, the last price,
and if payments can be made via a cashier s check drawn in uk bank,
kindly gets back to me asap, so i can make for the payments,and seal this
transaction on time.
i awaits your timely responce.
Regards,
derek will

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2004 18:50:35 +0800
From: emiola jones <emiola_jones@linuxmail.org>
To: benpanter [my address here]
Subject: 2 10l 232b Faber cylinders


Goodday,
Am highly interested in purchasing your 2 10l 232b Faber cylinders
,please i will like to know your last price of the 2 10l 232b Faber
cylinders i will like to see the pics if it available ,get back to me
with the present
condition of the vehicle ,i will highly appreciate your urgent respond .
Regard.

--
______________________________________________
Check out the latest SMS services @ http://www.linuxmail.org
This allows you to send and receive SMS through your mailbox.


Powered by Outblaze

Ben Panter <See@the_end.not> writes:

>Subject: 2 10l 232b Faber cylinders

>cylinders i will like to see the pics if it available ,get back to me
>with the present
>condition of the vehicle ,i will highly appreciate your urgent respond .

Vehicle? ROTFL. People fall for this?

>Powered by Outblaze

A common factor in many of these scams apparently.

Pete

--
__________________________________________________ __________________
Pete Young pete@antipope.org Remove dot. to reply
"Just another crouton, floating on the bouillabaisse of life"

"Pete Young" <pete@antipope.dot.org> wrote in message
news:btu14q$j5j$1@visp.bt.co.uk

> >Powered by Outblaze
>
> A common factor in many of these scams apparently.

I have a suspicion they're starting to get their act together.

One of my email accounts is run by Outblaze[1], and has been absolutely
swamped with Swen lately. A couple of days ago, they finally installed
Swen.A filters - so there is *some* development going on there (even if
they did take 3 months to install a 10-minute fix...)

Vic.


[1] It wasn't when I got it - but that company got taken over. The
account changed from being a quick, simple webmail account to a big
bloaty thing with no features ;-(


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

> Nick Bruton <nick.bruton@bristol.ac.uk> writes:

> >wire the balance to Nigeria (alarm bells were ringing). I duly received
> >the cheque and paid it into the bank, he then starts pressuring to have
> >it express cleared which I declined, he then starts pressuring to have
> >the excess funds wired which I kept puttinf off, I then phoned HSBC and
> >checked with them that the cheque had cleared completely into my account
> >which they confirmed, I then asked HSBC if it was safe to use the money
> >which they again confirmed. Wire the excess funds off and BANG his
> >cheque failed to clear and I'm out of pocket £2600.

Damn. I wish you'd said something before wiring the money out. I see stuff
like this all the time. Your alarm bells were right. You should have
listened better. This is a modern variation on an old scheme.

> "Should you decide to accept a personal or company cheque (not
> recommended), be VERY aware that although your bank may confirm that
> the cheque has 'cleared' after 3 to 4 working days this is NOT
> confirmation that the cheque has not been returned unpaid.

Or will not be returned unpaid. Typically, this kind of fraud involves
forged checks and it can take up to a month or more for it to be discovered.
It's not just insufficient funds you have to worry about. Official,
cashier's or similar checks aren't much better. While they appear to be
more secure, a counterfeit or forgery can be done with official checks just
as easily as personal ones. If you're selling to somebody remote, request a
wire transfer. It's quicker and much more secure.

> Given postal delays your bank may not discover this for 5 to 6 working
> days. The only certain way is to again verify with the issuing bank
> that the cheque has debited the buyers account."

That's not certain either. If the check is a forgery or counterfeit, it may
take a month or more to even begin its journey back to you, but the journey
will happen.

Lee