Dont sale to NIGERIA

[anindya2004_in1]

The following scam targets eBay sellers, who may be tricked into shipping goods to Lagos, Nigeria without any payment. First the criminal contacts the seller (usually via a new eBay account, often registered in Singapore) and offers a high price for an item on sale. He or she will request that the item to be shipped to Nigeria via a parcel service (FEDEX, DHL, UPS, EMS) and explains that the buyer will pay via "Western Union Auction Payment (Bidpay)". This is a legitimate company, but that doesn't matter in this case, because it's not actually involved.

The way the scam works is that the seller is told the money will only be released by Western Union / Bidpay when the buyer supplies a tracking number, i.e. when he has already shipped the parcel. To get the seller to ship the parcel, the criminal himself poses as Western Union, sending an email from a free webmail service to the victim using an email address which mentions Western Union or BidPay, for example "westernunionmoneyorderpayment@banknotes.com", assuring the seller that Western Union has received payment from the buyer and will release it as soon as he submits the tracking number as proof of shipping. A seller believing this message to be sent from Western Union will lose his merchandise and the shipping costs.

If you receive a fake Western Union / BidPay message, look at the email address this was sent from (for example, westernunionmoneyorderpayment@banknotes.com or onlinebid-pay@accountant.com). If you take this address and replace the left part with the word abuse you get the email address to which to forward such scam emails (for example, abuse@banknotes.com or abuse@accountant.com). Ask the email service to suspend the email account used for this fraud.

See below for examples of such scams. If you have received any such offers, send us copies. Please mark the subject line:

[419] Lagos: eBay
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Example notification (from "bedfordsuperstore"):

Dear seller,
I really want to buy this item and i need a seller who is ready to sell,i
will be paying 750euro for this item and you will ship it to my client in
Nigeria.
(1)I will be paying you by western Union Auction Payment(Bidpay).
(2)You will ship the item by FEDEX,DHL,UPS,EMS.
(3)You will ship the item to my client immediately you recieve my payment
approval from the western union.
If you agree with these stated terms,send me your full name and address so
that i can go to the western union office immeidately to make payment for
the item.
please please scammers stay off!!!!!!!!!!
Robert Dallas

Here is another one by the same scammer:
dear seller, i want to really buy this item and i want
you to ship the item to my client in Nigeria. i will be paying 600euro
for the item and i want you to calculate the shipping cost and the item
price together. i will be paying with Western Union Auction Payment(bidpay)
and i want you to ship the item via UPS,FEDEX,DHL OR EMS. you will ship
the item to my client immediately you recieve my payment approval from
western union. if you agree with these terms,send me your full name and
address for immedaiate payment at the western union office.
Scammers keep off
Dallas Robert

When contacted by email (bedfordsuperstore@nyc.com) the scammer replied:

Dear seller,
Immediately i go to the western union office to make payment for the
item,they will send you a notification that my payment has been approved
and they will send you a number which you will use to rack your money,the
payment will be delivered to the address you will provide.
And once you have track your money and you have seen that your money is
confirmed then you will give me the tracking number to the item.
Or would you like it if i pay you by MONEY GRAM?
If you still want to sell to me send me your full name and address so that
i can go and make payment for the item as soon as possible.
Hope to hear from you soon.



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Here is the fake "Western Union" money notification which is actually sent from a free webmail account instead of from Western Union:


Dear B. E. Trueger,
Bidpay®Online Payments hereby congratulates you and also want
to inform you that the ® Money OrderSM sent to you from Robert
Dallas has been Approved.

Item information
®Money OrderSM :750 EUROS

Auction Item :Keyboard YAMAHA PortaSound Model PS-3
Auction site : Ebay



Seller Contact Address:

Name: victimname

Addresses: victimstreet

postal code: victimzip

city: victimcity

country: victimcountry

Identification Number: 42-782-719.M


Shipping information Via DHL:

NAME:SEGUN ABIODUN

ADDRESS:25,ABIMBOLA ODUNSI STREET,OFF COKER RD
ORIMOLADE BUS/STOP,IFAKO,OGBA

CITY:LAGOS

COUNTRY:NIGERIA



This money order has been approved and will be sent out TODAY
to the address provided by the buyer and you should expect it
in 4-7 business days after postage has being confirmed.
You CAN NOW send the items to the buyer,Moreover the above ®
Pin Number will be asked for before the delivery of the Money
OrderSM, you will also identify your self with your ®drivers
licence or your ®Social security number.

N.B NOTE THAT THE MONEY ORDER WILL NOT GET TO YOUR RESIDENT IF
SHIPMENT TRACKING NUMBER IS NOT SENT TO US IN THE NEXT 24HRS
FOR SHIPMENT VERIFICATION IN OTHER TO SECURE BOTH THE SELLER
AND THE BUYER.

And if you have any question, feel free to contact our customer
service at (westernunionbidpayment@personalmanager.com).

TO CONFIRM YOUR PAYMENT CLICK BELOW

https://netsage.finali.com/netsage?customer=wuap&iid=esell-appr&
num=22813469&status=appr&date=20050330country=UK

If the Link above does not work:
Type in or copy and paste this link into your Web browser,Make
sure you copy this link exactly and do not add extra spaces.

Thank you for using Western Union ® Online Payments. We look
forward to serving your online payment needs in the future.

Sincerely,
Western Union Online Payments.



More instructions from the scammer:

Dear seller,
I have paid for the item and i know by now you should have recieve my
payment from the western union.
I want you to please remove the invoice of the item when shipping it and
also you should declare the item as a EASTER DONATION.
Also you shouldnt write down the exact amount of price i bought the item
from you,This will reduce the rate of custom charges when the item get to
my client,they wont charge him much.
And also i will like you to give me the tracking number for the item since
your money has been approved.
Hope to hear from you soon and also to do more business with you.


From:
To: emailaddress
Subject: APPROVED MONEY ORDER(8180658433 ) REPLY TO THIS EMAIL
Reply-To: westernunionbidpayment@personalmanager.com
X-Mailer: SeeqMail 4.0 (authenticated
westernunionbidpayment@personalmanager.com)
X-Origin: 213.181.81.125
X-Uidl: 1112178921603078762
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 02:35:21 -0800

WHOIS details for sending network (IP 213.181.81.125):


inetnum: 213.181.64.0 - 213.181.95.255
org: ORG-BL4-RIPE
netname: NG-BROADBANDTECH-20000327
descr: BT Limited
descr: PROVIDER Local Registry
country: NG
admin-c: IO243-RIPE
tech-c: IO243-RIPE
status: ALLOCATED PA
notify: bt@micro.com.ng
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
mnt-routes: BT-LIMITED-MNT
mnt-lower: BT-LIMITED-MNT
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20000327
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20001003
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20010507
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20010704
changed: lir-help@ripe.net 20011214
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20020419
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20020423
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20020613
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20030211
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20040406
source: RIPE

organisation: ORG-BL4-RIPE
org-name: BT Limited
org-type: LIR
address: BT Limited
address: 8B Ademola Street,
address: Off Awolowo Road,
address: S. W. Ikoyi,
address: Lagos, Nigeria.
phone: +234 1 2693192
fax-no: +234 1 2693192
e-mail: bt@micro.com.ng
admin-c: IO243-RIPE
admin-c: IO243-RIPE
mnt-ref: BT-LIMITED-MNT
mnt-ref: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
changed: hostmaster@ripe.net 20040415
source: RIPE

person: Israel Oyeleke
address: BT Limited
address: 8B Ademola Street
address: Ikoyi S.W.
address: Lagos, Nigeria
phone: +234 1 2673532
fax-no: +234 1 2673203
e-mail: i.oyeleke@moneynett.com
nic-hdl: IO243-RIPE
notify: i.oyeleke@moneynett.com
changed: ifiok@btlimited.com 20010605
changed: ifiok_moses@yahoo.com 20030917
source: RIPE

[abhishek99379]

hi. even i have received such a buyer. he seems to be too good to be true. really this forum has helped me save around 9000 bucks. surely if my family would have found out i would have been kicked from my house. thanks

[telletelle]

The same thing happened to be when I used craigslist. I should've known better. I had serious doubts but the email I received was from payment@usps.com and looked pretty legit so I shipped it. And now since I just realised I was scammed it was too late to cancel my shipment.

Here is my email:

Dear ___,
Congratulations! The order placed by the buyer of your item: James Iskeel to have a United States Postal Service branded Money OrderSM $70.00 (USD) sent to you as payment for the item: NOKIA 6010 T Mobile Cell Phone With Handsfree has been successfully processed and has consequently been APPROVED. The financial details of the transaction are stated below:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*FINANCIAL DETAILS*
(NOTE: All amounts are in US$)
-----------------------------
Auction Item : NOKIA 6010 T Mobile Cell Phone With Handsfree
Auxtion Site : Craigslist
-----------------------------
TOTAL : $70.00
---------------------------
Address Verification
The Money OrderSM will be delivered to your contact information below, Please verify that the name and address (As entered by the buyer) are correct:
Name :
Address :
City :
State :
Zip Code :
Country :
Email :

If there is an error in the name or address, Please email our representative at Uspstracking@consultant.com The order has been APPROVED. You CAN NOW ship the merchandise to the buyer's shipping address. You are expected to make the shipment within 24 hours of recieving this Payment Confirmation Notification and get to our Costumer/Technical Dept. with the tracking number for Shippment Verification.

The Money OrderSM will NOT be dispatched or get to your resident until the shipment has been verified. This measure is taken in order to protect both seller and buyer interests and to reduce the occurrence of fraudulent activities.
Due to the fact that United States Postal Service processes thousands of orders daily, United States Postal Service RECOMMENDS contacting the Customer Support Representative that has been assigned to this particular Order directly. This ensures speedy verification of shipment as well as prompt dispatch of Money OrderSM. Send shippment tracking details to : Uspstracking@consultant.com.
Once shipment has been verified, You will receive a "ORDER DISPATCHED" email from United States Postal Service informing you that the Money OrderSM has been dispatched. Included will be the TIME and DATE payment is to be delivered.

Money Order Security Features
Things to check for to ensure a Money Order is authentic.

Postal Money Orders are safe to use because they have many security features that help distinguish between real and counterfeit notes. Just like our own U.S. currency, they are specially designed with different colored inks, watermarks, and security thread in the paper.

Hold the money order up to the light and look for the following security features:
Ben Franklin images (watermarks) repeated on the left side (top to bottom).


A dark security thread running (top to bottom) to the right of the Franklin watermark, with the tiny letters “USPS” facing backward and forward.
Also below is the sample of the money order that will be delivered to you after we have receive the shipment tracking number from you.


Order Status And Informations:

Order Number:
26579805

Auction Payments Order Available


AVAILABLE

Order Placed


Order Status


Money order Available

Money Order Approved


Money Order Confirmed


Billing Information:


Status:


Processed successfully

Name on Account
James Iskeel

Account Number


3*******205

Services Purchased:


Online Payment

Payment for Item


$70.00






Purchased Item Information:




Auction site


Craigslist

Item Description


NOKIA 6010 T Mobile Cell Phone With Handsfree

Item Number


NIL






Seller Information:




Name


Street address



City, State, Zip



Country


USA.

Phone Number


Email












If we do not hear from you as soon as expected the payment will be returned back to the buyer. We will be awaiting you to ship the item and mail us the shipment tracking number so that we can send out your payment.With this no buyer can stop payment with a false claim that there is no longer any transaction between the two of you after you might have shipped.We are your mediator,we stand between both the buyer and the seller because we have our name to protect.

Thank you for using Postal Money Order Payments® ExpressPaymentSM. We look forward serving your Online Money Order Payments® needs in future.


I was already being very cautious. I almost didn't send it because it was being sent to Nigeria. But then he made up some shit about his son who goes to the College of Marine and Fisheries there. I even asked for a phone number I could call and when I called it, it wasnt right and I asked why. And he said his phone is broken that he needs to fix it.

The emails were very convincing. Here is the other email they sent after I emailed them the tracking number:

Dear _______,

Thanks for using USPS Online Payment Order.We just want to alert you that your payment will be delivered to your address between 5-6 business days (2nd June, 2006), between the hours of 10am - 12noon.

Your money order has been shipped out immediately.Be expecting a money order of $70 to be dispatched to your address .You are advised to be present for signatory purpose.

Thank you for using postal money order. We look forward to serving your online
payment needs in the future.

Sincerely,
Postal Money Order.
*****************************************************************************************
REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE
Uspstracking@consultant.com

United State Postal Money Order Payments copyright®

And the thing is, my mail does usually come between 10am-12pm so that's what convinced me.

I just hope this helps everyone out there. BEWARE OF NIGERIAN BUYERS.

[wildcatone]

FYI - This scam is also being used on craigslist. I almost fell for it but did a little research and was happy to find this message board. The person I was dealing with used the United States Postal Service Money Order System. It sounded to good to be true, and it turns out that it was. As soon as I was sent the FedEx label with a weird address, I looked it up and it was in Lagos, Nigeria, and that raised the final red flag.

[joeski1680]

I am currently dealing with a "buyer" who is trying to use the USPS MoneyOrder scam. The email to verify the money order was askquestion@accountant.com. The email was the first thing to set off my suspicions. Why would the USPS was accountant.com? Also,he's from "Poland" and offered to pay for shipping and pay more than the bid. He had only been an ebay member for 3 days and had no prior purchases. I gave him my address so he could send the money order (now I'm a little freaked about that). After I saw this forum, I wrote him an email that I would not accept the money order, only money in hand before the item was sent out. Also, he said he would be sending a different address because it was a gift for his son. I'm so glad I double checked!

[wadster21]

GOOD STUFF!!! I am the newest person who these guys have tried to scam. All I can say is thank goodness for Google.

I feel bad for those of you that have lost money to these guys. Oh well, a lesson learned I guess.

It was my first time ever using Craig's List, and I was shocked that "Jessica Walter" was so eager to raise the price from what others were offering. Then when you threw in the emails with their obvious signs that it might be a scam, I started my research and found out about the scam.

I first replied to the " ***United States Postal Money Order***Payment Confirmation Approved***($450.00)***Cash " email with this:

"I've never used this service before. I don't feel comfortable mailing out my item before I have received payment. Please send me a phone number I can call to ask some questions. Thanks."

The phone number they sent me was the same one that was sent in the initial email by Jessica Walter (another sign of a scam).

After reading this thread and several others, here's the reply I sent back:

"Thought you might want to check out these websites:

http://tunaspecial.com/?p=96
http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=8955&sid=cf61e10d955239cd826e65bdcdf16c91
http://forums.ebay.in/thread.jspa?threadID=600000122&tstart=0&mod=1136916477715

Nice try. Better luck with your next victim that doesn't know how to do their own research."

I can't wait to see if they reply...I doubt it though. As you can see, my reply contained the links to a couple other forums talking about this same scam.

Thanks for the heads up.

P.S. I also got replies from "Mike Williams" with the same kind of offer to send a money order and with the same broken English. I'm sure they change their names every time though.

[msholt7b]

I was going to ship my item and got suspicious about the broken english emails, it is a scam. My postage is for Nigeria. Thanks so much. The user I dealt with was
mikewaters104@yahoo.com

[smileawhileshaji]

Hello Sellers,

The 3 Mantras for selling successfully on eBay.

Something the seller's should be aware of:

As some of you might be aware that there is scam going on the eBay site, where some international buyers seem to bid on mobile phones and electronic items and ask them to be shipped to their country. After the transaction is over they ask you to ship the item and that the money has been sent to you via Western Union money transfer (ebay does not recommend). The money is never transferred and the sometimes buyer gets the item even without paying for the item.

Bottomline: BEWARE OF NIGERIAN BUYERS

We need the best to keep eBay the best:

The best courier company for national deliveries is First Flight Couriers Ltd. and if the items are costlier, you can depend upon Airfrieght Ltd. (A subsidy of the DHL, international)

Say NO to spoof emails:

The best email service available is at www.inbox.com. Here you get 2GB of space and all the emails are scanned before they get to your inbox. This way you can have full control over the incoming emails. You are sure not to receive spam.

Happy selling on eBay,
smileawhileshaji

[sellingisfun76]

I have been selling on ebay for several years and recently took a hiatus to try out craigslist. The fact that it was free and local was very appealing. I have listed a few items and have yet to complete a craiglist sale. I have recently been hit with the same scam as above, with the buyer declaring they are from (insert state here) and are, of course!, "buying for a friend". They sent a very similar usps confirmation email (this one from "post.com") and I noticed a few minor typos which raised my suspicions. It stated that once I verified a tracking number the postman would happily deliver a money order (or cash!) to my door. Great stuff. I've written them back for a shipping label as they too have indicated that they would cover shipping through a FedEX/UPS/DHL account. I'm sure that once I receive the label it will have a funky address on it, possibly to Nigeria. I'm will definitely be reporting this buyer to both craigslist and ebay. I'm very glad to have found this forum and will definitly be pulling my items from craigslist and re-listing them on ebay in the near future. Say what you will about ebay's fees and structure, but I feel the safety is definitely worth it. Thank you to everyone that has posted. Glad to be back. -Jacob

[webworld.8485]

THANKS TO THOSE BLOODY NIGERIANS

I OWED EBAY RS. 2300 AND I DIDNT SOLD ANYTHING, I HAD STOP USING THAT A/C, FOR 2 YEARS, I HAVE BEEN GETTING MONTLY STATEMENT OF EBAY ACCOUNT TO PAY THEM

EVERY TIME I MAIL EBAY MENTIONING WHAT HAPPENED, BUT THEY DID NOT SOLVED MY PROB. SO I HAD TO CREATE A NEW A/C

[vita-trav]

Purchase on eBay is possible according to two scenarios.
Auction – the seller exposes a lot with the minimum cost and date of completion of the auction to which any of users can raise a rate. That user, whose price appeared the last and becomes the buyer. It is worth noticing that after a victory at auction it is impossible to refuse purchase – you are obliged to pay for goods.
Buy it Now – here all as in shop. There is no auction, rates and time of completion of auction. Users simply press the Buy it Now button and take away goods how said on Nigerian news today  
Also, it is possible and the combined option when the seller begins the auction, however besides them establishes and the fixed price for which the lot can be bought, without waiting for the end of auction. And still, to teach us how to buy, eBay sometimes grants the right to the buyer to bargain with the seller, exposing the option "Make Offer". If you don't agree with the established price, but are obviously adjusted on purchase, this function will allow to suggest to reduce cost a little.
It is difficultly for them of ways to tell the most widespread. Beginners practically always choose for themselves Buy it Now not to get into difficulties. More experienced users like to bargain, after all it is so possible to buy goods cheaper than its market value. Exactly thanks to such approach of eBay also I became popular service – that, the transaction will be how favorable, in many respects depends on experience and ability of the buyer to look for necessary goods with attractive conditions.