Nigerian conman

[shoelevy]

hi guys, i sell somethings online via auctions.

i just wanna put up this thread to warn those who use this mode of transaction too.

recently i received a email claiming to be someone from new york.

he was very polite, very legitimate providing me with lots of details about himself.

then he proposes offering me twice the amt which i was selling the auction for to purchase what i was selling. (the amt if not small, its 4 figures)

then he gives me lots of details like where i can find fed ex couriers to send the product to him, his fed ex account number etc etc. and even sends me a western union order approval email showing that he has sent the money to me.

Then, sth caught my attention, the address to ship it to was to NIGERIA, and on the email, it says "You WILL NOT receive the Money Order unless you ship it and provide the buyer with the shipping number"

If you guys can remember, there are lots of fraud originating from Nigeria and for those who business, it is besic business rule internationally to receive money before goods are sent. I decided to call western union to confirm the authenticity of the email.

The first thing the operator asked was "Is the email from Nigeria or are you to send the product to Nigeria?" and i of course said yes. She immediately said do not send it. Its a fraud.

this is the email which "is from western union"

i've done some editting to protect myself

=============================================================================

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY

=============================================================================

=============================================================================

*AUCTION PAYMENT APPROVED*

=============================================================================

Dear Wong Kim Hai,

Congratulations! The order placed by (John) of your auction item to

have a Western Union® branded Money OrderSM sent to you as payment

for the item 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 Dollar)

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

AUCTION AMOUNT : $1720.00

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

TOTAL : $1720.00

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

=============================================================================

***PLEASE NOTE***

The Money OrderSM will be delivered to the address below, Please verify

that the name and address (As entered by the buyer) are correct:

NAME : Wong Kim Hai

ADDRESS : -

CITY : Singapore

STATE : Singapore

ZIP CODE : 322104

COUNTRY : Singapore

EMAIL :-

If there is an error in the name or address, Please click on the link

below and correct it or contact our Costumer/Technical Dept at :

https://www.bidpay.com/SellerRegistrationStep1.asp

BidPay@anywhereusa.com

You can register if you are new to Bidpay® or you can update your

profile if you are already a registered user. If you are newly

registering, it will take 15 business days before you can be able

to see your order status because we shall need to set up an account

for you.

==============================================================================

***ATTENTION***

The order has been APPROVED, you CAN NOW ship the merchandise to the

buyer' shipping address. You are expected to make the shipment

within 48 hours of recieving this Payment Approval Notification.

This is the buyer's shipping information:

Name : Ajani Ayodeji

Address : Nw5/373 Omitowoju Inalende street

City : Ibadan

State : Oyo

Zip : 23402

Country : Nigeria

If the buyer has requested that the item be sent to any address other

than the one provided above, please ship the item OUT and notify us

immediately.

http://www.auctionpayments.com/contactus.asp.

Be sure to include the Western Union Auction Payments order number

and the change of address the buyer has requested. Also, include

change of address” has the subject of your email

***PLEASE NOTE***

The Money OrderSM will NOT be dispatched until 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.

*SHIPMENT VERIFICATION*

You can have the shipment confirmed/verified in any of the following

ways:

1. You can give the buyer of your auction item the TRACKING NUMBER of

the shipment OR send the TRACKING NUMBER to BidPay agent VIA

(BidPay@anywhereusa.com)

Please on no account must you allow your buyer gain access to this

mail.

================================================================================

THANKS SO MUCH FOR USING BIDPAY

================================================================================

Bidpay Team,

Western Union Auction Payments

www.bidpay.com

================================================================================

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY

================================================================================

You can see that its highly detailed, LOOKS absolutely legitimate.

I wanna write this thread to inform fellow reefers out there how professional cheats can get nowadays.

To summaries:

1)beware of emails originating from Nigeria or getting you to send the product to Nigeria

2)Never send goods before money is received

3)Beware of emails with people who do not use proper english (in my case the person claims to be from USA but english is very poor)

4)Do not hesitate to call authorities to confirm authenticity, that's what operators of these big organisations are for

5)even if you already know its a scam....its no harm calling to hear a very sweet female voice on the other end

Thanks for reading

[hamannbmw]

if i remember correctly, there was a thread sometime ago where this reefer actually ordered the nigerian to do funny acts (apple above head)

[williammuk]

Read the five rules of doing business with Nigeria here ..

http://home.rmci.net/alphae/419coal/

Another useful website for your reference ...

http://www.aa419.org

Be careful, don't get conned.

[XPeriment 626]

Read the five rules of doing business with Nigeria here ..

http://home.rmci.net/alphae/419coal/

Another useful website for your reference ...

http://www.aa419.org

Be careful, don't get conned.

Yah yah go read the aa419 website... its cool. I always seem to get these stupid nigerian scams in my email... dunno which dictator died and left money to his wife/military chief/good friend etc etc and they need your help to take the money out of africa and crap like that. so farny!

[shoelevy]

you always get such mails?

it my first time though.

since we're in the topic of being conned, anyone has had themselves or their close relatives conned before?

[Phewbacca]

you always get such mails?

it my first time though.

since we're in the topic of being conned, anyone has had themselves or their close relatives conned before?

nope, my friends and family's smart...