too good to be true

[alex matson]

So....
I've been putting some gear up for sale at various places around the net. A few days ago I get an email from a guy. Here's what he said -

Good day,
I saw your advert you placed about the Rickenbacker 12 string guitar you have for sale and i am intrested to buy.I am an American,currently in West Africa.
I will want to know the last offer and the present condition of the guitar.So i will be paying through a cashiers cheque by a client in USA(America),So i will want to know if this is ok by you ASAP.

REgards, Richard.

So I email him back with info about the guitar. This follows -

Hi Alex,
Thanks for the mail.the price is ok by me,but initialy,i have placed an order to a person in America(USA).Who was willing to sell his Rickenbacker,but later told me that somebody else has offered him an amount greater than what i offered to him.And payment has been made to him and he has promised to get me another one.The amont is $4850
? I am also a specialist in rock music which sometimes i do play in west africa,and get some money for myself.I also play in clubs like eleven:45,y not and some other important places but i think it's hi time i need to come up with something more instrumental.So i will need your full infomation name,address and phone number so that i can instruct my client on issuing the cheque on your behalf.
So you will have to remove your money and send me the balance through international money gram close to you? to west africa.So if this is ok by you let me know as for the shipping,my shipper will handle that,the monent the cheque gets to you.So you will have to send me the balance so that i can pay up my shipper to come for the shippng immediately.
Alex,i will be trusting you for my balance,you know money is very hard to come by these days as i will be trusting you.So if this is ok by you,let me know ASAP.

Richards.

I email him back, thinking, this guy doesn't sound like he's from America (USA) (??!!), understandably somewhat incredulous about the fact that he wants to trust a complete stranger in another country with a cashier's check for almost $5000. Not to mention the fact that the guitar retailed for less than half of that. The reply -

Hello Alex,
? Thanks for the mail,you sound very honest and i am begining to have a trust in you.Like i toold you before that it was the amount i first placed an order for with my client,but the item had been sold.So right now i am instructing him to issue the cheque to you.You don't need to be worried.I am assuring you for the payment,all you nee to do when you get the cheque,go cash it immediately,reduct your money and send the balance VIA money gram.You made mention of currency,of course its a US dollars cashiers cheque,so i will be counting on you for the balance so that i can pay up my shipper to come for the shipping immediately of which you dont have to worry about the shipment,as my shipper will take care of that.
So if this is ok by you,let me know ASAP.So that i can instruct him to go ahead with the issuing of the cheque.

Richard.

At this point, I'm starting to get the picture. I call up the manager of my bank and tell her the story. She says this is a common scam, and the fact that the guy is from West Africa adds to her evidence - apparently for some reason a lot of these scams originate from there. She says that these guys like to stop payment, or just print up fake cashier's checks (she says you can get everything you need to do this at your local office depot) for more than the amount the item for sale is being sold for, and try to get the seller to send the buyer the item AND the money. Nice!

So when I try to write the guy back saying, Sure...send me a check (which I'd make sure cleared before I sent him a damn thing), the email comes back as undeliverable! Aww...this was going to be fun.

So I thought I'd pass this little saga along as entertainment and as a cautionary tale (not that you fine folks wouldn't smell this one a mile away).
Goodnight! (Anybody wanna buy a Ricky 12 string?)

If I ever hear from this dude again, I'll post an update.

[DUC]

Was that a pun, 'cos you posted the same thread twice?

[alex matson]

hmm...didn't think i did. but there it is...

[DUC]

You should've kept them both open. I thought it was clever.

[alex matson]

as it turns out, there has been an update or two! I'm posting them under the buy/sell/trade forum. go look - now!