The need to be cautious?

[antsis]

Hi Guys

I just got a email from someone calling himself "The Manager, (s_themanager777@yahoo.co.uk)"

Here's the mail,

"My name's dan i am to know much about you advert you
put posted on the site the (ads) am intrested in
purchasing .
i will like you to answer the following question
before we can talk on the payment because the payment
will be by cahier check or money order.
1)where do you live?
2)why are you seeling it ?
3)tell me the present condition?
4)Give me the recnet pics of it? .
5)the best price for the items?.
Thanks
My regards"

I see lots of these emails when selling items and it could be genuine, but apart from the bad spelling and the usual requests for personal details what made me suspicious is the subject line which was"Century Raven 50. OS50 SXH, SAB blades,"
Now my original ad stated NHP mains and I only changed the blade description in my profile.

I've seen this name on this site. Are you the one and the same person and is this a genuine query?

[Janek]

Re: The need to be cautious?

cahier check or money order

That's the REAL killer, it's a sure sign of a scam.

They send you the cashiers cheque, you put it in your bank account, your bank CLEARS it 8O , you hand over the heli to someone who turns up, you transfer extra funds to a bank account they nominate, less a handlers fee.

You're quids in. . . . . . . . until. . . . . . your bank writes to you a few weeks later, telling you that the cheque was a forgery, and that they have taken the funds back out of your account. The fact that THEY cleared it in the first place does not protect you in any way 8O

You are down the heli and potentially a shed load of cash.

This is typical of the BMFA ads site, which seems to be a particular target for this type of scam, yet the BMFA do nothing about it 8O . Was it the BMFA site, or the one here ?, if so, report it to Stuart.

You could of course have some fun, and start stringing the guy along :lol:

[Thomas]

I had a great one the other day, it was from PayPal sending me a confirmation of a transaction I never made, with a like to query the transaction, click the link you sign in to a PayPal look alike site, they then ask you to update you credit card details, the email looked sus but when the site asked for you ATM PIN I though they were taking it a little too far.

[antsis]

Janek

I've a feeling the reponse was from an ad I placed on this site in Nov. Since then, I chipped one of the blades and put a new set on SABs on. I only changed the description in my profile.

I've played around with these people before, suggesting they give the cheque to their shipper and making him contact me when he has the cash. Generally, I don't hear from them afterwards.

[Steve]

Woooooooooo!!!!

Nothing to do with me.

I'm new to this site, but definately a genuine heli flying modeller. I'll PM you my number if you want to chat.

[Stuart]

The e-mail has no connection to any member of the site, via Mysql database no matches where returned.

I'm curious as to how they got your e-mail address as all links to contacting a seller only go via a PM, so you have to be registered to make contact, unless you've posted your e-mail address inside a post.

[Alan_w]

GUYS BE CAREFULL!!!

Cheque fraud is one of the biggest growing fraud, last year our company lost about 1500 in Credit card fraud, this year so far we would have lost out on nearly the same in cheques fraud if we hadn't rejected them.

Be carefull guys,


Alan

[Dedcalm]

Simple rule, if it looks sus dont touch it mind you there is not a massive market for braiding/spiral binding, XTR interface cables and buddy cables

There are lots of paypal scams doing the rounds lately, you bought my item etc etc... confirm your details yada yada...

Rob

[antsis]

Hi Guys

As it happens, I had another email just the same as the top one. This time I told them to send the cheque to their shipper who could then bring the cash. I don't think so somehow!

Anyhow I also would like to add that I was not pointing fingers at any members and that was the reason for the question at the end of my post. I did have the model advertised on another site which I subsequently deleted or so I thought. Apparently it was not deleted, but I have done it and checked. I originally bought my raven as a hack and so it was expendable. With the purchase of the predator 90, I saw no reason to keep the raven and thus the reason for putting it on the market. As things turned out, my daughter, who's 9, has expressed an interest in flying and has started with the sim. As an incentive, I decided to keep the raven for when she's ready to take that step into ic. I thought I had removed all the ads, but obviously not. It is still on this site but will be gone once I've done this.

Again I did not intend to offend any members and I apologise if I did. I have pm'd The_Manager and told him this. However, this shows that these scammers are changing their tactics slightly. It looks like they are now browsing forums and imitating members user names, so to go with the rest of you and say just be d**n careful who you deal with.

[Stuart]

Ant,

No harm done or offence taken, I was just concerned that someone had managed to get your e-mail via this site. The only way anyone should be able to a members e-mail is via a member giving it out, or if they elect to show thier e-mail via the profile that creates and icon.

I would strongly urge ALL members not to give out e-mail's in the public domain, keep it strickly within PM's.

[Janek]

Was the "other" site the BMFA "for sale" by any chance ?

[antsis]

No Bumpygreen.