Warning: Questionable response to a "Wanted to Buy"

[Dale Gamble]

I don't want to make any unconfirmed allegations, but let me tell you about a questionable response I received in response to a "Wanted to Buy" posting I made on June 30, 2013. You can decide what you think about it.

I posted a notice that I wanted to buy a Sierra 8-string lap steel, particularly one with the Cherry finish with legs and a case. At the time that I am writing this warning, there have been no responses to my posting through the Forum response system; however, on July 2, I received a direct response from a person identified as Leon Army, a Forum member who, according to the Forum membership listing, lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. In the email, I was asked if I was still interested in buying the Sierra. If so, he asked me for my mailing address so he could send "pictures" (note that he used the plural) and additional information about a particular guitar.

I immediately responded to the email by providing my mailing address. On July 3, 2013, I received a response to that email from someone identified as Jose Manuel. This email, however, came from a different email address than that of Leon Army. He included one picture of a black Sierra and said that it was "in good condition and work perfectly well." He further stated that it "look clean and excellent." He asked me to let him know how much I would be willing to offer for the guitar and told me how he would accept payment. My response to him was that I was not willing to make an offer with such little information and said I was not interested.

I write this only as a means of warning prospective buyers on the Forum that they should carefully consider all offers when the response does not come through normal Forum channels. Carefully consider all available information, not just the words spoken or written.

[b0b]

I have suspended his membership, based on emails from another member with a similar but more detailed story.

I'm moving this post to the "Wanted To Buy" section, which is apparently where he has been trolling for unsuspecting victims.

[Dale Gamble]

Thank you, Bob, for moving my post. I wasn't quite sure where it should have originally been posted. I just wanted to be sure that the good and honest Forum members were aware of this apparent scam. I happen to be retired law enforcement and nothing stinks any more than this one does.

[Mark van Allen]

Yes, I've just had the same sort of interchange with Leon Army, or Jose Manuel, or whoever he is... An unsolicited offer of my bid on a universal 12 string, when I responded to "Mr. Army", I got a reply from "Mr. Manuel" including photos directly lifted from another forumite's web page. He stated he only takes payment in Western Union or Bank Wire Transfer- a huge red flag common to many scammers. When I asked for more info and photos, he responded with the only other photo of that guitar from the same forumite webpage. Contact with that forumite revealed sale of the guitar to another distinct individual.

So with fairly high certainty, I conclude this character is a scammer of low order to be avoided at all costs. It would greatly pain me to think someone here got taken in a bad deal, and Mr. Army, or Manuel, or whatever you call yourself, I ask you to consider what your Grandmother would think of you...

Best wishes to all buyers, sellers, and swappers- and take reasonable care in your transactions!

[Bob Poole]

While I haven't come across this personally on the Forum,i just wanted to mention that trying to sell a couple of six strings on Craigs List before I was a Forum member,i got so many crazy responses to my ads...always wanting my address so that their "mover agent" that was in my area could come to my house,offering more than my asking price "if I could please kindly removes the item from Craigs List so they would know I had accepted their offer" also things like,"i need to be completely truthfuls and honest are item in condition spoke in ad"...I kept some of these just to laugh at.in most cases they wanted to send a lot of extra $$ that I would I deposit in my acct,then send them(via Western Union) what was left over after shipping...in almost every case,each communication with that person came from a different,usually g-mail address.i loved it when they wanted my address & times when someone would be home...yeah,doors unlocked,come on in....oh,don't mind the 85 lbs of black lab/rott mix,she'll eventually let go of your leg.

[Wiz Feinberg]

I maintain the IP blocklist used to keep Nigerian scammers off this forum. But, if a scammer actually pays and signs up for a legit account, it's hard to block him without knowing his geo-location and IP address. That is why I posted sticky information on the Computers section of the SGF, with detailed instructions for displaying the normally hidden email headers, and, either copying and pasting them into a new message, or forwarding scam emails to me as an attachment.

If I obtain the actual headers of a scam message, I may find a new, as yet unblocked IP address, possibly in Nigeria, or a neighboring country. This would be added to the Nigerian Blocklist that protects this and many other forums.

If you cannot display - copy - paste the complete headers, nor forward as an attachment, your normally forwarded email will be of no use to me.

Here is an example of email headers, from a LinkedIn scam I received today (w/malware links) and my own email address redacted:

Code: Select all

Return-path: <headroomre793>
Envelope-to: REDACTED
Delivery-date: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:46:44 -0600
Received: from [181.14.212.204] (port=19564 helo=host204.181-14-212.telecom.net.ar)
	by box684.bluehost.com with esmtp (Exim 4.80)
	(envelope-from <headroomre793>)
	id 1VMfVD-0006rr-VP
	for REDACTED; Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:46:44 -0600
Received: from  (192.168.1.76) by kg.is (181.14.212.204) with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.4900); Thu, 19 Sep 2013 11:46:43 -0300
Message-ID: <523B0D14>
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 11:46:43 -0300
From: "Kim Berthelsen via LinkedIn" <member>
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:13.0) Gecko/20120615 Thunderbird/13.0.1 Lightning/1.5.1
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: <REDACTED>
Subject: Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
 boundary="------------03080700303040901080603"

[Ron Mawn]

After recently putting a wanted ad in this section I received a responce from a reggiejones129@gmail.com
and says he lives in Spain with his family.
He used exactly the same phrasing as previous menbers had received, so he is still trying his hand at this scam.

[John Billings]

I have gotten emails from Forum "members" who were not Forum members. Somehow the legit members had their email hacked.

[b0b]

If they send the email through the Forum, it will say so at the bottom of the email. Otherwise, they may not be a member.

[Ake Banksell]

Hej! I'm very new to this forum and I must express my bad feelings reading about these scammers out there. Not seldom forums usually are asking for you to make a presentation in the beginning so you are standing on higher ground for a moment for anybody to figure you out. I guess that's meaningless if your account gets hacked by Nigerians. I get propositions by emails from them every now and then. But more then, than now these days.
Anyway. Thanks for membership.
yours
Ake Banksell
Swedish pedal-steeler
Williams SD 700

[Jon Smorada]

Bob Poole, I had a similar experience several years ago trying to sell a Mackie 24x4 Mixing console on Criagslist. First, I get an email from someone with an oriental sounding name who wanted to buy the mixer for his sister's birthday. He said she was moving to California so the moving company would pick it up on their way. Knowing how moving companies work, they NEVER make stops along the way picking up things from different places. It just ain't done that way.

That set off the red flag so I decided to see how far he would go. I was asking 700.00 for the mixer and told him he could pay me with PayPal. He said he didn't have an account so I told him all he would need was a credit card. He then replied he didn't have one and his company won't let him use his business credit card for personal use. The next day an envelope arrived from UPS 2nd Day from Newark, NJ with a check for 1800.00 drawn on a title company from San Francisco's account. I notified him the check was for too much money and he replied with Oh, my office manager sent you the check for the "party planner" and to just cash it and return the difference minus 75.00 for my trouble. So, I took the check to my bank and asked the manager to see if it was legit. After he talked to the bank it was drawn on it turned out to be fraudulent. I went home to find another 2nd Day from Irving, TX with another check for 1800.00 this time from a personal account in Columbus, OH. I'm thinking to myself exactly how stupid does this guy think I am? I never replied to him afterward and never heard back from him. I guess he figured out I was on to him.

Seeing that one check came from Newark, NJ and the other from Irving, TX tells me this isn't a one-man scam and they probably have a network of scammers working together.

If I had fallen for the scam here's what would have happened:
1. I deposit the 1800.00 check to my account, then send 1025.00 back to him via Western Union.
2. I spend the 775.00.
3. The check bounces and I'm liable for 1800.00 plus any fees.

So while the scammer doesn't get the mixer (which he didn't want in the first place) but gets the 1025.00 and I'm out 1800.00+ fees.

Believe it or not I have a friend who got an email from Eastern Europe about an inheritance. She got a check for around 10,000.00 so she cashed it and got caught up on bills. Then she gets a letter from Bank of America stating the check was fraudulent and they want their money back + fees ASAP. Since she already spent the money she was screwed and had to make arrangements to get it all paid back.

So be careful who you're dealing with since you could end up losing a lot of money. Unless it's cash I don't do any business with anyone unless it's through PayPal since they have checks and balances in place to eliminate fraud and if they don't catch it it's up to them to get it resolved on their dime.

[Wesley Medlen]

I HAD THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO ME. I HAD MY SOUND SYSTEM on craig list He told me he would take it would include the money to pay his shipper. I received the check for $900 more than I was to get his name was Glen it was to go to Dallas the check came from Georga I mailed it back to the person who sent it by registered mail with a signature required. I then e-mailed him and called him what I felt Told him he was scum, I live in Ks. was no way it would take 900 bucks to deliver to Dallas only a 9to 10 hour drive for me. Wes

[Dan Yeago]

i was hoping to find what i'm looking for up for sale. Nothing yet so i placed the WTB ad. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the woodwork.

[b0b]

A scam is afoot where a new member answers a "Wanted to Buy" ad directing the poster to contact his "friend" who has one for sale. Sometimes the friend's name is Kenneth Krom. We shut down those new members as soon as we are made aware of this activity. Please report to me or Dave Mudgett if this happens to you.