[humanalien]

Over the past two days I've received three private messages, all from different username, which the message disappeared in few minutes and I got the message from the admin that it was a scammer.

All three are the same guy it seems. Persistent indeed, I've almost been baited.

Other people, be careful too.

Jesus now I can't even post WTB posts without precautions...

 

[timefleas]

...Jesus now I can't even post WTB posts without precautions...

On the contrary, you should always use precautions when you place WTB or any other posts online that contains contact information.

 

[gangrel]

My reaction on the bank scams is...really? You're STILL trying this one? They're so ludicrous, I've always felt anyone falling for them has to bear a large share of the responsibility. Mind, there's some better ones that take a different tack, but the whole "please help me transfer $18m" or "you are the designated beneficiary of $9m" from someone you don't know...from a foreign country? Please.

Couple of hints. Best practice is to NEVER click a link. Open up a new browser window and connect to the site through the normal route, if you think it's legit. Check return addresses. If it's supposed to be from PayPal, the return address should clearly parse to that. An exception may be, for a smaller business, that they're using Constant Contact; that'll show, and the address will point to Constant Contact, probably. But if it's some bizarre string to some crazy server? It's fake. Similarly, let your mouse hover over links, but be careful not to click. You should see the actual link show in a popup. Same things apply here...is it going where it should?

As far as private messages here? If it's not a private note, or a direct response to a buy or sell post...start by assuming it's fake. I seriously doubt that's being paranoid; and for darn sure, better safe than sorry.

 

[drcab]

if its to good to be true it usually is

 

[TwentiethCenturyFox]

Horrid.

 

[sleepyhead123]

My reaction on the bank scams is...really? You're STILL trying this one? They're so ludicrous, I've always felt anyone falling for them has to bear a large share of the responsibility. Mind, there's some better ones that take a different tack, but the whole "please help me transfer $18m" or "you are the designated beneficiary of $9m" from someone you don't know...from a foreign country? Please.

Couple of hints. Best practice is to NEVER click a link. Open up a new browser window and connect to the site through the normal route, if you think it's legit. Check return addresses. If it's supposed to be from PayPal, the return address should clearly parse to that. An exception may be, for a smaller business, that they're using Constant Contact; that'll show, and the address will point to Constant Contact, probably. But if it's some bizarre string to some crazy server? It's fake. Similarly, let your mouse hover over links, but be careful not to click. You should see the actual link show in a popup. Same things apply here...is it going where it should?

As far as private messages here? If it's not a private note, or a direct response to a buy or sell post...start by assuming it's fake. I seriously doubt that's being paranoid; and for darn sure, better safe than sorry.

The internet has made the cost of a scam minuscule, therefore many people are willing to do it. It costs fractions of a Zimbabwe dollar to send you an email, especially since you don't pay for the electricity for a server to send it to a million people. If you had to snail mail it it would cost a fortune. Therefore the cost benefit analysis unfortunately is in the favor of the scammers. If they get one hit, it was thousand of percent or more return on investment.

 

[Ellery]

Have some fun with it

https://www.419eater.com

 

[paulhotte]

My reaction on the bank scams is...really? You're STILL trying this one? They're so ludicrous, I've always felt anyone falling for them has to bear a large share of the responsibility. Mind, there's some better ones that take a different tack, but the whole "please help me transfer $18m" or "you are the designated beneficiary of $9m" from someone you don't know...from a foreign country? Please.

Couple of hints. Best practice is to NEVER click a link. Open up a new browser window and connect to the site through the normal route, if you think it's legit. Check return addresses. If it's supposed to be from PayPal, the return address should clearly parse to that. An exception may be, for a smaller business, that they're using Constant Contact; that'll show, and the address will point to Constant Contact, probably. But if it's some bizarre string to some crazy server? It's fake. Similarly, let your mouse hover over links, but be careful not to click. You should see the actual link show in a popup. Same things apply here...is it going where it should?

As far as private messages here? If it's not a private note, or a direct response to a buy or sell post...start by assuming it's fake. I seriously doubt that's being paranoid; and for darn sure, better safe than sorry.

Does it actually work? How will I get contacted as a beneficiary to someone I don't know and I will fall for it?
That is crazy dumb....

 

[sticky]

As soon as I get a PM the first thing that crosses my tiny mind is “is it genuine”. Cynical and paranoid maybe but it’s kept me safe on line for quite a few years.

 

[ronkatct]

What, a WUS would not jump on the chance to buy a brand new Rolex Hulk for only $1000, on condition of sending cash first? It is such a good deal that everyone who is into watches wants the deal. A Rolex Hulk for only $1,000 direct from Nigeria is a fantastic deal.

 

[Ipromise]

Some sage advice already. You're all a bunch of scoundrels to me until I check your history.

 

[lvt]

The last time I received their emails was almost 10 years ago. It seems that major mail providers have worked hard to block all mails from any prince or army general in Nigeria.

 

[Rocket1991]

Thank you for clarification!

 

[VintageVagabound]

The internet has made the cost of a scam minuscule, therefore many people are willing to do it. It costs fractions of a Zimbabwe dollar to send you an email, especially since you don't pay for the electricity for a server to send it to a million people. If you had to snail mail it it would cost a fortune. Therefore the cost benefit analysis unfortunately is in the favor of the scammers. If they get one hit, it was thousand of percent or more return on investment.

Actually Zimbabwe uses the U.S. dollar as their currency so you could also say fractions of a U.S. dollar (or pennies as I like to call them) ;-)

 

[MrButterworth]

I’ve gotten several of these scam messages since joining the WUS forums. They have usually been pretty simple to identify as scams. Almost always they are replying to a WTB post I had up, and immediately fell to obvious pieces as soon as I started trying to have a conversation with the person. They typically came from an account who’s password had been stolen, as opposed to a new account. I’d reply to a message and the account’s actual owner would reply (probably after getting a notification email) saying “umm... I didn’t send you that message, what are you talking about?”

 

[gangrel]

The last time I received their emails was almost 10 years ago. It seems that major mail providers have worked hard to block all mails from any prince or army general in Nigeria.

Not entirely. Yeah, I think spam filters probably catch a ton of these, but not all of them.

To what Bo mentioned, let me add:

--any invitation to check things out offsite is a BLACK!!! flag. Same with only supplying an offsite email. I'd report immediately.
--always, always take your time to inspect any link Redirection's a BLACK flag.

This applies here and on eBay, and probably EVERY online sales channel...Chrono24, TRF, what have you. If the seller's trying to step outside the venue's normal channels, assume it's a ripoff attempt.