Watch out for con artists!!!

[siphiwe]

In response to Shonver's spades being called spades

I want to think it's not because I'm black.
It's definitely not because I sound Nigerian, because *cough* I sound good. When I think about it after yet another white seller stops talking to me or responding to my emails, I lean more towards it being a trust issue. That way I sleep better than if I think I've just being discriminated against. Maybe you'll be in a better position to see where I'm coming from after reading below...

My score for the past six or so months is

2(Indian) -0(White)
Attempted buys from white guys in the same period = 2,  and I think I've just lost number 3.

It's typically the same story

About the possible number 3
- I made the call on Friday afternoon after seeing the ad. I explain to the guy that I'm in Durban and it's not gonna be possible for me to view or audition the goods. If he's comfortable with receiving money for them and sending them to me. He had mostly one liner responses to what I was saying. He did give me an email address and it didn't bounce back when I emailed. He told me where he's from, and all that typical stuff when you're sussing someone out. In return, I sent him a followup email with all my details and why I wanted the stuff. I hate to nag when I'm gonna be parting with money so if he's not sending me the details that he promised to send to me I'm letting it slide like the number 1 and 2 before him. I'll just remember not to attempt to buy from him next time he has stuff for sale.

Why can't someone just say; subsequent to our conversation, I found a buyer. Kthanksbye. That's good enough for me, this is not a life and death issue.

Now, that's my experience. I'm not interested in it being a black vs white issue. I have a choice to go to a shop to buy stuff but I choose this method when temptation gets the better of me. As said before, I write them off to just losing some and winning some. I'd like to think no one wakes up in the morning and says, right my Mrs, I'm flogging this amplifier and I'll sell it to anyone but black people.

When I said "This upsets me", it upsets me that conmen/criminals have made life so difficult for honest people.
-----------

To Andrew

Maybe background plays a role. If you're used to being so far from everything, making a "leap of faith" buy is not so far fetched. When you buy from someone you've already lost a fair bit of goodwill. Usually, no receipt, no warranty, basically it's your baby. What if the thing dies a month after you bought it? Before I decide to make an offer for something, I think about whether it's worth checking it out first, worth driving up to collect it myself. Can I afford to lose my money? If I can't afford to lose the money, it better be worth driving up for. Anywhere around Gauteng automatically adds R1000 to the sticker price if I'm driving up to check it out.

Ja! computer equipment is not stuff I'd be willing to buy without testing.


Back to Shonver (spade=garden tool this time around)

I've also bought from members of BB's I frequent. In a community setting like that, the chances of a bad deal are dramatically reduced. I only re-discovered this board in October last year having been a member in its original .net incarnation. Before I started posting again, I communicated with certain people who are members here that I'd like to do business with in future. Great bunch of people, except for one who didn't think he should respond. Granted, I wasn't buying his stuff, I merely wanted some help considering he was selling stuff I had and had mentioned a problem I had. That was not a racist incident, possibly just not raised to help unknown people  . Dude, if you read this...I still don't have the answer to my problem that you have a solution for.

I hope I have said enough. Gert's original post is still valid and I think we shouldn't devalue its intent by having long discussions in it.

[Shonver]

siphiwe

Thanks for relating your experiences. Not every incident between people from different backgrounds can be reduced to racism (though our prejudices will easily make us jump to that conclusion). In this respect Andrew is probably closest to the truth...trust issues (that and unfamiliarity/suspicions) is what is at play here. I feel it helps to talk about it rather than ignore the elephant in the room. We are still feeing our way.

Good day Mr Elephant, and how do you do.

[Mervin]

Sorry guys... saw there was questions pertaining to the ECT Act and getting your money back... I am very slow on the draw:(

ECT Act (Act 70 of 2002) protects the purchaser if he/she is not content with the transaction, such as non-performance of a contract, or goods not delivered.  You need to do an affidavit and lodge this with your bank normally within 30 days and it will be investigated and if found to be in your favor the money will be reversed.  Understand that is is a process and fraudilent buyer cannot just have is reversed as suggested.  This means they have to have verifiable IDs and accounts... not normally the case with syndications.

Also any purchases using your credit card (contract) has a cool-off period of 30 days.  So if you were 'conned' in buying timeshare via your credit card you have 30 days to reverse your decision.

[georgev]

Thought I should share this.
Got a call from someone in "Cape Town" who wanted to buy my PJ. Said he knows the machins because his friend has one. Was quite happy to pay the asking price and wanted a friend to collect yesterday.
Asked him to do an EFT and 30mins later I received the sms from FNB that a deposit was made. An hour later received a fax on FNB letterhead dvising that an EFT was made.
He then phoned me and asked if his buddy could collect. I then informed him that he could, as soon as I see the funds reflected, not before. He then said he could fax me his ID and that he would like to receive it asap.
I said I am very sorry, but I need to have the funds cleared first, and that if he wasn't happy with this, I would refund him the money after it is cleared.
No funds deposited as yet and I can't get hold of him yet.
Be careful.
Make sure you get your funds before you part with your goods always.
His name is "Anthony Griffiks".  Mobile Numbers: 073 640 9397. 082 664 9345. Definitely South African not west African.
George.
 

[Antman]

I had a similar experience when trying to sell a Rotel amp earlier this year - a cheque was deposited which bounced, resulting in me having to pay a fee!!!!!

 

[Byrd]

Yeah, we should have a thread "Watch out for banks!!!" They are the real con artists

[gokaran]

Hi all
this is my first post on av forums

Here is my 2c with on con artist

what they do is this
a bank deposit slip has an original and the copy. most tellers don't check that the copy is actually a copy of the original
while the original may say cheque, they copy can be jippo'd to say cash and then faxed to u

second EFT confirmations can be created with some nifty PDF editing software so watch out for that

My wife had this experience. North West African accent calls and makes a booking for services, wife quoted R1800. An EFT payment confirmation is faxed to the amount of R18000. wife receives a call saying that the PA made a mistake and money must be returned and supplied bank details.
Wife checked and found supplied bank details was different from what was shown on EFT confirmation. Payment was in but not clear or available.

Another experience I often encounter. I have a business selling PC spares that includes monitors. Every week a get a call from someone with an accent and always asking for 10 of the most expensive item i have and it is always needed urgently.
I test them by telling them I have no stock. On hearing this they then turn to the next high value item and they persist until I tell them that we don't accept cash , only EFT and after it clears

[vincent h]

I just bought a cd player  and the transaction went perfect, but  yes we should be cautious when buying/selling goods on internet.                                     

But i also think we should not turn paranoia.
The most important tip i can give is you is : try to determine or buyer/seller is a true audiophile,or a trader in hifi equipment.In both cases a successful transaction is possible.

The person i bought my cd-player from for example, was obviously  a  freak ,  the only thing that could go wrong was him changing his mind.

[audiomuze]

Advertised some Quad gear on junkmail last week and received a all on the first day from some bloke wanting the stuff sight unseen, without so much as a discussion pf price.  Wanted to deposit 17k into my bank a/c and then when funds had cleared would send his buddies around to collect as he was so tied up with work in Krugersdorp.  As soon as I told him I'd prefer cash on delivery he lost interest.  My view:  1) the deposit would've been a bounced cheque disguised as aforementioned to look like cash. 2) His buddies would've arrived at my place, taken the gear and made a careful note of security arrangements and what they could come back for via some affirmative shopping.

Bottom line: if it smells fishy it is...go with your gut.  If you're prepared to accept a deposit, insist on cash and have your bank confirm the depisit was indeed cash.  Alternatively, if you're feeling adventurous, insist on a bank guaranteed cheque and always, always wait for funds to formally clear (takes around 10 days) before releasing goods.  If buyer's not up for this, they've no intention of seeing you paid in the first place.

[Mervin]

Absolutely, this scam will be with us for a long time and people will get caught... Could you give me a run-down on the conversation, what his name was, number everything.  I am compiling a whitepaper in this hopefully to warn people in future.

Nedbank has a nice facilty which will scan the deposit slip and it is available online vie Netbanking

[windshear]

Beware gents. I have received 2 sms's regarding my speakers. The language and style of it immidiately got me concerned. I replied to the sms and i got a response not 30 seconds later. I dont believe anyone can think that fast , let alone type that fast. Anyway it wanted my bank details and promised an eft, which i suspect was a standard response sent from him/them. Given that i know if i was buying, i would like to speak to someone as well as see the items , as well as "negotiate" a better price i can only put this down to be a scam as well.

[xrapidx]

It amazes me how lazy the scammers are becoming...

[gbyleveldt]

No, how gullible people are.

[Willi]

Wow, here I thought I was alone.

I just listed my Asus notebook for sale on Gumtree and Junkmail, and got (shit-thee-not) a dozen sms' and 3 calls within half an hour of listing it. Everyone was interested in the laptop, all of them wanted to pay via EFT. I would have fallen for it (I mean, EFT is rather safe, init?), until some oke sent me a "Please call me", I called back, and he offered to EFT R9k to me. The penny dropped when I thought, hang on, you want to pay me nine thousand Rand, and you have no airtime to make a phonecall?

Not one of them requested more details on the laptop, the condition, OS, accesories, and so on. Neither was anyone willing to take a look at it before sending me the money. Without fail, they all trusted me blindly. While I believe that I'm a pretty trustworthy dude, people shouldn't trust this blindly. It stinks from top to bottom.

The modus operandi is the same for all calls received (except for one case) - they offer to EFT the money, and send someone to pick it up. The different one was an oke that actually wanted me to deliver it to him in downtown Jo'burg. He said he would pay the full amount, plus R200 for petrol. Wait, what? Are you serious?

I came to post it on this forum when I read this post. It seems I am not alone. Be warned.

[Chmok]

Bank guaranteed cheques may also be forged.
After you give them all your details you're required to meet somewhere, because of "hurry", and the swap is made there. You find out later that the cheque is fake.