bunkertime

This is an Article Recently Written at WarPig.com and i thought everyone should read it. It is long, but Please take the time to read this article in FULL

Looking Out for
Nigerian Scams
by Bill Mills
June 2004
Buying and selling used paintball gear on the Internet can be a great way to get some deals, but listing items for sale, in classified ads like those on WARPIG, and even well known online auction sites like E-Bay can make a paintballer a target for criminals.

Recently, con artists working the Nigerian Cashier’s Check scam have included people selling paintguns on their list of potential victims. A few minutes of web searching following up on a few e-mails we've received about paintball players being targeted with it, was all that was necessary to get a good background on the subject.

This scam rose to prominence in 2002, primarily targeting people selling automobiles online. It has since widely spread to other targets, regardless of the web site on which they advertise their item forsale, including E-Bay. The common denominator seems to be that the item has a price of a few hundred dollars at least.

The con is simple. The scammer sends a cashier's check well in excess of the amount for the item, and then asks that once the check has cleared, that the overage be wired to a foreign account, or something similar. They will also state that someone will be sent to pick up the item forsale, rather than giving an address to which it should be sent. Reasons often given for sending the overage to a third party are that the scammer supposedly owes that person money, or that the cashier's check was accidentally made too large.

All of these points should be red-flags. First that the con artists is probably using a hotmail or similar free internet account making it much more difficult (though far from impossible – just looking at the headers of their e-mail will tell you who their ISP is and more) confirm their true identity and location. Next, they want the victim to send them a large amount of money. That’s a major red flag. In legitimate business deals it’s they buyer who gives the money for the item, not the seller giving an item and money. And of course the courier picking up the item, is one more step in hiding their identity and location. If they gave an address to send a package, a few minutes of searching the Internet could locate a phone number tied to the address to confirm who really lives there – a safety step that should always be done when transacting with a stranger online.

So what’s the catch? If everything were legit we’re just talking about a casher’s check that was too big, and sending the buyer their change. The problem is that the scammer isn’t really sending a cashier’s check. They are sending a counterfeit check.

Cashier’s checks are written by banks, so they don’t suffer a problem seen with personal checks – they won’t bounce for insufficient funds. Because of this many people in the US believe them to be a safer form of transferring money, which they are – but only if they are real.

Most US consumers don't often receive cashier's checks, especially those drawn on foreign banks, or even deal with having bad business or personal checks written to them on a regular basis. Because of this they usually don't realize that even if their bank "clears" a check after 3 to 5 business days and puts money in their account, that doesn't mean the check has been processed by the bank that issued it.

Some three to five weeks later when the foreign bank rejects the cashier's check because it is counterfeit, the victim's bank then automatically withdraws the amount of the bogus check from their account to correct the banking error. Often there is also an additional fee (legally the person attempting to cash a forged check is usually the responsible party.) At this point the victim is out possibly the item (though it rarely gets picked up, the scam is really about the money) as well as the "overage" amount and any additional banking fees. The bank involved is not responsible to reimburse the victim, nor is the US government. The complexities and cost of an international lawsuit, difficulties in enforcing an international judgement, and reluctance of the Nigerian government to lend support make reclaiming the lost money next to impossible, especially of sums of a few thousand dollars.

According the Redlands Daily Facts, a family in Redlands, California was targeted by the scam, receiving an unexpected $3,000 counterfeit cashier’s check for a $417 used paintball gun, but was wise enough to contact authorities rather than wire transfer money. The same publication states that residents of Florida especially have become recent targets of this scam.

This is called the Nigerian cashier's check scam or similar names, as it often originates from Nigeria. I sat next to the Nigerian Consul to the United States at a function when I was in college. He was a friendly fellow who taught me how to properly pronounce his country's name (nee-ger-ia with a hard G sound) but if I'd known then what I know now, I'd have spent my time asking him what is so different about their laws and government that allow such scams to originate in abundance within their borders.

An article on accountancyage.com cites an estimate that as much as 1/3 of the Nigerian economy is generated through scams, chief amongst which is the Nigerian Letter, Advance Fee or 419 scam where a Nigerian asks for the help of a foreign resident to get a large amount of money - usually millions of dollars - out of the country in exchange for a healthy percentage. This is followed by requests for money – from a couple thousand dollars progressively up to $50,000, needed for bribes and fees to release the millions of dollars for transfer.

The 419 scam is actually a lot older than e-mail, initially done by postal mail with carefully selected targets. In the Internet age it is done by spamming millions of e-mails, hoping a certain percentage are greedy enough, or naïve enough to fall for it.

With a promised payoff in millions of dollars, there are people who fall for it. Of course once the advance fee money is sent the big payoff, which never existed, doesn't happen. Some reports claim that victims who have traveled to Nigeria to get their money back have ended up beaten, killed, or kidnapped for further ransom. According to WIRED.com, the fifty-year-old Nigerian consul to the Czech Republic was killed in 2003 by a disgruntled victim of the 419 scam.

The moral of this story is to be very suspicious of people you've never met who want to do business with you, especially if they are asking you to do something unusual. Just because you got connected through a classified ad on a website that you trust doesn’t mean that the person you are dealing with is someone you can trust.

Also, never consider a check, casher's check, traveler's check or any other type of monetary transfer to have "cleared" until your bank has confirmed to you that the issuing bank has cleared and released the funds to your bank. It's also a good idea to get confirmation of this as a written memo from your bank, as additional protection.

Victims of the Nigerian cashier's check scam should also contact the U.S. Secret Service at (303) 866-1010.



--Kan Man

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she's a virgin if u don't count anal


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IMPULSEMAN101

Sum It up... tl;dr

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bunkertime

Basicly What it's saying is that you have something for sale... Ok, then the person sends u a Check (usualy foreign or a Fake Cashiers check) for a large amount more then what u sold your item for (say you sold ur item for $450 and they sent you a check for $3000) so what they ask you to do is send back the change. now... Here comes the evil part. What happens is that if it's a cashiers check and it's fake, Your bank may aprove it and put the $$ in ur account, but the other bank finds out it's fake, then tells ur bank, who takes the $$ back out of your account, this process takes about 2 weeks, Now durring all of this, You already sent the person back "the change" from their large check. and now the bank took the $3,000 you got outta your account, So in the End, you are accually having the "change" amount stolen from you and not even knowing

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she's a virgin if u don't count anal


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IMPULSEMAN101

wow... Just wow.. Its Kinda sad Of what some ppl think Of to scam ppl..

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D FO

wow thats a pretty good idea if you into scamming but who asks for change from A check?

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-Dan

bennieboy2290

^^^ i no... if i saw a huge and wrong check i would immediatley get suspicious.

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ICD owner #32



Black to blue B2K4 PDS | Black to blue Check It unimount | 68/45 high pressure Crossfire HPA tank

c'mon, it sounded funny... i had to

DeViLs_SouL

wow nice trick! Lol... just kidding.... its incredible what ppl do for getting easy money....

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KrAzAyInSaNe

sounds too obvious for me...

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Smartparts Owner 65

bunkertime

kinda ironic to see that 1/3 of nigerias economy builds from Scamms. lmfao

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she's a virgin if u don't count anal


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OaklandDogs187

Where's the: "this is in the wrong forum, read the rules, this should be in theft report!" post?

Brandon

P.S. Saw it on pbn long time ago. But thanks for sharing.

Brandon

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CoolChad Chad got to get G's, son.

SpYdErGuY7080

a guy asked me to do that for my cocker, i was smart enough to stop it. I will find out his info and post it here so that noone does buisness with him.

NYY

moral of the story: dont sell to nigerians...or overseas

IMPULSEMAN101

I would actually keep The Money and Buy a Ticket To Go to the Guys House and Laugh In His face..

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NoPhear

You think that would seem kinda obvious to the people who got scammed????

paintballa22

Seriously, keep the money and say screw you

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LOL@CANADA

bunkertime

the problem is the check is fake, Your bank may say it's real, and put the money in ur account, then you will take money back out and send it back to them... But... by that time the bank that wrote him the check in nigiria says it's counterfit and doesn't accept it, so you bank then Takes the money back out of your account, and the money u already sent the guy is gone

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she's a virgin if u don't count anal


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aqwa12

nice.... but wouldnt you get suspicios

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WTF

NoPhear

I sure as hell would

DylPckl24

yea, thats crazy how some people come up with some scams. If someone sent me a check for a gun, and there was to much, i would keep the money, becuase there stupid to send the wrong amount. I know it might be mean, but they probably would never do it again.

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yea, ive got nothin to say. sooo.

GOT A TRIX

NoDoz

realize that your bank takes back the value of the check once they get back info of insufficient. So.. you're still screwed either way.. even if you dont send the money back.

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