Im an SOB, saw a scam coming and led him on.

[cyberdan]

I am on fiverr.com I sell e-books mostly. Five I did and others about cooking and ebay.

About once a week I get a request to open up an ebay account for someone using their info. Mostly because they say they don't have the time or they don't know how. But, they have the time to SPAM me and probably countless others.

I got a new twist on things yesterday. Here is our text conversation. I sell an e-book on how to be an ebay pro and he wants me to do all this for $5

=====================================
wraith1986:
do you think you could bid on one of my auctions ? we can cancel the transaction if you happen to win the auction so you wouldn't be obligated to purchase the item ?
What is your ebay feedback score ?
Let me know as soon as possible because the auction will be ending soon.

Me:
and you will buy a gig at $5 to have me bid?
give me the link to your auction so I can see what you are selling.

wraith1986:
what's your ebay feedback score ? (3 min later I get this, but he didn't answer my questions)

Me:
just under 500 and 99% goodboy

wraith1986:
that's great here is the item number: 261314100928 Do you think you could you bid ? Let me know so I'll buy a gig ? (3 min later I get this)

Me:
Ok, let me put 2 & 2 together. your bio on fiver says you are from america and you say you have an auction going and your ebay bio says you are in Germany. And, you have been registered on both sites for about a month. Am I right so far?

And to top it off you want me to place a bid on an item that is already at $14500 I smell a scam going on. right? How do you know I am not a cop doing a little digging right now?
=================================

I am still waiting on an answer from him. Guess I won't hear again. Go check out the auction. It is a lifesize replica of Arnold the terminator. very realistic. I could just see me bidding and winning and then he expects me to pay. I don't even like the Schwartz, he was our governor for a few years and almost bankrupt CA. our new gov "crusty the clown" will finish it off.

 

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[Tallone]

Good job to sniff out the scam, cyberdan. The object of the scam, of course, is to bid up the price of the item and get somebody to pay for it. He won't deliver and probably doesn't even own the item being auctioned. This is a variant of Advance Fee Fraud (AFF) which is commonly conducted by email these days.

I have spent a lot of time the past few years working with a group combating internet fraud. People can learn more about all kinds of scams by visiting www.scamwarners.com ? Index page. There is tons of good information there on everything from the classic Nigerian scams, to ebay scams, love scams, fake banks and web sites, fake check scams, and much more. It is worth a visit if only to arm yourself with good information.

Scamwarners also has a sister site (419 Eater - The largest scambaiting community on the planet!) where we turn the tables on internet scammers - sometimes with hilarious results. As with most things, there is a right way and a wrong way to combat scammers. For example, it is never a good idea to get a scammer's email address shut down. I have had a lot of fun screwing with these internet parasites and done some serious damage to them as well.

 

[rickv14623]

First I have heard of that site cyberdan. Took a look, how's it working for you?

 

[cyberdan]

First I have heard of that site cyberdan. Took a look, how's it working for you?

They have a lot of rules and the "staff" intrepret the rules differently. I have only had two sales over a year, not even enough to make a withdrawel. But, I use then a lot one artist has done all my CD covers, another has done my logo, me e-book icon, my website header. I have also hired others to write stories. ALL AT $5 EACH.

 

[cyberdan]

I have spent a lot of time the past few years working with a group combating internet fraud. People can learn more about all kinds of scams by visiting........I have had a lot of fun screwing with these internet parasites and done some serious damage to them as well.

Tallone, you are my hero.

I hate scammers and telemarketers. It is my goal to have telemarketers hangup on me.

I once had a guy apoligise and hang up.

 

[Tallone]

I hate scammers with a passion. My mother-in-law (sweetest woman who ever lived but rather naive) got fleeced and I almost got taken in by someone running a scam on a rental unit I listed on Yahoo years ago. That's how I found Scamwarners and Eater. When I had a land line and was on the Do Not Call list, whenever I would get a telemarketing call, I would just put the phone down quietly and go do something else. I'd let the jerk waste his time going through his whole spiel for someone who wasn't even listening. I almost felt bad about doing it because the caller is just some poor schmuck trying to make a living. The fault really lies with the company that put me on their call list despite knowing what they were doing was illegal. I figured the only way to hurt them is to waste their time and resources which, interestingly, is also the prime goal of scambaiting.

 

[Lost&Found]

Cyberdan I am always tempted to turn the tables on those who are messing with my money in Nigeria.

A variant of the hangup, is an experience that I had with customer service at a major Asian electronics manufacturer. I had purchased a video camera that had just been out for a month and was defective.

CS, "Sorry, we can't help you because its out of its one year warranty."

ME, WTF, "Are you accusing me of industrial espionage. The product was still in development 1 year ago!"

Back and forth it went- My last call to CS was going no where, so I said to the rep. "its my understanding you can't hang up on callers."

CS, "That is correct."

Me, "Well I have tons of patience and nothing to do so I am not hanging up"

The end of the story, I was given the phone number to the XXXXXXX USA president's office. After speaking to his assistant a check was cut the next day.

And the battery they initially told me not to ship with the camera sold.

 

[Tallone]

Well played, Lost&Found!

There are endless ways to screw with internet scammers (Nigerian or otherwise) but you need to know what you are doing. Most people assume all scammers are just some lazy slob sitting in an internet cafe writing emails. While this is often true, it is also true that many scammers are part of criminal gangs who are very well funded and have international connections. These are people not to be trifled with and you never know when you start down the road of screwing with a scammer's "business" just who you are dealing with. There are ways to protect yourself and it is not particularly difficult but, again, it is wise to know learn how to do this before getting in too deep.

 

[MT_Joe]

I had a telemarketer recently who was calling over and over several times a day. I finally got tired of it one day while drinking beer with a buddy and when the phone rang with that now familiar number on the caller ID, I sternly answered "911, what is your emergency....?", silence followed by "uh, uh". Once again more sternly "911, what is your emergency please....?". The man profusely apologized and said he would be sure not to call my number again. So far, so good. All the calls stopped. My buddy laughed so hard he almost wet himself!

 

[SilverForBrains]

Cyberdan I agree fivers is much better to buy stuff on then to sell. you have people willing to do a lot of work for five bucks, it's insane. I created an account and told people I would give them relationship advice for $5 . still no takers to this day

Good thing for us these scammers really suck at it and are dead giveaways!

 

[cyberdan]

I sternly answered "911, what is your emergency....?", silence followed by "uh, uh". Once again more sternly "911, what is your emergency please....?".

Thanks, Joe. I will ad that to my list of things to say.

 

[dejapooh]

I used to enjoy playing the the Nigerian Scammers. I had them running out to the Logos International Airport 3 or 4 times in a row to pick me up. Air France flight arrives at 4:50 am... I would see how many times I could convince them to take the drive out to pick me up at the airport, only to find that I was not there.