(perhaps this can be sticky'd at the top?)

Beware of this scam!!!


Dear sir,

I am an international business man, specialised in
dealing,purchasing and selling of AUTOS.I also help my foreign client
to
ship their autos to any place of their desired country or
destination,most
especially EUROPE, cause i have a shipper who takes care of the
shipment, so
shipping will not pose any problem.
I have gotten a reply and check from someone who is buying my parts on behalf of his 'client'.

I was sent a check (drawn from the Guaranty bank of Texas) for MUCH more than I was asking for my parts and was instructed to wire (by Western Union) the difference to his 'shipper' to complete the transaction.

I didn't like the circumstances so I talked to my bank when I submitted it. They put a 10 day business hold on it and sure enough it came back as counterfeit (simply copied on an inkjet). The person who contacted me is still trying to get me to send the remainder ($3000 US) to his 'shipper' as of this morning.

Here is an excerpt from one of his emails...


Hello,
How are you today?Mr Matt Rich said you ought to have received
the
cheque anf if not soonest you will do.Kindly deduct your own cost from
the
money, take the remaining money to western union money transfer agent
and
transfer it in cash to the accountant of the shipping agent whose
information and shipping office address are as follows:

NAME: JOHN OGNNDIPE.

ADDRESS: VIA .F. MILEA 2/M,
20197,PICALLO
MILANO,ITALY.

If you don't know any western union agent,visit
www.westernunion.com ,click on find agent location,fill in the form
with
your area code and all the western union agents that are nearest to you
will
appear on your computer screen.
Choose one out of the nearest western union agents and go there
to
do the transfer to the accountant (JOHN OGNNDIPE).Deduct the western
union
charges from my balance when sending the money at western union agent.
After the transfer is done,you will email me the following
information:
1, SENDER'S NAME : (YOUR FULL NAME THAT YOU USE TO FILL THE FORM WHEN
SENDING THE MONEY AT WESTERN UNION AGENT).

2,M.T.C.N : (10 DIGIT NUMBERS THAT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU AT WESTERN
UNION
AGENT).

3,ACTUAL AMOUNT SENT AFTER DEDUCTION OF WESTERN UNION CHARGES FROM MY
BALANCE.

After you have given me the above information,I will forward it
to the
accountant(JOHN OGNNDIPE) who will receive the money and tell me when
the
shipping workers will arrive your doorstep for pick up.

The shipping workers will handle everything on my behalf.Don't
worry,everything is under control.Go and do the western union money
transfer
as soon as the cheque is converted to cash to so that pick up can be
done
later this week.I would be expecting your email with the western union
information as soon as possible.Thanks.
Regards.

The names of the perpetrators are:

Matt Rich
Jason Robert
JOHN OGNNDIPE

I also just recieved an email (this morning) from another party starting the same way as this one and I can tell it's the same scam!

Looking back, I have gotten almost a dozen different emails from all different people starting the same way...

Dear sir,

I am an international business man, specialised in
dealing,purchasing and selling of AUTOS.I also help my foreign client
to
ship their autos to any place of their desired country or
destination,most
especially EUROPE, cause i have a shipper who takes care of the
shipment, so
shipping will not pose any problem.

Presently i have a client who has asked me to
help
him purchase the item subjected above which will be shipped to EUROPE.
As i
was browsing through the internet, i saw your advert and i will like to
purchase it for my client, but before payment will be made i need to be
sure
ofwho i will be dealing with if you are going to be honest and sincere
through out the transaction.

So to start with, signify your interest by
forwarding to
me your last (PRICE) as well as your method(s) of payment through
mail,after
which we can continue with the transaction and i promise if all
conditions
and agreement are accepted and reached on time, payment will be made
out
almost immediately.

Hoping to here from you as soon as possible.

Respectfully,

CHRIS-Mc'GRADY.



Please DO NOT forward any monies until after the check has cleared and is found to be genuine!! The emailer will pressure you to send the $$ right away for something like another purchase that needs to be done due to a deadline (using the forwarded portion of the check sent to you). DON'T FALL FOR IT!!!

I will now only use Paypal for my International business. If they can get an email address from Hotmail, they can get a Paypal account just as easy...unless they don't intend to send real money to begin with.