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Date Posted: 22:37:59 06/30/04 Wed
Author: Humble
Subject: Police: Beware of online auction scams

Police: Beware of online auction scams


By Sean Ingram
judicial@couriernews.com
The growing Internet auction site eBay includes many Arkansas River Valley residents who look at, buy or sell almost anything to people across the valley or across the country.
However, Pope County Sheriff’s Sgt. James Hardy explained last week that one Pope County resident lost more than they bargained for and another was almost duped by an apparent international scam before calling local authorities.
According to Hardy, he was contacted by a man who put a vehicle up for sale on eBay recently. The man was contacted by a potential buyer who said they were interested, then the man received a cashier’s check for more than the amount he was asking for his vehicle.
“The man told me the buyer asked him to do a favor,” said Hardy. “The buyer asked him to keep the extra money, but send a portion through Western Union to an address in Nigeria. The man put the cashier’s check in his account, then drew the amount the buyer had asked to wire. After the man wired the amount to Nigeria, his bank contacted him and, unfortunately, told him the cashier’s check was phony.”
Last week, a Dover woman contacted Hardy with a similar scenario, but this time the woman questioned the intentions of the potential buyers and contacted local authorities. In this case, the woman was even sent a “Thank You, God be with you from Nigeria” card, as well as additional letters with cashier’s checks to mail to various addresses in Arkansas.
Hardy showed The Courier evidence he was provided by the woman, including a cashier’s check in the amount of $6,000, supposedly to buy a motorcycle. In addition, a large card and various envelopes with state addresses of individuals and businesses were inside a UPS package. The return address on the package gives a man’s name with the address Maryland Ocean Ave., Lagos, Nigeria.
“The package even included a supposed Nigerian newspaper, printed in English, dated March 2003,” Hardy said.
An alleged letter from the buyer gave instructions on how to send money via Western Union to Nigeria:
“Hello (name). Below is the payment information you’ll be using in sending the balance to the shipping agent via Western Union money transfer today. After sending the funds please get back to me immediately with the following info’s which you’ll be given at the Western Union outlet immediately after sending the funds;
“the total amount sent; secret test question and answer; the name and address of the sender been yours; the MTCV number (money transfer control number), which is a 10-digit tracking number.
“Please note,” the instructions say, “you are to deduct the Western Union charges/commission from the funds before you send it. Get back to me with the necessary info’s as soon as you send the funds.”
Additional information from Hardy from someone in Florida alerts people to the scam.
“People in West Africa are sending ‘forged’ cashier checks on the (Florida bank),” the email reads. “They use different names. I was contacted by a woman who wanted to buy my Trek bikes. She said her agent in the states owed her money and they would send me a cashier’s check for $4,300 and I was to deduct my bike cost and send her the rest via Western Union.
“Well, I was suspect. Told my bank, they checked with the bank in Florida and found out they have received several of these. They suspect an employee is cooperating with fraud.
“I smelled a rat all along and even tried to discourage it. But, the FedEx dropped off the envelope with a cashier’s check in it. I took it to the bank and told them I thought it was fishy, even though it looked authentic. They called the Florida bank, and sure enough it was a forgery.”
Hardy encouraged anyone who receives such queries or encounters on eBay to, first and foremost, not go through with such a transaction. He said he has contacted agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who told him they have “rooms full of documents” relating to such scams involving people throughout the country.
“For all we know, these cashier’s checks could be printed on someone’s home computer and printer,” Hardy added. “The end result if someone goes through with such a deal off of eBay is you receive a bad check, your money is gone and you haven’t sold anything.”

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