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This is an absolute scam, called the "Overpayment" scam. You will make
arrangements, and he will send you what will pass as a legitimate
certified cashiers check. You will deposit it- after a few days your
bank will credit your account for the value of the check. But this will
certainly happen BEFORE the bogus check actually gets back to where it
supposedly originated from. Meanwhile, the victim- knowing this is all
strange but feeling confident because the money appears in his account,
will send the agreed upon portion to a third party for the "inspection"
or whatever other reason the scam artist comes up with. Of course your
check will be real. It may be up to 6 months before you are notified by
the bank that the check you deposited from the scammer was bogus, and
YOU will be liable for the entire amount!
Check www.fakechecks.org, and feel free to call me at the number below.
Jim.
James M. Gigliotti
Support Contractor (Camber)
Concepts & Requirements Directorate
Requirements Determination Division, AGSE
Fort Rucker, AL 36322
Commercial (334) 255-1459
DSN 558, FAX 1008
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Cameron [mailto:toucan@Satx.rr.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 8:38 PM
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Subject: Sam Alert!
As some of you may know, I have my Legacy up for sale. The internet
ad appeared about a week or ten days ago, and the print edition is
probably hitting mailboxes about now. I've had the most peculiar e-mail
correspondence over the plane, and wondered if anyone else has had
similar experience.
The e-mails came from a man who did not identify himself as to state
or country. The English was fractured, in an odd way, and one of the
e-mails had a quickie ad from an ISP in Spanish across the bottom. At
various times he referred to himself as attending a WHO conference in
the U.K., or an official about to be transferred to "western Europe."
In another e-mail he alluded to shipping the plane to Greece. Anyway,
he said he wanted to buy the plane as a birthday present for his wife
(!); He didn't want to inspect it personally, and declined to designate
anyone else to do so. He inquired in various ways about information for
wire transfer payment. Later, he tried to outline some sort of payment
scheme that involved sending me an odd amount, about 60% of my asking
price, then having me keep 20% and transfer the rest to some "shipping
company." The rest of the payment would come later.
All this lacked was some reference to moving money out of Nigeria.
I can't put a finger on exactly what sort of scam was going to be
involved, but it smelled really bad. Was he just "phishing," trying to
get my bank info? Or maybe laundering money by having me pass it
through to someone?
Finally, I sent him an e-mail explaining how it was going to work:
He had to inspect the airplane and all the documents, or delegate
someone to do it. I would require full payment by cashier's check prior
to signing over the airplane. I suggested he might want to use AOPA's
escrow service. Never heard from him again.
Today, I'm wondering if I have another one starting up. I got an
e-mail from someone with slightly fractured grammar, saying he needed a
"private seller." Can anyone think of a legitimate reason why one would
need to buy an airplane from a "private seller?" Does he mean a dumb
seller?
As a late, good friend of mine used to say, I may have been born at
night, but not last night.
Jim Cameron
Boerne, TX
Legacy N132X
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