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Seems fishy to me

by Jon Tees
10 replies
I received this e-mail and the payment arrangement sounds a bit fishy, especially since I believe I've made myself more than clear in my initial response that this was an item that was for sale online only and not in my direct possession. In other words, I am selling a physical product as an affiliate marketer. Even in my ad I was quite clear that I was selling this item online and gave a web address. The person contacted me anyway.

Hello
I HAVE a shipping company that will handle the pickup of the item for this to be done fast,so he promise to send an additional payment that will consist of your item money and the shipping company fees. you know what , as soon soon as you got the payment you are to deduct your item money and get the rest of the money wire back to the shipping company name and address that will come along with the payment via western union money transfer ,hope this is well understood,GET BACK TO ME WITH YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS TO GET THE PAYMENT SENT TO
I am waiting to hear from you asap....
Have you ever gotten anything like this when selling online as an affiliate?
#fishy
  • Profile picture of the author MikeRogers
    His check will bounce and you will be out the item and money you "send back" to him -

    Run Away!

    This guy's a scammer -

    Mike
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  • Profile picture of the author Sirago
    Total scam. "Western Union" gives it away. =)
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Tees
    I seem to be having the worst luck as far as selling this item to a legitimate buyer is concerned. The first time someone contacted me looking to purchase sixty guitar picks and now this. This is one acoustic guitar that I've been trying to sell for months. I should have known something was up when not once did this person mention the item by name (outside of the subject line anyway). In one area he referred to it as items as though it was more than one thing when it wasn't.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Tees
    I'm starting to doubt that this is even a real person. The third message I received from him was exactly the same as the initial message that he sent me, only this time it was sent as a response. He again asks several questions that I answered in my response to his initial "inquiry."
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    • Profile picture of the author dlm
      Originally Posted by Jon Tees View Post

      I'm starting to doubt that this is even a real person. The third message I received from him was exactly the same as the initial message that he sent me, only this time it was sent as a response. He again asks several questions that I answered in my response to his initial "inquiry."
      Why did you even respond?

      This is so obviously spam...don't waste your time with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonP
    Nigerian scam.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    I work at a bank. This is a common scam that takes many different forms.

    Usually you get a letter or email saying that you won the lottery in Canada or Argentina or some other country. Then they get your info and mail you a check. With the check is a letter saying that hey accidentally misprinted the check for too much. You won $5000, but the check was misprinted for $8000. The letter instructs you to just deposit the check and then wire the $3000 overage back to them. (People are actually dumb enough to think this makes sense rather than them just reprinting the check for the right amount.)

    What happens then is that the check ends up getting returned for uncollected funds, and now you're out the $3000 that you wired off.

    It sounds like this is the same kind of thing, they are just changing the story. The basic premise is the same though. You'll be out whatever you send by Western Union.
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    • Profile picture of the author dlm
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      It sounds like this is the same kind of thing, they are just changing the story. The basic premise is the same though. You'll be out whatever you send by Western Union.
      You mean they wont end up sending you the $8000 check?


      :rolleyes:
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        No they send the check. You deposit it. Weeks later it comes back as fraudulent. People think that if a check clears in a day or two that everything is ok. Sometimes it can take a few weeks for a check to get returned.
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  • Profile picture of the author AmyBrown
    A client received a very similar email from with an offer to purchase her artwork. I had to break it to her that it wasn't a real customer Her email included specific information about the piece but the payment terms were a dead giveaway.
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    "Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast."
     Tom Peters

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