Beware of Internet Scam

[Malcolm Vye]

I advertised a harp for sale on Harp Column and was approached by this scam as a reply to the ad (the text is from a boat sale website, but it is essentially identical to the one I received)

HELLO,
THANKS FOR THE MAIL U SENT TO ME…I WANT U TO KNOW THAT
THE PRICE IS OKAY BY ME AND AS FOR THE SHIPPING THAT ‘LL NOT BE A
PROBLEM ..I HAVE CONTACTED A SHIPPING COMPANY THAT WILL HANDLE THE
SHIPPING…SO THAT ‘LL NOT BE A PROBLEM….
AS FOR THE PAYMENT I’LL BE PAYING WITH A CHECK WHICH ‘LL BE CASHED
EASILY…I WANT U TO KNOW THAT I’LL BE ADDING THE SHIPPING PAYMENT TO
THE CHECK THAT ‘LL BE SENT TO YOU…IN WHICH U ‘LL DEDUCT UR $700 AND
SEND THE REMAINING BALANCE TO THE SHIPPING COMPANY THAT ‘LL BE COMING
FOR THE PICK UP AT UR PLACE…TO SEND IT OUT I’LL NEED UR FULL NAME AND
ADDRESS WHERE THE CHECK ‘ LL BE SENT TO AND PROBABLY UR PHONE #….MINE
IS 516-396-1284…DO SEND THE INFO TO ME ASAP….
HOPING TO HEAR FROM U SOONEST..
REGARDS.

This guy apparently tries to run this scam on people selling high priced items.

[stan-guy]

Malcolm —-

[barbara-brundage]

>I don’t think most scammers are looking at Harp Column.

Sure they are. This is actually just the kind of site they look for. Good for spamming because they’re not quick to remove unreported spam, high-ticket merchandise for sale–yes, this site is very appealing to these kinds of businesses (and they are businesses, not just some random individual someplace–do a lookup on the phone no. in your post, for example).

[carl-swanson]

A couple of years ago a con artist took pictures from my company web site, http://www.swansonharps.com, along with the description of the instrument and listed it for sale on some other site. I only found out about it because one of the good people on this site told me. So there is no shortage of people trying to steal from you or ways to do it. And if you ever see one of my used instruments listed on my website also listed elsewhere, please let me know. Thanks.

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