Scam artists at it again

[frank-pianki]

Hi folks, I had a scam artist respond to my Salvi McFall ad this week. “David” emailed me and asked is the harp was still available and if it was still in the same condition as I listed in my ad. When I said it was he said he would buy it for my asking price and whether I preferred a money order or certified check. By now my suspicions were on heightened alert. His writing and grammar was similar to what is typical in those emails from “Nigerian businessmen or royalty” who need help to free up their wealth in the U.S.. Inappropriate capitalization, awkward phrasing, etc.. Secondly, he offered to buy the harp sight unseen. Third, he always sent his emails between 7:00am to 7:30am…one per day. So I told him that I would only accept Paypal or cash when he picked up the harp. In his next email he told me that payment was on the way with extra funds for shipping. No amount or method of payment was mentioned. This is a classic approach to getting someone’s money. At that point I told him I had reported him to the Attorneys General office for internet/wire fraud. Funny, I haven’t heard from him since.
Just want to make people aware that this game is still being played out there. He said his name was David Alan. If the classifieds people would like a copy of my emails I’ll be glad to forward them
thanks Frank

[patricia-petersen]

Thanks for your posting, Frank. This week a scammer responded to my Lyon & Healy CG 2000 ad in The Harp Mall classifieds. Fortunately, the site lists examples of fraudulent emails. The email that “Upchurch Hooser” sent to me was one of those examples … from April 2012! Pat

[kreig-kitts]

That was a scam indeed, Patricia — Any real self-respecting Hoosier knows how we spell our name!

[patricia-petersen]

So true, Kreig. I was hesitant to make assumptions about the sender’s surname, but that “misspelling” had my antennae wiggling before I even got to the body of the email.

[nancy-glickman]

I had a text message this week about my Blevins harp here in New Mexico. When he said he was interested and I asked if he would like to come over to see it or if he had any questions he said he would secure a payment, I knew it was a scam and I was skeptical from the beginning since the area code from the text message was not local. also the grammar and spelling was not that of a native English speaker. I strung him along a little and asked how i would ship a harp to an address he gave me when i did not even have a box and i would not pay for this to be shipped. the response was, not to worry my shipping company would take care of that. Right! He even mentioned he would use Ups Fed Ex etc. anyway I reported the phone number and address to the numbers listed on Craigslist for fraud. He asked me for my address and when i said i would not give it to him he did not text me back. hope no one gets taken by one of these scammers.

[debbie-kispert]

Patricia – I sent you a message. I’m dealing with this Upchurch Hooser person right now and would like to get the particulars of how he scammed you (or tried to rather).

[patricia-petersen]

Debbie, where did you send your message? Apologies to all as I learn to use this forum …

[patricia-petersen]

I received another offer to send payment and arrange for subsequent pick-up … this one from “John Cash.” Sigh.

[dee-schauer]

The same scam is used in selling Friesian horses. I even set up a special bank account (with the knowledge of my bank) just to catch them.

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