Bad Guy Scott Bowen-Attempted Bank Deposit/ Western Union Scam

Hello,

I regret making a negative post, but want to protect others. In response to my present advertisement featuring 1.0 Ctenosaura melanosterna, I received this inquiry. I have included our following correspondences. I am sure Scott Bowen is not this individual's real name. He is trying to have me deposit a check "accidentally" written to his relative in my account, take the portion owed me, and then send the difference to him via Western Union. Although I asked for a phone number, he did not supply it the first time, so I asked again. His first email to me after I answered his questions was extremely suspicious. Watch out everyone!

First Inquiry:

On Nov 27, 2012, at 12:22 AM, [email protected] wrote:

*************
NOTE: This message was sent to you via the Kingsnake.com Classifieds.
It appears to be from [email protected]. To respond to this email please just click REPLY.
If you feel this message is fraudulent or abusive please forward it to [email protected].
NOTE: DO NOT flag this message as SPAM/JUNK as your ability to receive legitimate messages from Kingsnake.com Classifieds may be compromised
*************

Hello,
I'm making inquiry about the 1.0 Ctenosaura melanosterna.Is it still available for sale. Tell me more about it and send pictures if available.
Scott

Forth worth
Texas,
76119
USA

MY RESPONSE:

From: Matt Schaefer
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 8:18 AM
Subject: Re: Message about: 1.0 Ctenosaura melanosterna from [email protected]

Good morning,

Thank you for your interest. I do still have the melanosterna, but have had a lot of interest. He is a yearling and clearly sexable (pores are evident). I have too many males and am also making room for some banana pectinata. He is in excellent condition as I provide greens daily, other vegetables and berries occasionally, and crickets a few times a month at this point. I feed produce from my garden or from the organic produce we purchase. He is near 12". If you are still interested, you can call/ text me at ***-***-****.

Thank you,
Matt Schaefer

From: Scott Bowen <[email protected]>
Subject: Re:
Date: November 29, 2012 1:34:01 AM CST
To: Matthew Schaefer
Reply-To: Scott Bowen <[email protected]>

Hello,

I am very much interested in buying. With all the details you have provided I want you to consider it sold to me and I would like you to get the advert off the internet asap and if anyone contact you tell them is sold. The payment will be made to you by a personal check.

So here is my shipping address which I will like you to check for the cost to ship to Forth Worth, Texas and email it to me with the information to mail out the payment to.

Name: Scott Bowen
Address: 441 CBS Ave.
City: Forth Worth
State: Tx
Zip Code: 76119
Country: United States

Please get back to me with the details below for payment asap:

Full Name On Check.......
Address........
City............
State............
Zipcode.............
Cell or home phone Number.........



I await your reply asap and I hope we can do business together.


Scott

MY REPLY:

In the mail below, I removed my address and cell phone number. That is the only edit.

From: Matthew Schaefer
To: Scott Bowen <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 8:54 AM
Subject: Re: Message about: 1.0 Ctenosaura melanosterna from [email protected]

Good morning,

Thank you for your interest. The total, including shipping, is $301.54. Can you give me a phone number so for contact when shipping. I have to include that on the packaging slip.

Matthew T. Schaefer


I may be able to ship early next week if the check arrives and clears in time.

Thank you,
Matt Schaefer

HIS REPLY:

From: Scott Bowen <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Message about: 1.0 Ctenosaura melanosterna from [email protected]
Date: November 29, 2012 5:31:00 PM CST
To: Matthew Schaefer
Reply-To: Scott Bowen <[email protected]>

OK. The check will be sent asap.
Thanks.

HIS REPLY TODAY:

From: Scott Bowen <[email protected]>
Subject: Payment In The Mail ...
Date: December 3, 2012 2:54:47 PM CST
To: Matthew Schaefer
Reply-To: Scott Bowen <[email protected]>

Hello,

How are you doing there today and how is business? Hope you had a great weekend. I just want you to know that you will receive the check in the mail soon. There was a little problem with the amount on the check which I think it should not be a problem between us because according to the instruction which was given to my client was to issue two different check payment one for you for the exact amount and the second check payment for my cousin at the hospital to pay for his surgery bills, so the problem is that the amount that was suppose to be on your check was written on my cousin check and your own on his check.

So what I want you to do for me now is that once you receive the check kindly take it to your bank cash it, deduct your money and do me a favor by sending the remaining balance to my cousin. Below is the information which you’re sending the money to via Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram.


Name: Jerry Harvey
City: Forth Worth
State: Texas
Zipcode: 76119


So I am very sorry for the stress that this whole thing might cause you and hope to hear back from you soon.

Thanks for your understading.

MY REPLY TODAY
Matthew Schaefer
3:02 PM (5 hours ago)

to Scott
Please give me your phone number so we can talk over the phone. This sounds like a scam.

a new twist on an old favorite. Anybody who asks if they can send you extra money and then you forward some of that money on to a third party is trying to screw you. The classic version of this (prevalent here, craigslist, etc) is, I will send you payment plus $1000 for my shipper, who will come to pick up the item, give him the $1000. I'm glad you caught it in time.

Ah, yes, a definite scam.

We had the same guy respond to one of our ads on Kingsnake. We have had a couple this year that have upgraded their scam from International to a more local scale. This guy gave us the same address in Texas. For what it's worth (if anything) when I searched google maps for the address, one didn't come up. Same thing happened earlier in the year with an address supposedly in Washington State.

That coupled with him saying, "I want you to consider it sold to me and I would like you to get the advert off the internet asap and if anyone contact you tell them is sold" tipped us off that it was in fact, likely a scam.

When he said he was sending us a personal check, I told him we only accepted paypal or US Postal Money Orders, and that was the end of it. I have had at least one other potential scammer go so far as to agree to using paypal if we walked them through it, but that was the last email they ever sent. Good looking out, and thanks for posting.

I notified him of this thread. I was riding it out after I got his second email, i.e. take it off the market and consider it sold to me, just to see if I could get more information. What a shame in the hobby!

I guess some people must fall for that for them to continue to try it, but it's obvious that it's a scam from the initial e-mail.

Especially as the ad had multiple pictures!

"according to the instruction which was given to my client"

RULE #1. Anytime the word "client" or "boss" is mentioned in a email it's a scam.

Basically how this sort of scam works is:
you deposit the check for too much money and mail the cash back,
but 2-3 weeks later the check you deposited BOUNCES.
Because this is how American banks operate, making the funds appear in your account before the check clears.

I've also found that stringing along the scammers can be entertaining, to get as much of their personal information as possible. In another version, I recently received payment via PayPal, from the customer's boyfriend/dad/cousin/whatever. The customer wanted to ship the critter to some place in the USA, but the paypal said the confirmed address I must ship the item to was in Africa. So going along with PP's rules for sellers, I refunded the payment. I've been playing along for a few months now with this one, and have their phone number to boot. Though it might be a stolen cell phone.

Never click on a link in an email which appears to be from paypal, instead, always go to PayPal thru the address bar. (this was another costly mistake I learned many years ago).

Tis the season for scams. Thanks for sharing.

Scott Bowen

I got then same crap.....when/if the check comes, I'm turning it over to USPS....ain't this postal fraud?????...........

I had a inquiry on one of my snakes from that email addy. When he responded with "I will mail the check" It sent up big red flags and I told him the only way that I take money is through paypal. Never heard from him again. I have excepted money orders but people always asked way ahead in starting contact and explained why they prefer to pay like that.

This is the same guy that tried to scam us! We ended up calling the bank that the check was issued from (somewhere in Illinois) and they said that they did not have an account there.
When we contacted the business that the check was written from (russian hunting) they said they had a checkbook stolen not to long ago and they have recieved tons of calls like this. Here is the same thing he sent us...


We did receive a check yesterday. We called the bank it was issued from to make sure that the check was legit and they reported that you do not even have an account there and that the check is a fraud. This is why we do not deal in checks because people like you who are scammers. People don't make "mistakes" with their checks, and if you are so put together that you need a secretary then you would know everyone uses paypal no one sends checks. The animals will absolutely not be shipped to you and you are now flagged in our system. We will also post your information on other reptile community sites so others will know that you are running a scam. We will not be doing business with you in the future.
-Cooper's Captives

From: Stacey Wilkens <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2012 5:26 AM
Subject: Re: PAYMENT DETAILS

Hello,

How are you doing there today and how is business hope you’re doing great. I just want you to know that you might hav received the check yesterday or today and will love to know if you have received it because there was a little problem with the amount on the check which i think it should not be a problem between me and you because according to the instruction which was given to my secretary was that I told her to issue two different check payment one for you for the exact amount and the second check payment for my cousin at the hospital to pay for his operation bill, so the problem is that the amount that was suppose to be on your check she wrote it on my cousin check, and your own on her check.

So what I want you to do for me now is that once you receive the check payment kindly take it to your bank cash it, deduct your money and do me a favor by sending the remaining balance to my cousin for his operation bill and below is the name and address which you’re sending the money to through Western Union Money Transfer.


Name: Jerry Harvey

City: Forth Worth

Texas: 76119


So I am very sorry for the stress that this whole think might have cause you and hope to hear back from you with the Western Union Money Transfer Details after you have sent the money to the following given name .I am expecting you to get back to me with the following information such as:

Sender’s Name:

Sender’s Address:

Mtcn Number (10 Digit Number on the receipt)

I wait your reply with the Western Union Money Transfer details from you soon.

Stacey.


The check was made for $2500.00. These people are serious scammers. Please everyone beware!

There's a similar one that circulates in the tourism/hotel industry. it goes:

1. Hi we want to make a booking at your hotel, here are our details.
2. Here is our deposit, one a credit card
3. Almost immediately: We want to cancel, please refund our deposit, this time to a DIFFERENT credit card
4. The first credit card fails to clear, but only after you have sent the payment to the other number.

I agree these are major scammers, and it's a good warning to have out.

"Scott Bowen" contacted me yesterday regarding my ad running on Kingsnake for a ball python. He wanted some current photos and a shipping quote to a residence in Texas. I responded with the information. He emailed me back asking for my address so he can send a cashiers check. In the mean time, I checked out the residence, and it belongs to Ron Tremper! I emailed Ron, and he said it was a scam, and reported it to K.S.

I got the same one this week, with Tremper's address.

Mark Dwight said:

RULE #1. Anytime the word "client" or "boss" is mentioned in a email it's a scam.

Click to expand...

Or "cousin"

Matt, I love the "here's what I want you to do".

Noelle

This one contacts me. They almost always come in pairs and on the same evening. One is in Nigeria by IP address. One is, in the most recent instance, on the West Coast of the USA. The interest is in the same item(s) and messages are usually within hours of each other.

#1 Scott B.

"Hello,
I'm making inquiry about the 0.1 pied 67% het albino and 0.1 enchi 67% het pied.Is it still available for sale. Tell me more about it and send pictures if available. Please calculate shipping to address below.


217 Upper Cibolo Creek Road
Boerne,
TX
78006
USA


Scott.
[email protected]"

197.242.122.73

#2 Weil Bells aka [email protected]

"Hi,
How are you doing,I saw your animal for sell and I have much interested in it,is it available for sale,if yes,let me know the selling price and the health condition of animal.

I'll be expecting to read from you soon.

Bell"

69.22.169.145




----------------------

They may be working together or may be the same person.

Honey badger don't care.

rcarichter said:

Or "cousin"

Matt, I love the "here's what I want you to do".

Noelle

Click to expand...

"God bless!"

It's always a dead give away to me when they describe what ever your selling as " it ". Atleast their English skills have improved since they first started doing this.