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, dropbox@kingsnake.com wrote:

*************
NOTE: This message was sent to you via the Kingsnake.com Classifieds.
It appears to be from scottbowen50@yahoo.com. To respond to this email please just click REPLY.
If you feel this message is fraudulent or abusive please forward it to classifieds@pethobbyist.com.
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: scottbowen50@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 8:18 AM
Subject: Re: Message about: 1.0 Ctenosaura melanosterna from scottbowen50@yahoo.com

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 <scottbowen50@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re:
Date: November 29, 2012 1:34:01 AM CST
To: Matthew Schaefer
Reply-To: Scott Bowen <scottbowen50@yahoo.com>

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 <scottbowen50@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 8:54 AM
Subject: Re: Message about: 1.0 Ctenosaura melanosterna from scottbowen50@yahoo.com

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 <scottbowen50@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Message about: 1.0 Ctenosaura melanosterna from scottbowen50@yahoo.com
Date: November 29, 2012 5:31:00 PM CST
To: Matthew Schaefer
Reply-To: Scott Bowen <scottbowen50@yahoo.com>

OK. The check will be sent asap.
Thanks.

HIS REPLY TODAY:

From: Scott Bowen <scottbowen50@yahoo.com>
Subject: Payment In The Mail ...
Date: December 3, 2012 2:54:47 PM CST
To: Matthew Schaefer
Reply-To: Scott Bowen <scottbowen50@yahoo.com>

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.