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John James or Nick Bass...online usps money orders???

GOLDENSERPENT

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Hi everyone.
I just wanted to know if anyone knows a John James (he won an auction I placed on Reptiles Auction)? He said he needed to wait a week to pay me but would use the money order method instead of paypal which is fine with me especially if it is not going to a confirmed address.
Today I emailed him and asked when he would be making payment on the animals and he tells me that he would be using a credit card to purchase a usps money order online?? I told him that I only accept them sent to me via express mail and I got this email (please read it carefully and note all the misspelled words and the fact that I have to ship and confirm shipment before they would send me my money) I called the post office and they referred me to the fraud hotline.
 

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UNITED STATE POSTAL
MONEY ORDER APPROVED



Postage Payment Options for Business
Send Money
Many choices for you to send money and pay bills.
Dear
Jewel Howard,

Congratulations! The order placed by the buyer of your item: Veronica Slate to have a United States Postal Service Branded Money OrderSM $346.79 USD sent to you as payment for the item: (Pet Store Package ) has been successfully processed and has consequently been APPROVED. The financial details of the transaction are stated below :
Order Status And Informations:
Order Number:

25567230
Auction Payments Order

AVAILABLE
Order Placed

10/18/2007
Order Status

Money Order Available
Money Order Approved

Money Order Confirmed
Billing Information:

Status:

Processed successfully
Card Type

MasterCard
Card Number

5***********5643
Exp. Date

10/2009
Name on Card
Jennifer Palo
Service Purchased:

Online Payment
Total Amount charged on card

$346.79 USD
Item Fee

$346.79 USD
shipping Fee

Included
Money Order shipped via :

USPS Priority Mail
Purchased Item Information

Auction site

ReptileAuctions.com
Item Description
Pet Store Package
Item Number
Not Applicable
Seller Information:

Name
Jewel Howard
Street address

P.O. Box 281

City, State, Zipcode
Odum GA 31555
Country

United States.
Email

[email protected]

The Money OrderSM will be delivered to your contact information below, Please verify that the name and address (as entered by the buyer) are correct: Verify the Below Address, If the address is not Valid, Please kindly get back to us with your full details:

Jewell howard
post office box 281
Odum GA 31555

If there is an error in the name or address, Please email our representative at [email protected]
>

Below is a sample of the Postal Money Order® that will be delivered to you OR Cash payment after we have received the shipment tracking number from you.

We will be waiting for you to ship the item and mail us the shipment tracking number so that we can send out your payment in 24/48hours. With this no buyer can stop payment with a false claim that there is no longer any transaction between the two of you after you might have shipped. We are your mediator, we stand between both the buyers and the sellers because we have our reputation to protect.

Shipping Details is:

Jennifer Pola
312 Emmett Street
Scranton, Pa 18505

Postal Money Order® is easier to cash. They can be purchased from any Post Office in the United States, Canada , United Kingdom as well as from any rural route carrier. Postal Money Order® are available up to $1,000 with a daily limit of $10,000 per customer. A current government-issued or state-issued picture identification is required for money order purchases over $3000 in a single day.

Thank you for using postal money order. We look forward to serving your online payment needs in the future.
This Money OrderSM will NOT be dispatched or get to your resident until the shipment has been verified. This measure is taken in order to protect both seller and buyer interests and to reduce the occurrence of fraudulent activities.

Due to the fact that United States Postal Service processes thousands of Orders daily, United States Postal Service RECOMMENDS contacting the Customer Support Representative that has been assigned to this particular Order directly. This ensures speedy verification of shipment as well as prompt dispatch of Money OrderSM. Send shippment tracking details to : [email protected]

Money Order Security Features
Things to check for to ensure a Money Order is authentic.

Postal Money Orders are safe to use because they have many security features that help distinguish between real and counterfeit notes. Just like our own U.S. Currency, they are specially designed with different colored inks, watermarks, and security thread in the paper.
Hold the money order up to the light and look for the following security features:
Ben Franklin images (watermarks) repeated on the left side (top to bottom).

A dark security thread running (top to bottom) to the right of the Franklin watermark, with the tiny letters USPS facing backward and forward

This order has been APPROVED, you CAN NOW ship the merchandise to the buyer's shipping address. You are expected to make the shipment within 48 hours of recieving this Payment Confirmation Notification and get to our Costumer/Technical Dept. with the tracking number for Shippment Verification.

Thank you for using United States Postal Money Order Payments® ExpressPaymentSM. We look forward serving your Online Money Order Payments® needs in future.

Sincerely,
United States Postal Money Order Payments copyright®

Signature Confirmation

USPS Homepage
 
Call the credit card company and cancel the transaction. USPS NEVER takes credit cards for postal money order only debit and in person with an ID.

This is federal fraud and the post office does prosecute so save all the information you have.
You should be able to get your money back immediately. Explain what happened. I will hold the animals for a few more days but I have to have clear funds before I ship./
You will also need to explain to the webmaster what happened as I forwarded the email I got to him and to the federal office of fraud as per the post office.
file a contact below using the contact us button so he understands that it was not you and let him know who got your money or tried to,
John James ( Buyer ) Oct. 18, 2007 18:19:06
that is my sister and her husband they sent the payment for me how am i suppose to get my money back now i filed it online through a link a guy gave me on here
 
credit or debit visa still take s 3% of transaction so i don't see any differance. have ya'll talk by phone yet
 
No we have not talked by phone, I told him pretty straight up that I would not ship until I had clear funds. So if he is on the up and up he will send a paper money order from the post office.
I generally do not call the people I sell to unless they call me first. I do most of it through email or the message board on the website. I had never seen an email like the one the guy sent, it had all the post office logos and everything so I put it up here for inquiry.

The man told me that his sister and her husband made that payment for him but another guy online gave him the weblink for the payment method. :shrug01:
 
Hmmmm, i love the smell of bulls**t in the morning. Smells like a scam to me.....will they ever learn? :rolleyes:
 
Very true. Even when they get caught, they just change identities and move on. Usually it's pretty obvious if someone's running a scam though, the saying "too good to be true" usually comes to mind. It's a good thing that everyone has the BOI, that's all i can say! :)
 
thank you all for your replies, I just wanted to confirm what I thought to start with. Now he is saying that his credit card wont refund his money (boohoo) and he will have to pass on the auction he won. Pass is right, I will just pass on to the next customer that has legitimate money and more sense.
Sincerely
JHoward
 
He tried to rip you off for $300... Dont let the scum move on to the next person that quickly, thats a federal offense, report him
 
GOLDENSERPENT said:
Call the credit card company and cancel the transaction. USPS NEVER takes credit cards for postal money order only debit and in person with an ID.


They don't always ask for ID when using a debit card. I've never had them ask to see any ID.

Now I can confirm that USPS will not accept a credit card to purchase a MO with. One time I went to get a MO and pulled out the wrong card by accident (i have both a cc and a debit card through my bank.. same logos/appearance to the cards), and right away was told I couldn't use the credit card.
 
The ID thing Wraith might depend upon how well known you are to the clerk and where you live. Here where I live I do not get carded for Debit/credit but one town over I do.

The point was they would not accept payment online for sales of a postal money order and for sure would not request you to ship before being paid.
Thank you for posting and replying.
Jewell :)
 
Just out of curiosity, and I don't mean to detract from the obvious importance of the thread, but does anyone know why USPS won't accept credit cards for money orders? I've been in a pinch before where I wanted to buy a rather costly group of snakes with a credit card, but the seller didn't have a PayPal account so he couldn't accept that kind of payment, and was dismayed to find out USPS can only accept debits. I fully understand the risk of fraud with accepting a credit card, but people can steal debit cards and use them just as easily as they can use credit cards. It just doesn't make much sense to me.
 
Ah, while reading back through my thread something dawned on me. I suppose USPS accepting credit cards for money orders is basically a way for a person to get a cash advance without the higher percentage rate. Nevermind.... certainly wouldn't want the cc companies to miss out on that extra interest!
 
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