SCAMMER!!! John Mike from Canada / France / UK???

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Well, I guess I'm one of the privileged people to be involved with the old scam that was going around a while back. Can anyone help me with the information I need to report this to the proper authorities? Here's the paper trail:

----- Original Message -----

From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 5:24 AM
Subject: Message about: REDUCED! Tremper Hybino x Super-Tang, Sunglow females!

Hello,
I saw your advert over the web and am much interested in buying it.Am a dealer in all kinds of animals, I live in the CANADA,I will be responsible for the shippment down to my location, so please kindly write me back with your last offering price.I will also need some of its recent pics, and will like to know its present condition .I am Looking forward to your soonest reply. JOHN.

----------------------------------------------
Click on (or cut and paste into you browser's location window) the URL below to view the ad that this message is in response to.

http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?de=392452&cat=10
----------------------------------------------
This message was sent by an unregistered or non logged in user.
This person may or may not be who they say they are.
The return address they provide may or may not be their correct address.

Sent 07:24 AM, Mar 17th, 2006 from I.P. Address 66.178.40.26




----- Original Message -----

From: "goldengategeckos" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 8:05 AM
Subject: Re: Message about: REDUCED! Tremper Hybino x Super-Tang, Sunglow females!

Hello John,

Thank you for your interest in Golden Gate Geckos! I do not have an export permit and can only ship within the lower 48 United States. If it is the
Sunglow female you are interested in, her price is $400, and I will be happy to work with someone here in the States that could help with the export. I will be taking new photos as soon as the sun shines!

Warm regards,
Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com




----- Original Message -----

From: john mike
To: goldengategeckos
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 10:23 AM
Subject: concerning payment and shippment

Greetings,
Everything sounds well .concerning the item am okay with the prize of $400 and I will be offering you $450 for it so i will want you to keep other buyer's off.Concerning payment I have a friend in the state who is ready to issue you a us Certified Cashier Check since I don't have the funds in your currency. For convinient and easy shipping, I have a liable shipping agent who'd be responsible for the shipping as soon as you receive payment for the item.I will therefore need the following information of yours to forward to my friend before he sends the check.

NAME IN FULL................
ADDRESS IN FULL..........
STATE...............
ZIPCODE........
COUNTRY.......
CELL/OFFICE/HOME
PHONE NUMBER...........

I await your soonest reply
REGARDS
JOHN.




----- Original Message -----

From: goldengategeckos
To: john mike
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 11:56 AM
Subject: Re: concerning payment and shippment
Hello John,
You may send the $450 US Cashier's Check via Priority Mail to:

Golden Gate Geckos
XXXX XXXXXXXXXX Drive
XXXXXXXX, CA 94531
USA
925-755-3113

As soon as I receive the check and it clears the bank, we can arrange shipping to your agent here in the USA!

Thank you very much,
Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com




----- Original Message -----

From: john mike
To: goldengategeckos
Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 5:26 AM
Subject: Base on truth and payment

Greetings ,
Thanks for the reply and the information you sent.Concerning payment I have just called my friend now and he has said he'd be sending a cashier check of $3450 to your contact address in which you will remove the asking price of $400 after cashing it in a local cashing store and an extra $50 for your service and then wire the balance to the shipper via westernunion money transfer that he will use for all his flight charges hotel bills and the insurance and all other shipping charges when coming to your location for the pick up of the item, I hope I can trust you on this?.The information of the shipper will probably be sent alongside the check. I will notify you if he has sent it. Looking forward to completing this transaction w/ you.Get back to me asap.

NOTE:All western union charges must be deducted from the shipping funds .Here is my contact info below:

John mike
7a Omiston Grove,
London,EC3N 2PR
United Kingdom

Best regards..................JOHN




----- Original Message -----

From: goldengategeckos
To: john mike
Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: Base on truth and payment

John, or whoever you are:
Nice try, but this is one of the oldest SCAMS in this business, and I will NOT tolerate it! I am reporting this communication as internet fraud, and if and when I receive the check I will report it to the United States Federal Government as mail fraud.

I honestly do not know how you criminals can even sleep at night! Do not contact me again under ANY circumstances.

Good riddance.

Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
925-755-3113
http://www.goldengategeckos.com

 

[[email protected]]

Another scammer

Here is another leach to watch out for. Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2006 15:18:53 -0800 (PST)
From: "john cole" <[email protected]> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by yahoo.com. Learn more
Subject: Bearded Dragons
To: [email protected]

I am interested in buying this dragon for my client,who has a Reserve in the United Kingdom.I want to know the healthy condition of the dragon and final asking price.Get back to me ASAP.

Regards


John.
r.

 

[densnake1]

I had a guy try almost the same thing with me after 4 or five e-mails he said it would be faster if I gave him MY credit card # so he could deposit the money in my account. I almost fell on the floor laughing! Just my 2 cents.
Dennis Cook

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

George, take a look at the grammar/puncuation of your correspondence compared to mine... I'll guarantee it is the same 'John'. Out of curiosity, do you have his IP address or information?

 

[joepythons]

fun

You should have done what several others have done to them.Have them send you a check overnighted.Tell them several times that you have never recieved the check this way it costs them to keep sending you there phony checks .Maybe someday these people will be shut down .

 

[[email protected]]

Marcia, This is the IP # I come up with [66.163.179.194]

 

[Omniherp]

Same thing

I have a friend here locally, who sells puppies on the internet, he too got this same email offer. At the time, he di dnot know any different as he was new to the internet sales. I explained to him what was going on and sure enough when the cashiers check arrived, he took them to a friend of ours at the bank and discovered they had already been cashed. So, this scam is not limited to the herp industry, but I wish there was someway to stop this ridiculousness.

Jason

 

[liquidleaf]

I think pretty much any kind of classified ad on the internet is a target for these scammers - my husband has an ad up to sell his minicup race truck, and we still get 2 or 3 "I would like to buy your (minicup truck) please tell me the condition and latest asking price of (minicup truck)" types of email, all offering to take care of shipping, blah blah blah. They normally reek of a form letter. There are so many people trying this that it's probably not the same person...

 

[liquidleaf]

Oops - I meant 2 to 3 PER WEEK.

 

[Scott Ashton]

Marcia:

The link below will allow you to report the incident:

http://www.ic3.gov/

It is the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

 

[Chameleon Company]

Marcia, I hope this is not considered "off-topic" or hijacking of your thread

Since its about "scamming", I only want to borrow it. Here's an email that I have gotten responding to five different ads out there right now. Same exact words, just a reference to a different ad each time. I probably get about 25 different ones in a year, maybe more. Most of us can recognize them a mile away. Can I say 100% that this is a scam? No, although I emailed the entity accusing them of such, and have yet to hear back. I don't have the time to lead them on to see how it would unfold, if a scam, but this person claims to be right here in the U.S. of A. (or maybe just "from")! I won't point out all that is "wrong with this picture", except to say it is not written by someone who would be what is claimed here, and there are at least 10 things wrong, or shall we say "not normal". I offer it only as another example for young readers. God forbid it proves legitimate, and I get real money from this entity, I will certainly make a retraction, and also tutor him as to how to make a better inquiry, no charge. On the flip side, if any of us were writing a screenplay, and a role called for dialogue with a Jamaican or Nigerian (and others, I am sure) taxi driver or hotel desk clerk, he would talk exactly like this.

----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 1:59 PM
Subject: Message about: CBB Nosy Be Females

hello
good day my name is James Smith am from Los Angles from United State of American am a Zoologist so pls am highly interested in your item which is the animal so pls i will like you to kindly mail me back the condtion and the mode of payment is United State Postal Money Order in us fund so pls i will lke you to kindly mail me back ASAP...........
REGARDS
James Smith..........
ITEM SELLING = CBB Nosy Be Females

 

[Scott Ashton]

----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 1:59 PM
Subject: Message about: CBB Nosy Be Females

hello
good day my name is James Smith am from Los Angles from United State of American am a Zoologist so pls am highly interested in your item which is the animal so pls i will like you to kindly mail me back the condtion and the mode of payment is United State Postal Money Order in us fund so pls i will lke you to kindly mail me back ASAP...........
REGARDS
James Smith..........
ITEM SELLING = CBB Nosy Be Females

And you would receive what looks like a bonafide USPS money order. Notice I said "looks like", as none of the tell-tale security features will be present, with the exception of the large Benjamin Franklin watermark, which will be poorly reproduced.

Check out the USPS Postal Inspector's Page for Information about Money Orders and counterfeiting:

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/moalert.htm

Specifically regarding online scams involving bogus USPS Money Orders:

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/mofeatur.htm

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Thanks for the info, folks... I guess I'll have to wait and see if I receive an 'already cashed' check in the mail!

 

[VFR!]

Reporting these people is not going to accomplish anything. I’m not saying that these people can’t be stopped but don’t expect our government to send someone over to Nigeria to arrest anyone for stealing $2,000.00 from you. Many sites like Ebay, Craigslist and this one have taken steps to educate people about these scammers. Also, as long a there are sites that allow people to create free email addresses a scammer can have their accounts closed but can go back to the same provider and easily create another account under a different and usually more creative name. To tell you the truth, these people see us as stupid and as an easy opportunity for them to cash in. The best thing we can do is direct all our friends and acquaintances (reptile lovers or not) to threads like this to get educated on the matter.

Instead of getting upset over the matter I have decided to have fun with these people that think we are idiots and turn around and scam them, not out of money but by making them jump through hoops. In the end I let them know that I knew it was a scam all along and let them feel like the idiot. Why not have fun with them? I added the link to a site (not mine) below for you guys to check out and have a few laughs at these d*mb ass*s.

http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/

Hopefully people will continue to keep this thread alive so more and more people can get educated on these jerks.

Let me know what you guys think about that site.

 

[varnyard]

As for the water mark, they have been known to buy real Postal money orders and then alter them to a different amount. So it is true that the water mark is poor on some but the exact one on others. Here are some links that will give more info, as well as below a quote from one of them.
http://www.goodworksonearth.org/frau...ey-orders.html
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/comsi...Money_Fraud_Is
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...63/1004/NEWS01

Money order fraud is increasingly common, say U.S. postal inspectors.

COPYRIGHT 2004 The Dallas Morning News

Byline: Matt Stiles

Dec. 28--Joseph Emuagbonrie's explanation, as federal authorities describe it, seemed reasonable, even laudable.

The Nigerian immigrant told an Irving post office employee in May that his unusual request for 70 American money orders -- each for less than $3 -- would help poor children learn to manage money.

In fact, authorities say, his effort was part of an international conspiracy to defraud the government by altering postal money orders to increase their values.

A two-count indictment issued this month charges that Mr. Emuagbonrie conspired with unknown others here and in Africa to alter the money orders...

 

[Scott Ashton]

As for the water mark, they have been known to buy real Postal money orders and then alter them to a different amount. So it is true that the water mark is poor on some but the exact one on others. Here are some links that will give more info, as well as below a quote from one of them.
http://www.goodworksonearth.org/frau...ey-orders.html
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/comsi...Money_Fraud_Is
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...63/1004/NEWS01

Money order fraud is increasingly common, say U.S. postal inspectors.

Compounding the alteration scams are the fact that the USPS still has at least 2 different versions of the Money Order in circulation.

 

[Chameleon Company]

Am borrowing this thread once again,

As it touched on Nigerian scams, and others that have since adopted similar styles. Here is the text of an article from a sports website that was reported by Reuters today, and I found it both crazy and enlightening. It is no wonder that Nigeria is at the forefront of scams such as we encounter within the reptile business:

Updated: March 31, 2006
Nigerian referees given permission to take bribes

Reuters.

LAGOS, Nigeria -- Football referees in Nigeria can take bribes from clubs but should not allow them to influence their decisions on the pitch, a football official said on Friday.

Fanny Amun, acting Secretary-General of the Nigerian Football Association, said bribery was common in the Nigerian game.

"We know match officials are offered money or anything to influence matches and they can accept it," Amun told Reuters on Friday.

Amun first made the statement earlier in the week to a football seminar in the capital Abuja, prompting protests from other officials.

"Referees should only pretend to fall for the bait, but make sure the result doesn't favour those offering the bribe," Amun said.

At the seminar, Nigerian football league chairman Oyuiki Obaseki reprimanded referees for poor quality match reports, saying that bribery was to blame.

"The quality of your reports have not done our league any good, so please desist from corrupt practices," he told delegates.

Despite a high-profile campaign to stamp out graft in the impoverished African country, Nigeria consistently ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world -- and football is no exception

I hope that it may only serve as an answer to the often asked question: "Why doesn't anyone stop them?"

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Things that make you go "Hmmmmm..."

 

[mhwc56]

I was reading our local small town paper the other day.In the Police Report there was an article that dealt with just this thing...
'two residents have recently fallen victim to a new scam and have lost a substantial amount of money.
the officer said both parties were initially contacted by someone asking if they would deposit a check and then ,after the check had cleared,withdraw the cash. The checks were receivedvia regular mail and appeared to be genuine. Both parties deposited the checks and after a 3 day wait sent the cash as requested-only to find the checks bounced. They were then not only out of the money they sent to the scammer but had to replace the funds to their own bank-a double penalty for this insidious scam.
One scammer claimed to be part of the Canadian Lottery ,the other was a simple request for help.'
I mention this article because it it sounded so similar to the first post.
I just cannot understand why some people would fall for such a blatent pile of...as what was written in this report though.

 

[pokeilope]

... I think someone is trying to do that to me... THe wording and whatnot sounds the same... this is what they sent me please let me know what do if this is a scam...

Hello,
Thanks for your mail responds,i'm very glad to read from you,also i will like you to know that am ok with your asking price,but will like to view the pics. I will do the shipping of the spider ball python my self,my shipping agent will help me out in the shipping of the spider ball python,my mode of payment will be in a check or money order .I will send you a check or money order through my insurance broker in which shipping cost and some other expenses will be included.If this procedure is ok by you,i will like you to get back to me with this following information:
Full name(that will be written on the check)
Home and address:
State:
Country and Zipcode:
Phone number:
As soon as this following information is being provided,i will make a special arrangement to send the payment to you immediately.I will be glad to do business with you.
Have a nice day.
Todd.

..Help?