[anitheral]

Sellers, beware of fake buyers who say they want to use PayPal to transfer funds and want you to send the item to Nigeria. I received an email supposedly from PayPal requesting I send a postal tracking reference number before payment would be authorised. This is FAKE! PayPal never request you send an item before you receive funds, so if you ever come across that situation, back well away.

Buyers beware, but sellers as well!

[anitheral]

I was curious as to what the take from the police would be regarding this whole "Nigeria scam" stuff, and I ended up speaking with the Scotland Yard Computer Crime squad. Basically because it's quite costly to lodge international investigations, it only really happens when vast amounts of money have been lost. They would, however, like people who have lost money to scams, report it to their local police headquarters so they can at least have some sort of view to how frequently this is happening (assuming you obviously have the time/want to get around to doing this) although it's unlikely that much will actually happen in terms of being able to get your money back.

Apparently they have someone who lost a 7-figure sum which is still being investigated, and that was lodged about 2.5 years ago. It's not a fast process.

Needless to say, be very wary .. and if they say they're paying via PayPal, make sure you check your actual account through the website and not rely on email notifications. PayPal does not ask you for any postal tracking number before transferring funds.

[englishman]

shivers - where are you

its about nigeria and fraud

your fave topic

[Vibrance]

[wino]

As per previous about dodgy paypal etc, I put a phone on ebay for sale and the winner, despite my 'Uk only' warning, was based in the US but wanted it posted to...guess where? Yeh you got it!! Nigeria! Alarm bell #1. So I get 2 paypal emails saying a) the funds have come from the buyer, and b) they'll be in my paypal account once I provide proof of shipping. This, and 2 spelling errors got me going so I contacted paypal and they said the funds would show in my account no matter what. So I politely told the buyer to stick it and better luck next time. Reported to paypal and ebay ( the buyer became unregistered almost immediately after the sale ) and that's about it. Old Bill won't look into it cos I'm not the landed gentry or shifting millions to the labour party. Basically, as previous mails have said, and wisely so: if it looks too good to be true it is. Follow your gut ( especially after a dodgy kebab ) and be wary. Unfortunate. but the economics of today demand it. Be careful, take care, and don't let it get to you.

[woft exterminator]

Ha!!! So you now know the s**t that us eBayers have to go through. When i get Nigerians asking me to post phones to them i, instead, give them the number for CPW on North End in Croydon!!!

[woft exterminator]

Ha!!! So you now know the s**t that us eBayers have to go through. When i get Nigerians asking me to post phones to them i, instead, give them the number for CPW on North End in Croydon!!!

[X-Manifest]

I didnt know about these bloody scam and was scammed yesterday...saw paypayl email,and trusted it without thinking about loggin into my paypal account and checking if the transaction ID was for real! This guy did not give me a nigerian address thogh...it was an address in london...so i have that.

1. What you recon they do in this case?
do they wait outside some arb address and sign for the goods and hit the road?

In this case wouldnt it be handy to have royal mail request ID on signing for the goods..this way he would be screwed...unless he had a fake id which corresponded to the recipients name.

2. Any of you guys tried to catch these buggers? if i had known i could have had a mob of police waiting around the corner for the delivery...then again...how do police prove that this guy was a scammer?

3. I was thinking of tracing his ip within minutes of him sending me an email...maybe tracing the internet cafes this guy works etc.

Anyway,im giong to wait until it happens again...i would like to see if he uses the London delivery same address, and if not, track his movements and see whether its a randon thing or not (ie. he stands outside an arb address waiting for the van).

Answers anyone??

[emma108000]

one of these scammers contacted me 2 weeks ago... I sort of knew he was one but didnt want to be quick to judge only because he had an accent!
went ahead and he sent me a cheque for 3,000 pounds instead of 900 pounds which is what the article was worth.. needless to say, the stamps on the envelope showed the cheque came from nigeria!

[Bluey]

There are plenty of sites that give tips on how to bait 419 scammers but it is a potentially dangerous activity if they know your personal contact details/home address, I would think.

Unsurprisingly, they are likely to possess fake IDs and be hard to trace, (even if they sign for the goods its not necessarily particularly good proof of being party to deception from a legal point of view - Police have raided buildings with dozens of people sitting around dozens of PCs and have been unable to prosecute).

I read a cracking online article where a teenager knew he was being scammed for his Apple laptop and so he constructed one made of cardboard, posted it to north London and had a pal film it arriving at a barbers shop but I can't find the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scam_baiting
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/31/ebay_laptop_site/
http://www.419eater.com/
http://www.scamorama.com/
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=759&id=272762003
http://www.scambuster419.co.uk/

You are unlikely to get a mob of Police sitting waiting in anticipation of a potential minor crime - an estimated 250,000 people are supposed to be engaged in this activity in Nigeria alone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud

[tonyblu]

In as much as there are some issues with PayPal use in Nigeria, due to some dishonest individuals; how can one who wants to genuinely use PayPal format for legal online business, such as Adsense and other Affiliate programmes gain access to creating genuine Paypal account.

Can I get any other easy-to-use ONLINE pay spots?

Thank you.




Find Jobs In NIGERIA.

[montyzuma]

apologies to tony blu and i speak as one who has worked and lived with nigerian guys but there are so many nigerian scammers i wouldnot touch them with a barge pole nigeria = scam and its a shame they have dont this. they even try to scam each other so dont feel bad about it. on catching one he payed the im just getting back at whitey card although he didnt know if i was white black or green

[tonyblu]

Well, this doesnt solve my problem.

I need alternatives to Paypal.com since it's obvious that Nigeria has been blacklisted.

Anyone with options?

Help!!!

Cheers.


Find Jobs In NIGERIA.

[montyzuma]

googling alternative to paypal gives
the below


Those of you who were affected by the 5 day PayPal problems earlier this month know first hand how frustrating things can get if you only have one method of accepting payments online.

I have looked around for some alternatives, because I too had only been using PayPal to accept payments for my online auctions.

Here are some alternatives . . .

http://www.propay.com (like a merchant account without all the fees)

http://www.bidpay.com (closest competitor to PayPal)

http://www.bitpass.com (a little different)

http://www.firepay.com

http://www.neteller.com (based in London)

http://www.checkfree.com (another popular alternative)

[montyzuma]

have you tried emailing paypal and explaining your position?

[tonyblu]

Yes, I sent a message to Paypal.com and all they did was apologize that they were unable to include Nigeria among the country list.

Thanks for the links you provided, I'll work on them.

Stay blessed.
Tony.



Click Jobs In NIGERIA.

[Emma_fields_spoons]

I got scammed by this!! with my laptop And sent it off as well!

They sent a fake email to my email address saying you have to type on the recording number (1st class recorded etc..) before you get credited...

So thought it was real... sent it off... and it just didnt credit the account..

So my laptop is in the middle of nowhere now!


Believe me you might say to yourself now, "oh ill spot when its a fake" but believe me, i didnt know and im not some retard either! They use the genuine paypal URL bar 1 letter or number thats how they catch you out

Its not very nice at all!!!

x

[montyzuma]

no its in nigeria now.

let it be a lesson learned and move on

[tonyblu]

[montyzuma]

then can i suggest you do your own due diligance, how do other companies do it in nigeria? what about direct bank transfer most people would trust that, I see that as the problem, your countrmen have dragged nigerias name into the mud and associated it with crime and fraud as in romania you really have your work cut out for you.

what is it that you are selling or doing?

[tonyblu]

I'm actually interest in Genuine on-line biz affiliates. I also have a Google Adsense linked to a Blog site: Jobs In NIGERIA for Job searches in Nigeria. I plan hosting my own website soon.
I'm currently updating my IT skills in JavaScripts.

I guess I hav to get a Credit card (Visa/MasterCard) wch some Nigerian banks have recently started providing.

Thank you.
Tony James



Click Jobs In NIGERIA

[montyzuma]

Are there any? I wish you all the best with it.

i spoke to a guy who had an affiliate thing going with dell such that anyone who bought a dell computer throught his site he got $$ wasnt much tho 1 % or so.

i know very litle about these things it soulnd like a lot of work for very little return, but what do i know. im just pleased to meet a nigerian who hasnt turned to the dark side.

amazon do a similar thing i believe.

im looking for bookings for a vacation rental and would be happy to pay for any confirmed bookings anyone any idea where i can find someone to do that

[J3roxy]

I have had problems with paypal and bidpay takes forever so I have been using moneybookers.com. I have seen so many people using this now so its just something to think about. They also allow international accounts and there fees are cheaper then paypal which is always a plus

[slinkyfink]

String them along, just don't hand over any money! I had a couple people try scam me, just as long as you realise it's a scam you can get a laugh pissing them off.

Some of the funniest stuff is getting them to put in some hard work trying to make the scammy sale - if you can convince them to call a chat line or something bonus. Made one guy send me countless emails faking my interest in a 'camera' for sale that was blaitantly a con. Even some of the bad english emails from Nigerian scammers are worth a chuckle. But seriously if you need advice check out some of the web sites about online security like http://www.online-shopping-guru.co.uk/online-security-and-safe-shopping.shtml

[FunkyT]

Hi All

Just thought I'd pop my two cents (or pennies) worth in.

With the PayPal emails that are fake - this is called Phishing, Google it for more info. Always check your PayPal account and not not JUST trust an email.

Also the other forms of scamming that is common is a 419 - Google this also. This is like an overpayment made by cheque to you.

Also for 'Stay Safe' tips, see: http://www.gumtree.com/help/stay_safe

And if you see any dodgy ads, please report them to us, via the link in the bottom right hand corner of the ad.

CHEERS