ARTICLE
You've seen the emails... the personal secretary of billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky and offers recipients a cool $8m providing they'll "help transfer" around $40m of Khodorkovsky's fortune. or I am Mrs. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of YASSER ARAFAT, the Palestinian leader who died recently in Paris. I have deposited the sum of 20 million dollars with a security firm abroad whose name is withheld for now until we open communication. I shall be grateful if you could receive this fund into your bank account for safe keeping and any Investment opportunity. This arrangement is known to you and my personal Attorney. He might be dealing with you directly for security reasons as the case may be. or Recognizing the need for assistance with tuition, University of Nigeria offers a variety of financial aid options. Our university is in the position of funding your complete tuition in addition to providing for housing, meals, and other expenses you may incur while attending school. We will wire you $10 million into your account and whatever you do not use, just send back upon graduation. You will never have to repay the gift. These scams are certainly interesting but what do they have to do with dealers? The answer is that as these scams are successful in bilking millions of dollars out of unsuspecting consumers, so a few common scams are having the same effect on unsuspecting dealers. Here are the top three we've seen lately: The Bill for Goods Not Received Scam This is an invoice, typically for non-tangible goods such as advertising or web listing. It often names a staff person as the contact. The price tends to be nominal - about what one might expect to pay - and not large enough to trigger additional signatures on the check. Dealers get the invoice and pay it, completely unaware that they paid for something they never received. The solution: Use purchase orders Require suppliers to provide the purchase order number on the invoice When a purchase order number is not provided on the invoice withhold payment until you can verify that the products or services were indeed ordered and received The Foreign Buyer - One Check for Everything Scam Not all foreign buyers are scammers but many are. Typically the scam runs like this: Email from the scammer: "Hi, my name is JAY BROWN here in france i saw your ad about your car (CAR DODGE RAM 2500) still for sale. I will want to know your last offering price. in respect of shipping, i have a repuatble shipper who takes care of my shippment. Mail me asap to arrange payment. Thanks. BROWN (Common scammer flags are the all caps name, the very bad spelling and punctuation, and a commonly available vehicle.) Email from the dealer: Dear Mr Brown, My name is Jim Smith, sales consultant here at Cool Automotive. I just received your inquiry into the 1994 Dodge Ram. Yes it is still available. The most recent price quoted was $9,675 and that would be your price. In regard to payment, a certified check or money order (in US dollars) would be acceptable. Email from the scammer: Hello Jim, Thanks for your respond, i want to purchase it. in respect of shipping i have a reputable shipper who takes care of my shippment. Mail me for other necessary arrangements. So i have a Business Associates over there in the States that will be paying with a certified cashiers check, i will contact him to issue you a certified cashiers check of $13500. So all i want you to do now is to receive this Payment from my Business Associates and deduct your selling price from the funds and then send the remaining excess funds to the Shipping Company. You are not to worry abut shipping, I have a reputable Shipping Company that i have been using for long now, so i am sure they will ship the car right to the destination i want it shipped. Also they have got a lot in the states and also in Europe to ship for me. The remaining excess funds should be sent to the Shipping Company via Western Union Money Transfer and the charges to get funds transferred to them should be deduct from the excess funds you are sending to them (Shipping Company). For this i am compesating you with the sum of $100, If you are ready to transact with me, Which i believe you will certainly do, i will want you to provide me with the following details needed for the Payment to get to you... The rest of the story: These scammers count on you sending the money order before your bank notifies you that the cashiers check was bogus. They cash out the money order and disappear. The solution: Not all foreign buyers are scammers. There are ways to ensure that you are adequately protected from this type of scam. Never accept payment over the amount of the transaction. Wait until the check or money order clears your bank (sometimes as long as 15 days) before releasing the vehicle. The I've Driven A Long Way Please Don't Send Me Home Empty-Handed Scam This scam usually begins with an Internet contact from a customer who lives a long distance from Wisconsin. Typically, they are looking at a very modest, commonly obtained vehicle. They negotiate a price and set a delivery date. When they arrive they have a trade for which they do not have a title, or the title is funky in some manner. The dealer, feeling bad that they have driven so far, tells them to send the title when they get home. ... And the title never comes. Before you laugh and claim that you would never make that mistake, ask yourself if you've accepted a vehicle in trade with no title. The only difference is the miles. Long-distance scammers count on you not being willing or able to travel 1000 miles to regain your property. Fighting Back These last two scams are initiated through an Internet contact. The U.S. Government has set up a website where Internet crime victims can report a crime and alert an appropriate agency. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is an alliance between the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). IC3's mission is to address crime committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet crime, IC3 provides a convenient and easy way to alert authorities of a suspected violation. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies, IC3 offers a central repository for complaints related to Internet crime, uses the information to quantify patterns and provides timely statistical data of current trends. When you are the victim, or target, of an Internet scam you help everyone by reporting your experience to the IC3. If you have additional questions about this subject please contact the WATDA Answer Place team at (608) 251-5577
You've seen the emails...
the personal secretary of billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky and offers recipients a cool $8m providing they'll "help transfer" around $40m of Khodorkovsky's fortune. or I am Mrs. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of YASSER ARAFAT, the Palestinian leader who died recently in Paris. I have deposited the sum of 20 million dollars with a security firm abroad whose name is withheld for now until we open communication. I shall be grateful if you could receive this fund into your bank account for safe keeping and any Investment opportunity. This arrangement is known to you and my personal Attorney. He might be dealing with you directly for security reasons as the case may be. or Recognizing the need for assistance with tuition, University of Nigeria offers a variety of financial aid options. Our university is in the position of funding your complete tuition in addition to providing for housing, meals, and other expenses you may incur while attending school. We will wire you $10 million into your account and whatever you do not use, just send back upon graduation. You will never have to repay the gift. These scams are certainly interesting but what do they have to do with dealers? The answer is that as these scams are successful in bilking millions of dollars out of unsuspecting consumers, so a few common scams are having the same effect on unsuspecting dealers. Here are the top three we've seen lately: The Bill for Goods Not Received Scam This is an invoice, typically for non-tangible goods such as advertising or web listing. It often names a staff person as the contact. The price tends to be nominal - about what one might expect to pay - and not large enough to trigger additional signatures on the check. Dealers get the invoice and pay it, completely unaware that they paid for something they never received. The solution:
The Foreign Buyer - One Check for Everything Scam
Not all foreign buyers are scammers but many are. Typically the scam runs like this: Email from the scammer: "Hi, my name is JAY BROWN here in france i saw your ad about your car (CAR DODGE RAM 2500) still for sale. I will want to know your last offering price. in respect of shipping, i have a repuatble shipper who takes care of my shippment. Mail me asap to arrange payment. Thanks. BROWN (Common scammer flags are the all caps name, the very bad spelling and punctuation, and a commonly available vehicle.) Email from the dealer: Dear Mr Brown, My name is Jim Smith, sales consultant here at Cool Automotive. I just received your inquiry into the 1994 Dodge Ram. Yes it is still available. The most recent price quoted was $9,675 and that would be your price. In regard to payment, a certified check or money order (in US dollars) would be acceptable. Email from the scammer: Hello Jim, Thanks for your respond, i want to purchase it. in respect of shipping i have a reputable shipper who takes care of my shippment. Mail me for other necessary arrangements. So i have a Business Associates over there in the States that will be paying with a certified cashiers check, i will contact him to issue you a certified cashiers check of $13500. So all i want you to do now is to receive this Payment from my Business Associates and deduct your selling price from the funds and then send the remaining excess funds to the Shipping Company. You are not to worry abut shipping, I have a reputable Shipping Company that i have been using for long now, so i am sure they will ship the car right to the destination i want it shipped. Also they have got a lot in the states and also in Europe to ship for me. The remaining excess funds should be sent to the Shipping Company via Western Union Money Transfer and the charges to get funds transferred to them should be deduct from the excess funds you are sending to them (Shipping Company). For this i am compesating you with the sum of $100, If you are ready to transact with me, Which i believe you will certainly do, i will want you to provide me with the following details needed for the Payment to get to you... The rest of the story: These scammers count on you sending the money order before your bank notifies you that the cashiers check was bogus. They cash out the money order and disappear. The solution:
The I've Driven A Long Way Please Don't Send Me Home Empty-Handed Scam This scam usually begins with an Internet contact from a customer who lives a long distance from Wisconsin. Typically, they are looking at a very modest, commonly obtained vehicle. They negotiate a price and set a delivery date. When they arrive they have a trade for which they do not have a title, or the title is funky in some manner. The dealer, feeling bad that they have driven so far, tells them to send the title when they get home. ... And the title never comes. Before you laugh and claim that you would never make that mistake, ask yourself if you've accepted a vehicle in trade with no title. The only difference is the miles. Long-distance scammers count on you not being willing or able to travel 1000 miles to regain your property. Fighting Back These last two scams are initiated through an Internet contact. The U.S. Government has set up a website where Internet crime victims can report a crime and alert an appropriate agency. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is an alliance between the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). IC3's mission is to address crime committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet crime, IC3 provides a convenient and easy way to alert authorities of a suspected violation. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies, IC3 offers a central repository for complaints related to Internet crime, uses the information to quantify patterns and provides timely statistical data of current trends. When you are the victim, or target, of an Internet scam you help everyone by reporting your experience to the IC3. If you have additional questions about this subject please contact the WATDA Answer Place team at (608) 251-5577