Ron Nelson wrote:
What I don't understand is what the spammer hopes
to accomplish with this.
Anyone have a take on this? (I get them too, by the way.)
I get those too. I've assumed that this is a variant on a scam that's common
enough that Craigslist warns you about it.
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2. distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier's check
* you receive an email (examples below) offering to buy your item, or rent
your apartment, sight unseen.
* cashier's check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an
apartment, or for just about anything else of value.
* value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - scammer offers to
"trust" you, and asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service
* banks will often cash these fake checks AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE
WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR, including criminal prosecution in some cases!
* scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing
buyer money, etc)
<snip>
4. distant person offers to send you a money order and then have you wire
money:
* this is ALWAYS a scam, in our experience - the cashier's check is FAKE
* sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not
* scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake
check
* deal often seems too good to be true
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I presume this is why they have this (fairly implausible) list of stuff -
sometimes the wedding party wants foxtrot, chacha, and belly dance lessons -
in order to get up to a total bill that's large enough for one of these scams
to be semi-plausible.
-- Alan
--
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Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
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