8mm Forum: Web scams

This is topic Web scams in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by peter booth (Member # 242) on November 30, 2004, 10:34 AM:

Hi,as this is my first topic I will cut to the chase.Has any member come across a person who seems to be of ethnic origin,on reel exchange and ebay,offering to buy what you have by Western Union bankers draft.She says she will send a draft for £2,000 gbp and you send the item plus cashback even if your item is less than £100.A similar thing is being operated on ebay,anyone else had problems? boothpbth@aol.com

Posted by Tony Milman (Member # 7) on November 30, 2004, 11:38 AM:

Peter

Welcome to the forum, perhaps in your next post you can tell us something about your cine interests?

This is a common scam and even if it were possible you will get involved in potential money laundering but I will bet my best copy of Way out West that the cheque you get is made of rubber....

You also get the opposite- if you bid on an Elmo GS for example, all of a sudden there is a bloke with a warehouse full of brand spanking new ones at a great price so long as you send him a Western Union or similar.

Stay well away-if in doubt check out the person on here, chances are one of us will know something

Posted by peter booth (Member # 242) on November 30, 2004, 02:53 PM:

Thanks Tony,funnily enough in tonights paper one of the local hotels has had the same problem,they seem to be targeting everything and everyone.To answer your query,I collect film in Super 8mm,16mm and I have dare I say a video projector,I bought the Epson EMP-TW10 which had a best buy in Home Cinema Choice mag,I bought it from Dabs.com and I'm very pleased with it,it cost me just over £900 new,and comes with a 3 year guarantee.I buy Keith Wiltons cinema related DVD's and I'm hoping to see the armchair odeon series on DVD soon,for features I tend to buy DVD's or 16mm,I leave super 8mm for shorts or features not available elsewhere,cheers for now,Peter.

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on November 30, 2004, 03:32 PM:

I put up on a classifieds list an Imac computer I had for sale. Nothing really special about it. I received an email from a man who said that he liked the computer, would I accept a money order for it. The only hitch is that he was located in Africa and for my troubles he would throw in another $100 for the shipping. Now why would someone pay over $400 with shipping for a computer that is used and located around the world from where you are? The scam is the money order is sent and then deposited to your bank. It will take the bank about 2-3 weeks to realize that it is no good and by then your merchandise is gone.

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on November 30, 2004, 03:50 PM:

Yep, I have been there too but on the other end of the problem.
I put one of my GS1200's on ebay and then all my bidders got emails from this guy saying he had a warehouse full of them, bankrupt stock etc.
Western Union is NOT the way to pay for purchases via ebay as there is no protection. In fact I dont think Western Union is the right way to go at all as it is the method that all these scammers are using. Stay clear of it all.

Kev.

Posted by Tim Christian (Member # 48) on November 30, 2004, 04:17 PM:

Western Union is OK provided you take it to your local WU office and cash it. I accept WU on that basis and never have a problem.

I suspect cheques are going to become a problem. They must be uneconomical for banks compared with electronic transfer. Recent scare stories probably emanate from banks preparing us for charges or restricion of the cheque seervice.

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on November 30, 2004, 05:16 PM:

Tim, Today there was an item on the BBC news about this very scam. They said that Electronic transfer was the only way to combat the problem. This is why I now only ever use PayPal as it is protected by your card company along with ebay and of course PayPal themselves.

Kev.

Posted by peter booth (Member # 242) on December 01, 2004, 08:40 AM:

Thanks folks,I have a paypal account so did'nt fall for this scam,I did lose a sale on ebay because the winning bidder was this african woman from Nigeria.Paypal is excellent provided you add the service charge to your price cheers,Peter.

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on December 01, 2004, 11:50 AM:

Welcome Peter, you have friends here - I also collect Super/Std 8 shorts; Kennedy, Errol, L&H - Stay tuned - Cheers, Shorty

Posted by peter booth (Member # 242) on December 01, 2004, 03:56 PM:

Thanks Joe,it's nice to know I'm among fellow cine friends,and now I've gotb used to the forum will be a regular,cheers,Peter.

Posted by Tony Milman (Member # 7) on December 01, 2004, 04:19 PM:

Nigeria is well know for all manner of scams.

As for cheques...take them only from people you trust. They NEVER clear and a bank can return them to you years later and you cannot do anything about it. Ask the person to deposit CASH into your bank account which they can do at any branch of your bank at no cost.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on December 02, 2004, 05:41 AM:

I've paid for the occasional eBay item by Western Union, when I'm convinced that it's a reputable seller, and I haven't had any problems. The obvious appeal from the seller point of view is that they don't pay the PayPal charges. Some sellers used to ask for about 4% extra to cover PayPal costs, but as you are now officially prohibited from doing this, I expect some sellers decided to stop accepting PayPal.

Posted by peter booth (Member # 242) on December 02, 2004, 08:20 AM:

Hi Tony and Adrian,thanks for your imput,I only accept cheques drawn on a UK bank from this country,all transactions from abroad Paypal only,I try not to accept Paypal within the UK to avoid fees,I have recently sold two 16mm shorts with a combined price of £49 and yet will only recieve £45 into my bank account from Paypal,cheers,Peter.

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on December 02, 2004, 10:10 AM:

I of course don't like Paying Paypal fees..but then again if you have an auction going and it is a high priced item..like say an Elmo GS1200 Xenon, then accepting Paypal is a godsend. Most people don't have $2600 or so lying around...but they probably have it in their credit cards. So for big transactions being able to accept it is great.
And for overseas transactions...Vundebah! (is that spelled right? )

Posted by peter booth (Member # 242) on December 02, 2004, 10:38 AM:

Hi Alan,yes I agree for big priced items great,I will take Paypal
from overseas but I prefer cheque or postal order within UK for the small items,regards,Peter.

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