talkmagic.co.uk

I wonder how many of you who listed something in the 'wanted' section, received this standard 'scam' email?

Hello.
My name is John Peters From Zaragoza Spain..I am contacting you regarding your advert you place on website that you are looking for the above subject...I have it in very good condition and if still interested,Let me know and i will forward you details of the item and i will also need your shipping address and telephone number to calculate the shipping cost to your destination.My mode of payment is via Western union,MoneyGram..Bank wire transfer..Let me know which method you prefer and i ship the next day after payment has been receive..for further discussion write me back thanks and hope to hear from you soon
Regards, John Peters

Good old Western Union scam again..

Yup, it's a standard scam. You send the money via an unprotected wire service and the goods - usually offered at an astonishing discount - never arrive.

Report it and move on.

Me and the mrs are in the middle of looking for somewhere else to live. She found an ad on Gumtree that she liked the look of. E mailed the guy, everything seemed really good. Until she got home and showed me the email, and instantly I could see it was a scam.

The guy lives in Germany, and apparently "Bought" a flat whilst in London on a business trip 2 years ago. He of course was in Munich with the keys, but had a genius plan to get them to us, all we needed to do was set up a Western Union transfer for 1600 pouinds to a friend of ours we trusted so they wouldn't cash it, and send him the receipt to prove we have the deposit ready, and then he would mail us the keys. It's depressing to realise that these things are only about still because they must apparently work. Somebody out there is falling for it.

Did this scam ever go away?

It's a percentages game and they rely on getting to someone who thinks that they are going to make a quick buck.

I had the same scam looking for a flat back in manchester a little while back now. Said he lived in London and I said how about I meet you in London where I work there all the time but no way was a I going to use western union. Strangely he was never free to meet in London and wanted to carry on via email.

He even went as far as to send me a scan of "his" passport to prove he was genuine. I can see it getting a few people.