Watch out for these scams, folks!
@badpenny (741)
Lancaster, Texas
February 8, 2007 11:26pm CST
In my never-ending search for online income, I decided to post my resume on Craig's list. It seemed a good idea at the time, and probably was, all in all, but the result was totally unexpected. I received about 100 emails from different guys with versions of the Nigerian scam letter, and the Money order scam. It got me to thinking that a lot of you may have received these letters, and I felt I must warn you about them.
The Nigerian letter usually states you inherited some money, or they have money tied up in a third world bank, and they want to put money in your bank account and give you a percentage of the total. In reality, they are a group of men profiled on Dateline that get your bank information and rip you off.
The money order scam is even more clever. These guys offer you a job "cashing" their money orders for them so they can access the funds for one kind of overseas business or another. The thing is, these money orders are clever forgeries and can even land you in jail.
If you get one of these "job offers", please don't fall for the trick. Just delete the message, or better still, set your email filter to automatically delete any mailds that fit that scenario. If you download into Outlook or similar email client, set your spamkiller to intercept and delete these mails.
12 people like this
55 responses
@abhiquest (579)
• India
9 Feb 07
I would like to mention here that Mylot prohibits its users to publish their details or about anyone else here on Mylot.
3 people like this
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
9 Feb 07
You're not alone to receive this kind of scams, badpenny. I did receive alot like that and even lottery claiming I won the grand prize. I simply deleted those messages. For one, I didn't register to any of the online lottery games and another thing, the email add they enclosed are from yahoo. We know that anybody can easily register an email account. So be forewarned.
@kittensmommy (386)
• United States
9 Feb 07
Mine was an email from the liberian president,and his assistant who was standing trial in the Netherlands.
Beware though , there are many scams on craig's list .Don't let the bad apples spoil all the basket.
I respond to resumes on craigslist for people looking to work part time or people who want to work from home.I offer them the Avon opportunity,it's not door to door sales anymore, you can do it online from home,you can do it part time or full time , and you earn up to 50% off your sales.Email me if interested or visit online
www.youravon.com/akhalifa
@resasour (378)
• United States
9 Feb 07
There is no end to these either. My best friend found some one on a dating website who mailed her a money order that he wanted her to cash and western union it back to him in africa.. well...she turned the money order over to the FBI... and come to find out his pics that he had sent to her were pics of male models that he copied online somewhere...
She has not heard anything back in the matter and it has been almost a year.. they told her they are working on it and she could just forget about it, that she is no longer involved.. which tells me that they did not catch him yet, and maybe they can't unless he comes to the US... it is a shame that there are so many many scams going on and most of them coming from places like Nigeria.. another example of a few bad apples trying to make the whole country look bad..
I get those other emails all the time.. I just delete them.. Used to you could forward them to the webmaster of that domain, but nowadays email addresses are disposable, so scammers for now get to keep on scamming...
3 people like this
@angelhuihui (264)
• China
9 Feb 07
You are a very brave and a very kind man
good luck to u!
3 people like this
@muncierebel (730)
• United States
10 Feb 07
I always assumed that these schemes were so far out there that no one would fall for them. Then I heard some statistics that over 50,000 people last year filed complaints with their state's attorney general over internet schemes. This tells me that there are probably twice that many that have been duped. There are a lot of people who are too ashamed to admit it and file a complaint.
@lynninky (491)
• United States
9 Feb 07
yes always need to be informed on scams. Well I got a new one the other day in my email from someone in the uk area so watchout for that one too. I appied for something that had craig's list on it too. if you just type in craigs list you will find a lot of things he offers but when you email you never get a email back from craig. May be it is used to get our email address for anyone who will pay for them. thsnks for your info..
3 people like this
@charlesk41 (11)
• United States
9 Feb 07
LOL, I've gotten the Nigerian letter several times and have gotten to the point that I love to mess with them, I'll usualy go ahead and respond to them but I'll act as incredibly stupid as possible, asking dumb questions like "What will I do with all that money" or I'll make up a story about how great all that money is going to be because Aunt Betty needs a goiter operation. Once in a while I can string these guys on for a month before they figure out that they are not going to get any banking information from me, and they sure get mad LOL. Good call on getting the word out on these scams, there is always going to be someone on line looking to take your money so be careful on here, someone offering you money for nothing is the perfect lure for them to end up taking yours.
2 people like this
@badpenny (741)
• Lancaster, Texas
10 Feb 07
When I got my first computer in 2000, I got one of the Nigerian letters, and I didn't know what it was, but my friend's husband who was an FBI agent, did. He had me string this guy along, and the FBI set up a bank account for him to "deposit" his money into. They arrested a woman at the bank, and that actually led to the discovery of the group that was profiled on Dateline a few months back. From what I understand, the woman arrested at he bank was another victim, and was later cleared, as she was just a housewife who thought she'd gotten a good work at home job.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
10 Feb 07
Well, they are trying it in all forms now. I have seen people try it via Chat, etc. The problem is the word does not seem to get out fast enough for all people to not fall for these though. I just continually am having to Block them in my Email, and have seen one come thru here even. I guess these people just have No life, and feel they need to Scam someone in order to succeed in life. It is Sad, and it is a shame so many people try these things out and it takes so long for them to be caught.
@smartbrain69 (2790)
• Canada
10 Feb 07
Thanks for sharing information with us. i also usually get such type of emails but i simply delete them.In this world no one gives free money to anyone.
@krishkorp (427)
• India
10 Feb 07
ya this kinda thing happens a lot and one of my relatives who works in bank also had such a letter which they dutifully ignored and moved on.Thats nice of u to enlighten others on this.
@medrero18 (12)
• Philippines
10 Feb 07
Yes, almost every day I received letters of that kind, and I just delete them. I think the best that we can do is play for them--give them wrong contact numbers, Wrong bank accounts, all made-up information, so they won't send again.
@andak2007 (3229)
• Philippines
10 Feb 07
I have the same problem with these kind of e-mails, they come in so many kinds like i wont the e-lottery, then there is the other one who will offer a percentage of the money if i agree to be the middleman but with money order scam i am not aware of it. The first thing they will get from you is your personal information or the worst your bank account number. Good thing i never went through with their scheme. There wa some news about these Nigerian syndicate victimizing people from all over the world through the internet. Is there any other way to stop these bad people? They seem to be growing in number.
2 people like this
@Critter028 (77)
• United States
10 Feb 07
Thanks for the warning! I visit craigslist.org frequently, and it is a shame that people try to scam others. It is a wonderful site that lists many LEGIT job opportinities and it is sad that people try to ruin it's name. Keep visiting the site...just be careful and dont be naive!
2 people like this
