Scammers in Africa. Be careful Myloters.
By LaraTecson
@LaraTecson (726)
Philippines
October 16, 2011 2:16am CST
My girlfriend wants to sell her laptop so she posted an ad in sulit.com. After a few hours someone sent her an email by the name of Sarah Benson saying that she is interested in buying my girlfriend's laptop. My girlfriend, thinking that Sarah is a potential buyer, immediately responded and asked her what mode of payment she wants and how she wants to get the laptop. Sarah replied that she wants the laptop to be shipped in Africa and asked my girlfriend how much would it cost her.
So my girlfriend tried putting Sarah's address in google to know how much is the shipping cost would be. To her surprise, what came up in google is a lot of websites that says that the exact adress given by this Sarah Benson is the address givin by these "professional scammers" who will pretend to buy your product but will not pay you after shipment.
They are professional scammers because they can design a "paypal looking website" that they will show to you as a proof of payment eventhough they haven't and will never pay you. Try searching it for yourself. This is the address given by this scammer:
RD 8, Agunlejika Street Ijeshatedo, Surulere City Lagos, Nigeria
One sign that you're talking to a scammer is when they don't bargain the price. They don't care even if you set the price so high, they will not pay you afterall. So fellow myloter, be careful in making your transactions. Don't trust anyone right away. As much as possible, if you're selling something on the internet, tell your potential buyer to pay you first before you ship the product. Regards people. :)
2 people like this
12 responses
@airkulet (2700)
• Philippines
17 Oct 11
My question is why did your girlfriend ship the laptop without confirming the payment first? And if you happen to search that they are professional scammed why did she still deal with them?I have done a several online transaction online and never get scammed. Just be careful who you deal with and observe and search, and your way to go.
@LaraTecson (726)
• Philippines
17 Oct 11
Oh I think you got it wrong. She didn't ship it. The moment she found out that this Sarah Benson is a scammer, she stopped replying to her emails. :)
@albto_568 (1268)
• Costa Rica
17 Oct 11
I have been thinking in selling some things by internet, and this comment of yours really shocked me, I didn´t know scammers were really so sofisticated, I maybe should think twice and find a good place, to put my stuff on the market, and I definitely, will have your experience in mind while doing any transaction. Thanks for the information.
@LaraTecson (726)
• Philippines
17 Oct 11
No worries. Try selling your stuffs on more established online markets like ebay or amazon.com and ask your potential buyers to send money first before you ship the item. Goodluck to you man. :)
@lampar (7584)
• United States
17 Oct 11
These scammers operate from many different countries including Nigeria. Many of the payment process agent job offers and online purchases are originated from UK and China where fake documents of bank account and counterfeit money orders; cashier cheques are routinely used as payment to scam people in U.S and South America. It is extremely difficult to remain vigilant most of the time, the best preventive measure is not to deal with their email offers and delete them upon receiving such mail in your inbox. 
@r3jcorp (1382)
• Philippines
17 Oct 11
Thanks for the reminder. Maybe, it is better to sell any item to friends or relatives first. Online selling could be the last option and if possible to ask first the payment before shipping. There are lots of danger through online transactions, any party (buyer or seller) might be in danger for scammers and others who are likely to fool anyone.
@butterscotsh (1012)
• Philippines
21 Oct 11
I think it's really a rule
to pay first and receive later.
I am a regular online shopper
and no online store would ship my orders
without my payment first.
Even if you didn't know about the address
or them being professional scammers,
you shouldn't decide to ship the orders immediately.
@savagecabbage (1216)
• Philippines
25 Jul 12
Wow. I can't believe people do the craziest things just to get things and money. Thank you very much for sharing this. I will be more careful now when I am posting on sulit. Thanks.
@maximax8 (31042)
• United Kingdom
16 Oct 11
Your girlfriend was very clever to find out that Sarah Benson was a scammer from Nigeria. Professional scammers are very bad people. It might be better to sell the laptop on E Bay and make sure the buyer comes from the same county that you live in. It is terrible to see a pretend Pay pal website. These scammers are very untrustworthy, take the laptop and don't send any payment.
I watched a program called "419" and it was about Internet dating. The scammers pretended to interested in British and American ladies. They wanted to get as much money as possible. They had false photos showing good looking people not themselves. They had stories made to get lots of money.
I would never send money abroad except for Iron pills I buy from a company I trust in America.
@adhyz82 (36248)
• Indonesia
16 Oct 11
wow...it`s bad experience if your girlfriend really had sent their laptop to african..
and you make the right decision for helping another when you tell your girlfriend experience..
i do hope this discussion can make us more be careful and avoid us become a victim of fraud and scam site
@jaiho2009 (39140)
• Philippines
16 Oct 11
Thanks for this info.
Thu I am not selling anything thru internet, this is very useful to everyone.
Scammers can do whatever they want and they are hustlers when it comes to cheating and doing bad to other people.
Hope this will serve as warning to other people who are selling things thru internet.
have a good day 
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
16 Oct 11
Just always remember, as long as money is not inside your Paypal account or you do not see it in your transaction details, never send them anything
. Do not log into your PP account thru the link in their email but rather always go to www.paypal.com login their to check if you have been paid already.
. Do not log into your PP account thru the link in their email but rather always go to www.paypal.com login their to check if you have been paid already.
And yup, you are right. Never ship any goods before the money appears on your payment processor :).
By the way, how's the story continue? Is your girlfriend just ignoring that Sarah now?
@jammyPaul (101)
• Taiwan
16 Oct 11
African scam group seems become a problem in the Internet. Recently, in Taiwan, there is a PhD cheated by the scammer who pretended to be General David from Africa through Skype and she still thinks that General David would take Army's plane to Taiwan to merry her. That is not the most ridiculous part of story. The most ridiculous part of story that she still believes that scammer is really General David undoubtedly. I think that the scheme of scammer become more professional and crafty. I suggests that everyone should take more attention on any message from those scammers. There are not just pirates but also cheatesr who want to take your money.
