Exam A Scam

The news is filled with stories about people who have been scammed by a phone call, an email, and even in person. The temptation is to think that it will never happen to us. Why would any decent person want to hit on anyone, young or old, to make them miserable or even destitute. Maybe we are even tempted to wonder if the persons who were scammed were just too gullible and hope they have learned their lesson. As of last week, I have a story to tell; (watch for the 'red' flags.

For a lot of years, since the beginning of the Internet, I have done consignment selling for customers who didn't know how, or have the time, to post items for sale on the Internet. I started by selling on Ebay, researching the value and/or reasonable asking price, then packing and shipping the 'sold' item to the Buyer. Things have changed over the years, more opportunities, more technology, more customers, but there are also many opportunities for the ruthless and unethical people who are happy to tell a story to gain something of monetary value.

During this past year, we have been 'down-sizing' the massive collection of stuff that we have accumulated at our country lot. Some has been passed on the friends or family, some has been donated to organizations, and some we list for sale. I listed an item from our shop that was of no further use to us, and in less than an hour, I received a text message, asking if it was available (flag). It was the acceptable message to connect Buyer and Seller. I was then told that the inquiry was made for a relative who only communicated via e-mail, and not with text messages (flag), and they would be contacting me (flag). I then learned, through numerous email messages, that the interested Buyer was located on the opposite side of our country, (flag), and would send me a bank draft (flag). I only list locally so how would the Buyer be able to see my listing (flag)? In addition, they said that they would send me a check via e-mail to be deposited in the bank (flag). I had stated 'Cash Only or E-Transfer' in my listing (they didn't read the whole listing). I received the e-mails, with two photos of the check (front and back), and requested that I tell them ASAP when it was deposited so they could proceed with arrangements for pick-up (flag). I was informed by two trusted friends and our bank manager that my suspicions were correct, and this was an attempted scam. Can you guess may next message?

I wrote an e-mail, as requested, telling them that I had just returned from my trip to the bank, and included this curt red-lettered sentence... SHAME ON YOU! YOU'VE BEEN TRYING TO SCAM ME. This will be reported and your email and phone have been blocked!!!” They've probably received worse messages!

That evening, I received four more attempts from different phone numbers, but the starting routine was very similar to the first attempt. No more attempts for now... but I certainly know of more things to watch for when I'm dealing on line.

There is ALWAYS more for all of us to learn! We DON'T know it all!