Is this a scam?

I have received a reply on a for sale ad on another site... Something just doesn't seem right. Am I paranoid or is it just a language miscommunication? Anybody?


His first email to me (replying to an ad for one ghost mot female for sale)

Hello Dear Seller i am very much interested in buying your corn snakes which

you posted for sale and i would like to know if is still available to buy and to

know how much it will cost me to for the shipping to Texas and i will also like

to know the perfect condition of it and the last selling price.Kindly get back

to me as soon as

possible.

Mathieu

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My reply:

Matheiu, I need your zip code to estimate shiping, please.
The ghost motley is in great condition she is a big robust healthy proven breeder and ready to go into brumation. Thanks Jen

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His next email:

AUSTIN TX 73344 AND PAYMENT DETAILS Hello and thank you very much for the mail and i am really happy that the Ghost Motley is available for me to buy , so i would like yo to know that i will be paying you by Cashier's Check or Money Order okay so i will need the following information which the payment will be send to such as:

Full Name:
Contact address: NOT P.O.BOX
Zip Code:
Cell Number:

So i will be expecting the detaild from you as soon as possible
Mathieu

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My Ad clearly states I take paypal and postal money orders. I don't trust someone that wants a to send a cashier check so now I'm a bit hestitant to even get the shipping quote for him but I would feel like a heel if it's a legit buyer. What say you all?

There are ways to scam you using a cashier's check. If he can get a cashier's check, he can get a postal money order. I'd be wary.

A couple things bother me - the first reply is to an ad for one snake and he says "I am very much interested in buying your corn snakes (plural and does not mention the morph) which makes me think it could be sent to all the ads as a reply. Plus the email address is yahoo.ca (Canadian yahoo but he's in TX)

It makes me nervous.

He "wants" to buy several of my animals that I have posted on that other site. The emails to me are word for word the same....and it does not matter what animal.

He will not get my business or be able to scam me....I have blocked his email.

I would avoid this "buyer" as he most certainly looks like a fraud.

I stand corrected....you got Texas in yours...my variation is different:

Hello Dear Seller i am very much interested in buying your corn snakes which you posted for sale and i would like to know if is still available to buy and i will also like to know the perfect condition of it and the last selling price.Kindly get back to me as soon as
possible.
Mathieu

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I would tell him that you do not take cashiers checks and that the ad states postal money order or paypal. And of course you would have to receive it first (and I'd cash it first) before you will ship.

So what does the guy get out of it? He sends the cashiers check. It either is or isn't good. If it isn't good, you don't send the snakes. Then what??

Thanks Jeff! I will do the same and block him. I appreciate it. It sucks that there are people like this out there who troll the for sale ads.
As a matter of fact since I started running my ads on that site I have been getting a lot of these scam type emails
In comparison to every sale I have run on cs.com going smoothly and trouble free.

and he wants my ratsnakes....

Hello Dear Seller i am very much interested in buying your snake which you posted for sale and i would like to know if is still available to buy and i will also like to know the perfect condition of it and the last selling price . Kindly get back to me as soon as possible.
Mathieu

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He just wants your personal information???

Nanci said:

So what does the guy get out of it? He sends the cashiers check. It either is or isn't good. If it isn't good, you don't send the snakes. Then what??

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One way they play the scam is to send you a fake check for MORE than the pay amount. They ask you to cash it, keep some extra for your trouble, and then immediately send the rest to them with the product. Days later the bank tells you the official looking check is a fake and they want their money back which you have by now sent with your product. They do not care what product it is...they want the cash.

I have seen it with eBay stuff as well as my woodworking biz stuff.

ghosthousecorns said:

Thanks Jeff! I will do the same and block him. I appreciate it. It sucks that there are people like this out there who troll the for sale ads.
As a matter of fact since I started running my ads on that site I have been getting a lot of these scam type emails
In comparison to every sale I have run on cs.com going smoothly and trouble free.

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No problem!

Not sure if this recent one is a scam or somebody without a clue.....either way, no message back...not sure I can trust them with a critter of mine.

Hi jeff This is daniel from T.N. I seen your add
and was very interested About the snake you have and was wanting to see if you could send me some pics please. I am going to get one today but i would like to see yours before i make my desigtion. Thank you and look foword to hearing from you.

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I shudder to think what would have happened to Circe the ghost mot if I had fallen for his crap and shipped her to this clown. Ack

You need to start doing background checks like I do!

Nanci said:

So what does the guy get out of it? He sends the cashiers check. It either is or isn't good. If it isn't good, you don't send the snakes. Then what??

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No, because banks will cash the cashier's check, THEN check with the issuing bank. Then a few days later your bank finds out the cashier's check is no good & they take the money back out of your account. By that time you've already shipped.

This is a common scam. I heard it discussed on Planet Money on NPR.

I am an overly suspicious person, but one look at the first email and I would have blocked that address right away. The grammer structure and overall vague tone just scream scam to me.

When I inquire about a snake to someone I don't know, I tell them my name, where I saw their ad, precisely which snake I am interested in (and sometimes why, yes I'm chatty when it comes to animals I love) and if I had been to their website I let them know that as well. I also ask questions regarding the snake as far as hets, age, breeding history, how often she eats and if there are any preferences in regards to how she likes her food. Then we go from there. This person did not even mention a specific snake. Also with no questions asked, he seems wayyyy too eager to buy.

Wow! I often think that if people that think up elaborate scams just put that brain power to a socially beneficial use the world would be amazing. I'm way too trusting partly because even in my advanced age I still think people think the way I do. Yeah, I'm an idiot. lol Thanks for posting your concerns and experiences. Sadly (in this case) I learn something new everyday.

Terri

i used to work in an industry where i dealtwith scammers on a daily (more like hourly basis). as said already this is definitely a scam. and the wording used in the emails is very reminiscent of the west african scammers i dealt with. i never saw them trying to buy snakes, but i have seen them trying to buy puppies...so i am not surprised at them trying to buy snakes.

another thing they will do with fake cashiers checks is to send a few hundred to a few thousand dollars over the purchasing price. they will telll you to use the extra for shipping and to give the rest either to a third party or to western union it to them. of course eventually the fake cashier check bounces and you are out 100's - 1000's dollars, and whatever product sent.

the scammers will often "recruit" American's as middle men. they get paid to receive goods and/or money for the scammers. usually these people are not aware that they are involved with any fraudulent activity, they believe they are doing a legit service. I suspect this *might* be where they are getting the Texas address from, though i could't confirm it.

if they have your phone number they will often times use a text to voice relay service intended for the deaf/hard of hearing (this is the business i was involved in) in order to communicate, try to gain your trust, and try to scam you further.

(please excuse bad typing/grammar. i am not in a good position to type right now)