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Topic: Western Union Payment: Would You Be Suspicious? |
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 6:29 pm |
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My son has a sax offered for sale on eBay. We stated that we would accept either PayPal or Bank Check/Money Order. Tonight we received the following email. Should I be suspicious? What would you do?
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i am intrested in buying your item and i will be paying you the buy it now price and i will be doing it through westernunion auction payment (bidpay)so kindly get back to me with your full name nad adress and imediately i made the payment western union will get back to you with a payment confirmation email telling you your money had been appoved once you recieved that just get back to me for the shipping acount as i will like to take care of the shipping by myself ok ? thanks and god bless i hope to do this within 24 hour ok thanks
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 6:36 pm
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Anytime anyone wants to buy "your item" without even discussing what it is, poor grammar, spelling, and an urgent press for time,.....yes, beware.
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 6:46 pm
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| You could have some fun and have them send it. Then tell them that the FBI asked for you to hand it over for examination. Send a little chill down their slithery hide. |
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Colm Chomicky
From:
Kansas, (Prairie Village)
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 7:07 pm
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| I did hear that people pay cash for good sax. |
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Bob Smith
From:
Allentown, New Jersey, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 7:28 pm
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| The saddest part is, nothing happens to these thugs that do these scams. Be careful. bob |
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Gordon Borland
From:
San Antonio, Texas, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 8:06 pm
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When I list an item for sale I make the rules about payment. PayPal works fine. A personal check is fine but dont ship until the check clears. Now some folks state that if you have a feedback rating of less than 100% dont bid. Even the most carefull can get scammed but look at the power sellers and what they do. You did the best thing you can do. Find out what others do and put the odds most in your favor. Good luck.
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Gordon Borland
MSA D10,FENDER STEEL KING, NASHVILLE 400,PEAVEY SESSIONS 2000, 1963 BROWN FENDER DELUXE NO REVERB. 1973 FENDER JAGUAR SUNBURST SIX STRING GUITAR, PEAVEY T60 SIX STRING GUITAR.
[This message was edited by Gordon Borland on 24 January 2006 at 08:07 PM.] |
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Ron Frederiksen
From:
Van Buren, Arkansas, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 8:35 pm
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Hey Jim, Beware of any sales without any contact. I have (2) $1,000.00 money orders that look good as gold, however they are as foney as the idiot that sent them to me for a $300.00 guitar. He wanted me to cash them and send him the difference.I sent him a guitar box of rocks and kept the money orders. Ron
"steelin is music to my ear" |
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J Hill
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 8:43 pm
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I'm beginning to think about the only safest payment to receive is a Postal Money Order. If you're selling on ebay, be sure to read their warnings about accepting payments, I think there's a warning about Western Union money wire transfers and I've forgotten the other one. And you can always go into a Discussion room on ebay and ask questions. Its very helpful!
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 8:45 pm
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Hey, thanks, y'all.
jc |
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 5:11 am
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| Quote: |
| a guitar box of rocks |
Ha,ha....he's REALLY rockin' out now! Good one!  |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 7:35 am
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Jim, you didn't say..Did they also want to send a child to your home for a months lessons on the Sax and ask for an total amount to send you that would cover the cost with living expenses, then they would send you a check for twice the amount and all you have to do is return the amount over your fee ?
we need to know these things..
Tony Prior
TPrior Steel Guitar Homesite
[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 25 January 2006 at 07:36 AM.] |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 8:05 am
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Why, yes, Tony, they did say that. How did you know? Well, if he's as nice as that last little boy who came to live with us for tutoring...  |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 8:48 am
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Anyone selling or buying a sax is suspicious. But seriously, the rule of thumb should be that, before the seller ships the item, any form of payment must be converted to cash, or if it is deposited, it must clear in the account. Merely depositing it is not good enough. The teller may accept something that the system later rejects. It must clear. If anyone trys to send more than the cost of the item and shipping, and have you send cash back, that is a clear sign of a scam; because there is no logical reason to do such a thing. They are hoping someone will send the cash before it is discovered that the payment form doesn't clear. Even if you are smart and hold shipping until the payment form clears, if it doesn't clear, you have to relist the item and do the eBay auction all over again. Odd or suspicious payment forms are simply not worth the effort.
PayPal seems reasonably secure and is very convenient, since it is all done instantaneously on line. A postal money order requires the buyer to make a trip to the bank for the cash, then a trip to the post office to buy the order and mail it. Then the seller has to wait for the snail mail, then make a trip to the bank to cash or deposit the order. That's a lot of waiting time and running around on both ends that could be avoided with PayPal.[This message was edited by David Doggett on 25 January 2006 at 08:51 AM.] |
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Steve Kaeser
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 9:56 am
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I don't think a Western Union payment is less secure than PayPal or a Money Order, per se. In one "sting" operation that I am aware of, Western Union was selected as a way to secure payment because they collected positive identification when the payment was made.
But the rule of thumb should be that an item isn't forwarded to a buyer until the payment has been confirmed, regardless of the method used.
Steve |
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John Davis
From:
Cambridge, U.K.
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 12:17 pm
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Jim, I came so close to being caught by this scam.....it was a Fork lift truck I was selling....they sent the cheque for about £2500 more than I needed and asked me to foreward the balance to their shippers to pay for this shipment and some other machines......this is the "GOOD" bit..the cheque cleared.....no problem.. this is where they get you the money was showing up in my bank!!so I went along to the travel agents Western union office and they told me they don`t accept cheque only cash so I had to go back to my bank to withdraw it....bank is two doors down from the travel agents office...in that time it took to walk 50 yards my bank had found the cheque from my buyer to be no good and the money was gone!! I said to the bank" Surely once a cheque has cleared its cleared" WRONG! my bank tells me they had cheques months old that have come back duff and you are the loser... they just debit you a/c by that amount. I had a lucky escape there If I had known W/U only take cash and drawn it straight out when it showed I would have been 2.5G down...... 
By the way I love your CD  |
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Greg Cutshaw
From:
Corry, PA, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 12:33 pm
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I only accept PayPal now. Both Postal money orders and bank cashier checks have fraud problems, and either one can be copied. It may be weeks before they find it's bogus and long after it has "cleared" your bank account. At my bank, Northwest Savings, they "clear" the check after 8 days but it may not clear the issuing bank account for weeks. And if 2 weeks later, it bombs at the other bank, you will have the amount taken out of your account. I even called my bank headquarters and asked them if they could check the other bank and let me know when it cleared the check writer's account and they said they don't do that. Before you laugh at this, call YOUR bank and ask them if they can tell you when a check has cleared and cannot come back on you.
It was only a few years ago that Postal Money orders were as good as cash. PayPal is well worth the 2.99% + $.30 they charge.
Greg |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 1:35 pm
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| I haven't heard of any issues with Postal Money Orders.....The number on the Postal Money Order can be traced , not to mention it's a federal offense to mess with government issued currency ...The Long Arm of the Government WILL hunt the wrong doer down like the dog that he/she is !!...PayPal is run by Ebay, and they don't offer any more than $200 payback and that's only when the whole ordeal is about 3 months old .....THEN you have to pay $25 to PayPal to use this service !!...Been there , done that .. Not me !!......Jim |
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 2:39 pm
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A wire transfer into your account is a done deal. No if's, and's, or but's.
It will also separate the scammers from the jammers..... |
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Philip Tamarkin
From:
California, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 2:49 pm
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| ...yeah, like I'd be giving out ANY checking account information if a transaction smelled fishy! |
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Howard Tate
From:
Leesville, Louisiana, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 2:51 pm
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I sold a steel recently and took two postal money orders to my bank. Before she would accept them the teller called an 800 number they have to check the numbers on the m.o.s with the post office. She said she had been burned a couple of times by fake postal m.o.s so she always checks first.
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Wish I'd learned lap steel when I still had a lap. |
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Ernie Pollock
From:
Mt Savage, Md USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 3:03 pm
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Jim: that wouldn't be a C melody Sax by any chance?? If it is, and it does not go on ebay, let me know. I could use one.
Ernie Pollock
301-264-4172 http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75/stock.htm
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 3:59 pm
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Ernie, that one is not a C-Melody but my son does have another C-Mel. horn that is for sale. I'll send you a link to the photos etc. on it. Let me know if you're interested.
Thanks to everyone for your contributions to this thread.
Jim |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 4:10 pm
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| Did this guy win the auction? If so, he has a legal obligation (according to Ebay) to buy the item on your terms. If not, ignore him. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 25 Jan 2006 4:12 pm
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| No, he was "offering" to Buy it Now (under his terms, of course...) |
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