I have a flyball box for sale and had an enquiry fro someone who as yet has not given his location. I had sent a pic and had a couple of e mails back but it just sounds odd! This is the last I heard
'Hello  
  Thanks for your mail,i will instruct my Secretary to made the payment immediately but mind you he will include shipment fees with it so as soon as you received the cheque you are to deduct your fees and the remaining funds should be send via westernunion to the shipping company who will be responsible for the shipment of all my bought down goods alongside the one with you.
 
I hope the above explanation of mine is understood by you,if that
should be the case i will like you to get back to me with your full
address have your phone number so that we can discuss more on the
shipment.. .' It just seems so odd. Any thoughts?
 

Wow! It's a well known con! Dont touch it with a barge pole! People have lost big money on that!

Regards, John

Thanks John
I had heard of similar things on a bigger scale but a secondhand flyball box, is it worth it!!!
Sue

Thing is Sue, the cheque will be a lot bigger than needed on the pretext that they dont know how much the transport will cost. You give everything over the price of the equipment to the shipping co. But the money you give will in fact be your money because the cheque will bounce. The size of the balance could well be inflated on the pretext that the shipping co. has already done work for then and the rest is to pay for that!

Regards, John

Thanks for the info John, glad i checked out my reservations on CD.  Cheers  :)

What happens is, you pay the money into your bank account, send the balance to the "Shipping co." and send your equipment to them. That's the point the cheque bounces! You have lost your stuff and the money that you have paid to the "Shipping co." and all you have in exchange is a rubber cheque.

Regards, John

If I had thought it legit and wanted to go that way what would have happened if I paid cheque in to see if it cleared before shipping?

Banks have recently "Cleared" cheques only for them to claw it back later. They now say a cheque is NEVER cleared till the money is actually there which can be weeks later!

Regards, John

I received similar emails after advertising a pony a couple of years ago...I too was suspicious so contacted bank and police before following police advice to pay cheque in...turned out to be stolen/forged, my bank account was frozen and the fraud squad took some convincing that I was not involved, the grief this caused was unbelievable...don't go there!!!!!

Hi Star
I have a degree in "International compliance and anti-money laundering" - I would not touch this with "a barge pole" as suggested by John.  It is a scam. Just delete it, if you find you are asked for any further details contact the fraud squad in your area and give them a copy of the email.

Take care
Patricia

thanks Izzi
After the initial enquiry I gave my phone number not realising till the other emails came that it was iffy. Hope that doesnt cause me any probs!!

I was advised that the moment you read "Western Union" you know it's a scam.

My friend had the same email when she was selling doggy things, i told her it was a scam and she contacted the police who said if the cheque arrived rip it up.The western union bit always alerts me too!

Avoid it like the plague we were selliing some stuff and they tried to do this to us it's a con just ignore it

con men always use westernunion  with scams its well known just put in google with scam and wow ur eyes light up with scams ,
what sounds too good to b true is ! and personly i wouldent trust that bank

Hi we had that when i was selling a car but as soon as i read the e-mail i knew it was a scam, my son is in the IT industry and tracked the ip addy on the e-mail he was in Nigeria, just delete the e-mails and leave it at that

I recently had an enquiry for the Harlequin Great Danes I sell (!!!!!), I replied and said I don't have them & wouldn't sell a dog on an email such as the one that was written.    I had a reply to ask what breed I had?  "Bavarian Truffle Hounds" was my email back.    "How much & how much for a show quality/breeding animal"  "Where am I as it will need to be shipped" etc.    Unbelivable.

I've decided to laugh at that rather than cry. It was touch and go, though.

I wish I could say I made this up but I still have the emails sitting in my inbox to prove it!