Scams.  We know they are out there, but how do we protect ourselfs?  There are so many different types of scams and they try anything and everything to get you. 

Recently, I was selling an item on e-bay.  It was a violin that I had painted with a September 11th theme and I planned to donate half of the proceeds to The American Red Cross.  I signed up with Mission Fish; which is not a scam and can be trusted, to have them take out half the winner price if someone did indeed win my item.  I wanted more attention drawn to my auction so I agreed to accept money orders/cashiers checks, and PayPal.  I also agreed to ship worldwide.  Now, i'm not syaing this is a bad idea to ship out of country or accepting money orders, you just need to be careful.  PayPal is the safest way to use when selling an item or even buying an item. PayPal is guaranteed, where as money orders/cashiers checks are not.  You accept those with your own risk.
GO HERE TO SEE THE VIOLIN AUCTION http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190029845393&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26satitle%3D190029845393%26fvi%3D1


So, my item sold for $150 and Mission Fish deducted the $75 from my account like I had agreed to.  The buyer of my item then sent me an email stating that he would pay by money order and my item was to be shipped out of country.  He wanted to send me the money order for extra money and I was to use it to ship the item and whatever money was left over I was to Western union back to him.  IMMEADIATELY I was suspicious.  Right form the first email he sent me.  YOU SHOULD USE YOUR GUT INSTICT when you are selling on e-bay, if something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.  Something out of the ordinary.  You normally wouldn't send any extra moeny back from a buyer on e-bay and they normally don't make special requests unless the email you before the auction ends asking for permission.  This was not a normal thing to me and it put me on high alert. 
I did not want to panic and i decided to give him a chance to send the money to me, still keeping in mind this could be a scam. He continued sending me e-mails asking if i had received it.  He seemed too anxious to here my reply.  (If any one woudl like to see the emails, I would be happy to post them in the future). 

I finally got the moeny orders.  They came in a small brownish envelope with NO RETURN ADDRESS and had been postmarked from Port-Novo, Benin.  I opened the envelope to find a wrinkled letter; with poor grammar, and 2 MONEY ORDERS!  The two money orders were each issued for $750 and looked like real money orders.  Now, I work at a local bank and i know about types of scams like this so I of course  knew something like this wold be too good to be true.  Anyone else that doesnt have the experience that i have, would have easily fallen for this scam. 


He wanted me to cash them out against my account and immeadiatly send him the moeny and the item.  It can take up to a week or even longer for a bank and the government to know these are fake.  Once they come back as fake, the bank will take it right back out of your account.  So i would have been out $1500 plus the violin I would have shipped to him.

HERE IS WHAT THE MONEY ORDERS LOOK LIKE: ( front of one, back of the other)


I placed the money orders on a black background to help show you tips that help show they are fake.


It says to rub here and the paper will change color if it is real. we rubbed and the color did not change.




We called to verify the money orders.  Usually you shoudl not trsu the number on the money orders.  You should look it up on the internet or in the phone book.  People making fake money orders often put a fake number on the money order so you call someone working for them and they tell you the money orders are real and ok to cash.  We called and they told us the money orders had already been cashed, in others wors they were fake numbers the scammers had used.




The paper was not cut straight. official money orders are always cut straight.  ALWAYS.




The checks were not printed straight.  This should never happen.





The name on the m.o. was completely different from the shipping address and also the emails came from a different name.  The name should ALWAYS be the same person.

I politely emailed the buyer telling him the money orders would not clear and I would gladly accept PayPal if he still wanted the violin.  i did not want to make anyone that has my address mad.

OTHER CLUES THAT MADE ME SUSPICIOUS:

-His feedback was set as PRIVATE, he also has no positive or negative feedbacks.
-He closed his account on ebay shorty after he had won the item.
-He probably sets up numerous accounts and closes them so people dont know of his history with scamming.

WHO ARE THE TARGETS FOR THESE SCAMS?

-Eldery people are often targets because they are so trusting
-People that seem trustworthy.  I was probably picked as a target because I was doing something good like donating money and they thought I would be vulnerable.
-E-Bay sellers that are new to ebay.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREVENT BEING SCAMMED?

-Wait until moeny orders and cashier's checks clear before shipping items.  It may take a long time, but it will be worth it in the end.  Also, consider PayPal only.
-Check money orders for signs of being fake.
-Do not do things out of the ordinary.  You are the seller, so you should be the one in charge.