# Is this a scam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933 "2004-03-28T17:35:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/1 "2004-03-28T17:35:19Z")
Our small health food store in Charlottesville VA got a call yesterday from a certain “Adam Smith” in Nigeria. This is pretty weird. Mr. Smith, who is supposedly deaf, is working on the phone relaying through some interpreter. He orders $3000.00 worth of vitamin E to be shipped to him there. He pays for half the Vitamin E on one credit card, and half again on a different card, and pays for the shipping on yet a third card. Then, he asks us about buying DVD players, adding on a cost for our trouble, and shipping these as well. Oh, and possibly a Nokia cell phone. My staff member spent nearly 45 minutes on the phone because the “relaying” took so long. They rang up the Vitamin E, but we didn’t ship it. The credit cards went through. Of course we didn’t sell any DVD players, as we are a food and supplement store. The guy is supposed to call us back with regard to more items. I was off work yesterday, or I would have had my staff refuse the sale because it was too odd and smelled of scam. So what’s going on here? Credit card fraud? Why would anyone buy $3000.00 worth of Vitamin E in a scam? Could this somehow be legit? I have called the police and they are going to send someone by. Anyone familiar with what is going on here? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/2 "2004-03-28T17:43:18Z")
I would suspect CC fraud. It wouldn’t hurt to call the merchant telephone number for the card(s) in question and file a suspicious transaction report, in addition to the police report. When I worked in retail, one of the warning signs of a possible fraudulent transaction was multiple large purchases of the same or similar items. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/3 "2004-03-29T00:01:25Z")
It’s almost 100% certainly a scam. I run a site that takes cc payments and I’ve had exactly the same kind of approach. I didn’t fall for it. What happens is that after you ship the goods, the customer (the person who REALLy owns that credit card) will initiate a chargeback via the credit card company, and you will eventually have to refund the cost of the transaction to the credit card company. Here’s how to find out for sure. Say to the supposed ‘customer’ that you just can’t cover the risk of such sizeable transactions, but that if he will pay the money into your bank account up front, you will be happy to ship the goods to him. All you need to provide is the name and address of your bank, the account number and the sort code. This enables people to pay money INTO your account, but not to withdraw any. Or ask him to send you an International Money Order for the full amount up front. I can almost guarantee you won’t hear from him ever again once you make it clear thar he has to pay real money up front. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/4 "2004-03-29T00:18:30Z")
Why is it always Nigeria? ---
**Author:** ![Logical\_Phallacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Logical\_Phallacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logical_Phallacy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/5 "2004-03-29T00:26:29Z")
could also have been testing the limmit of stolen virgin cards…either with the intention of cancelling the order or simply trying to see if they were gold cards. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/6 "2004-03-29T00:35:51Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > I have called the police and they are going to send someone by. Anyone familiar with what is going on here? I wonder if it could be a variation of [this](http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/carsale.asp): > [@](#): > > An > interesting and highly lucrative con targeting those attempting to sell vehicles online debuted in the summer of 2002. Like the highly successful Nigerian scam, this new bit of larceny also features businessmen from Africa intent upon closing odd-sounding deals. Only in this case, it is not the pigeons’ greed that traps them, it’s their honesty. > > The scam works like this: > > Person looking to sell a used car or motorcycle advertises the vehicle on the Internet. > > The unsuspecting seller is contacted in e-mail by a prospective buyer who hails from somewhere in Africa, usually Nigeria. This buyer agrees to the asked-for price without haggling and looks for immediate assurance the vehicle will not be sold to anyone but him. He offers to have someone pick up and ship the vehicle to Africa once the sale is complete, making it clear he alone will bear all charges associated with that aspect of the sale. > > Mention is now made of the method of payment: a cashier’s check for more than the agreed-upon price for the vehicle. This check is to come from the buyer in Africa, with the residue to be sent to a third party in the USA the buyer says he owes money to. The seller is asked to cash the check, keep the right amount for the sale of his car or bike, and send what’s left to this third party. (Alternatively, the check is said to be coming from the third party, with the residue after the vehicle is paid for to be sent back to the buyer.) > > Example 1: Dr. Dipo Morgans of Nigeria wants to buy your used car for $5,000. His friend, Mr. Okuta, will be sending you a cashier’s check for $8,000. You are to keep $5,000 for the car and send the remaining $3,000 to Dr. Morgans. > > Example 2: Dr. Dipo Morgans of Nigeria wants to buy your used car for $5,000. He will be sending you a cashier’s check for $8,000 on the understanding that you will forward $3,000 of it to the shipping company that will be transporting your car to Africa. > > The cashier check for the larger-than-necessary amount arrives and is duly deposited in the seller’s bank account. > > Three days later, the check appears to clear, and any freeze the bank had placed on these funds is removed. > > Satisfied that the check was good (the bank had released the funds, after all), the seller wires the overage to the person it’s owed to and waits for someone to come pick up the vehicle. > > No one ever comes to pick up the vehicle. > > Two weeks later, the seller is informed by his bank the check was a forgery. > > The seller is now out the amount he wired to someone else. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/7 "2004-03-29T00:36:49Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Why is it always Nigeria? It’s not always Nigeria. But it’s a far larger country than other West African nations where these kind of scams are common, such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast. So we tend to hear about the biggest. As to ‘why that region’ - why is New York and New Jersey associated with the mafia? It’s plain old organised crime, only it’s easy to cross continents with it via credit cards or email. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/8 "2004-03-29T02:48:39Z")
A personal life rule of mine is to make sure nobody in Nigeria ever gets my bank account numbers. That’s how those Nigeria Scams work. (Nigeria is the only place where the “Nigeria Scam” is legal) Please don’t give anyone your bank account numbers, especially if they are from Nigeria. No offense meant to the legit people from Nigeria who need $3000 dollars worth of Vitamin E and DVD players. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/9 "2004-03-29T04:18:34Z")
Maybe he’s got a nasty case of [bladder cancer](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040328/ap_on_he_me/bladder_cancer_3). ---
**Author:** ![Logical\_Phallacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Logical\_Phallacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logical_Phallacy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/10 "2004-03-29T04:31:48Z")
😃 rofl. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/11 "2004-03-29T09:20:49Z")
If I may offer another possibility? Is it possible they actually do want the pills? From what I’ve seen of vitamins, most don’t have any markings, just identifiable by color or shape. I’ve seen too many “online pharmacies” that have happy websites but no contact info. I’m thinking those vitamin E pills will be passed off as valium, vicodan, etc. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/12 "2004-03-29T10:58:26Z")
> [@Wonko The Sane](#): > > (Nigeria is the only place where the “Nigeria Scam” is legal) Nope. They’re known as ‘419 scams’, named after the Nigerian penal code which specifically outlawed them. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/13 "2004-03-29T11:15:20Z")
100% scam. I’ve read of exactly the same scam being used in ordering laptops. Vitamins are also a popular target. [Read all about your exact scam using the Sprint Relay service for the deaf on this page.](http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Nigerian/bogus_orders.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/14 "2004-03-29T12:25:10Z")
> [@Wonko The Sane](#): > > A personal life rule of mine is to make sure nobody in Nigeria ever gets my bank account numbers. That’s how those Nigeria Scams work. (Nigeria is the only place where the “Nigeria Scam” is legal) > > Please don’t give anyone your bank account numbers, especially if they are from Nigeria. I agree that it’s wise to only give your bank account numbers to people you know and trust. However, if you give someone the details I mentioned in my previous post they can (by direct bank transfer) only pay money INTO your account, not take any money OUT. And, just for further clarification, I didn’t mean to suggest that you should actually give out these details. I was suggesting that you OFFER to, making it clear that the only deal you will accept is money in, goods out, in that order. I have dealt with these people in real life and once you make it clear that these are your terms of business, you never hear from them again. No, it’s not legal in Nigeria. It’s as illegal there as it is anywhere to swindle money out of people or attempt to. But the country has a reputation for a high degree of corruption. ---
**Author:** ![Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Wonko\_The\_Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wonko_The_Sane)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/15 "2004-03-29T13:40:32Z")
Thank you for the correction. I appreciate it. Also, thanks for the clarification on the bank account numbers thing. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/16 "2004-03-29T16:12:32Z")
Thanks everyone for confirming what I suspected to be true. I wish there was some way to nail these people if they call back. Police don’t seem to think can do anything besides tell them to find another mark. ---
**Author:** ![Blornx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Blornx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blornx)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/17 "2004-03-31T03:30:34Z")
I just read about this scam in Ed Foster’s Gripeline weblog. Article here: [http://weblog.infoworld.com/foster/2004/03/12.html](http://weblog.infoworld.com/foster/2004/03/12.html) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/18 "2004-06-23T23:10:29Z")
I was just going through the recent additions at Snopes [they mentioned this scam](http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/cnp.asp). ---
**Author:** ![nesta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a4c791/32.png) [@nesta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nesta)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/19 "2004-06-24T00:32:46Z")
Our company sells miscellaneous computer components to the local market, and we received a TTY call just like this. They wanted to buy 30 harddrives, 40 DVD drives, etc. Since we aren’t a wholesaler, and don’t cater to anything but the local market, we told him we couldn’t help. The poor guy who took the call couldn’t get him off the phone without simply hanging up, though. Towards the end of the 45 minute call we were taking side bets on what he would want to order next. Even the TTY operator was joking with us, since apparently the typing was so bad that it would take two or three tries to get anything intelligible. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/236933/20 "2004-06-24T03:45:10Z")
> [@Wonko The Sane](#): > > A personal life rule of mine is to make sure nobody in Nigeria ever gets my bank account numbers. That’s how those Nigeria Scams work. (Nigeria is the only place where the “Nigeria Scam” is legal) > > Please don’t give anyone your bank account numbers, especially if they are from Nigeria. > > No offense meant to the legit people from Nigeria who need $3000 dollars worth of Vitamin E and DVD players. I agree with you about being very reluctant to give out bank account numbers to scamsters, even though I think (hope) my bank would not be silly enough to let anyone get money out of my account with nothing more. But you are wrong about how Nigerian scams work. They are advance fee frauds.