# Is this a scam? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177 "2006-04-11T02:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![myrnajean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@myrnajean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myrnajean)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/21 "2006-04-11T20:04:06Z")
I had something very similiar at work. A person from Nigeria sent in an order for technical books (almost $6,000 worth!) to be shipped to Nigeria and paid for with a check. I put the check in the bank and waited about 3 weeks for it to clear, before even considering mailing the books. I called our bank then to see if the check had cleared, and they said it did! Still I waited, being the suspicious type. 5 more weeks pass, and finally, the check bounces. NO Books for you Mr. Oladipo Ajose-Adeogun (bwaaahahahahahah!) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/22 "2006-04-11T20:08:06Z")
Well, in my case I have nothing to ship. If he pays and in three months time those “models” show up then so be it. I don’t think he’ll be flying two women all the way from Nigeria to scam me out of a thousand bucks. Anyways, I am now very cautious. It is still possible that he’s a naturalised American citizen, but I am operating under the assumption that he is a scammer. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/23 "2006-04-11T20:14:32Z")
I can just imagine how this is hurting legitimate bussinesses in Nigeria. It mut be a bitch to trade internationally. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/24 "2006-04-11T20:20:01Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Well, in my case I have nothing to ship. If he pays and in three months time those “models” show up then so be it. I don’t think he’ll be flying two women all the way from Nigeria to scam me out of a thousand bucks. > > Anyways, I am now very cautious. It is still possible that he’s a naturalised American citizen, but I am operating under the assumption that he is a scammer. Yeah, but he’ll probably try something like you telling him it’s going to cost $2000. He sends you a check for $5000. Then the girls don’t show up. Then he says “I sorry, models get bird flu, not able to go make trip, please keep $2000 for you troubles, send me remaining $3000, I thank you.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/25 "2006-04-11T20:35:29Z")
It costs more money in service charges than you’ll want to pay for this kind of transaction, but if you take your check to the counter and say, “I’d like to deposit this item for collection,” then your bank won’t actually stick the money into your account until the instrument has really “cleared” at the far end. As an aside, if you want to see people with some REEEAL experience in these scams, go to [www.bankersonline.com](http://www.bankersonline.com) —\> Forums —\> Ask a Banker Forum. The security types on there have seen every one of these scams 20 times. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/26 "2006-04-11T21:25:16Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I think even someone with broken English will understand “not until the check clears.” > > Better yet, just tell him you’ll happily refund any unspent balance after the models have finished their visit. Aw shucks, folks, since several posters had already identified the scam, I just wanted to see what the next chapter in the story would be if **Mighty\_Girl** chose to string the guy along a little more. I apologize for posting anything that made even the slightest suggestion that Mr. Duncan might be legitimate and anyone should go along with him. Slumping out of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/27 "2006-04-11T21:37:19Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I think even someone with broken English will understand “not until the check clears.” > > Better yet, just tell him you’ll happily refund any unspent balance after the models have finished their visit. Aw shucks, folks, since several posters had already identified the scam, I just wanted to see what the next chapter in the story would be if **Mighty\_Girl** chose to string the guy along a little more. I apologize for posting anything that made even the slightest suggestion that Mr. Duncan might be legitimate and anyone should go along with him. Slumping out of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/28 "2006-04-11T21:57:42Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Aw shucks, folks, since several posters had already identified the scam, I just wanted to see what the next chapter in the story would be if **Mighty\_Girl** chose to string the guy along a little more. Just take a browse around [http://www.419eater.com/](http://www.419eater.com/) ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/29 "2006-04-12T16:11:48Z")
> [@A.R. Cane](#): > > Never, NEVER, try to outcon an con, you will lose! > Just say NO! What are you basing this on? The best practice is to keep a mindset of being a truly despicable person and start feeling hurt and wronged - you’ll figure out a way to put somebody in a world of hurt (if you’ve got the talent of course). ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/30 "2006-04-12T16:33:25Z")
> [@groman](#): > > What are you basing this on? The best practice is to keep a mindset of being a truly despicable person and start feeling hurt and wronged - you’ll figure out a way to put somebody in a world of hurt (if you’ve got the talent of course). You’re dreaming. By the time the mark feels “hurt and wronged” the con is long gone w/ the loot. Confidence people have no conscience and they have all the angles figured. Out conning the con may look good in fiction, where the author controls the outcome, but IRL it’s so rare as to be nonexistent. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/31 "2006-04-12T17:31:45Z")
> [@Mr. Slant](#): > > As an aside, if you want to see people with some REEEAL experience in these scams, go to [www.bankersonline.com](http://www.bankersonline.com) —\> Forums —\> Ask a Banker Forum. The security types on there have seen every one of these scams 20 times. Yes we do. 😃 And there are more screwball schemes every day. There’s one I’ve been watching about some sort of eBay reshipping muddle where the sap lists an item, gets paid for the item by the bidder via PayPal, notifies the company, who drop-ships the item after the sap pays the company with somethng called e-gold which is non-refundable, unlike PayPal. (Smelling anything funny yet?) It gets better: e-gold is run out of an island in the Carribean. Once the sap sends e-gold payment to the shipper, that money is irreversibly gone. He may as well tape $20 bills to a postcard and mail it. If the shipper doesn’t ship, or ships junk, the bidder is upset and will probably be so to the point of initiating a buyer protection refund via PayPal, which means the sap has to pay back the bidder, but can’t get anything out of the shipper. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/32 "2006-04-12T18:48:12Z")
Just going to point out that if an “American” ever offers to pay for something with a ‘cheque’, you might want to be suspicious. All red-blooded right thinking people from God’s own U.S. of A. use checks of course. Not that this was the only linguistic clew in his entertainingly broken e-mail, of course. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/33 "2006-04-12T19:29:58Z")
> [@Uvula Donor](#): > > Absolutely a scam. > > He’s going to send you a forged cheque for more than the amount due. You’re going to send him the “change”. The cheque is going to bounce, he’s going to dissapear with the “overage” you sent him, and you’re liable for the full amount of the cheque. > > Don’t do it. Yes, I see that’s sensible advice - \*\*but what if the models were really hot?! \*\* :eek: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/34 "2006-04-12T19:53:53Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Yes, I see that’s sensible advice - \*\*but what if the models were really hot?! \*\* :eek: 😕 I don’t think that’ll be an issue for MG, unless they’re _male_ models. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/35 "2006-04-13T17:05:01Z")
No word from Mr. Duncan and his models. I am very sad that I lost his business. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/36 "2006-04-13T20:02:36Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > No word from Mr. Duncan and his models. I am very sad that I lost his business. :rolleyes: Oh it’s worse that that - you’ve lost his UNITY! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/37 "2006-04-13T20:15:34Z")
Call me naive but what ever happened to calling the FBI and informing them about it? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/38 "2006-04-13T21:57:09Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Oh it’s worse that that - you’ve lost his UNITY! Well, I will then have to have my chi realigned, I guess. > [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Call me naive but what ever happened to calling the FBI and informing them about it? He has yet to break the law (it sounds like a duck, but that is not enough for an accusation). Plus I doubt the FBI has jurisdiction here (now, the CIA, maybe, is another matter…) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/39 "2006-04-14T01:26:26Z")
Well, I just got another person who wants to make a reservation paying with a wire transfer. This is the second person within a week that says that he can’t pay with a credit card and that makes me weary. The last inquiry seems to come from a legitimate customer insofar as his English looks like what I would expect from a native American. He also asked a bit about locations in town. I told him I don’t take cheques or transfers. Regardless of how legitimate the customer sounds I don’t think I will ever take them. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177/40 "2006-04-14T01:30:56Z")
> [@](#): > > my client called me today about the payment he said the the payment was over draft so i don;t know if i can still keep my trust on you over the balance fund that is involved after your rent cost My Spidey Scam Sense is tingling. The way such schemes work is: 1. Scammer sends bogus check that is “accidentally” made out for a larger amount than needed for the transaction. 2. Scammer asks Mark to refund the difference. 3. Scammer pockets the money he got from Mark in Step 2, before Mark finds out that the check he got in Step 1 is bogus. 4. Profit! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-scam/352177.md?page=3)