I did google this a bit last night and found nothing that directly matched my issue. Still, it appears a bit off to me, and I know I can rely on this board to get the “Straight Dope” on these types of things.
I listed my old Nokia 6086 flip phone on my local Kijiji, since there are often people who want an old phone if theirs gets damaged, or just want a basic phone that phones and maybe does text. This is mine. I am clearing out a bunch of stuff from my house and listing it all. If it moves, it moves, better than taking up room on a shelf. I didn’t list a price, but I figured it I made 10.00 I would be happy and if I heard a compelling story I would give it away.
I got a reply from someone who was interested. I said make me an offer.
He offered 50.00, which I find rather high for a used cell phone so out of date, and I said “Can you come see it Tuesday evening?”
I get this reply back this morning: (spelling original to him)
**Little posblems :
First – I live in Toronto. J
My English is very poor.
I had This Nokia, I have cell, but I love Nokia 6086.
? ? When I send you money : cash or too yours account. Sure, I will pay shipping.
Thank you**
Now I don’t object to making 50.00 on this transaction but it seems a bit odd someone would want this old phone. I see some Nokias are in demand by criminals, but this doesn’t seem to be the model. I live in thunder bay, so its going to be by mail. Is there something about sending banking co ordinates that I should be leary of? I don’t really want cash through the mail, or a personal cheque.
What do Dopers think? I don’t have a lot of time to research this since I am at work.
You mean get him to send cash or money order to me, then I send him the phone? Is this just going to be one of those “I sent you $50 000 instead of 50, now send me the remainder” things?
It raises a number of red flags. Among them:
~Offering to buy an item sight unseen for what seems to be more than it’s worth
~Trying to buy something from a considerable distance away
~Poor English, which seems to be common in various scams
~Asking for bank account information (which I believe could be used to drain the account)
The offer to send cash [ETA: if we’re talking actual cash, not some form of check or money order*] strikes me as unusual. I suspect it’s a ploy to disguise a scam, or a phishing attempt to get your address, rather than a sincere offer. I would imagine if you agreed to it, there would be some reason proffered why it couldn’t be done after all, maybe a series of reasons if you pursued the matter. I am very doubtful any cash would actually be sent.
After several minutes of googling, I found one Nokia 6086 for sale, with a price of about $100 (a jillion sites on Google seem to claim to show prices for it, but they don’t actually list the phone with a price). I guess it’s not out of the question that someone really likes that particular phone and can’t find one for a better price than $50, but that strikes me as rather farfetched. I find it much more likely that a scam is in the works. I’d be very careful about pursuing this.
*If it is a check or money order, it’s a pretty sure bet it’s fraudulent.
Yes, these were all off to me as well. I have sent deposits to people, businesses etc through banking co ordinates(transit numbers, account numbers etc) and had the same sent to me, and had no problem, but these are people I deal with who have some credibility. My main concern is the old saying of my mother’s. “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Having “fun” with this guy seems like a big time suck to me. I think I will just delete and spend no further time, energy, or thought on ole Pete from Toronto, who “Love This Nokia 6086.”