# What is the scam here? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932 "2011-03-08T16:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 8, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/21 "2011-03-08T17:13:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I emailed him a total. I purposely doubled the cost per item, yet he is still saying it sounds like a good deal! Wish I had more customers like him. Turns out Eric Bill is battling cancer. And there it is…the freight fee. What if you reply with “I’m sure one of my freight trucks will be running your way, I’ll deliver it myself and only charge you $400.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/22 "2011-03-08T17:17:31Z")
I would strongly suggest editing out that credit card number if it’s real. ---
**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 8, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/23 "2011-03-08T17:18:04Z")
How about getting that CC number out of the post. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/24 "2011-03-08T17:24:16Z")
I’ve reported all this to Mastercard. Number should be history. ---
**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 8, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/25 "2011-03-08T17:26:14Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve reported all this to Mastercard. Number should be history. Since you’re beyond the edit window, I still asked a mod to take the CC number out of the post. Anyways, I’d either be interesting in seeing how he responds to either telling him you’d rather just ship it on your own truck (for a lower price) or tell him his total with tax is something really high, maybe $9855.25. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/26 "2011-03-08T17:26:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My receptionist asked for his number so she could call him back. He was unhappy about this, but gave an email address. The next time this happens, train your op to use \*69. That’s how I get callback numbers at the office where our corporate phone system doesn’t display CID. Just be sure to use the same line the call came in on, and do it _immediately_ after hanging up. If another call comes in first, you’ve lost the opportunity. Of course it won’t work if your telephone service provider doesn’t have that function, but I think most (in USA) do. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/27 "2011-03-08T17:29:48Z")
Agreed - please remove the credit card number from the post above. Forgive me for being otherwise naive, but isn’t the person who comes to pick up the widgets in on the scam, which is otherwise obvious from the poor English? So what happens when the police are waiting at your facility to nail the guy when he shows up for the widgets? That doesn’t make any sense to me… You’d have lots of advance warning to have them waiting for the pickup to bust the guy and take down at least the local element of the credit card theft ring. Sure, it might be an innocent third party who got suckered in, but at the very least, you’d want to remove them from the equation and find out about all the other ‘orders’ Mr. Nigerian had forwarded through that third party to alert the credit card companies and owners of the cards. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/28 "2011-03-08T17:31:01Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > The next time this happens, train your op to use \*69. That’s how I get callback numbers at the office where our corporate phone system doesn’t display CID. > > Just be sure to use the same line the call came in on, and do it _immediately_ after hanging up. If another call comes in first, you’ve lost the opportunity. > > Of course it won’t work if your telephone service provider doesn’t have that function, but I think most (in USA) do. IME, \*69 on a TDD call just shows the call coming from the relay service. > [@](#): > > Have you charged my card through and will you be able to have the 950$ wire to them today? Stringing him along… ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/29 "2011-03-08T17:35:07Z")
> [@Yarster](#): > > Agreed - please remove the credit card number from the post above. > > Forgive me for being otherwise naive, but isn’t the person who comes to pick up the widgets in on the scam, which is otherwise obvious from the poor English? It sounds like nobody’s coming. The scammer asked for the cash to be wired to a Western Union location. ---
**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 8, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/30 "2011-03-08T17:37:18Z")
“Yeah, the charge went through but WU wouldn’t let me wire the money, so I just took the cash out of my bank account. I got it in my office…I’ll just hold on to it and you can stop by and pick it up” “—I can just give it to the trucker when he gets the widgets” “I just called the CC company and did a voice auth and they said it was a scam, the shut down the card and said they would be contacting the police and had me forward all of our emails…do you have a different CC I could use?” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/31 "2011-03-08T17:38:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Have you charged my card through and will you be able to have the 950$ wire to them today? His Nigerian accent is getting stronger. Also note the tiny hint of desperation. ---
**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 8, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/32 "2011-03-08T17:41:30Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > His Nigerian accent is getting stronger. Also note the tiny hint of desperation. That’s a good point. Ask him why he put the dollar sign on the other side of the number. Tell him you don’t do business with foreigners. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/33 "2011-03-08T17:41:54Z")
He doesn’t think the trucker can accept cash, I gotta wire the money. He emailed me a name and address to western union the money to… ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/34 "2011-03-08T17:43:08Z")
Ask him for the name and address of the trucking company and tell him you’ll electronically transfer the money right to the company. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/35 "2011-03-08T17:43:13Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Anyways, I’d…be interest[ed] in seeing how he responds to…tell[ing] him his total with tax is something really high, maybe $9855.25. > [@Yarster](#): > > Forgive me for being otherwise naive, but isn’t the person who comes to pick up the widgets in on the scam…? The scammer doesn’t care what the purchase price is, and he’s not sending someone pick up the merchandise. He’s looking to get the money sent via Western Union (which the victim pays up front, probably in cash). All the rest is part of the ruse to make the story look plausible. No one would even consider wiring $950 to a stranger over the phone. He’s hoping that it won’t seem so odd in the context of making a BIG sale and (purportedly) paying the shipper. Only there ain’t no sale and there ain’t no shipper. There’s just him waiting at the WU office umpteen hundred miles away to get the cash. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/36 "2011-03-08T17:43:25Z")
So, I sent Mastercard the information and got their reply. > [@](#): > > Thanks Mark ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/37 "2011-03-08T17:49:13Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > He doesn’t think the trucker can accept cash, I gotta wire the money. He emailed me a name and address to western union the money to… Tell him that you need him to wire the money to you as well. ---
**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 8, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/38 "2011-03-08T17:58:18Z")
Is the other Western Union in the states? If it is, this might be the time to call police/fed or who ever would handle this type of case. Now that you can be reasonably assured that someone will be waiting at the other end for the transfer. You can tell them that you ran the card and as soon as the money is transferred into your account tomorrow you’ll go down to WU and wire the money (to buy some time since they seem to be anxious). They’ll still be waiting tomorrow for you. If you contact the police and they want to move forward, and they want to do it sooner, they’ll take over. I’m sure if they (as you) tell the scammers they’re just going to wire the money now they won’t question it. If the cops don’t care and you want to drop it all you have to do is ignore the emails from this point on. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/39 "2011-03-08T18:00:27Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Since you’re beyond the edit window, I still asked a mod to take the CC number out of the post. Done. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932/40 "2011-03-08T18:29:25Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Is the other Western Union in the states? If it is, this might be the time to call police/fed or who ever would handle this type of case. Now that you can be reasonably assured that someone will be waiting at the other end for the transfer. Yep, the address I’m supposed to western union the money to is in Madisonville, KY 42431. I have a name and address. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-scam-here/573932.md?page=3)