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Help Requested From Fraud Savy Members


KB

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So the story goes...............I just sold a Motorola V3 Razor mobile phone on the bay, the Auction was a 'Buy it now' for $250AUD and just now I received this message from the buyer...

Dear Seller,

I will like to purchase these Item Motorola V3 for lady (pink) (250030021849) for a friend oversea as a CHRISTMAS GIFT.She works with the BRITISH AMERICan TOBACCO there in West Africa Due to my workload, i might not be able to be checking my mails often.So i will be offering you AU$350.I want the item posted via AUSTRALIA POST to HER.hope the package will get to her in good condition What is the present condition of this item

and does it comes in it's original box?.I will be paying you for the item via Bank Transfer or Money Order, so get back to me with your Bank Informations or your full name and address where payment will be deliverd to.

MANY THANKS

Now lots of alarm bells here but none as bad as the fact that this phone retails for $300AUD.

So I guess my question is, that although we all give these bank details to buyers on eBay is there a way for the buyer to abuse this trust?

Thanks in advance

Ken

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So the story goes...............I just sold a Motorola V3 Razor mobile phone on the bay, the Auction was a 'Buy it now' for $250AUD and just now I received this message from the buyer...

Now lots of alarm bells here but none as bad as the fact that this phone retails for $300AUD.

So I guess my question is, that although we all give these bank details to buyers on eBay is there a way for the buyer to abuse this trust?

Thanks in advance

Ken

I can tell you what those of us who do a lot of investigative business internationally do.

Open an account at your bank strictly for incoming transfers - you can use any kind of account that you like. Never leave any significant amount of money in the account.

Keep in mind that giving someone the information necessary to wire you money is no worse than writing them a check - everyone you ever wrote a check to has that same information printed on the check.

I would MUCH rather risk incoming wire transfers than accept ANY kind of check. You cannot imagine the frauds related to corporate checks and cashier's checks.

The most common one is the cash back scam, and it can be really sneaky. Say your buyer tells you that they are wire transferring $350 to your bank and, sure enough, you see that your balance jumped - but by $3500, not $350. Joe Conman says his secretary made a mistake and wired you too much money.

Since it was a wire, not a check, you wire the balance back.

Next thing you know, you are WAY in the red - and you cannot figure out how that happened since there is no such thing as a "bad" wire transfer.

Then you find out there never was a wire transfer - the con man sent your bank a certified check via FedEx to be deposited to your account. The check was a forgery so they took the money back.

Be careful out there.

Bill

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I can tell you what those of us who do a lot of investigative business internationally do.

Open an account at your bank strictly for incoming transfers - you can use any kind of account that you like. Never leave any significant amount of money in the account.

Keep in mind that giving someone the information necessary to wire you money is no worse than writing them a check - everyone you ever wrote a check to has that same information printed on the check.

I would MUCH rather risk incoming wire transfers than accept ANY kind of check. You cannot imagine the frauds related to corporate checks and cashier's checks.

The most common one is the cash back scam, and it can be really sneaky. Say your buyer tells you that they are wire transferring $350 to your bank and, sure enough, you see that your balance jumped - but by $3500, not $350. Joe Conman says his secretary made a mistake and wired you too much money.

Since it was a wire, not a check, you wire the balance back.

Next thing you know, you are WAY in the red - and you cannot figure out how that happened since there is no such thing as a "bad" wire transfer.

.

Then you find out there never was a wire transfer - the con man sent your bank a certified check via FedEx to be deposited to your account. The check was a forgery so they took the money back.

Be careful out there.

Bill

Agreed. I work for a large Bank FI specializing in providing Cash Mngmt and Money Movement services to fortune 1000 clients, but as it relates to fraud, big and small companies share tons of opportunites around risk... it is perhaps the single highest priority on a corprate treasureres radar screen, and it should be on yours as well. Bill's advise is excellent. I will also point out that from the perspective of manageing merchant service risk, these very issues were the inpetus behind the lauch services such as Pay Pal, and Money Broker. Of course as we know, there are inherent problems with those services as well.

Bottom line though is, you should NEVER provide bank account indicative data to anyone who is not a trusted trading partner. This information can be used for many purposes beyond the underlyng transaction.. For instance, unscrupulus actors can initiate ACH debit originations from your account.. depending upon local law, you may have some recourse.. but it is not open-ended.. you have a limited amount of time to respond to these entries. I would also be wary about giving out information that may lead to idently fraud. YOUR PERSONAL OR BUSINESS ACCOUNT DATA IS PROPRIETARY... you need to guard it carefully

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Ok first up thank you to everyone for your advice. :thumbsupsmileyanim:

Now just a couple of other quick points, the buyer is actually based in Victoria (as I am) and only wants the item posted to Africa, he has 100% positive feedback on 39 transactions including paying $474 for a Nokia phone (which is way to much) and because I was running a company before my injury I do have 4 seperate bank accounts including one that is now basically dead.

So with those facts on the table would you give it a shot?

Ken

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Ok first up thank you to everyone for your advice. :thumbsupsmileyanim:

Now just a couple of other quick points, the buyer is actually based in Victoria (as I am) and only wants the item posted to Africa, he has 100% positive feedback on 39 transactions including paying $474 for a Nokia phone (which is way to much) and because I was running a company before my injury I do have 4 seperate bank accounts including one that is now basically dead.

So with those facts on the table would you give it a shot?

Ken

\

Yes. I really don't care about giving a person basic account information - just not to my primary account.

If he wants to do a bank transfer, the legitimacy of the incoming funds is the responsibility of the sending bank - the "buck stops there," if you will pardon the pun.

Similarly WU - once you have your money, it's yours.

Bill

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