I recently put up an ad on Mudah.my to sell my car. I only provided my name and handphone number should a buyer be interested to contact me. The very next day, I received an SMS, but this SMS looked a bit strange. It wasn't from a mobile number, but from SendMassage.com, one of those websites offering free SMSes to mobile numbers. The message wrote:
"Hi, I am Norsiah. I am interested in your car. Can you provide me with information regarding the car's condition and price? Email me at ahpiea (at) yahoo (dot) com. Thank you"
So I thought, maybe 'she' don't have credit or something. I then sent 'her' an email at [email protected] stating the car's final price and condition.
Then, things got pretty strange.
'She' replied my email. The email left me with total confusion. Have a look for yourself:
"Am presently in united kingdom so I can not come to test the vehicle
but if you are very sure the vehicle is in good condition tell me the
final price you want to sell the vehicle because am sending the car to
my husband who is based in iran, so I will arrange a pick up agent to
collect the vehicle from you after you have received the payment made
to you. And the pick up agent fee will be included in the payment made
to your account so that you can pay them for the service when they
come to collect the vehicle from you also the pick up agent will
prepare all documents regards the change of ownership and shipping the
vehicle to the new owner as all these fees will be included in the
pick up agent fees made to you, so I want you to get back to me with
the final price of the vehicle then we can proceed with the
transaction. Thanks hope to hear from you soon.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN"
After reading the email, i knew instantly that this fella was a fraud. I mean, there were so many signs! Let me point some of them out to you:
1. A serious buyer won't send an SMS. If they do send, it's normally with a mobile number, not with a free SMS website. You hiding something, bro?
2. A serious buyer won't arrange a deposit, or even worst, a total payment, before even viewing the car physically! That's just outright stupid.
3. She's in the UK. She's buying a car in Malaysia for her husband in Iran. WTF? Who does that!? Please note, I am not selling a McLaren F1 or anything close to it, just a normal everyday vehicle. Why go through so much hassle to buy a car overseas and send it over? Don't they have cars in Iran?
4. The final sentence, "Sent from my Blackberry wireless device from MTN". I did a simple Google search on MTN. Guess what I found..the MTN Group is Africa's leading telecommunications provider!. Africa? Wait, I thought 'she' said she was from the UK? Am I missing out something here?
I'm writing this thread to warn all ZTH-ians and all forumers alike on the existence of these con men. They have many tactics; some are genius, some are outright stupid like this one. I want to be angry but I find 'her' stupidity rather amusing.
Be safe when surfing.
p.s. Should I report this to the proper authority?
Cheers.:wavey:
"Hi, I am Norsiah. I am interested in your car. Can you provide me with information regarding the car's condition and price? Email me at ahpiea (at) yahoo (dot) com. Thank you"
So I thought, maybe 'she' don't have credit or something. I then sent 'her' an email at [email protected] stating the car's final price and condition.
Then, things got pretty strange.
'She' replied my email. The email left me with total confusion. Have a look for yourself:
"Am presently in united kingdom so I can not come to test the vehicle
but if you are very sure the vehicle is in good condition tell me the
final price you want to sell the vehicle because am sending the car to
my husband who is based in iran, so I will arrange a pick up agent to
collect the vehicle from you after you have received the payment made
to you. And the pick up agent fee will be included in the payment made
to your account so that you can pay them for the service when they
come to collect the vehicle from you also the pick up agent will
prepare all documents regards the change of ownership and shipping the
vehicle to the new owner as all these fees will be included in the
pick up agent fees made to you, so I want you to get back to me with
the final price of the vehicle then we can proceed with the
transaction. Thanks hope to hear from you soon.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN"
After reading the email, i knew instantly that this fella was a fraud. I mean, there were so many signs! Let me point some of them out to you:
1. A serious buyer won't send an SMS. If they do send, it's normally with a mobile number, not with a free SMS website. You hiding something, bro?
2. A serious buyer won't arrange a deposit, or even worst, a total payment, before even viewing the car physically! That's just outright stupid.
3. She's in the UK. She's buying a car in Malaysia for her husband in Iran. WTF? Who does that!? Please note, I am not selling a McLaren F1 or anything close to it, just a normal everyday vehicle. Why go through so much hassle to buy a car overseas and send it over? Don't they have cars in Iran?
4. The final sentence, "Sent from my Blackberry wireless device from MTN". I did a simple Google search on MTN. Guess what I found..the MTN Group is Africa's leading telecommunications provider!. Africa? Wait, I thought 'she' said she was from the UK? Am I missing out something here?
I'm writing this thread to warn all ZTH-ians and all forumers alike on the existence of these con men. They have many tactics; some are genius, some are outright stupid like this one. I want to be angry but I find 'her' stupidity rather amusing.
Be safe when surfing.
p.s. Should I report this to the proper authority?
Cheers.:wavey:
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