So What's the Scam on these Ebay Listings?

SCCutler

SCCutler

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Spike Cutler
Everything you click on brings up Email. I suspect farming is the scam.
 
I think that would be a pretty crappy method of farming e-mail addresses for spam.

I suspect that he will e-mail you back offering you some great deal. Send your check for $5,000 to .. blah blah.

Hell. I'll just e-mail him right now. I always wanted a Citation.
 
Sweetness!

Do think I'd have a hard time selling Celia on the cabin... but sweetness.

How is Woody doin'?
 
Didn't get a thing done, had a huge storm last night (while I was there), blew out the hangar door, the hail was shockingly loud so I ran in the shop and cowered under the bench like a little girl, then the power went out, I figured it was a tornado. Took out all the power lines to the airport, utilities had to run a backup line across the approach! to power the airport for a week and they have closed the airport til they can fix it, we got power back at home just today. Did repairs and clean up all day, it was a wild one. Two airplanes on the ramp not sure how they faired, golf-ball skin is my guess. Asos died at 65kts but we are guessing about 80kts in a 10minute gust. Wooden Wonder is fine but covered in dirt.
 
I noticed those listings, too. I think the citation has German registration numbers and the location listed is US...
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Took out all the power lines to the airport, utilities had to run a backup line across the approach! to power the airport for a week and they have closed the airport til they can fix it
Click to expand...

Ummm. That's interesting. Which is better, an open airport with no power, or a closed airport with power? :rolleyes:

Glad you and your plane are OK Dave... That sounds like a crazy storm! :hairraise:
 
I've reported it, but feel free to report it again.

I expect this listing will be gone tomorrow.

Problems like this can be reported to the Security Center link at the bottom of any legitimate listing page. You'll need the item number, then select from the listing of problem subjects, sometimes several layers deep. Eventually, you'll get to a form asking for the item number and a block for you to enter your suspicions.

A few things which should raise red flags:
"Contact me directly"
Extremely low starting bid (not necessarily a problem).
An offer to sell for a price, but not through a "Buy It Now".
Items for sale which are inconsistant with what the seller has sold in the past, a sign of a possibly hijacked account.
A very short listing time (to avoid detection of a hijacked account).

There is a listing of more cautions in the Security Center.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Glad you and your plane are OK Dave... That sounds like a crazy storm! :hairraise:
Click to expand...

One crazy thing was once I got clear of the flying debris and noticed the runway lights out I called FSS to report it. Briefer said, we can only take that info from the airport mgr, are you the A.M? I said no, but the lights are still out - and if I was inbound I would probably want to know about it (the storm passed completely in an hour). Not sure what he did with the info. He wanted me to find the A.M., I said he is probably somewhere downwind of the airport looking for his house.

The reason the airport is closed at night is obvious, they have closed the main runway during daytime because of the wires. The wires are easily navigable, but they are not charted. It is a liability risk however so the runway remains 'closed', which in essence means "use at your own risk".
 
I'm buying a Citation!!! Anyone have $20,000 to loan me? Perhaps POA as a whole could put some money together to buy this! A POA Citation!

Samuel,

I am interested in your listing for the Citation jet. I would like to buy it! How do we proceed?


Regards,


Jesse Angell
Click to expand...
Dear Sir,
Before we get down to business I want to thank you for your interest in my auction and I want you to know from the beginning that my first concern in this transaction is the safety for both of us.
The plane is in excellent condition, and the reason that I'm selling it, is the fact that I want to buy a new one.
I have it here in Austria (Vienna) in a private hangar.
So, if you want to buy it, the price is $150.000 and I will pay for all the fees deducted from this transaction.
The plane is listed on eBay and you know that you are protected by Vehicle Purchase Protection but to increase security in this transaction we will use a third party, a financial mediator affiliated to eBay - Squaretrade. Basically, they will keep your money and my papers until you get the plane. This way the transaction is safe and we are both protected.
Because I really don't have time to meet you, let me know if you want to buy it, and I will contact the financial mediator right away and I will open the transaction.
You have to make a $20.000 refundable deposit with squaretrade using a offshore trusted bank account (guarantee by US government) and provided by them and as soon as I receive the deposit confirmation from them I will do my part of the job right away and I will deliver the plane to the nearest airport in your area and you will have 5 days inspection period.

As I said before, I'm a honest and educated person and I know that a transaction must be a win-win situation and if we are on the "same page" please email me back with your full name, home address, and phone number and let's get the ball rolling
My best wishes!
Samuel Konaris IV
Konaris and Son Inc
+1 (989) 785-0718
Click to expand...


Samuel,

​
The $20,000 deposit will be no problem. Please get this setup. I would like to secure the purchase of this airplane! This will be a very deal for both of us.​
I'm not exactly legally qualified to fly a Citation. I am a pilot though and think that I could probably figure it out. Is there any chance that you could include a pilot in this transaction to train me?

​
I am excited about doing business with you. If you have any other aircraft for sale please let me know. I'd love to work with you throughout the future.​

Regards,

​
Jesse Angell
​
Click to expand...

​
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
...
The reason the airport is closed at night is obvious, they have closed the main runway during daytime because of the wires. The wires are easily navigable, but they are not charted. It is a liability risk however so the runway remains 'closed', which in essence means "use at your own risk".
Click to expand...
It's more than that, unless you meant the risk of an FAA inspector seeing you land and thus risking your flying privileges. It would be hard to explain why you decided it was OK to land on a closed runway. "I decided to take the risk" is not in the FARs unless it's an emergency.
 
The King Air auction has been ended early by the seller due to an "error in the listing".

Yeah, right!
 
Jesse - perhaps he'll accept a Cashier's Check drawn on the Bank of Nigeria for $5,000 more than asking price, and return the overage to you in small unmarked bills!!! :)
 
Dave - glad to hear you and Woody survived the wind!

"I don't think we're in Kansas any more, Toto!"
 
He's probably planning on making a killing on the "shipping". ;-)

SCCutler said:
I have noticed a couple of ebay listings, one, a King Air, another, a Citation with "Buy it now $150,000.00" in the description.

These are almost certainly fraudulent listings, but what's this guy's angle? The entire ebay listing is one big "mailto" link, mailing to "samuel.koniaris@googlemail.com";

Any ideas?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1992...9QQihZ012QQcategoryZ63678QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1978...4QQihZ011QQcategoryZ63678QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...
 
ps; to be in compliance with current PC requirements, my wooden airplane is now referred to as "The Wooden Wonder". Thank you.
 
Jesse, what would be funny, is if he turns to Ebay and says you're trying to scam him now.

Irony at its finest.

btw, I'll pitch in $500. That should get me a week a year of the Citation. I'm sure I could figure it out too. Piper can be my SIC.
 
Dave, that first bellanca ad you posted is pretty nice.

Spike if you really want a viking, I know of one around lubbock that is owned by a doctor and rarely flies. It is painted like it has a perkins sized Texas flag draped over it. Kind of an eyesore IMO but i guess Texans might like it. Pretty nice as far as radios and stuff go. Might as well make the guy an offer, like i said he hardly flies.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
ps; to be in compliance with current PC requirements, my wooden airplane is now referred to as "The Wooden Wonder". Thank you.
Click to expand...
"We're sorry, Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Allen, you both must change your name to something more politically correct!"
"Mr. Woodpecker, we have some serious issues with you."
:rofl:
 
Another update....

Helllo again
Ok, please reply with your full name, home address and phone number and I will contact my lawyer to set up a transaction trough squaretrade.
As soon as you made the deposit, please let me know.
Also I will need
1. Where do you want to inspect the plane
2. How much time you need to complete the inspection
Of course, I will pay for everything
Thank you
Click to expand...
Samuel,

As per your request here is the information:

Jesse Angell
100 1st ST
Minneapolis, MN 55404

My phone number is
507-202-2795

I've been looking at other Citation jets that are for sale. They all are way more expensive. Why is your jet so cheap? Was someone killed in your jet? I don't want to fly a jet with a ghost!!

Please assure me that your jet is of great quality. $150,000 is almost my entire retirement. I have worked my entire life for all of this money. I would like to inspect the jet at the airport in Sidnaw Michigan, USA. The name of the field is Prickett-Grooms International (6Y9) Will you be able to fly the jet there? It will take me one week to inspect it.

Please get me the paperwork as soon as possible! I can't wait for my jet! You have no idea how much women like jets!

Regards,

Jesse Angell
Click to expand...
We'll see if I can scam the scammer.
 
Man. These guys work fast.

Hello again
No! The jet is in excellent condition and of course, no one was killed in it.
I think you've made a joke :D

I'm selling it because I want to buy a new one.

I've started the transaction and you will receive an email from them with all the details in a few moments.
I hope you can manage to do your part of the job, in a few hours and then all we need to do is to settle for is the place and time where and when it will take place the inspection.
Please keep me posted!
Click to expand...

A few minutes later I received the following fake SquareTrade e-mail. I can see people falling for this kind of thing:
http://www.jesseangell.com/downloads/scam.pdf

I just sent him the following response:
Samuel,

I just went to my bank to try to transfer you the $20,000 USD. They said that there are a lot of scams going around right now and that in order for them to make the transfer an international transfer they need your bank's LDAP code. I guess it's some new security measure. I tried to ensure them that this is not a scam because it is safe through SquareTrade. I didn't see the LDAP code on your e-mail so I wasn't sure what to give them.

Please get me your bank's LDAP code right away! Otherwise is there another way for me to wire you the money? I want to do business with you!!

If you can fly the jet to Prickett Grooms Airport in Sidnaw, Michigan, USA. I will give you the $150,000 in cash.

Would you accept a check? I will mail it to you!


Regards,

Jesse Angell
Click to expand...


If he gives me an address. I'll make a check out of color crayons and FedEx it to him with a tracking number. I'd love to see his face when he opens it.
 
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Is that really an email from squaretrade per the headers? Or am I missing something and squaretrade itself is bogus?
 
Greebo said:
Is that really an email from squaretrade per the headers? Or am I missing something and squaretrade itself is bogus?
Click to expand...
Nah. It came from some bogus address. 201.218.196.83..

Code: 
Microsoft Mail Internet Headers Version 2.0
Received: from jesseangell.com ([207.44.134.56]) by jesseangell.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.1830);
     Mon, 16 Oct 2006 13:43:17 -0500
Received: from exim by jesseangell.com with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43)
    id 1GZXUV-00006f-RX
    for jesse@jesseangell.com; Mon, 16 Oct 2006 13:47:16 -0500
Received: from [201.218.196.83] (helo=findnot.com)
    by jesseangell.com with esmtp (Exim 4.43)
    id 1GZXUV-00006c-C9
    for jesse@jesseangell.com; Mon, 16 Oct 2006 13:47:11 -0500
From: "payments@squaretrade.com" <payments@squaretrade.com>
To: jesse@jesseangell.com;support@squaretrade-ebayescrow.com;
Reply-To: support@squaretrade-ebayescrow.com
Subject: *** Congratulations! Squaretrade transaction started - ST6523165003232 - Ebay Motors Item 1992 CESSNA CITATION V ***
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:44:07 -0400
Message-Id: <20061016194255.M65928@squaretrade.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html;
    charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.6 (2005-12-07) on jesseangell.com
X-Spam-Level: 
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.8 required=3.5 tests=BAYES_00,HTML_FONT_BIG,
    HTML_MESSAGE,HTML_SHOUTING3,HTML_TAG_EXIST_TBODY,MIME_HTML_ONLY,
    US_DOLLARS_3 autolearn=no version=3.0.6
Return-Path: payments@squaretrade.com
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 16 Oct 2006 18:43:17.0718 (UTC) FILETIME=[F20CDF60:01C6F152]
 
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SquareTrade is totally legit, but SMTP makes it far too easy to spoof. So these scammers have premade emails to send out, even ones that say "This is to notify you that blahblahblah@scammer.org is a valid member of SquareTrade and your transaction is secure" etc etc. ST says on their site to not send money via wire transfer and that they are NOT an escrow service.

Hell, if you looked at the eBay page for the Citation, eBay tells you to NOT buy vehicles with a wire transfer.

But the scammers are getting more and more talented. Emails actually have proper english, the images are all coming in fine, etc etc. Looks good, which means more people will fall for it. Sigh.

Note this in the header: squaretrade-ebayescrow.com

Time to notify the registrar.

UPDATE: WHOIS info...

Registrant:

marko begonja
151-1819av whitestone
whitestone, Ny 11357
US
Email: traian.verinski55@googlemail.com

Registrar Name....: REGISTER.COM, INC.
Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com
Registrar Homepage: www.register.com

Domain Name: squaretrade-ebayescrow.com

Created on..............: Mon, Oct 16, 2006
Expires on..............: Tue, Oct 16, 2007
Record last updated on..: Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Administrative Contact:

marko begonja
151-1819av whitestone
whitestone, Ny 11357
US
Phone: +1.6077373540
Email: traian.verinski55@googlemail.com
 
Gawd, that guy needs to get better at faking addresses. On the fake squaretrade e-mail, the Vienna address is soooo wrong (no 4-digit house numbers on the Parkring, and Vienna only has 4-digit ZIP codes).

The address for the bank is legit, of course.
 
Register.com notified :D

What's sad is some poor schmuck's credit card probably got charged for that domain's existence.
 
jangell said:
Man. These guys work fast.



A few minutes later I received the following fake SquareTrade e-mail. I can see people falling for this kind of thing:
http://www.jesseangell.com/downloads/scam.pdf

I just sent him the following response:



If he gives me an address. I'll make a check out of color crayons and FedEx it to him with a tracking number. I'd love to see his face when he opens it.
Click to expand...
Jesse, people have been murdered by Nigerians. You should stop it where you are.

We've had Russians left dead in suburban parking lots here.
 
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The ebay listing says $150k but your scam.pdf shows $150M ... did the price just go up .... considerably? :)
 
Greebo said:
Is that really an email from squaretrade per the headers? Or am I missing something and squaretrade itself is bogus?
Click to expand...
Nope. The FROM: line is whatever you put there. You want an email from GW?
 
mikea said:
Jesse, people have been murdered by Nigerians. You should stop it where you are.

We've had Russians left dead in suburban parking lots here.
Click to expand...

Jesse's not dealing with the Nigerians, this is one of those Eastern Europeans that realize 'Mericans can be stupid. I'm sure the guy doesn't even want the full 150K, he's just hoping that Jesse will send 20K. Hell, tons of Eastern Europeans put up Garmin ebay listings, practically giving away Garmin 396/496 systems for 500$. I doubt they care too terribly much if Jesse falls through, someone else will fall for it.
 
...maybe you can get him to join the Church of the Painted Breast?
 
wbarnhill said:
Jesse's not dealing with the Nigerians, this is one of those Eastern Europeans.
Click to expand...

Who the hell do you think taught the Nigerians the scams? The Nigerians learned well from the KGB. Don't ever think that the Europeans can't be brutal. They perfected systemized brutality when all there was in Africa was tribal warfare.
 
Just to a goodle search for "scam the scammer". You'll see all kinds of interesting stories and examples.

My personal favorite is The Scam Baiter WARNING: Not for the feint of heart and sometimes not so work safe. Usually they try to get the scammers to send embarrasing pictures of themselves as confirmation that they're working with a real person - then they fedex them something (international mind you) that's worthless - and that usually costs the scammers a lot to get through customs.

Jesse - TSB also has a howto on how to get a WU# for next to nothing that hides the real amount. Usually once a scammer smells the WU# they will do almost anything to get it.
 
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I like Mike's idea about the WU#. Do it Jesse!

See if you can get the scammer to send you a picture with a shoe on his head, holding a sign that says "Citations Rock!"

Then send him like a dollar with the hidden amount. Good stuff.
 
mikea said:
Nope. The FROM: line is whatever you put there. You want an email from GW?
Click to expand...
Oh I know that, I was just saying basically I'd like to see the headers... unless of course the whole squaretrade site was part of a scam, which I now know it is not.
 
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