Re: Scammer Identification Techniques

On Mon, 9 Feb 2009 09:39:18 -0800 (PST), Rick Swanson
<rns510@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

A few days ago I posted a Mr. Pinball ad for a Pop-A-Card playfield.
I've gotten a few email replies from folks who were obviously members
in good standing with the international pinball community and I've
gotten a BUNCH of emails from folks who can't be identified through a
Google search of rgp (and, thus, are suspected scammers).

For those folks who have sold stuff through Mr. Pinball, is it safe to
assume that any reply that contains a verbatim recitation of the ad is
just a scammer?... or, do those frequently (or even occasionally) turn
out to be legit? How about exceedingly poor grammar and total lack of
capitalization?


I often quote the original ad and then follow up in a separate
paragraph and speak to condition of it. I buy/sell stuff in spurts.
I'll have a few deals going at once and really don't have a good
enough memory to remember who all the people are I'm dealing with and
what price I'd quoted them.

The obvious things to look for when you suspect a scammer:
1. Western Union
2. references to God, Dictators, airplane crashes, hospitals,
inheritances, estates
3. "I am out of the country right now"
4. Escrow service holding the item
5. repeated references to "the item"
6. references to "the final price"
7. not offering their own pictures for items they're selling, or
asking for pictures of the item they are buying.
8. evasiveness about their location and/or unwillingness to let anyone
pick the item up, inspect, or deliver it to their location
9. unwillingness to accept a USPS postal money order for an
inexpensive item when located in the US
10. everything written in capital letters

I don't fault poor grammer or punctuation. Not everyone is a native
speaker of English. I used to sell antique auto parts, and many of the
buyers wrote in whatever language they knew, often with an attempt at
English included.

Craig

.

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