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A Palmmmy Z-Z-Z-Zire - Help Me scam a scammer !

Ok - here it goes....

About a few weeks ago, I put an ad on craigslist [cleveland section] to sell my palm zire 31 that I got as an unwanted graduation gift. I ended up taking too much time to return it to the store [it was only 10 days, IIRC] so I thought craigslist was my option.

[my offer is here, hope it's not spamming on the TFP- http://cleveland.craigslist.org/sys/87060926.html ]

2 weeks past - no response.

A few days ago, I received a response from a 'Jessica' who asked about the unit in a manner of broken english and written similar to the initial account that the scammer offers to the powerbook guy -[2; bottom of pg.1]

TFP Link to the powerbook story - http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=55718

Here's the inital email she sent me.

Code:

Hello,

how is your business,i check on your item and i

will like to know if you still have this item() for

sale,let me know the condition of the items,let me know the condition of the item.Let me know the condition of the item so i can make quick payment on it.Hope to hear

from you soon.

Thanks --

I responded with a brief email, stating "Yes it is still available. It's in great condition - I only used it
once before and is still in the original packaging"

Here's her second email she sent out:

Code:

Hello,

 Thanks for your mail,well i will be sending the

 payment in money order through Money Gram online,and

 after payment went through you will have to receive

 a confirmation mail from Money Gram about the payment

 sent,once ireceive the confirmation mail here too,i

 will like to offer you a fedex pre-paid shipping

 slip which i have regsietr with fedex courier

 service and note that upon the slip pasted there is

 no shipping cost for you,i will like to offer $150

 for the Palm Zire 31 so that we can close the

auction and have the shipment asap,hope you will

 like this offer.waiting for your quick response,and

 hope to have some other business with you in nearest

 future.thanking you in anticipation,if it is ok by

 you get back to me on time

 Thanks

 Jessica.

So, I'm thinking in my slightly warped mind right now.....Scammer - let the fun begin ! Of course, I know I could simply refuse the sale to her - but I have quite a bit of free time on my hands right now since college doesn't start for another month; and it doesn't seem like scammers have learned their lesson yet.....

Anyone want to help get some revenge on a scammer with me ?!?! :thumbsup:

Catcha back on the flipside,
will.

References:
1 - http://www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/
2 - http://pages.sbcglobal.net/dumbmrblah/powerbook.pdf

Quote:

fedex pre-paid shipping

Well, that's the first I've heard of it being offered to somebody. Just to let everybody know, it's not transferrable.

Make a P-P-Palm Zire 31 ;)

Edit: I'm sorry, I had to re-read her email response several times and her english really sucks, so what makes you think she is a scammer to begin with?

It sounds exactly like the PPPPPowerbook scam... go for it.

Wow -- I would have fallen for it. I had no idea (without further investigation) what escrow service was or how it could be a very bad thing... :-D I got no ideas for revenge, however.. the PPP Powerbook sounds borderline illegal as it is.

Personally, I was a huge fan of the P-P-Powerbook scam. I thought what he did was genius. I suppose you could do the same thing to "Jessica" if you really wanted to.

i just read the whole ppp scam (the pdf file), it ends with waiting for responds after the scammer gets the package. did the scammer ever email the guy back? did he call him? awesome stuff.

the scammer e-mailed him back with a link that lead to a virus.

apparently, the scammer also launched a DoS attack against the original site.

What is the service that this buyer wants to use? Do you have a link?

You are probably right that it is a scam, but it might not be...she might want to use a legitimate third party for added security.

Just make sure you are dealing with a 'bad guy' before you start getting vengeful. But once you are sure, let the p-p-p-powerbook reprise begin!

What sort of prank are you planning on pulling?

Find out where the person lives and take a steaming dump on their front porch. Do something original.

When you're sure it's a scam, I recommend shipping them garbage.

I used to do that every so often with junk mail and their postage-paid return envelopes. I once sent an 80-lb. box of it to a particularly obnoxious one.

That was before the current regulations regarding packages in the mail, though.

Two words........"Catfish Bait"

Tends to ...uh....clear a room pretty quick, just make sure you seal the box VERY well

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suave

Find out where the person lives and take a steaming dump on their front porch. Do something original.

Could be quite a waste of money if this person lives half way around the world.

But if it's your neighbour... :D

Yes, it is a scam, but will the revenge really be worth it? The only thing that would be worth it is if you could get the scammer arrested. Anything else will probably be a waste of your time, and potentially open you up to lawsuits/internet attacks/physical intimidation, depending on the resourses of the scammer.

I agree with Redlemon. It's not worth buying into the drama. The responsible thing to do is report it to Craigslist and get the word out to everyone you know who sells items online that these scammers are out there in DROVES!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redlemon

The whole reason the P P P Powerbook was worth it was that there were people waiting at the scammer's delivery point to take pictures and video as well as capturing his reaction. Unless we can set this up, there's no point in doing anything other than reporting it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSelfDestruct

IIRC, they didn't even manange to catch the person, right? I thought the delivery went to a back room or something...

They took some pictures, altered the screen savers on the scamers computers (in the internet lounge upstairs). They hassled him but never got pictures of him actually opening the package.

ahh....

Well with the idea of having live video feeds and pictures to see the scammer probably not going to be feasible [since she's avoiding that route] along with my desire to do this flamed out; and the fact I've found a real buyer for it - I've decided not to do it and said pretty much - screw it....

mods - feel free to lock the thread if you want since there probably isn't much more to add.

regards,
keyshawn.

eh.. i have my own fake check from a scammer that they sent me FedEx over night sitting right on my desk. i look at it once in a while and chuckle... they were mad that I didn't "forward the balance" and was going to report me to the FBI... I said, "Go Ahead."