I have my iBook 900 up for sale and have what seems to be an anxious buyer.

I'm a little confused about the payment process via USPS Money Order
Every time I have sent one I just went in and bought it and mailed it

Here is the reply I just got from them -

"Thank you for your concern over my enquiry, this item is needed urgently and I am ready to pay for it because I want to buy it for someone special.So my mode of payment of offer $xxx is by sending money order through United State Postal Service(USPS).
To back up the payment I will need your contact information suchas, Contact address,Name and phone number all this will be forwarded to usps to issue out the postal money order.

This is a brief explanation on how it will go because you are my customer now but new to me so i do explain how thiongs will go.Once you forward your conatct information to me i will go ahead to make the payment with postal service and once that is done you will be notify by USPS via e-mail to let you know what is going on and there you know precisely when and how the money will get you."


I don't have a problem giving the info if this is legit but I have never heard of this
"the USPS will email you" thing - not sure how legit this is

Do they actually have a way to "wire" money from one PO to another and
then notifying you that the money is there ? I've never heard of it.

Not sure where the scam is here - any insight ?

It's a moron trying to run a scam, but is too stupid to get it right. Put him in your blocked bidder list and do not reply.

Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam Scam

BGnR

hal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's a moron trying to run a scam, but is too
> stupid to get it right. Put him in your blocked
> bidder list and do not reply.


That's pretty much what I thought but didn't see how the scam was working if they were going to send a USPS money order as I would have it
in hand before the iBook was shipped. The moron part explains it

It's a craigslist ad - not ebay so I'm looking for a local sale anyway
Just wondered how this was suppose to play from their end

---

Yes, it's a scam -- I have been getting a lot of those recently via Craigslist.

They think you will be stupid enough to send them the item if you receive an email from the USPS claiming that a money order is on its way to you... duh...

---

Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Rusty, think I got yer point!

Phil, that's a really, really stoopid person trying to scam you, but he doesn't have the technique down yet. Go to your auction, block him from bidding, and be done with it. Don't bother replying to the eBay mail message. I'd forward the email message to Safe Harbor also, just to be sure eBay knows what's going on with the bidder.

Hopefully you have plenty of other good, legitimate bids on your iBook.

______________

---

What's the difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make some sense.

rexrzer - it was a craigslist not ebay

I just sent them a nice note and said cash in hand - local delivery
Told them I heard there were too many scammers out there to ship

---

no, the scam is to send you a fake money order (it won't be USPS) and then you send the ibook - or also common, to send a fake MO that is written for well over the amount. There's a long story to explain why he needs to do this. Then you send the ibook AND the excess money to the moron.

NEVER put an apple on buy it now - lots of these folks come out of the woodwork to close your auction and offer you this scam.

hal - I'm familiar with that scam and most of the others floating around

The wording makes it sound as if they wanted to send me a USPS money order
but was doing it via some PO to PO money transfer - That's why my initial question

I have done USPS MO's on many purchases but had not heard of this
The language used and PO emailing me were the tip off - but just wanted
to make sure there wasn't some new PO service I had never heard of

I didn't want to mess around with ebay which is why I went craigslist in the first palace

Thanks for the confirmation

---

This is slightly off topic to the thread, but please be aware that there are reports of counterfeit USPS Money Orders in circulation. Apparently USPS counterpeople are trained to tell. I'd only cash one there, not at a bank.

[www.fdic.gov]

[www.usps.com]

Interesting read Michael - looks like even USPS MO's are becoming suspect

From now on I only take gold teeth ..... and see how they roll

---

Yes, I had heard about the counterfeit USPS MO's -- the info in Michael's second link is very useful. If it passes muster with those tests, I think you're pretty safe

---

Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Yes, it's obviously a scam, but I'm wondering what flavor this nimnal is trying to work.

On the surface, it's attempting to get contact information not yet in the bidder's possession.

As you know 'fil, there is no Postal Service service that will send you a USPS MO.

He wants your item, I just don't understand how it intends to get it.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

RAMd®d Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, it's obviously a scam, but I'm wondering what
> flavor this nimnal is trying to work.
>
> On the surface, it's attempting to get contact
> information not yet in the bidder's possession.
>
> As you know 'fil, there is no Postal Service
> service that will send you a USPS MO.
>
> He wants your item, I just don't understand how it
> intends to get it.
>
> .
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> - - - - - - - -
> -An armed society is a polite society.
> And hope is a lousy defense.
>
> I *love* Sigs. It's Glocks I hate.
A few plausible explanations above. Perhaps you have everyone but Laffy set on "ignore"?

---

I suffer from the same sensitivity that you do. A few nuggets of wisdom were shared with me and I'm "trying" to incorporate them into my life. First, remember that nobody can hurt your feelings unless you let them. You can always reject what is being forced on you emotionally.
Second, nothing changes unless you change it. If you don't want the behavior to be repeated then you need to take action. Otherwise the kid has learned that his behavior is the way to get things done, because everyone lets him get away with it.
In the meantime I sympathize because I've been there.
-beerman

Even stolen Money Orders get used in a lot of scams. While it is easy to verify a bank cashier's check (check to make sure real bank, call their listed number - verify check is issued by them) - there are still a lot of money orders issued in a far looser way. Never mind that you fill in who a money order goes to, some money orders are sold by grocery stores, conveinece stores, UPS stores, etc... and they are a 'brand' of Money Order - but if stolen, not necessarily easy to get that verified. We learned this a few years ago with CODs.

Money Orders(unless issued by a bank and can be verified) and Personal checks - we allow a couple weeks clearing if from a new customer. Bank Cashier's Check - which is a real easy verification, no holds.

But beware - even on CODs we get a faxed copy to verify first because UPS/FEDEX/USPS/DHL/ETC do not accept responsibility if their driver accepts a fake check... insurance doesn't cover either.

This stuff used to be cut and dry - no it too is a scam threat.

Sorry for going so far off... As most prior have agreed, your looking at a scam on that transaction.

---

OWC Larry
Other World Computing
[www.macsales.com]

Perhaps you have everyone but Laffy set on "ignore"?

No one offered a "plausible explanation", just some conjecture that really didn't fit the circumstances, with one *possible* exception.

I was hoping for more than that.

And what I got was the h'roids typical A/H persona.

Some folks never change.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

RAMmie, it's exactly as I stated -- I have come across this EXACT scam on Craigslist recently.

They will send you a fake email, purportedly originating from the USPS, claiming that a money order is on its way to you, and it's "OK" to go ahead and send the merchandise. If you are silly enough to send the stuff out, you will find that no money order actually arrives ...

---

Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

The ONLY way that Postal money orders work is that you have to personally go into the Psot Office and pay with either cash or debit/cedit card. You then mail your money order to the recipient. The Post Office has nothing to do with it other than selling you the MO and then delivering your envelope, like the million other envelopes they deliver.

Probably a little more accurate would be "debit" or "debit/checks card". And Travelers' Checks.

But no credit cards.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.