I was ALMOST ripped off by these guys. I thought I might investigate on the internet before I was to pay by Western Union & I found very similar stories from this website. Thanks! I responded to a craigslist offer which stated:
Alienware Laptop Aurora m9700 - $500
Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 05-28, 6:19AM MDT
This ad is for one used Alienware Laptop Aurora m9700. This laptop is only 4 months old. There are no scratches, dents, or problems with this laptop. I have a new one from work and I don't need two laptops.
This is an Alienware Aurora M9700 Laptop w/ a 17'' WUXGA Cam Display. The components are as follows:
PROCESSOR: AMD Turion 64 ML-44 2.4GHz
MEMORY: (2) PDP 1GB DDR PC3200 (2048MB Total)
GPU: (2) 9700 NVIDIA 7900 GS w/ 256MB ***SLI*** (512MB Total)
HARDDRIVE: FUJITSU 60GB 5400RPM SATA
MAIN DRIVE: 24x DVD CD-RW COMBO LITE-ON OPTICAL DRIVE
OPERATING SYSTEM: MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP HOME
WIRELESS CONNECTION: AIRGO TECHNOLOGY WIRELESS NETWORK CARD
Will come with extras. Please contact me for more info.
I sent him an e-mail & he responded:
Hi,
The laptop is in great condition and it's available for sale. I think you all saw in the ad that it has a 60GB hard drive. That was a mistake, it has a 160GB hard drive.
This is a US version laptop and I need to sell it ASAP.
Unfortunately I'm in UK now, I had to come here from US with work, and it's kind of hard finding someone here that want's to buy it.
I'm willing to pay for the shipping and also to use a service that will protect us against fraud.
If interested please reply.
Cheers,
Steven Marnoy
Then Later:
This is the service I want to use:
http://tpg-tnt.com/tnt.express.london.depot.overseas.transactions/
Let me know
0044 703 181 5810
And finally:
Great! We have a deal.
In a few hours I will drop the laptop to TNT.
I will let you know.
I then received several official looking e-mails from TNT with a link to their site to track the package:
Through this email we have the pleasure to inform you that the merchandise has been left in our custody. The shipping fee has been paid by the Seller. The Payment Information (in this case about the Western Union Money Transfer) must be sent to us for verification. The Payment Information that you need to send to us are: MTCN - Money Transfer Control Number, Sender's Name and Sender's Address, Amount Transferred. Please send us the Payment Information at:
Payment Instructions - Receiver of the Payment - Jared Mitchell
The payment must be made through Western Union Money Transfer to the Name of the TNT Agent who is in charge with this transaction - Jared Mitchell using the Money in Minutes Service from Western Union.
Important Note: The Payment must be made at one of Western Union's Agent Locations, in person by the Buyer. The payment must not be made using Western Union's Send Money Online Service due to the high Credit Card fraud risk. We will not confirm any payments made online.
You must go to a Western Union Agent Location and make a Money Transfer to the Name of the TNT Agent who is responsible with this transaction - Jared Mitchell.
In order to complete the Money Transfer using the Money in Minutes Service you will need the Payment Details of our TNT Agent:
Please make your Money Transfer payable to:
First Name: Jared
Last Name: Mitchell
Address: 5, Bashley Road
City: London
Zip (City Code): NW10 6SD
Country: United Kingdom
This is when I smelled fraud & decided to do an internet search. Please don't fall for it! Anyone who asks to be pay by Western Union refuse & look somewhere else!
0 comments