I first want to thank those who have written in about this scam because it prevented me from making a big mistake. More importantly, I want to share my experience as well in hopes it helps prevent another person from being taken.
I found a 42" Philips Plasma TV with Ambilight on Craiglist.com. I contacted the person via email expressing my interest in the TV. They responded:
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Hello
I still have the TV. The TV was made to be used in USA and it comes with 18 months of warranty.
I have attached some pics with the TV to this e-mail. I am now in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
Since I can't meet you and make the exchange, I would like to use a service that will help us with that:
www.tnt.com/tnt.express.wolverhampton.depot/third_party_service.html
TNT is a worldwide delivery company (like Fedex, DHL or UPS). You can see from their procedure that you will be able to check the TV before I receive the payment. If you are in a hurry, I will use 2 day delivery (shipping is on me).
Let me know what you think.
Best Regards,
Susan
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I responded to the email confirming that I would like to purchase the TV and provided my shipping information. I then received the following email:
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Hi %
You're welcome.
I am sorry, I've sent you a wrong link. Here is the right link:
http://shipuktnt.net/tnt.express.wolverhampton.depot.overseas.transactions/
Please read their procedure and get back to me.
Best
Susan
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I looked at the website and agreed to the use of the "third party" that she recommended to "prevent fraud" (what a laugh!). I also asked a couple questions about the TV. She responded again:
Hi %%%
You're welcome.
There is nothing wrong with the TV. It is in perfect working and cosmetic condition.
The TV has 24 months of warranty when I bought it. Now it only has 18 months of warranty left. I never used the warranty.
It won't take 1 week for TNT to contact you. I will send the TV tomorrow and they will contact you tomorrow as well.
I will keep in you in touch.
Best,
Susan
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The next day I received the following email from Susan:
Hi
I went to TNT today. The guys from TNT told me that they will send the TV to their technical department for inspection and then they will notify you. They will also send you the instructions you need to complete your end of the deal. Please complete your end as soon as you can and keep me posted.
Best
Susan
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The same day (3.5 hours later!) TNT contacted me with "Transaction Details and Payment Instructions". The email looked authentic and included all TNT logos and a tracking number at the top. They even made a link that would allow you to input their fake tracking number and it would pop up with results (when I did this through TNT directly, no results came up). Then I received an email titled "TNT Package Confirmation - 1 x Philips 42PF9630A-37 Plasma TV" (only 3 minutes after the first TNT email) that listed the specifications of the TV, including weight and dimensions of the box (they were VERY thorough). It read like this towards the bottom:
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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:
TNT On-Line Payment Department
TNT Payment Agent - Receiver of the Payment
First name Vincent
Last name Herbert
Address 214 Bowery Street
City/State Wolverhampton
Zip (City Code) S22 1TF
Country United Kingdom
We have found that providing email and Internet support allows us to give quick, reliable, and consistent answers to questions and concerns. Using email also allows us to document what was communicated in previous emails to you and to avoid duplication of responses. Phone support simply does not serve our members needs as well as email does.
Contact us with any questions 24/7: TNT On-Line Customer Department
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What really got me to think about this whole thing was the fact that the money was to be sent directly to a person (Vincent Herbert) rather than to a department within TNT or TNT directly. So I contacted the "Customer Department" listed within the TNT email and asked why it was necessary to send to a specific person... they never responded. I then contacted TNT directly through their customer service site and they at least responded with a confirmation that they received my email and someone would contact me shortly (only to tell me that no tracking number exists and that the TV was not in their custody at all).
I hope you don't get scammed like this - I know that I couldn't let go of the small details (like conflicting information on the fake website, sending money to a person directly instead of a company, not receiving a response from their Cust. Srvc dept., etc.) that kept nagging me so I dug a little further. It took some time to research, but it was worth it!! I never sent the money and was saved from serious Holiday Heartache that would have arose from being scammed like some other folks. Good Luck - follow your instincts!
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