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Scammers using the BMW MOA Flea Market

I'll ad this one from my Want to Buy ad for a Final Drive for my R75/5. Glad I got your warning email yesterday... other than being five thousand mile away, I might have considered contacting him.

He's also scamming motor sports enthusiasts in the UK and antique radio enthusiasts as well

See: http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums...ghlight=&sid=b61b2a20654ccc05029895c1d3f94e65

See: http://www.race-cars.com/wantbd/messages/13158.htm

His email: harry.ponitar300@gmail.com



*************************************************************
Hello,

This is Harry Ponitar from the United Kingdom.You placed a wanted Ad
over the internet and i have for sale in good and excellent condition.

You can ring me on +447024012862 and
+447024082587

Thanks
Harry
Great Charlotte Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 1HU


*************************************************************
 
I think in that case I would reply with something like:

"Well, I have several want ad's in, which item was it that you have that is in good and excellent condition?"
 
The e30's are a breeze to work on, I once replaced a fuel pump in my 1991 325iC in the parking lot of a hotel in Dayton, Ohio, during a terrific lightning storm. They are a lot like the K75 of cars, especially when it comes down to finding and fixing unmetered air leaks ;) I really miss that car, it still handled better than any car I have owned since.

As for our scammer(s) he/they are an insidious bunch and for now getting the word out is the best defense. We are working on new warnings and some back end things to keep them out, along with trying to find out how they are getting in.
 
As for our scammer(s) he/they are an insidious bunch and for now getting the word out is the best defense. We are working on new warnings and some back end things to keep them out, along with trying to find out how they are getting in.

MOA = Money Opportunities Always :brow

Suppose one of the distinguished gents wishes to join the MOA and even submit a resume to Beemerville to volunteering at our rallies, can we stop them ?
 
As long as they don't ask us to wire money via Western Union or MoneyGram, or call them on a phone beginning "+44 70..." I suppose I would leave that up to the fine folks running the volunteers to decide :D

Seriously, these guys succeed by fooling folks into thinking they are in the UK and getting folks to wire money where it can be picked up anonymously anywhere in the world (like Lagos...) If you stay away from Western Union and MoneyGram you will eliminate 99% of these guys. Services like PayPal work well because it is trackable and there is a dispute resolution system - it may not be the best but it sure scares off most of these guys. There will always be people who steal, who "forget to send" their end, etc. Fortunately with a little diligence most of these guys can be avoided.
 
Just received a minute ago :)

Received: from [41.155.108.60]
Hostname: dial-pool108.lg.starcomms.net
ISP: Starcomms Limited
Country: Nigeria
State/Region: Lagos

From: Richard Green [eln0green@yahoo.com]
To: undisclosed recipients:
Subject: Help..... Richard Green

I'm writing this with tears.I made a quick trip to United Kingdom on a short vacation and i got mugged at the park of hotel where i stayed. worse of it was that our bags, cash and credit cards were all stolen at GUNPOINT leaving me penniless right now.

It's was a horrible experience for me and i need help flying back home,the authorities are not being 100% supportive but the good thing is that i still have my passports. i need some cash to settle my bills and get on flight back to the state. please let me know if you can help.

I'm freaked out at the moment..

Thanks..
 
LetÔÇÖs take up a collection and help Richard, it is the forum way after all.

Put me down for five schillings. I know I have a Kenyan five schilling note around the apartment someplace.
:evil
 
Haha - too late, I already responded :)

Holy Cow Richard, this just happened to you last week and you still owe me $300 from that. You really need to stop traveling to the UK. Speaking of which, just how is the weather in Lagos these days?

Fortunately this came in on a throwaway e-mail account I use just to enter contests and get my daily NewEgg ads :)
 
That fake cry for help in Ted's post is worded exactly like the one that I and a few others received a couple of weeks ago - except that this allegedly came from my uncle. I contacted him directly to ask about it, and he confirmed it was BS. What actually caught my eye was that the "From" edress was ONE letter different from my uncle's, so I immediately recognized it as probable scamming. On the downside, a lot of people on my uncle's Contacts list got this and didn't recognize the scam. I reported it to our ISP's.
 
These guys are getting good, they scrape sites like Facebook for friend lists for connected e-mails, and hijack accounts there as well to send these things out using the in-house messaging system. Best bet is to never use Western Union or MoneyGram, virtually every scam relies on the anonymity and worldwide access those services offer. Also, if you are not running a good antivirus program you could be the next victim. I personally like the newest Norton 360 but it is not cheap. Your ISP may offer a free one (Comcast offers McAfee free to customers) and if not, try AGV Free or Free Avast, both are excellent so long as you set them to auto-update.

As for Apple users, the days of being free from the scourge of viruses are ending quickly :) Fortunately, you too have excellent, free options.
 
It's a good Idea to skip the surveys at the end of cash register receipts. The one at the end of one of the large home improvement stores can get you an extra 250 e-mails a day. :sick Gary
 
I posted a WTB for a Hein Gericke Paris Dakar Liner and looked who responded.

GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

Hello,

This is Harry Ponitar from the United Kingdom.You placed a wanted Ad
over the internet and i have for sale in good and excellent condition.

You can ring me on +447024012862 and
+447024082587

Thanks
Harry
Great Charlotte Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 1HU
 
These guys are getting good, they scrape sites like Facebook for friend lists for connected e-mails, and hijack accounts there as well to send these things out using the in-house messaging system. Best bet is to never use Western Union or MoneyGram, virtually every scam relies on the anonymity and worldwide access those services offer. Also, if you are not running a good antivirus program you could be the next victim. I personally like the newest Norton 360 but it is not cheap. Your ISP may offer a free one (Comcast offers McAfee free to customers) and if not, try AGV Free or Free Avast, both are excellent so long as you set them to auto-update.

As for Apple users, the days of being free from the scourge of viruses are ending quickly :) Fortunately, you too have excellent, free options.

Good reason NOT to subscribe to Facebook...it's a great way to find out many things about someone if you've got a curiosity or reason to do so...
 
Or, create a separate email account just for places like Facebook

The problem with Facebook is that there's just too much personal information on the web on YOU that people don't need to know about... a professional investigator, or a professional crook, can tell a whole lot about you and your lifestyle that can be used against you...it's not opening a portal to the Net that's the problem...it's opening the portal to your personal life that's the problem!

For me, I'm in contact via email, etc, with the people who matter to me...I couldn't give a rip about someone trying to get in contact with me that I'm not already in contact with now... That's just me, tho
 
Paypal is NOT 100% secure either. The one and only (so far) time that I have been defrauded was via my paypal account. Don't leave funds on deposit in those accounts. Account was hacked, funds withdrawn, and threatening email arrived saying was going to take from all bank accounts, investments, etc unless more funds sent. Needless to say, notified Paypal, and other institutions, changed passwords all around (one forgets how many of these accounts there are), etc.
Paypal did refund the funds, took about 3 weeks.. ....luckily it wasn't a large sum.

Be careful out there....the internet is still the wild west!
 
Postal money orders

A trip to the post office reveled to me that there is some problem with the Postal money orders-not the real ones-the ones people are making on their copy machines. Just something else to watch out for. Gary
 
A trip to the post office reveled to me that there is some problem with the Postal money orders-not the real ones-the ones people are making on their copy machines. Just something else to watch out for. Gary[/QUOTE

I read that there are lots of "REAL " postal money orders out there coming from thefts in USPS offices. On another note, I just got an email from a "Scott Logan" in UK that went into junk Hotmail, saying he had some airhead tools for sale in response to my WTB ad in Flea Mkt.. Beware!
 
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