Suspicious Responses to Forum Classified Postings

I don't know if anyone else has been contacted but I've had a couple of strange emails from someone apparently interested in stuff in the 'For Sale' section of this site. Two separate emails about two separate items but with exactly the same wording and a strong whiff of scam.

The email used was "usc200881@yahoo.com"

Ok, i've just ran his email past google and its a scam.

DO NOT REPLY IF YOU ARE CONTACTED BY THIS EMAIL.

Admin, please delete his account.

Regards,
Iain

Here is the email I recieved:

"Hello

I am interested in buying the 15" Compomotive Split Rims that you have placed for sell now, and I would want to enquire about the present condition of the above mentioned, as well as some detail about you. I expect this timely enough.

As for the payment, I would need you to get back in touch with the last asking price as I will be paying with a certified cheque.

Lastly, please forward to me your full company's (or house address, telephone and fax) details as I will subsequently prefer reaching you through these facilities.

Yours interestingly,

Raymond Griffiths"

Yes, I've just received a message from another member that users of the site are being targeted in this way, so all members should be on guard against messages of this type that come through the website.

It's common sense, but if you are in any doubt about the authenticity of someone showing interest in a classified advertisement, either ignore them, google them or, if there is a chance they may be genuine, ask them for a phone number that you can speak to them on to assess whether their interest is genuine prior to making any further arrangements.

Thanks for letting us know about this particular message. If any dubious messages are received from other sources, please contact admin@x1-9ownersclub.org.uk and I'll add further warnings.

Iain, as an additional note, this guy does not have an account to delete. All classified adverts are accessible by non-members through the home page so there is nothing we can do to stop this, bar making adverts available to members only or removing the email response function. This is likely to greatly reduce the benefit of advertising in the classified section, so I am reluctant to go down this route unless suspicious responses becomes a major issue.

Many thanks Neil, would it be worth putting a sticky thread in the classified section to warn people in the future? I know of a scam that ran on the Escort Mk1 classified forum and the guy got away with about £4000 of members hard earned. I would hate to see any members here get done.

Regards,
Iain

Got the same batch of emails from said scroat! Again what caught him out immediately is that I've got several advertisements up (some are VERY old) and he replied to all of them using exactly the same response with the only change being the item he was enquiring about! Needless to say his emails were filed in my delete box straight away.....

Some more info on email scams here!