This is a "heads up" for anyone advertsing an item for sale that contains a telephone number where they can be reached.
I was called today by a facilitating service operator for the handicapped. The service provider and the operator were genuine. But the party placing the call turned out to be a scammer....
Just when you thought you heard everything.....
Because we are overwelmed with inquiries from scammers when we list an email contact address in an advertisement, we decided to have a telephone contact listed only.
We figured it would eliminate scammers and that genuinely interested parties would call us if they were serious.
I received a call from a handicapped service provider operator and spent 15 minutes in a relayed conversation with a purportedly "handicapped" caller who could not speak. Afterwards I sent pictures by email to this person. The first email response I received back was that the prospective buyer was "a businessman in a hurry" asking what the "last asking price was" and insisting we "do this transaction immediately". These are all buzz phrases that a scammer uses.
I shut off communication immediately....
What burns my shorts is that now scammers are taking advantage of assistance services for the handicapped in an effort to gain the trust of their victims...
How can you say "no" to a seemingly genuine initial inquiry from a handicapped person by telephone?
You can't.....