Scam Artist working this site

[terry palmer]

Had a guy supposedly name Mark Wright trying to buy my trailer. Sent me a certified check for more that agreed amount.
I called the bank and they have no record of check number or any check in that amount.

BEWARE!!!!!!

[DKB_SATX]

A "certified check for more than the amount" is a very common scam. Do you have any contact info from this scammer? (you can PM it to me if you prefer.) We'll look for any AIRForums accounts related to that info and slam the door on those, but it's easy for scammers to set up new fake contact info and work their cons again.

Thanks for sharing this, ALWAYS be skeptical of buyers, and of the provenance of certified or cashier's checks you didn't watch a bank teller produce. Legit buyers aren't going to be offended by reasonable precautions.

[Wazbro]

Unfortunately not new.
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f35...ms-184321.html

[crazylev]

Since listing my AS on a few classifieds, they’ve come out of the woodwork: the visiting nurse, the one wanting to make a fort for their kids, there was the person asking if this was an Airstream. It goes on and on. One positive is my ads are getting views.

Anytime someone contacts me from facebook I do a bunch of detective work: check profile and posts and how long they have been on FB. Google is also my friend. I just dont trust anyone. Not even myself sometimes.

[rideair]

Well, in the eyes of the "IRS", businesses have to report anyone using a "Cashier's Check" for purchases over $10K, so they must be better (like a money order), but they don't have to report someone using a "Cert. Check".

Who would have thought??

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by rideair

Well, in the eyes of the "IRS", businesses have to report anyone using a "Cashier's Check" for purchases over $10K, so they must be better (like a money order), but they don't have to report someone using a "Cert. Check".

Who would have thought??

Unsurprising, really, though I didn't know the IRS treats cashier's checks the same as cash in that respect. A certified check is still in the name of the payer, the cashier's check is in the name of the bank. They're equally likely to be forgeries though...

[crazylev]

And this just arrived today. A screen with my response.

[hairyclive]

Originally Posted by terry palmer

Had a guy supposedly name Mark Wright trying to buy my trailer. Sent me a certified check for more that agreed amount.
I called the bank and they have no record of check number or any check in that amount.

BEWARE!!!!!!

You have to watch these types carefully. Cash the check and then they want the extra back by wire transfer getting access to your account info and possibly returning later to clean out the account or perform an identity theft type of scam.

https://www.doj.nh.gov/consumer/dont...verpayment.htm

[wineteam]

So same person, Mark Wright, contacted me last year about my AS Classified ad. He did the same as you, sent me a cashiers check for over the amount. We texted back and forth. He said he was having ear surgery and his secretary accidentally sent the amount for the price of the AS plus what the transporter was charging to move my AS to Rancho Cucamonga where Mark was based, about $8K more than asking. I told him, no big deal, I'll rip up the check and he can send the correct amount. He got mad at that.

He wanted me to deposit the check, which was drawn on a bank out of Texas that no longer existed, and then when the check cleared send him the difference in postal money orders. I could even "keep" 10% of the overage to cover my troubles. My banker buddy says most banks will clear funds on a cashiers check within 2 days even if the bank has not actually had a transfer from the originating bank. The bank's assumption is a cashiers check is only issued with funds backing up the check. This is what the scammer relies on. Your bank balance goes up, falsely, and you then send the overage back to the scammer.

I knew the check was bogus and took the check down to the bank and they confirmed it was bogus. Plus envelope was sent from a postal account out of the east coast, check from Texas and buyer in SoCal. I tried to file various complaints with USPS, FBI, etc... but was only successful with USPS and even that will not go anywhere. Since postage was issued from someone's USPS account there has to be a trail that can be followed.

My police friend that deals with fraud said no one would be interested. I was not harmed because I didn't lose any money and the amount is less than $10K. I assumed because fraudulent funds were sent across state lines there would be some statute that would apply or garner law enforcement interest, but no go. The volume of scams do not allow individual focus.

I did alert AS Classifieds that Mark Wright was a scammer and in theory they kicked him off, but I'm sure creating a new account is easy. Mark Wright was on this site as well but could not find him after my ordeal. I just figured he would try a different alias. Seller beware is all I can say.

[crazylev]

So how did this guy get your addresses. That’s creepy.

[saltbreez]

When life gives you lemons! Make Lemonade...

https://www.419eater.com

[banderabob]

Originally Posted by terry palmer

Had a guy supposedly name Mark Wright trying to buy my trailer. Sent me a certified check for more that agreed amount.
I called the bank and they have no record of check number or any check in that amount.

BEWARE!!!!!!

I had that happen some years ago when we were selling our first AS. I collected all the contact information along with the fake check and forwarded it to the FBI. I doubt they did anything with it except note the contact info for a match on any other reports where people actually fell for the scam. I didn’t.

[Lily&Me]

Andy Cohen was on the Today show a couple of days ago, telling about being taken by scammers posing as his bank.

https://people.com/andy-cohen-joking...re%20transfers.

By the time he realized what was happening, several wire transfers had already gone thru and his money was gone.

He said they were very, very good, and he thought he was talking to his bank.

I’ve had a few texts posing as my bank, and it is scary that scammers not only have my phone number but know which bank I use.

Maggie

[PB_NB]

If we ever get the calls from the scammers posing as the credit card company or bank, we usually ask them to tell us our pin number. It is fun to see them try that and they usually just hang up.

We had a run from the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) stating that we needed to act now of risk the police coming to get us. Those guys were fun to keep on the phone, we would usually start by asking who they were looking for. They didn't even have a name and usually hung up. Or ask them to send the police

Or, if you can, put them on hold and just leave them there.

None of the banks or institutions will call you out of the blue. If there is something they need, they usually reach out in a secure manner that you should be familiar with.

Most of the time there will be a reason and they will leave a call back number that is legit. Then there is 2 factor authorization that requires a code that is sent to your number. It is hard to trick that system.

Be cautious out there!

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Andy Cohen was on the Today show a couple of days ago, telling about being taken by scammers posing as his bank.

https://people.com/andy-cohen-joking...re%20transfers.

By the time he realized what was happening, several wire transfers had already gone thru and his money was gone.

He said they were very, very good, and he thought he was talking to his bank.

I’ve had a few texts posing as my bank, and it is scary that scammers not only have my phone number but know which bank I use.

Maggie

With respect to banking text-message scams (SMS phishing) the scammers are generally casting a wide net, using either random phone numbers or ones they've gotten from lists purchased from other scammers, and they're using all sorts of well-known banks. I get the occasional one pretending to be one of my actual banks, but I get quite a few pretending to be banks at which I've never had an account. If your phone provider is halfway decent, you only see a small fraction of the SMS spam that's directed at you.

[Lily&Me]

I have Verizon and have only gotten a few.

Verizon allows you to delete and block, also to delete and report as spam.

One has to be so careful in todays world.

Maggie

[Wayne&Sam]

He's back as Mark777. But he still uses the exact same wording in his DMs as he did before.