Possible Scam

[johnnyt123]

Hi Guys...

some of you may know i have placed a wanted ad for a Lodestar in the classifieds section recently.

I got a response from a user "reggie" who claims he has one for sale from Spain. He has asked to pay via direct bank transfer or Western Union.

To prove his identity he has sent me a copy of his "Passport" on it it says he is a British citizen born in Belfast. He claims to be a 64year old business man with 4 kids. he lives in Spain with his family.

He is asking for 260 Euros for it which is a great price, but when I asked him that we exchange through a third party where payment would be transferred to him upon receipt of the Lodestar he began to explain how he wasnt cheating me or anything remotely close to it. Also for a Born British Citizen his English isnt very grammatically correct.

So i smelt a Rat and made him an offer that i will only pay when i receive the Lodestar as i have been scammed $450 in the past from something very similar to this situation.

Another red flag was that he only signed up with IIS 5 days ago.

Any Advice? Am i being Paranoid???
I have all the emails if anyone would like to read them....

Thanks guys..

John

[iceman]

Hi John

Ignore and delete it.
See here:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=111347

[johnnyt123]

Thanks Mike....
appreciate you looking out for us...

John

[space oddity]

Well and truly a scam. Absolutely full of evidence of scammery. However, there are some vastly more subtle ones out there ,including a combination of phone call and fake web site. When payment details are high on the agenda, the alarm bells must go off. So far, the scams online only tend to have poor linguistics, but eventually the scammers will cotton on that they have to improve here. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Pity the Bilderberg group, the royal family and politicians have not worked this out yet. When the time comes, these groups are in for a right royal shafting of epic proportions. The scam these groups are being sucked in to at present is by far the grandest scam of all history-beyond a shadow of a doubt. You would never believe who is the perpetrator of this almighty scam. Unfortunately, it will be humanity itself that gets caught up and made to suffer for the greed of those big groups. :eyepop:

[JB80]

Is it Daryl Somers?

[04Stefan07]

I got a reply from that same guy from Spain about a wanted ad I put up.

I just ignored it.

[PeterM]

Some time ago H posted this antiscammer scambaiting website.
It has become very popular.
http://www.419eater.com/

[gregbradley]

One solution is to always ensure they can show a photo of the goods preferably with the serial numbers showing.

Greg.

[LewisM]

I never noticed until I checked my gmail spam folder, but sure enough:

This is a message from reggie at IceInSpace ( http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/index.php ). The IceInSpace owners cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of the email.

To email reggie, you can use this online form:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/sendmessage.php?do=mailmember&u=16691

OR, by email:
mailto:reggie.joneslo@yahoo.com

This is the message:

Good day my name is Reggie Jones,i reside in Spain,i am contacting you regarding your advert if still interested in buying.As soon as i
hear from you,i will email you some picture and details,good price is accepted please contact me directly: reggiejones195@gmail.com for details. thanks and hope to hear from you soon.


Greetings from Spain

So, thankfully, even gmail recognises the guy as spam/scam/scum :)

[hotspur]

I got a PM from the spanish two legged dingo,he answered my wanted add-looking for a Sony S600 camera.

I bet if someone here made up a mythical camera make and model,he'd answer that too LOL.

I only just checked my PM's but had read this thread earlier,when I saw mention of 'Western Union',well all here knows what that means.

[el_draco]

Oh yeah, there are scams a plenty out there. Watch out for a gwat offering to pay top dollar. "It" then asks for a pick-up address. A follow up email from an international shipping agency looks legit, until you look at the "properties" of email addresses and web-pages... Easy to get bitten really badly. You have to be so damn careful.

[LewisM]

I couldn't help myself - I responded to him.her today:

Reggie,

Muchos gracias!


It is great to see you answering my advert, as no one else had done so so far after all these months. Can you tell me kindly how much you were considering, as I can buy the complete set here for $250, which is a GREAT price. What band pass are the ones you have - 600nM or 5000 uM? Are they the Honduran made ones, or the ones specially made in Greenland? Do they have the micro-laser honed edge with the orthogonal bisection trilux, or are they the ones witht he Zerodur linearity modulated flux capacitor transceivers?

I really look forward t your response, as I am desperately seeking these items. How long would it take to send them via rail, rather than air, as I believe I can save some money having them posted rail express, especially from Paris to London, and then to me.

Saludos,

Luis

Time will tell what response I get.Should befuddle the nimrod for a while whilst he tries figuring out my nonsensical questions :)

[ZeroID]

OOOooo, goodie, a bait, :P keep us posted. 419 used to be fun but it takes up a lot of time and effort to run a good bait.

[Shark Bait]

Well done Lewis. :thumbsup:

Poor Reggie looks to be out of his / her depth. I pity the fool (Mr T.)

[Baddad]

LewisM, you are one of them nasty joker people.:mad2:
That poor ol' scammer (scummer) is doing his best to earn a dishonest living.
You will waste his time and resources. How can he hit on innocent victims like that? He needs those tools etc.

Er.. Maybe that's a good thing when you look at it from the victim's point of view.;)

Cheers and well done.:)

[LewisM]

No response yet.

Finger's crossed he is at least wasting a few minutes deciphering.

[AstralTraveller]

Uhmmm... Isn't it a tad counter-productive to announce on a public forum visited by a scammer that you are baiting said scammer? I mean, I know he's thick but ......

[GeoffW1]

Jeez,

I did not read right to the end of your post. I've been looking it all up on Google. :confuse3:

:lol:

[Profiler]

Yes - I too have received the odd response from someone in Spain claiming to have my requiste parts etc.

Obviously a dedicated astronomer with a vast array of astro gear he/she is prepared to sell me:lol:

[LewisM]

I doubt he reads beyond the classifieds :)

[FlashDrive]

Really...!!! :lol: ....ROTFL

[FlashDrive]

Tesla would have been proud of you Lewis.....:rofl:

Flash.....:D

[GeoffW1]

He would too,

I paid homage at the statue of him, at Niagara Falls.

Cheers

[LewisM]

SUCCESS!!! (albeit relatively non-spectacular):

Hi Luis,

Thanks for Your mail....Your price sound good including shipping and
insurance to Your doorstep and i will need Your complete home
address and phone number to process with the shipping and i will be
using DHL for delivery as soon as confirm Your delivery address and
phone Number... I will email you my Bank details for the transfer.
Thanks hope to hear from you soon

Best regards

Reggie

[LewisM]

So, I responded:

Reggie.

Thanks man. WAY COOL!

Is DHL some form of rail postage company, as I specifically asked it to come rail. If it cannot come rail postage to me in Australia, I am not interested, and will seek an alternative offer from a guy in Poland.

Could you also specifically let me know the specific details of the filters. Specifically:
1. the filter - whole kernel, large grind kernel or pulverised freeze dried specific?
2. are they flux capacitors modulated or aeon flux?
3. Evangelion or Prometheus class?
4. are they parfocal or paracorr?
5. are the threads left handed Whitworth, or right handed Sidchrome?
6. do they interfere with the Bayer Matrix or the Mortein / Johnson matrix?

Can you show me an image that you took with these in place, and what exposure (full frontal or silhouette), camera (didactic or insilico chromatographic) and cooling (peltier or liquid helium).

When these are answered, I will make my decision and send you the funds directly to your nominated bank account. If it is a bank in Spain, I can only route it via Israel, then Novosibirsk, then Eskilstuna, Lisbon and finally to your account - I have to do this to avoid fees, as I money launder.

Thanks again senor!

Luis

[PCH]

Some imagination you'e got Lewis ! :D

[FlashDrive]

:lol::lol::lol: ....
This should be good.....can't wait for his answer....

are the threads left handed Whitworth, or right handed Sidchrome? :lol:
should have added in ( BSF ) British Standard Fine just to make it more confusing.

Keep us posted :thumbsup:

Flash..... :D

[johnnyt123]

Lololololol Lewis.

Please post his response to that.

[LewisM]

Time to fake an address :)

Hi Luis,

Thanks for Your mail.. I will use the rail postage it to you in Australia OK From the start, the Astronomik OIII filter has been very specifically designed for the visual observation of gaseous and planetary nebulae. The extremely narrow pass band of the two OIII lines brings a substantial contrast gain to these lines even under best observation conditions. On faint super nova remnants and faint planetary nebulae the Astronomik OIII filter will often make the difference as to whether the object can bee seen or not! The optimal aperture ratio for the use of the filter is 1:3 to 1:15 with apertures of more than 6" (150mm). Transmission losses and chromatic distortions, which arise with other filters, occur with Astronomik OIII filters only when extremely bright aperture ratios of 1:3 and more come into play. The Astronomik OIII filters thus can expand the view of dispersed objects, generally speaking, to the whole visual field of view of the eyepiece and are not limited to only the center of the eyepiece..

Technical Data
(1)Transmission of nearly 100% of both OIII lines
(2)Complete blocking of all disturbing wavelength coverages
(3)The ideal filter for telescopes 10 " (25cm) and larger
(4)Main operational use: Planetary nebulas & super nova remnants
(5)No moisture-sensitivity, no aging, and totally scratch-proof
(6)Excellent carrier material - substrate is optically polished. The optical performance (resolution & contrast) of your telescope is not reduced in any way by the filter.
Parfocal with other Astronomik filters and Glass thickness: 1mm
Completely resistant against high humidity, scratches and aging effects
Diffraction limited, the filter will not reduce the optical performance of your telescope!
Astronomik filters are delivered in a high-quality, long lasting, filter box

As soon as confirm Your delivery address and phone Number... I will email you my Bank details for the transfer. Thanks hope to hear from you soon

Best regards

Reegie

[LewisM]

He has again responded with his bank details. :) ;P

[AstralTraveller]

"Dear Reggie,

With this model it may be possible to mount it in such a way that the aperture is controlled by the fundamental sphincter. After connecting the power it should then be possible to blow smoke rings. Can you achieve this? Please send photos."

[LewisM]

I don't think it's smoke he is blowing out his Khyber Pass!

[LewisM]

He's persistent:

Hi Luis,

How are you doing today i hope you are fine have you made the payment please keep me posted OK thanks

Best regards

Reggie

[allan gould]

Lewis
This data is a direct lift from the oIII visual data on the Astronomik page.
You should ask him if it's from the first batch of these filters similar to the ccd filters which had a problem with abnormal halos around stars quoting the following link http://www.astronomik.com/en/news/astronomik_halo_free_filter_halo_pr oblem/
This should rattle his cage for a while and prolong things by asking for an image taken through the filter and giving the photo details.mWhen the image arrives use Google to track the image and then ask if it's the same one posted at whatever page comes up.
Allan

[LewisM]

Latest. He seems to be getting either excited or anxious:



Hi Luis,

Thanks for Your mail... As you said that you have made the payment to my Bank account please can you send me the payment slip? the payment slip is very important and when do you made the payment? Today or yesterday? Please kindly send me the payment slip.. Thanks

Best regards

Reggie

[cfranks]

Tell him that his bank rejected the money transfer. That should be good for another few days of messages!

Charles

[LewisM]

Playing it a little coy now... making him nervous, whilst some stuff happens in the background :)

[LewisM]

Sweating now... :D

Hi Luis.

How are you doing hope you are fine please i need the confirmation slip the bank sent you if you have made the payment is necessary to have it for a prove OK kindly scan a copy of the payment to me i am waiting for your reply thanks

Best regards

Reggie

[Ric]

Scam the scammer. ;)

I'm enjoying this. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Baddad]

Hi LewisM,

Just an idea that I often used. Tell him the bank has phoned you returning the money. Also the bank suspects a scam.

Watch him duck and weave. You, of-course believe it to be legit. The banks are too suspicious.

That will add several days on. Perhaps another bank account to report to A.

Cheers