Scammer question

Is there somewhere or someone I can contact if I think a potential client is trying to scam me?

 

You can report it to the better business bureau (bbb.org) I'm not sure if they can force your client to pay you. Did you write a contract before work etc? It's really hard...

 

In the UK it's your local Police 'force' task nowadays, which means some muppet who doesn't know how the internet works gets to handle your case. Most of the time you won't get anywhere unless you already have been scammed to the tunes of an amount considerable enough for them to even contemplate getting off their arse.

We couldn't even get a 'real' fraudster put behind bars so don't waste your breath.

 

I'm basically just a bit suspicious of a client who is messing around with cheques and I'm worried in case I get scammed someway or another. First a "colleague" of his sent a cheque for £2300 from Egypt when the bill was for £300 and secondly I havent started the work yet and they want to pay the full price up front.

The £2300 cheque got cancelled and I'm now waiting on another cheque. He's been in contact with me for about 6 weeks now since I sent him the first quote. It might turn out that they're just really badly organised.

 

That's the classic 'whoops I sent you £2,000 too much, please bank wire £2K back to this number' scam. Your cheque bounces, their money is in.

Anyways, don't deliver until you have enough money in the bank I'd say.

 

From what you've said it's almost certainly a scam. From countries like that get them to send money by Western Union, don't take cheques and don't give out your bank details.

 

Your bank details are fine though, they can't take anything out. You'll need to give it for them to send money. It's the only way for secure transaction and the only way to know that the money they sent was their money.

 

After a cheque has 'cleared' its possible that it can turn out to be forged and the bank can take the money back within something like 30 days I think.

 

Yes, that's why we only accept bank transfer from countries outside Western EU. Our bank details are on the site for anyone to see.

It really is the single most secure way and they have no excuse using it. BACS and Swift are well implemented world wide.

 

I'm just going to wait and see what comes through the letter box next. He keeps asking if I've got his cheque yet each week when I'm sure he knows it hasn't been sent yet.

My gut feeling is that he is ligitimate but just disorganised but certain things make me feel a bit uneasy about the whole thing.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

Doesn't he have a tracking number for the cheque? Sounds a bit amateurish of the guy.

 

I wouldn’t risk it. Wait for the new check with the correct amount and only deliver your service after it has cleared. I use checks often and always certify to see if I filled everything correctly and added the correct amount. No one would pay you £2300 for a £300 job, it’s too sloppy and just doesn’t happen.

 

Once I almost got scammed on this scheme...I was selling a laptop on eBay with a "buy in now" price of $750 and got a $1000 offer! He (a "highschool teacher") said that he would pay me extra (via wire transfer) but, I have to ship it immediately. (because it was a case of great emergency - LMAO now of course...). I made a little (re)search on Google and forums and that's when I found out about Nigerian scam for the first time

I agree with TOPS30 - DON'T SEND ANYTHING UNTIL YOU HAVE THE CASH IN YOUR HANDS!!

 

I've heard about a scam where they send too much and say that they've sent too much by mistake. They ask you to send the remainder back to you then 3 weeks later when you've sent the item the whole check they've sent gets rejected as fraud and all the money comes out of your account.

The scammers are trying to get away with the remainder and most of the time will just ditch the item you send.

 

And the most frustrating part is that there is ABSOLUTELY nothing you can do after you got scammed, because, in many cases those scammers are located outside US or Europe...

 

why are there so many scammers in nigeria? I have a dating site and I'm constantly deleting scammers accounts, the vast majority of which are from nigeria, anybody know what's with that one country?

 

Because, most internationally accepted laws don't apply there. (No FBI to catch the bad guys ) Another example is Singapore...