is this some sort of weird scam?

[soonerbrat]

I had a litter of kittens I needed to find homes for, so I put an ad in a local paper. a few days ago, I got a phone call with an operator asking me if I knew how to do TDD relay. basically, the caller types to the operator, the operator reads the text and then when you respond the operator types it in. The caller asked if I still had the puppies available so I told the operator to tell the caller that I didn't have puppies, I had kittens. then the caller hung up. Today I got another relay phone call and the caller asked if I still had the kittens. I told them I have one left, and the operator gave me an email address and asked me to email the caller. So I did...then I got this email back:

"hello,
Thanks very much for your email,you have to bear with me as I have
hearing problems,hence the use of relay.The reason I am sending you this
email is to make final reconfirmation of the male puppy) but i would
also like to alert you that i will be making payment with a certified
USPS money order/cashiers check. Please if you are in agreement, you can
email me with your full name and address and your direct telephone
number (no P.O. Box please) , so I can effect payment.,am in Utah where i
live with my wife and three kids,we run a store i own, but will have a friend contact you
for pickup as soon as I have made payment.................

I also want to alert you on the fact that you will be recieving an
overdraft Usps Money Order/cashiers check,,,,,,,,,,,,, which will cover
the money for the pickup (pickup and flying to the final destination)
as well as the money to be paid to the company that will take care of
the pickup and the documentation with you......... So please, as soon as
you receive payment, go and cash them immediately, deduct the money
that accrues to you, and send the balance to the Head Office of the
company that handles the shipment via the nearest Western Union
agent in your area.......................... Deduct the Western Union
charges from the balance and send the remaining immediately,you
will sending the balance to the headquaters of the company handling
pickup.I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Bye And Thanks ...."


OK, i don't have a puppy, and we didn't make any agreement.....after that, i got another email with the same thing except the word "kitten" in the place of puppy. Why would someone in Utah pay to have a kitten shipped? It's a free kitten. Do they not have animal shelters in Utah? I think this is weird. I wrote back saying I wasn't going to ship my kitten anywhere...but seriously..WTF?

[olevetonahill]

I had a litter of kittens I needed to find homes for, so I put an ad in a local paper. a few days ago, I got a phone call with an operator asking me if I knew how to do TDD relay. basically, the caller types to the operator, the operator reads the text and then when you respond the operator types it in. The caller asked if I still had the puppies available so I told the operator to tell the caller that I didn't have puppies, I had kittens. then the caller hung up. Today I got another relay phone call and the caller asked if I still had the kittens. I told them I have one left, and the operator gave me an email address and asked me to email the caller. So I did...then I got this email back:

"hello,
Thanks very much for your email,you have to bear with me as I have
hearing problems,hence the use of relay.The reason I am sending you this
email is to make final reconfirmation of the male puppy) but i would
also like to alert you that i will be making payment with a certified
USPS money order/cashiers check. Please if you are in agreement, you can
email me with your full name and address and your direct telephone
number (no P.O. Box please) , so I can effect payment.,am in Utah where i
live with my wife and three kids,we run a store i own, but will have a friend contact you
for pickup as soon as I have made payment.................

I also want to alert you on the fact that you will be recieving an
overdraft Usps Money Order/cashiers check,,,,,,,,,,,,, which will cover
the money for the pickup (pickup and flying to the final destination)
as well as the money to be paid to the company that will take care of
the pickup and the documentation with you......... So please, as soon as
you receive payment, go and cash them immediately, deduct the money
that accrues to you, and send the balance to the Head Office of the
company that handles the shipment via the nearest Western Union
agent in your area.......................... Deduct the Western Union
charges from the balance and send the remaining immediately,you
will sending the balance to the headquaters of the company handling
pickup.I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Bye And Thanks ...."


OK, i don't have a puppy, and we didn't make any agreement.....after that, i got another email with the same thing except the word "kitten" in the place of puppy. Why would someone in Utah pay to have a kitten shipped? It's a free kitten. Do they not have animal shelters in Utah? I think this is weird. I wrote back saying I wasn't going to ship my kitten anywhere...but seriously..WTF?
Yes its a scam
They send you Bogus Cashier Checks, money orders you send them Real . You get burned when the checks and or money orders comr back to your Bank. And your stuck with Owing the full amount .

[soonerbrat]

i wonder if people actually fall for this crap

[soonerbrat]

and i bottle fed this kitten from about 3 weeks of age..i'm pretty attached to it.....i am not giving it to anyone i can't meet in person.

[olevetonahill]

i wonder if people actually fall for this crap
Every damned Day, Thats why they keep doing it . Hey Dean aint that some kinda Postal fraud or sompun ?

[soonerbrat]

dean doesn't care..he just wants to kill my kitten

[Frozen Sooner]

i wonder if people actually fall for this crap

Yes. Constantly. They'll even argue with me when I tell them the check is fraudulent.

My favorites are the people who're convinced they've won the Swiss Lottery, which requires them to deposit a $100,000 check and wire back $15,000 to cover taxes.

1. You didn't enter the Swiss Lottery.

2. You're not a Swiss citizen. F you if you think I'm paying taxes in Switzerland. ;)

[olevetonahill]

Yes. Constantly. They'll even argue with me when I tell them the check is fraudulent.

My favorites are the people who're convinced they've won the Swiss Lottery, which requires them to deposit a $100,000 check and wire back $15,000 to cover taxes.

1. You didn't enter the Swiss Lottery.

2. You're not a Swiss citizen. F you if you think I'm paying taxes in Switzerland. ;)
But Mike if the crap is here aint that Fraud Banking and Postal ?

[ChickSoonerFan]

Freaky people.....seriously.

I can't imagine who would fall for this stuff...amazing.

[Frozen Sooner]

But Mike if the crap is here aint that Fraud Banking and Postal ?

It is, but since it's originating outside the FBI's jurisdiction they can't really do much about it.

[85Sooner]

It is, but since it's originating outside the FBI's jurisdiction they can't really do much about it.


It really is amazing how ignorant some people are. Not always some dumba$$ either.

[soonerbrat]

It is, but since it's originating outside the FBI's jurisdiction they can't really do much about it.


utah is out of the FBI's jurisdiction?

[Frozen Sooner]

You really think that's originating in Utah?

[soonerbrat]

the first TDD relay thing was from Minnesota, the 2nd from Ohio, according to my caller ID on my phone.

[Frozen Sooner]

Yah sure. You betcha.

[soonerbrat]

i actually looked it up and the IP relay service is legit. the people using the IP relay not so much

[Frozen Sooner]

Oh, yeah. Relay is completely legit. The problem is that a LOT of fraudsters use it because it disguises their voices-and they could be calling into the relay service from anywhere. Relay is also completely confidential, so they can't even report people making harassing calls to the police or anything.

[Vaevictis]

It is, but since it's originating outside the FBI's jurisdiction they can't really do much about it.

Heh, even if it's in the FBI's jurisdiciton, they have a dollar threshold that has to be met before they'll investigate this kind of crime.

(I don't know what it is now, but back in 1999, it was about $80k. It's probably lower now that they've directed more resources into getting good at investigating this kind of crime.)

[OUDoc]

So, do you have my puppies or not?

[OUinFLA]

In no way is this story going to dampen my enthusiasm over the monies I am expecting any day from Nigeria.

[SoonerBOI]

Scam. Do you get those weird faxes or email from Nigeria or somewhere from the Middle East? I always play around with those jerks by re-faxing the words FBI.

[hookem31]

In no way is this story going to dampen my enthusiasm over the monies I am expecting any day from Nigeria.

Yeah, about that...

[soonerbrat]

So, do you have my puppies or not?

yeah, i got your money orders and i sent it right away.

[Czar Soonerov]

The mental image of Brat boxing up a kitten is making me giggle.

[Viking Kitten]

That's wierd. Czar's asleep, and yet we're sharing the same giggle-inducing mental image.

[soonerbrat]

cosmic connection.

how would one box up a kitten? bubble wrap?