I have an item for sale on Gumtree (the nature of the item does not seem to be relevant to the scam), and today got a text from ‘Sue’.  Sue’s number didn’t come up, just the name and a note that ‘sender doesn’t support replies’ and an email address to contact.

Before turning my brain on, I sent an email to ‘Sue’ (this is verbatim):

Re: your message

Hello, yes still available.

Do you want to view/collect?

‘Sue’ has now replied as follows:

Thanks for your response,

I want you to consider this a deal as i am willing to pay your full asking price! i actually want to buy it for a family member who is urgently in need of it,

i have checked through your posting and i’m fully satisfied with it. Unfortunately, i would not be able to come personally to view/collect,

i work offshore as an instructor on a oil rig so i dont have time at all, but like i said i am 100% OK with the advert.

However, i have a reliable courier that would help me to pick it up at your preferred location after you have received your money via PayPal as that is the only means of payment available to me at the moment.

I would also appreciate if you could remove the advert asap.

To start off with, please get back to me with suitable collection time so that i can inform the courier agent about it now.

Now, it’s Friday afternoon, I’m bored and in a slightly silly mood.  Shall I reply, and if so, how?

Oh, that’s interesting – I work offshore too. 

What rig are you on?

Is it a pair of high heeled rigger boots?

As much as it can seem like fun… engaging with scammers is a bad idea. At this point in time the scammer knows nothing about you and a broad-brush stab in the dark scam attempt like this is pretty obvious. But get all smart-arsed and engage with them and you’re telling them things about yourself – stuff that can be used to a tailor an approach that isn’t so obvious to you – even if you’re just being funny. You’re assuming they’re idiots just because what they’ve written makes them look stupid – they might not be.

Oil rig? Last one of these I got they claimed they worked on a submarine.

Standards are slipping

I thought this thread was going to be about a Johnny Cash song!

I work offshore.

I bought a kayak off Ebay in the summer.

I emailed them and explained that I wouldn’t be able to collect for several weeks as I was offshore but my brother in law would collect for me when he was passing in 3 weeks time. It was genuine but sounded ridiculous.

We negotiated a price and my BiL would pay cash on collection.

All completely true but sounded really dodgy.

I got my kayak.

You need to read delete this at your peril

Ask them what day sticky toffee pudding day is.  Every rig in the N sea I’ve been to is always on the same day.

Get them to pay PayPal gift and send a copy of “Sue’s” ID and something confirming address…

that used to be what I had to do to do purchases like this…

It’s no so much what they’re asking but the way they’ve phrased the message that has the alarm bells ringing for me.

You just wouldn’t write something like that unless you were using a phrase book or something.

Could be wrong of course but I wouldn’t risk it.

I met a bloke in Peas Pottage services late one night to buy a Flexifoil Blade kite off him. It looked a tad dodgy with him standing there holding a rucksack while I counted out his cash for him. It must have all seemed a bit ‘Breaking Bad’ until we lay out the 5m kite on the grass in the garage so I could see it…..then we just looked plain weird.

I’ve heard they can be written/phrased in this way as they are fishing for those gullible enough to go through with the transaction, no point making it seem too genuine only for 80% of the sellers to smell a fish after going to the effort of several emails, that’s just wasting their time.  You reply to that sort of email and there’s a fair chance they’ll manage to scam you.

The kayak story is crucially different: cash on collection.

just move on, unless the courier will pay cash on collection too. If they *are* a reliable courier the unfortunate rigger who can only access an easy to reverse payment method could pay them via PayPal instead, and they pay you cash!

Oh there’s no doubt about the legitimacy of the story – last time it was a woman who was wheelchair bound I think.

While the thought had crossed my mind for a bit of messing about, you are probably right that discretion is the better part of valour.

That said, i’m tempted to ask about the pudding (even if it does sound a bit like an offshore euphemism)

Reply:

Hi my names Sharon. Well at the weekends anyway, you cheeky boy. Would love to meet up and engage in some cosplay/roleplay, you know…..Sue!?!?

How about 13/10/18, 23:00, jct 5 M6 services? I’ll bring the merch, a few burly playmates, slave leathers and gas mask!

Oh send me some nudes so I can see if we are compatible.

I thought this thread was going to be about a Johnny Cash song!

which one? Great Balls of Fire?

@chester – no way, I might get a reply!

Bonus ;D

Reply with “you are happy with the deal to go ahead. You are currently living in Nigeria and is she happy to pay via Western Union Money Transfer ?”