fraud or not fraud? Beware.

[YOP92270]

Hi everybody,

i recently posted in WTB classified looking for a 8x10 arca swiss rear body and i have been contacted last friday by a certain Chris Corner (cc25corner@gmail) asking if i still was looking for it, which i was... mentioning he lives in London, including phone number etc... and of course western union payment! I sent a reply on which i did not receive any answer and decided to call this person. Mr Corner (sounded Asian with a strong accent when talking english) answered asking me to put my wish list on a mail to him, which i did and you will find below his two replies. Now, i would not pay anything yet as i strongly feel the fraud but, could be mistaken... If somebody would know this person, please advise otherwise beware! I don't know about you but i am getting more and more mails with those kind of swindles!!! really upseting!

qte
Thanks for your email...I have all the item you mention and in great condition..They look very clean and there is no dent or scratch on it....I will be asking 300GBP including shipping and insurance to your doorstep...My mode of payment is via western union money transfer..As soon as payment is receive,I will package and i will ship and i will forward you the shipping tracking details...


For payment,you are to locate any western union office or go to www.westernunion.com and click on send money online,then enter my name and address below and the money will be transfer to me

Receiver Name.Chris Corner

Address.22 STANEDGE GROVE Wigan, Lancashire, WN3 5PL England

As soon as payment is transfer,you are to forward me the following details below

Sender Name

Address

Mtcn Number

Exact money sent

As soon as i get this information,i will package and i will ship and i will forward you the shipping tracking details thanks and is nice doing business with you

Thanks for your phone call....Your english is really perfect..I am so surprise that you are from France..because you speak english very well..I don't have a camera and scanner that is why i did not send you pictures of the complete Arca swiss 8x10..I have the complete Thanks for your phone call...if you can confirm by email the list of parts you want and i will get back to you with my asking price and also forward me your home address for shipping figuration thanks and hope to hear from you soon

Uqte

 

[Heiko Stock]

You should never buy an item whith payment by Western Union Payment, because often this is fraud
and not seriously. If there is nobody out there who knows this guy i don´t want to buy this.
I hope you get a serious offer next time.

Best whishes
Heiko

 

[Jesper]

Have you suggested that you meet face to face to complete the deal?
A trip from Paris to London isn't that far, and if it is a fraud he will most likely be reluctant to meet.

 

[paul_c5x4]

You have every right to be nervous about this guy - His name does not appear on the electoral register, and the name Chamberlain turns up on a search for this property.

Another clue is the poor use of english and the insistence on a Western Union transfer.

Oh, and Wigan is a long, long way from London....



P.S. Check out the APUG profile for this guy.

 

[Ian Grant]

It looks like you're right see this link.

Ian

 

[Steve Smith]

Thanks for your phone call....Your english is really perfect..

Unlike his which is terrible!



Steve.

 

[John Lawrence]

This is probably one of the rare occassions where the maxim 'never cut corners' should be ignored!

John

 

[YOP92270]

Thanks to all of you, but we better be more and more carefull those days. that's the third times in a month...

Brhds
Yann

 

[Worker 11811]

Have you suggested that you meet face to face to complete the deal?
A trip from Paris to London isn't that far, and if it is a fraud he will most likely be reluctant to meet.

Besides, who wouldn't prefer to be paid in cash-money instead of a Western Union money order?

 

[tkamiya]

I had the same person respond to my WTB classified via e-mail few days ago. It was so obvious it wasn't from a genuine APUGer... while he claims to live in England with an English sounding name, his grammar was very poor and choice of words were decidedly that of a non-native speaker. Called me "dear", and kept referring to the item as "item" such as "above referenced item." Also, a typical APUGer will know what most serious photographers look for in certain item and describe it carefully and to the point. It was very generic.

Anyway, I am not responding to this e-mail. I only do business with established APUGers.

 

[dentkimterry]

I too received an email from Chris Corner about my WTB ad here. I'll not going anywhere near!

Terry

 

[coriana6jp]

I also got an email from the guy about my WTB ad. I replied asking for pictures and more info, but he never responded. The whole tone of his email seemed fishy, especially when he offered no details except western union.

Sounds like we have a scammer in our midst.

Gary

 

[holmburgers]

Yep, just got Chris Corner's email as well.

Apparently he has what I'm looking for in perfect condition! Daaaammmmnnn.... you mean the tungsten film I want isn't dusty, scratched or broken? To think, someone would sell me film that is in perfect condition, WHAT A GENT!

Total SPAM

 

[JBrunner]

Dude's IP is Nigeria, not the UK. I've banned him.

 

[holmburgers]

Awesome. Sayonara sucker!

On that note, I sent an email to the moderators before discovering this thread, so please disregard it.

 

[JBrunner]

I've posted a general warning in the APUG forum.

 

[frednewman]

Hi YOP92270 - Always pay with your credit card, then you can call the credit card company and say that you never received the product. A customer called me up about getting 20x24 HP5+ film and he told me what happened to him. He had ordered 20x24 film from someone in Europe saying he could get him 20x24 film form China. He wired about $2000. He never got his film or his money back.

Fred Newman

 

[Sirius Glass]

Dude's IP is Nigeria, not the UK. I've banned him.

By the third line of the OP I already figures that the London address was London, Nigeria.

Steve

 

[michaelbsc]

Hi YOP92270 - Always pay with your credit card, then you can call the credit card company and say that you never received the product. A customer called me up about getting 20x24 HP5+ film and he told me what happened to him. He had ordered 20x24 film from someone in Europe saying he could get him 20x24 film form China. He wired about $2000. He never got his film or his money back.

Fred Newman

It's important to note that a Visa debit card is *NOT* considered a credit card, at least not so under US law. I don't know much about the laws outside the US.

I had a wallet stolen last year, and a wonderfully helpful bank employee gave the the details about all kinds of ways fraud can/cannot happen or be prevented. The official "credit card" is the ticket to limiting fraud liability in untrustworthy transactions.

(Although everything I've ever bought from Fred seemed to come from eBay and get paid by Paypal. But Fred's not a fraudster!)

Michael

 

[Bob Carnie]

I think this was person on the email I got over the weekend wanting to sell me a 8x10, I deleted because even though on LFF I was talking about mounting lenses on a large camera , I did not request an item , thought this was pretty strange.

 

[Obtong]

I too received an unsolicited email from Chris Corner, but was very suspicious. I did a quick web search of his email address and found that he had been trying to scam people on other forums. I thought about phoning him collect (reversing the charges) and telling him off. It is a UK number, but probably a cell/mobile. He could be using it from anywhere in the world...

~Dom

Here's the text of his email to me. Not the kind of grammar/spelling you would expect from a Brit!

Hi Dear

My name is Chris Corner from London...I am contacting you regarding your advert you place on website that you are looking for the above subject...I have it in very good condition and if still interested,Let me know and i will forward you details of the item and i will also need your shipping address and telephone number to calculate the shipping cost to your destination.My mode of payment is Via Paypal,Western union,MoneyGram..Bank wire transfer..Let me know which method you prefer and i ship the next day after payment has been receive..My phone number is +447024029617..Feel free to call me anytime for further discussion or email me back thanks and hope to hear from you soon.​

 

[tkamiya]

That is EXACTLY the same I e-mail I received word for word! I'm curious though, how he intends to collect the item after it is shipped to his London "residence..."?? Does he have an accomplice in UK?

By the way, what the heck is "advert?" and I hate being called "Dear" by a total stranger!!!!

 

[Obtong]

By the way, what the heck is "advert?":

I think he's trying to sound like a Brit.

 

[coriana6jp]

I got that exact same email as Dom twice now. Seems like our little scammer is blanketing all WTB ads hoping to get someone to bite.

Gary

 

[removed account4]

if the letters received contain a paypal usename/email
forward them ( long / full headers ) to spoof@paypal.com
they can shut his account down there too ...