Possible Scam In The Classified Secition - Mac Book Pro

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

There's an ad in the Classified section, someone advertising a MAC Book Pro 17", highest spec, for 20,000 Baht. There's a phone number for Bangkok/landline.

That phone number does not exist.

I replied to the ad (at that price i'd buy such computer!) and received a reply rather quickly, from a Yahoo address. According to the mail, it is a shop, registered in UK, shipping Apple stuff worldwide. Tax ID etc provided. The MAC Book Pro is brand new in unopened box, unlimited supply, including accessories.

What's the catch?

Payment options: Western Union (alert!!) or MoneyGram only.

The provided website is on a free provider with a weird URL (ending in .page.tl) and no whois-information can be found. Setting up a Co. Ltd in UK cost only 50 GBP with no paperwork required, so i am pretty sure that this is a scam.

A quick Google on the e-mail address turned up a gazillion of ads identical to the one in the Classified section here, put in as spam on all sorts of web forums around the world, from Germany to Dubai to Philippines, each in the appropriate language (Babelfish-translation-style) and the forums ranging from car brands to gardening, pure spam.

Buyer beware - a new MAC Book Pro for 20k Baht is too good to be true.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[justchillin]

They were doing the same with Nikon Camera's last month.... prices too good to be true, mostly are!!

Never mind, guess I'll have to keep on saving.

[NADTATIDA1]

Cheers,i did see that and thought it was half the price expected to pay,too good to be true as per usual!

[welo]

Buyer beware - a new MAC Book Pro for 20k Baht is too good to be true.

But maybe...

[MTH]

Quite a few have disappeared lately, but there have been some ridiculous pricing on Apple iPhones in the classifieds as well, asking about 1/3 of the retail price for a new top of the line model.

Too good to be true, well it most likely is.

[halfhead]

why cant the classified section be set up to allow the posting of comments on adds?

[spacemunk]

alot of scams are going on in the classifieds.

[sbk]

Like any online classifieds, its buyer beware, use your common sense. In the future you can email support with the link and a note. It will get removed alot faster that way.

[nikster]

Use this rule: If you can't pay with PayPal, it's a scam. PayPal payments can be reverted for 30 days (I think - not sure, but it's a pretty long time).

Western Union is the favorite of scammers because they can quite literally withdraw the money minutes after you posted it, in cash, and be on their way. Once it's on WU, it's gone.

I've heard there's a guy living on Samui whose sole means of income is to set up fake Viagra and Prescription Drug websites where you can buy a pack for a small fee, like $40. He doesn't have any product, not even fakes - nothing! He just takes the money from those who foolishly send it via Western Union. Because the products he's selling are semi-illegal to buy online in the USA, there are not many complaints. But even if there were - Western Union makes it so the money is his, end of story.

BTW the "way too cheap" products scam is going on in all classifieds forums the world over. I have seen these on Craigslist 10 years ago.

Edited March 9, 2010 by nikster