What do you think?!

[alkerath]

Well i am talking with a guy via e-mail and i wanna buy an iphone but he wants to pay via western union, when i told him i would not trust him and would prefer paypal. He replied the following:

"I understand you quite well,but i only accept payment by western union.

All i can do for you if you are really ready to buy, is that go to any western union outlet and make payment to your wife name or mother name,then you send me the payment confirmation so that i can confirm that you have truly make the payment,then i will ship the iPhone 3G 16gb to you and after you receive the the iPhone 3G 16gb,you will then go back and change the name to my name so that i can pick up the payment."

Sounds kinda reasonable what i am wondering is... Can this really work out?! What do you people think? Is this an honest folk or what?

Thanks in advance :)

[John Fairheart]

First, Western Union is NOT a safe mechanism to pay anyone in a business transaction. You will be sending CASH, non-refundable, like leaving a wallet on a pavement. Western Union even tell people not to use their services in this way.

Next. People fall for this trick all the time. The idea that you make a payment in someones name, but you do not tell the seller what it is. A form of guarantee? NOT A CHANCE!

There are only a small number of details needed to identify the payment in the system, the MTCN is the ONE item needed. In countries, typically African, where corruption is rife, all is needed is a bribe to a cooperating Western Union cashier. They can look the number up, get the details and extract the payment. The cashier takes a cut, the scammer takes the rest, and you loose the cash.

Make note: The text you have shared implies by definition that there is no iPhone, it is a scam, 100% guaranteed, and that's without knowing what the price is. Is it 50% or less of normal retail price, then its a scam again!

:)

[ps: needs moving out of Don't Get Bullied! section, not relevant there!]

[alkerath]

I see, thanks a lot for your help! :)
Pfft... There is no one you can trust these days.... :S

PS: Yea... sorry about that i am kinda new around here... :S :/

[yegg]

While this is a one year bump, this thread is still near the top of the thread list so I didn't think it would be annoying to anyone. I wanted to add something quick for anyone who may find this page via search engine.

John Fairheart is correct in saying that in nations in a continent such as Africa, it may be very easy to bribe a Western Union cashier. While this is true, and while the MTCN # is the primary piece of information needed to pick up the cash, there are Western Union agent locations in the US where you can easily pick it up without confirming your identity either. If you're a good liar and you do have the correct MTCN #, there are some locations in even the US that will let you take that cash. The same goes for sending money using another person's card at a Western Union location. You can put your name (or make up a name since they dont confirm ANY of your sender information) down and pay the cost of the transfer amount plus fee using a credit or debit card with a completely different name. I've done this myself (though it was a relatives card with their permission) and no questions were asked at all, I'm not sure the cashier even paid attention. It's the most efficient method for scammers to get your money without being caught.