I answered an ad about a bobcat skid steer loader that was in an equipment magazine. I got a recording and a while later a man called back explaining that the bobcat was in New York and since I was in Oklahoma I said that I would pass. He asked if he could e-mail me some info and I said ok.
I got the e-mail that explained that he had a setup with a shipping company that would act as a third party. I would have to register with the shipping company which I did and then I would send them 20% of the cost of the bobcat then they would ship the machine and then I would have 5 days to check it out then I would send the rest of the money.
It didn't sound to ligitimate and I told him as much. He said he understood but he wondered if I would feel safe sending the 20% to an out of state relative to hold and just email him a copy of the receipt showing I sent the money. I decided that sounded safe enough believing that nobody could get to money when it's sent through a wire service. I realize that emailing him the receipt was a dumb move since it had the receivers name and the tracking number but I had an naive faith in the wire service.
So I wired the money at Moneygram to California and in a few hours someone in England using my relatives name and I suppose a fake ID picked up the money. I've since learned that Moneygram states that they don't always send money to the designated location supposedly for the convenience of the receiver. It would be like buying a ticket to Dallas only to get off the plane in Paris and then have the airlines explain " we don't always take you to where you by the ticket for" that would make a lot of since. It just seems like a ready made situation for scammers to work with.
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