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 didnt 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 reciept was a dumb move since it had the recieivers 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 useing my relatives name and I suppose a fake ID picked up the money. I 've since learned that Moneygram states that they dont always send money to the designated location supossedly for the convenience of the reciever. 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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