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Can i report an online scammer?

cianm420 · 2012-05-10 16:50:29

So my mother is selling her car, and I put an ad up on donedeal for her? The same day, I was contacted by a guy, claiming to want to buy it. He said he was in the UN, on a peacekeeping mission and wouldn't be able to view the car. He said he would pay by Paypal and arrange for a shipping company to pick the car up.…

10-05-2012 4:50pm

#1

cianm420

Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16 ✭

Join Date: March 2011

Posts: 13

So my mother is selling her car, and I put an ad up on donedeal for her?
The same day, I was contacted by a guy, claiming to want to buy it. He said he was in the UN, on a peacekeeping mission and wouldn't be able to view the car. He said he would pay by Paypal and arrange for a shipping company to pick the car up.

Something didn't feel right, but I played along to make sure. Today, the "shipping company" contacted me. Well. What can I say? Obvious scam.

The email went directly to my Spam section for starters.
The actual name on the account is "service@cargo.com", and the actual email address was an "in.com" account.
The email was also littered with spelling and grammar errors, which you'd expect more from a legitimate company.
And finally, when I Google searched "Lisa Xavier"(the head of this so called company) and "cargo", I got hundreds of hits regarding fake shipping companies and scams.

My question. Is there anything I can do? Will contacting the Garda Fraud line realistically achieve anything? I just want to stop this scum before someone who isnt as savvy to such things (like my mother) falls for his scam.

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Comments

#2 10-05-2012 4:59pm

jor el

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Realistically, no. The scammer isn't even in Ireland, and there's nothing the Gardai can do.

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#3 10-05-2012 5:02pm

Oryx

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These scammers are like spam. They shapeshift and change identity but they will never go away. The only defence is education of those likely to be caught.

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#4 10-05-2012 5:06pm

aidan_walsh

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The most useful thing you could do is report them to the likes of Spamcop or Phishtank, who work with industry professionals to verify and try to close down spam, phishing and malware sources.

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#5 10-05-2012 5:09pm

crazygeryy

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Could you play along with them and give false bank a/c s etc.in other words try and piss then off? Is that even worth it?

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#6 10-05-2012 5:23pm

coylemj

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Posts: 25133

I looked at a car for sale on DD by a private seller and was about to make an offer when I decided to do a check on motorcheck.ie or one of those similar sites. It wasn't 'too good to be true', it was a fair price for a private sale. I discovered that the car had outstanding finance which the seller never mentioned. I reported this to DD and they basically didn't want to know, told me to report it to the Gardai but there was no question of them pulling the ad. or flagging the ad. with the fact that there was finance still on the car.

For a period of a few months a couple of years ago I tracked down the sending nodes for spam e-mails I was receiving by studying the mail headers, in each case I notified the sender's ISP and I notified the administrator/security officer of the e-mail service provider. Not once did I get an acknowledgement that anyone gave a sh1te so I just didn't bother any more and still don't.

I think the scale of these spammers and scammers is such that it's every man for himself, there is no law enforcement agency with the resources to tackle them.

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#7 10-05-2012 5:27pm

cianm420

Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16 ✭

Join Date: March 2011

Posts: 13

Unfortunately, I sent the shipping company quite a smarmy email this afternoon. It was only after that I had the thought of somehow scamming the scammer. Don't think that will work now:)

I'll check out spamcop and phishtank.

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess the best prevention really is education...

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#8 10-05-2012 6:32pm

Buffman

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Realistically no, nothing can be done, but you should add your story to the scam thread on motors.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055320098&page=99

FYI, if you move to a 'smart' meter electricity plan, you CAN'T move back to a non-smart plan.
You don't have to take a 'smart' meter if you don't want one, opt-out is available.
Buy drinks in 3L or bigger plastic bottles or glass bottles or cartons to avoid the DRS fee.

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#9 10-05-2012 6:42pm

cianm420

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Posts: 13

Out of a matter of interest, would anyone know where the phone number originates from? The original text message my mam got was from the number +16822271072

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#10 10-05-2012 7:08pm

slimjimmc

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cianm420 wrote: »

Out of a matter of interest, would anyone know where the phone number originates from? The original text message my mam got was from the number +16822271072

I wouldn't bother, the number is probably spoofed too.

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#11 10-05-2012 7:39pm

jor el

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cianm420 wrote: »

Out of a matter of interest, would anyone know where the phone number originates from? The original text message my mam got was from the number +16822271072

http://cidlookup.com/lookup/6822271072/
It's a US phone number, if it's genuine. I'm not the first person to look that number up either, so I'm guessing you're one of many being targeted by him right now.

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#12 12-05-2012 4:36pm

Dannyboy1987

Closed Accounts Posts: 202 ✭✭

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Got the same guy contacting me : +16822271072: please mail me about your vehicle on donedeal,i am interested davidmorison**** at gmail.com Thanks

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#13 13-05-2012 2:47am

cianm420

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Posts: 13

Yep. Exactly the same name. davidmorison908. These people have no shame.

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#14 13-05-2012 3:36am

dahamsta

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Posts: 15270

To them it's a business, and while there continue to be ignorant and/or stupid people out there, there will continue to be con men. Simply ignore them or pay along to waste their time. Either way, get over it, it's just a fact of life.

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#15 17-05-2012 5:06pm

paddyh69

Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭

Join Date: May 2012

Posts: 1

You are wasting your time on donedeal.ie as its got no protection, its swarming with scams and con men, unlike ebay which has protection for sellers and buyers DONEDEAL only wants the fast €3, I sold a few things on it and would never touch it again, Complaining or alerting them to cons is met with polite acknowledgements that suggest they will look into it?? , there user policy is un-obtainable yet they quote it, nobody is required to read or acknowledge it, as a seller its russian roulette

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