"Nigerian" Scam artist Ripping off the elderly. Please Help!

I am currently communicatins with a yahoo member interested in buyingt all 4 of my grandmothers appliances , and since I was only getting replies for me to split up the combo. I thought this was sweet. So we started communications and found out he was overseas. His Name is James. A. Sanders, and he is an Oceanographer. Looking to buy my grandmothers 4 Piece Kenmore appliance set. My grandmother is currently moving into a new house with her newlywed, and I recently put an ad on http://www.buysell.com. The Ad can be found on that site. AD ID:19-3735386. Now I first got an e-mail saying that he was interested.
I started contact with him on April, 15/2011. I have saved all the conversations, all his information, everything. I need help fast, because he has asked me to put $650 into a western union account for the delivery agent to come pick up the appliances from my Nannys house to “Ohio” which is where he supposedly was giving a gift to. First he said that he was interested in buying for a gift for a friend. That he was an Oceanographer, that he was on the Ocean working at the moment. He could only pay by paypal, and after the first reply to him from my nanny, he asked her to walk to a western union to pay western union, when the funds he put into her paypal account were held indefinitely, he wanted her to pay the agent out of her pocket. So Called “James” Said that he can not access a western union, and that the agent would not accept a credit card, nor a bank transfer. I sent a message to him for the info of the agent, that I have $700 for him to put into a western union account to get this transaction done smoothly, so that I could locate him VIA IP. He has no clue that I know hes a scammer. I’m a lot smarter than he thinks. Here are some of the conversations, actually everything that was either sent to me, sent to my nanny, or sent to james from me, or my nanny to James. Some of the replies were forwarded from my nannys computer at her house to my computer at my house. I did some digging, and found that he tried to make it look like he was on the water, but then I found a loopback to Nigeria. Holy cow, I can’t believe the conscience that some of these people have.
- - - - - -

James A Sanders
Email: [email protected]
Phone:
Question: Hi , Am interested in buying your item posted for sell ,and i will like to pay by paypal....I have a shipping agent that will be coming for the pickup in your location. phone number so that i can contact you.Finally,send your payment money request out to my PayPal email at ([email protected])for quick payment. Regards. \

This email I forwarded to my nanny

show details Apr 15 (4 days ago)

my nanny to me
Hi Jon; How does this work, if he wants to pay through pay pal? Wouldn’t I have to have an account set up. It sounds like he wants to pay full price. I will email him. Thank you for all of your work on this. I have some other items that you could sell if you want & keep the proceeds, heater, skis, boots etc. Let me know


From: James Sanders [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: April-15-11 5:10 PM
To: xxxxxx
Subject: About Your Payment


from james to my nanny
Hi xxxxxx, I'm about to make the payments when i had this little problem with the picking up of the Item, I think you remember what i said in my previous mail that I'm working presently on the sea and i am buying the item as gift i tried to secure booking with my pick up agent, but they asked me to pay first before they can make the booking, and they only accept Western Union Money Transfer for payments and they don't accept PayPal or bank transfer.So I tried to send the money online but it's not going through and I am on the sea there is no way i can find a western union agent to make the transfer to my pick up agent, so i wanted to ask if it will be OK for me to include my pick up agent's fees together with your payments through PayPal,So you will help me wire the pick up fee to them via western Union Money Transfer immediately i pay you.I don't mean to bother you I'm sure you understand that I'm presently on the sea and there is nothing i can do to that. The bottom line is after I have made the payments via PayPal,you will help me wire my pick up agent fee to them through western union money transfer, I just wanted to seek your consent before going ahead with the payments,I will be very happy if my offer is given a favorable consideration.Respond as soon as possible so that i can send out your Payment.


--- On Fri, 4/15/11, xxxxxx wrote:

my nanny to james
From: xxxxxx
Subject: RE: About Your Payment
To: "'James Sanders'" <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, April 15, 2011, 12:21 PM

Hi James; You could have the appliances picked up on the 28th, if that works ok for you. I will send the invoice for the full amount and if you could pay half now and the balance on the 28th, that would confirm the sale, as I have another couple who are interested in all 4 items as well, I hope you can understand. I know you won’t be disappointed in the items.

From: James Sanders [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: April-15-11 11:36 AM
To: xxxxxx
Subject: About Your Payment



No problem with that you can provide me with the date when you want my agent to be around I could put him in notice...


From: xxxxxxx
Subject: RE: About Your Payment
To: "'James Sanders'" <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, April 15, 2011, 8:25 AM

Hi James; The appliances do look and work as new and I could send you the request via paypal, the only thing is I am not moving until the 29th of April. What date do you have to have them by?

james to my nanny forwarded to me
payments in your location for transport...Get back to me with your direct email address towards fast payment.

Looking forward to hear from you soon


From: xxxxxx
Subject: RE: About Your Payment
To: "'James Sanders'" <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, April 15, 2011, 8:25 AM

Hi James; The appliances do look and work as new and I could send you the request via paypal, the only thing is I am not moving until the 29th of April. What date do you have to have them by?


From: James Sanders [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: April-15-11 10:40 AM
To: xxxxxx
Subject: About Your Payment



Hi xxxxx,thanks for your fast respond.I am an Oceanographer and am currently on the sea at the moment, i am buying these as a gift item,i want to make it a surprise gift,he won't know anything about the gift until they get delivered to him.So i want you to reassure me that the item is in good condition as you have described. I can only pay through PayPal. So please kindly get back to me with your payment money request to my PayPal email address at([email protected])so that i can proceed with the payment and after the payment has been done,i have a pick up agent that will come around to pick the item up immediately after payments in your location for transport...Get back to me with your direct email address towards fast payment.

Looking forward to hear from you soon



From: xxxxxx
Subject: RE: About Your Payment
To: "'James Sanders'" <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, April 15, 2011, 12:21 PM

Hi James; You could have the appliances picked up on the 28th, if that works ok for you. I will send the invoice for the full amount and if you could pay half now and the balance on the 28th, that would confirm the sale, as I have another couple who are interested in all 4 items as well, I hope you can understand. I know you won’t be disappointed in the items.


From: James Sanders [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: April-15-11 5:10 PM
To: xxxxxxx
Subject: About Your Payment



Hi xxxxx, I'm about to make the payments when i had this little problem with the picking up of the Item, I think you remember what i said in my previous mail that I'm working presently on the sea and i am buying the item as gift i tried to secure booking with my pick up agent, but they asked me to pay first before they can make the booking, and they only accept Western Union Money Transfer for payments and they don't accept PayPal or bank transfer.So I tried to send the money online but it's not going through and I am on the sea there is no way i can find a western union agent to make the transfer to my pick up agent, so i wanted to ask if it will be OK for me to include my pick up agent's fees together with your payments through PayPal,So you will help me wire the pick up fee to them via western Union Money Transfer immediately i pay you.I don't mean to bother you I'm sure you understand that I'm presently on the sea and there is nothing i can do to that. The bottom line is after I have made the payments via PayPal,you will help me wire my pick up agent fee to them through western union money transfer, I just wanted to seek your consent before going ahead with the payments,I will be very happy if my offer is given a favorable consideration.Respond as soon as possible so that i can send out your Payment.



xxxxxx to James

show details Apr 15 (3 days ago)


Hi; That should be ok, just let me know all of the info re the company doing the pick up and I will contact them to advise re the payment for pick up and arrange a pick up time.



From: James Sanders [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: April-17-11 11:09 AM
To: xxxxxx
Subject: PAYMENT MADE OUT VIA PAYPAL !!!



Hi xxxxx,
I have made the payments and PayPal emailed me confirming this. So please check your PayPal email address (xxxxxxx) for the PayPal confirmation email. PayPal said that they would be holding the money i sent because of the excess payments that i made which was the money for pick up, i will need you to proceed and Wire the excess which is $650.00 CAD to my pick up agent to enable them make a booking for the picked up of the item.Remember that you will wire the agent fee to them via Western Union Money transfer as that is there method of payment.

So please do send the $650.00 CAD through western union money transfer and use the remaining change of $100.00 CAD as Western Union charges.You can easily Walk to the local post office or any outlet around you.After you have sent the money please get back to me asap with the western union details, the MTCN number which you will be given by western union after you have sent the money as well as the sender's name and address so i can forward it back to PayPal for your money to be put through or you can email it to PayPal directly,that is alright as well.

Here is my pick up agent's info that you will need to send the money to through western union money transfer:


What a NOOB EH?
James Wolf
2115 Eagle Dr
Ashtabula OH 44004
USA.

I will need the address where the item will be picked up,as my pick up agent will contact you to book a pick up time after they have received payments but they will have to book a time that is convenient for you.I will be glad you send the money out to the agent information above and get back to me with the western union details towards smooth and fast accreditation of your funds($2,100.00 CAD) into your PayPal personal account.

Best Regards,
James.



From: Service@paypal. [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: April-17-11 10:55 AM
To: xxxxxx
Subject: IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT YOUR TRANSACTION (Transaction ID: 0TR19308DU070756R)



PayPal




Dear xxxxxx,



You have received a PayPal Payment of $2,100.00 CAD from James Sanders for an item.

A temporary hold has been placed on this transaction!

As mentioned in the receipt of Payment and as per New PayPal Payment policy, we have fully debited the total amount (above) from the buyer's account which includes the buyer's shipper's pick up fees.




In order to complete this transaction and get the funds approved in your account. We advice you go to nearest Western Union Office, and send the $650.00 CAD to the Agent and send us a clear Scan Copy/Photograph of your Western Union Transaction Receipt (in .JPG Format) with the Western Union Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) in details.

NOTE: This is important as a security measure to ensure safety of this transaction.


Please, below the name and address of the Transport Agent where the Funds would be sent via Western Union Money Transfer.

AGENT INFO :

Address:
James Wolf
2115 Eagle Dr
Ashtabula OH 44004
United state


Address Status:



Confirmed




Your Account will be credited accordingly upon the receipt of details requested. It should either be sent in JPG format or send type details as: Sender's Name; Receiver's Name; MTCN; Amount Sent;
============================== ============================== ============================== ============================== ============================== ==============================
This administrative email was sent to [email protected] from Paypal.com S.à r.l.. Your account is registered on http://www.paypal.com. As outlined in our User Agreement, PayPal will periodically send you information about site changes and enhancements. If you would like to receive this email in text format, change your notification preferences.

See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have questions about PayPal communication policies.


Copyright © 2009-2011 PayPal Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
PayPal and the PayPal logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of PayPal.

Then I sent Him This

Appliances Delivery

Jon Walker to james09820

show details 6:10 PM (19 hours ago)


Hi James, this is xxxxx's Grandson. I need the name of who I am sending this western union money to, or whatever info I will need. Please get back to me as soon as you can. My nanny can’t find the email, and she’s kind of worried. I had to take the money out of my bank because my nanny can’t access the paypal money yet. I hope $700 will cover the delivery charges. Thank you, and have a great day.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Johnnie. Walker[/b][/size]


And He sent me this last night


AS YOU REQUESTED !!!


James Sanders
to me

show details 8:17 PM (17 hours ago)

Hi Jon,
I am very glad to read from you regarding this transaction and below is the full information you will send the money out to via western union money transfer as requested....

James Wolf
2115 Eagle Dr
Ashtabula OH 44004
USA.

As soon as you complete the sending of the money out via western union money transfer,you will get back to me with the western union details such as:

SENDER FIRST NAME.....
SENDER LAST NAME......
MONEY TRANSFER CONTROL NUMBER (10 DIGITS)....
AMOUNT SEND......
SCAN A COPY OF THE WESTERN UNION RECEIPT....

I will be glad read from you soonest with all the details....

Regards,
James.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please help me because I don’t know how to deal with this. If I had the cash I would go there and find him myself so he can’t screw over anyone else. Who knows how many people he has ripped off. I can’t stand that. I’m an currently struggling with money issues at the moment. I have just started selling on ebay, and other places. Trying to help my girlfriends family with bills that thay can’t keep up with. These people thrive off the innocent, and the needy. And that’s not fair for anyone. Please help. I know this isn’t really organized, but I can help you with it. If you want and you are a worker of this site. I will give you my sign-in and password to get this guy. I have more email addresses. I can get a different one if I have to. He also gave me a name of the agent that was supposedly going to come pick up the appliances, which is the person he wants me to western union money for delivery fees that I know that he could pay for…


Thank You And I am very Happy to see a site like this oinline, we need people like you. There is too many scams online, which is lowering the integrity of the web for buying, ans sellers are getting worried. I am


Johnnie. Walker.


If you need the "Show Original's" I will send them

Removed grandmother's details to shield her privacy and to protect her from further scams and spam - CF

Oh Also here is the name of the person that James wants to pick up the appliances, and me to western union the money to.


James Wolf
2115 Eagle Dr
Ashtabula OH 44004
USA.

You have to ask yourself johnnie_walker_19, why did the buyer not send a Western Union money transfer to you and another one to the person due to collect the goods ?

He knows about Western Union and though he sends you a cheque he seems very clear in wanting a cash equivalent from you in the form of a Western Union transfer.

The answer is simple and is a basic scammer tactic. He sends you counterfet paper and wants you to send him back some cash as that's where the Western Union payment would go - straight back to him.

Hi Johnnie Walker
this is a scam, don't bother answering any further emails from him.

The supposed PayPal payment is fake, sent through a phished website the scammer has made up to look like the real paypal.

There is no money, any money you send to the *shipper* or whoever will be lost, and you will be out that amount.

From: Service@paypal. [mailto:[email protected]] this is not the real paypal email address, it is a free gmail account, which paypal do not use.

Stop any further contact with this person. It is a scam

There is no shipping agent, just himself in Nigeria, pretending to be all the different people.

Never send money by Western Union to anyone you do not know personally, and have met in real life.

I do Know That, and thank you for that info. I was on my nannies computer looking at the confirmation of the supposed money in paypal and thought it was weird. I tried to sign into paypal on that computer, and it wouldn't log in. I tried like 4 times, and thought that something was wrong there. I have changed all my passwords for my online accounts from a computer I haven't replied to him with from my friends home IP address so that there's no way to track the info changes. As I will let my grandmother to change all of her's as well.

Now I have another question, I really would like to at least do my part, and help this person find a fast trail to the nearest prison. If I were to actually do what he said, but not put that much money into western union. Like I am saying; Pay the western union fees to send a dollar to this fake name so that the person who tries to pick up the western union transfer so he can get arrested or something. I'm glad I cought on before he scammed someone else. Who knows how many there are, and I would like to put a stop to at least one sacammer and start somewhere. I also have lots of IP addresses from his replies anyone can find out where and who these messages are from.

Johnnie. Walker

Welcome here johnny walker 19.

It is pointless to send one dollar to this scammer. These criminals know exactly how to abuse the service of western union, and can tell you to make a payment to someone in the UK, and collect the money in every available western union agent they want. They use false identities, and can't be traced. Besides, the costs to send even one dollar is not worth it.

Ok. I was wondering if maybe western union would have some sort of system. It seems like they have no motivation to keep customer confidence in their company. Most of the people getting scammed through either; Western Union, Credit Card, Or Cash. Now I think western union should do something about this before a major lawsuit is in the hands of their patrons. This is getting out of hand. Western Union should be able to put a red flag on a transfer shouldn't they. All I know is that something has to be done, the internet is supposed to be for thriving businesses, and learning. Stuff like that. I'm sick of hearing of the poor getting poorer. I am going to call Western Union tomorrow and talk to a manager. See what thay have to say about this. It's one thing for someone to give out cash without a reciept, or there credit card over the phone, but to be ripping off people that want to sell their baseball cards, or appliances to a local person, and to get a reply as bogus as most of these scams that have been spoken about on this site is completely rediculous.
eBayers should not be scared to get ripped off trying to make a living. Just like anyone else, and yet thay always find a way to F*#K you around.

Also This is a name a scammer
James A Sanders

Also this person was the person he wanted me to transfer western union to

James Wolf
2115 Eagle Dr
Ashtabula OH 44004
USA.

Hi Johnny,
as the other posters have explained, this person does not even exist. In West Africa, the employees at WU often don't bother to check the identity (might even be accomplices), they just look at the number and give out the cash.

Crap, your not kidding. These people are more organized that I would have ever thought. I have a feeling theres a business in Nigeria that workers go to like a real job in an office or something. What goes around comes around. I know, I wasn't the best person to some people and I'm feeling the reprocussions now. Are there any laws in Nigeria about this?

It's also a pain in the ass to keep making new ID's for them. I hope someone doesn't get scammed from this name.

Also herer are the IP addresses that he sent from

98.138.90.78
98.138.90.51
98.138.89.246
127.0.0.1
41.155.62.182

He tried to make it look like he was on the water, being an oceanographer. He didn't think I could find the loopback to Nigeria at the bottom

These people are more organized that I would have ever thought. I have a feeling theres a business in Nigeria that workers go to like a real job in an office or something.

An internet cafe, really. But yes, scamming is a "job" to many of these people, and they "work" regular "business" hours. There are some very organized scamming gangs out there, with hierarchies just like a real business. Scamming is a big industry, and brings huge amounts of money into some areas.

Are there any laws in Nigeria about this?

Yes, section 419 of the Nigerian penal code addresses advance fee fraud, which is what most of the scams fall under. That's why you sometimes see these scams called 419's. Some of the other variants, while clearly scams, are not illegal. The problem is, in many of the areas where scamming is prevalent (not just Nigeria), local law enforcement is extremely corrupt, and is frequently taking a cut of the profits. The EFCC, the group responsible for these crimes, simply doesn't have the resources to investigate and bring most of the scammers to justice. Society in some areas is so warped that entire communities, scammers will openly pray in church for God to send them victims! Even those who aren't scamming may support the scammers. There are actually videos out there of residents throwing stones at the EFCC for raiding scammer-infested cafes.

Hi - I almost got done by this scam - I googled
James Wolf
2115 Eagle Dr
Ashtabula OH 44004
United state
and got this page

my story begins with advertising a second hand bed for sale - as a local item for pick up in Australia. The response from 'John Spencer' was keen -
Hi,
Thanks for your respond and i am so happy to know the item is in excellent condition but i want you to know that,I'm a sea captain and currently working on the sea so there is no way i can get off the sea to make a bank transfer or by cash ok. like i said i am buying this item as suprise gift for my Dad,i want to make it a surprise gift for him,he won't know anything about the gift until it delivered to him..yes i need more pictures. I can only pay through PayPal so i want you to go and open a PayPal account.please kindly get back to me immediately so that i can proceed with the payment and after the payment has been made,i have a pick up agent that will come around to pick up the item immediately after payments....Get back to me with your PayPal email address so that i can contact you directly.Looking forward to hear from you soon.

Now I took a little offence to 'I want you to open a paypal account' - I already have one...sent the details - then suddenly the bed was being delivered to somewhere in the USA...I thought odd...but anyway - i then got an email supposedly from paypal making demands for a western union payment immediately - funds were not actually in my paypal account. I had started to work on making the western union account when 'john spencer' rang my mobile!! They don't give you much time to make the transactions etc -
Thats when I stopped and thought - hang on...this doesn't seem right. I goggled and found this board- God Bless you all!

The other thing that has happened is if i try and copy and paste the fake paypal email - or even print it - it send my MS outlook into not responding mode - so I am now wondering if I have also collected some malware or worm or virus from it.

I have forwarded the supposed email to paypal as a phishing one.

The real giveaway was the email from the supposed contractor who was to collect the bed - the English is extremely poor for someone with such a western name and a USA address that supposedly presents itself as a business- and my MS outlook automatically put it in my junk mail: the note bit was in RED - as if a warning that I was doing something wrong...go figure....

Dear xx


We will like to inform you that everything about the pickup in your location has been finalize as we got a confirmation from paypal that the payment has been made which the fund left our client Mr John Spencer account immediately.


NOTE: You need to send the shipping fee included with the payment Via Western Union Money Transfer and get back to us with the MTCN and other information or SCAN theWestern Union receipt to us.


Below is the name and address where you need to send the funds to.

James Wolf
2115 Eagle Dr
Ashtabula OH 44004
United state
Email: [email protected]


Kindly let us know the pickup address and date and time we can come for the pickup at your location.


We look forward to hear from you soon.

Best Regard

I have kept the emails if anyone in auhority is after the IP info.

Once again - Thankyou for the existence of this website.

Cheers
Jen

We are very pleased that you found this information nenifoofer and it helped you. That is our purpose to be a resource to help people not get scammed.

Feel free to post up any other questionable situations you come across.