Watch out for the Latest Online Scams

Scams are a universal concern for all traders, especially leading up to the festive season when new scams enter the market. Is it not time you learn how to safeguard yourself from being a victim? Junk Mail not only offers free advertising, we also offer all our Junk Mailers valuable advice on how to buy and sell safely online. Today is your opportunity to be informed and tell other online traders about the various scams that are currently making their rounds. Before we educate you on the recent scams, we have a question to ask you all: “Can you name some of the types of online scams that are on the Internet right now?”If you don’t already know about the recent scams on the market, it is time for you to pay attention!Below are some of the types of online scams that you should be wary of:

1. Fake Vehicle Scams
2. Payment Scams
3. Property and Holiday Accommodation Scams
4. Pet Scams
5. General Scams
6. Competition Scams

It has come to the Junk Mail Scam Busting Team’s attention that there is another scammer trying to con buyers into purchasing Suzuki motorbikes and cars that are priced way under market value. The recent vehicle scammers are using the following email addresses: multejucari12@aol.com ,suzuki.gsxr@gmail.com ,suzuki.gsxr@hotmail.comand matt-33331@hotmail.com. Scammers use free email accounts. Watch out for advertisers that use web based e-mail accounts with domains like “@hotmail.com”, “@live.com”, “@rocketmail” “@gmail.com”, “@yahoo.com”, “@yahoo.co.uk”. Accounts like these can be created in under 5 minutes. There are various variations of this scam but it is important you know how it works. Read this post in detail so you don’t become this scammer’s next victim. This is how the Fake Vehicle Scam works:

• The scammer  lures unsuspecting individuals into their world of lies by advertising a cheap car, cheap caravan or under market value motorbike (this is your first sign of a scam)

• The scammer makes this “Fake Car or Motorcycle”cheap to get lots of responses from potential buyers that are not aware of this type of scam
• There are usually no phone numbers attached to the advert and if there is a number on the advert it usually does not work (this is the second sign that this advert could potentially be a scam).
• The scammer uses email to send you their convincing story
• When you deposit the money the scammer will stop speaking to you and run away with your hard-earned case and by then it is already too late

Once a potential buyer responds to the scammer via e-mail, the con artist replies with this type of message: Hi there, Sorry you cannot see the bike because I am not in the country but a 10 days refund policy will be included so if you will not like the bike you will receive your money back. The bike will be delivered to your home address after you will complete the payment. Delivery time will be 2 days. It comes with insurance, RWC, keys, logbooks, clear title, full service plan and all the papers signed so you can easy transfer the bike on your name. All the costs will be paid by me. I don’t have aoutstanding amount on the bike at a bank or financial agency as I paid cash for it. I have two more persons interested in buying the bike so please send me your full name and address if you are ready to buy it. Thank you! OR Hello…. I am sorry but I cannot sell you the bike for R25,000 because my ex husband will not allow me. He told me that if I want to sell the bike he wants R40,000 for it so if you still want the bike you will need to send me R15,000 more. Do not worry because I have a purchase protection account and you will receive a refund of R15,000 from eBay after you will receive the bike. If you donttrust please contact eBay, you will find instructions on how to contact them in the payment confirmation. Please complete the payment tomorrow first thing so we can close this deal. Once the payment of R15,000 will be done the bike will be delivered to you in 36 hours. Apologize for all this and thank you for understanding… Thanks (Please notice the grammatical errors in each of these emails highlighted in bold) If the potential buyer responds to the above e-mail to get more details, the scammer sends out this next reply: Hello, The price is R25,000. The bike looks and runs great. I am selling the bike so cheap because I am in United Kingdom with my new job and I just finished a divorce. I am a VerifiedTrader so the transaction will be done through eBay. If you’re ready for this purchase, I need to know your full name and address, as soon as I have them I will start the official procedure, and eBay will notify you about this. eBay will send you an Invoice with all the info you will need to complete the transaction. Also a 10 days refund policy will be included so if you will not like the bike you will receive your money back. Thanks This is the email you get from “eBay”: Hello, You are buying from a VerifiedSeller. The seller (Tayla Garrett) has a £10,000,00 deposit in an eBay purchase protection account and a 10 days refund policy is included. Next step is to complete the payment. You will receive the item in 2/3 days after payment has been completed. We chose the Money Gram payment method because is the only way for the seller to receive money in United Kingdom. The transaction is 100% safe so you can Buy and Pay with confidence from eBay ! The seller require the payment for this item to be done through Money Gram money transfer because it is his only way to receive the money in United Kingdom. Click hereto locate the agents in your area. You must go to a Money Gram office with cash and make a Money Transfer to the name and address of the seller for the amount of ZAR 25,000.00. You must complete a form there. You must write there the seller’s name, location, amount. You must declare it a personal transfer (you will tell to the agent from Money Gram that you are sending money to a friend of yours ) at the Money Gram office, otherwise you will not be able to send the money. Because the fee to send a Money Gram Money Transfer is high, compared to other methods of payment, we have arranged with the seller and he will pay the fee (i.e., if it costs you ZAR 1000 to send the payment, take ZAR 1000 from the amount and send the balance). Once the payment was sent, email to the seller at multejucari12@aol.comthe following information : Reference Number; Exact sender’s name on file with Money Gram; Your street address on file with Money Gram; City and country where you sent the money from; Amount sent. Regards, eBayInc. Trust & Safety Team Junk Mail is also NOT affiliated with Ebay.com. This is yet another tell-tale sign of a Fake Vehicle Scam.   How to Avoid Fake Vehicle Scams – Ask yourself the following questions:

• Does this sound too good to be true?
• Can I contact this advertiser directly via phone?
• Is this advertiser avoiding direct contact with me?
• Is this advertiser’s e-mail address an e-mail address that can be created in less than 5 minutes on the internet?
• If you Google this e-mail address are there reports of this email address being attached to a scam?
• Is this advertiser using broken English?
• Is the advertiser asking you to make a payment via a Third Party Payment like eBay?

If you are able to answer YES to any or all of these questions above, the advert you are viewing is most likely a scam. At this point we ask you to please report this scam using the red “Report Advert” button on the right-hand side of the advert. This particular vehicle scammer is attempting to defraud potential buyers using our site and we do not authorise this on our free trading platform. The vehicles that are being advertised DO NOT EXIST. REMEMBER: If you come across a possible scam advert, please make use of the “Report Advert” option that is provided for each advert on the Junk Mail website. You can also report the possible scam to Junk Mail Customer Care via ccc@junkmail.co.za (during office hours). If a member of the Junk Mail Scam Busting Team does not respond via one of these channels, you can also notify us about a scam on the wall of the Junk Mail Facebook Fan page or by mentioning your query to @JMClassifieds on Twitter Junk Mail posts various scam warnings on the Avoid Scams section on the Junk Mail website, so make sure you read this section carefully to be aware of the scams that are circulating. Junk Mail also posts regular updates about scams under the Safety and Security section to keep all our users informed. This scam warning is brought to you by the Junk Mail Scam Busting Team. Junk Mail promotes a safe trading zone for buyers and sellers to transact.   REMEMBER TO BE SMART, SAVVY AND SAFE WHEN BUYING AND SELLING!Have you ever been scammed? Do you know someone who has been scammed? Then share this post now! Check out these related posts on the Junk Mail blog, you might find them interesting:

• Holiday Accommodation / Timeshare Scam
• Safety Guidelines for Buying on Junk Mail
• Safety Guidelines for Selling on Junk Mail