Dear Friends, Yesterday, we received two money orders, both from near Houston, Texas. In each case, the money order had on it "I am buying gold, e-gold account #627592." So, in our view, *we* would have been protected if we had gone ahead with the distribution of gold to that account, having a legitimate agreement in each case that the customer wanted e-gold placed in that account.
However, a quick check with Click Two Cents provided info that the account was not held in the name of either of the gentlemen who sent us money. http://627592.clicktwocents.com/ was showing utoputop although I imagine it will soon show a spend limit. <smile> No doubt the printing of these words on money orders does help in some instances, which is why we insist on it. In one case, the would-be victim decided to include his auction fraudster's e-mail message, "Hello, you have won item The Simpsons - The Complete Second Season....I ship via UPS...." Well, I doubt the bit about shipping via UPS. Maybe that's an aspect of the scam - telling the customer that UPS must have lost it in shipping. In any event, both customers thoughtfully included their phone numbers on the money orders. So, I called them up and had a little chat. In each case, they felt they were paying for their merchandise, for auction fulfillment. And were not happy to learn about the long history of auction fraud. Since they had already paid for money orders, one from a Traveler Express outlet at Wal-Mart, the other from an Integrated Payments outlet at Kroger, I discussed their options. It is the case that getting a refund from Integrated Payments is a $12 proposition, which, on a $45 money order isn't much fun; I suppose the same is about the fee at Traveler Express. So, I offered to deposit their money orders and send replacement funds by check, deducting a dollar in each case to pay for the in-state long distance, the postage, envelope, check, and my time. A loss leader for us, no doubt. Each customer accepted these terms quite gladly. Well, there you have it. Another e-gold account set up to separate fools from their money. I do have to say that foolishness is involved on the part of anyone who thinks he is buying a DVD and writes "I am buying gold" on a money order. Again, as usual, I think the individual responsible for setting up utoputop account 627592 should be hunted down and made to pay compensation to each and every victim. I'm sure that turning the information over to the relevant authorities (let's see: postal fraud, since the money orders were mailed to us; wire fraud since the Internet involves telecomm; auction fraud probably gets one in dutch with the Postal Inspector, the FCC, the FTC, the FBI, who knows, maybe even the Secret Service since they handle some forms of computer crime involving money -- anyone want to bet that no prosecution will arise in this instance?) would also be an appropriate thing for, say, e-gold.com to do. Since my company is actually victimized either by being made to look like the culprit if we fulfill such orders or by being conscientious and going to the trouble of sending replacement funds back to the intended victims, I'd like my pound of flesh. If the information were at my disposal, I would not bother with intermediaries or delegating the use of force. I would much rather string these numb-nuts up by their toes, tie weights to their wrists, and cut off joints of various fingers until they paid up, or bled dry. I wonder how they'd like to learn to type with fewer digits. Subjunctive tense is so much fun. By the way, from the excerpt of one e-mail sent to me, these aren't people with English as a first language. So, in all likelihood, Interpol would also have to be involved. The fraudsters must be making a living at this stuff, or they wouldn't persist. As usual, this information is provided for your benefit. If you find you can take some meaningful action as a result, please do. If not, perhaps the visions of tortured fraudsters might function as entertainment. Regards, Jim http://cambist.net/ http://266279.clicktwocents.com/ --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
