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Thread: I've been conned (phishing)

  1. #1
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    I've been conned (phishing)

    hello my name is joe, im not very computer knowledgable, which has probably led to my nievity, which has led to me being cond. i saw an advert for a car on www.usedcarmart.co.uk which i obviously though was a ligitamate site. any way i found the only contact info for the seller was an email. the car turned out to be apparently from finland, although british car. we exchanged a few emails. he then said he was selling through ebay. i recieved what i thought to be an email from ebay. i payed through western union, which later i found out ebay never promote western union as a method of payment, so it turned out to be a mirrored ebay message, a fake, looked so real to untrained eyes, ive screwed up, iv'e lost £3,500.00, no car. i have been to the police,doubt they'll do anything. can someone else please tell me if there is anything i can do?
    i feel so stupid everything became clear soon after...

    edit by admin: please do not post contact info on the forum, thank you

  2. #2
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    No, there is nothing you can do.............

    Except learn from your experience?

    This has nothing to do with computers, it is all about human greed and stupidity.

    Think of the old days before the internet .................. a "classified advert"......... in a newspaper or magazine...... would you have sent £3,500 to an unknown person, whom you had never met, for an expensive device you had never seen, or tested?

    Talking of stupidity, why is it I find something "wrong" about this post? OK: a clue in that the personal contact details were removed by an Admin?

    The English is very interesting............. some bits are quite sophisticated whilst others imply a downtrodden, working class, ill-educated person.

    We don't know about computers, but we can spell "phishing" in a particular way?.........a "mirrored ebay message"?.....

    JP old chap, please pull the logs on this one............ I think I have something for my mates in New Scotland Yard

  3. #3
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    If you where stupid enough to send money to a complete stranger via western union. Then you deserved to loose that much money.

    at the end of the day, you have learnt a very very valuable lesson. Next time be more cautious, and use your head and think before you do.

    cheers
    acidtone..


    EDIT:> and why is this in Question about Antionline? Shouldn't it be in Phishing and Cyber Scams instead..?

  4. #4
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    My comments do not apply to the header.............I corrected that.........just read the rest.

    Scam artists are born every minute, as are their prey.............. I guess that is why e-bay have so many problems with fake auctions?

    If the guy is genuine, all he can hope for is the police.............. who might well write him off as a total pillock, and chase something more obvious?

    I wonder if this is not some exercise by university students?....... errrrrr Department of Psychology.......... we respond badly..... and when the "Job" arrive, they will be walking their house pets...... or sniffer dogs

  5. #5
    What a sad, sad way to reply to a quite simple request for some help or advice.

    I gotta say - the normal antionline standards of helpful, friendly advice seem to have slipped quite dramatically here.
    Why not help him out, and if you think he is not genuine, then just ignore him.
    I happen to know this guy is genuine. I spoke to him. At my house. In person. I explained what phishing is (including spelling) and I suggested he come here for some good advice. I wish I hadn't now.

    Anyway...

    Hi Joe, sorry we didn't get to talk a bit longer while you were at my place.

    Having had a quick look around myself I have some other links for you...
    It would seem that the site you mentioned is a genuine site. It's just the particular seller you had dealings with that is the scammer. usedcarmart.co.uk has a forum with a section dealing specificaly with scams...
    http://www.usedcarmart.co.uk/forum/f25-scams.html

    You could also try

    http://antionline.com/showthread.php?t=263266 for a contact directory related to anti Phishing.
    or
    http://www.euroconsumer.org.uk/index...rnet_fraud.htm
    and
    http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/
    that last link is probably the most useful for you (though you will have to spend some time reading through it all).

    Good luck! I think you will probably need it.
    \"Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth,
    nor does lightning travel in a straight line.\" -Benoit Mandelbrot

  6. #6
    Senior Member JPnyc's Avatar
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    Apologies for the reception he got. I guess we did think it wasn't genuine. Sorry about that.

  7. #7
    rebmeM roineS enilnOitnA steve.milner's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JPnyc
    Apologies for the reception he got. I guess we did think it wasn't genuine. Sorry about that.
    How do we know he is genuine.

    Anyone could drop a post saying someone was round at their house.

    What were the details that were edited out?

    Steve
    IT, e-commerce, Retail, Programme & Project Management, EPoS, Supply Chain and Logistic Services. Yorkshire. http://www.bigi.uk.com

  8. #8
    Senior Member JPnyc's Avatar
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    We don't, but apologies are free. I edited out his email.

  9. #9
    AOs Resident Troll
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    Tis the nature of the business of Computer Security....
    to be suspicious...trust your instints.

    I see nothing wrong with delving deeper into the issue to see if it is genuine request for help...

    This statement got my spidey sense tingling

    i have been to the police,doubt they'll do anything
    MLF
    How people treat you is their karma- how you react is yours-Wayne Dyer

  10. #10
    rebmeM roineS enilnOitnA steve.milner's Avatar
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    Fair enough.

    I just wondered what it was, but an email seems fairly harmless... Excpet for the spam though.

    I've never needed to examine this any furthre, but if you use a Western Union transfer, then is there no validaion of the transfer destination?

    This must be a money launderers paradise.

    Steve
    IT, e-commerce, Retail, Programme & Project Management, EPoS, Supply Chain and Logistic Services. Yorkshire. http://www.bigi.uk.com

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