Scam Awareness

[Mcgyver]

afaik e transfer is only between domestic banks and you see the account holders name when you send money as well as getting an emailed a receipt with the name. Is there a way around this? If not seems a lousy scam setup if the scammer positively identifies themselves

 

[Susquatch]

afaik e transfer is only between domestic banks and you see the account holders name when you send money as well as getting an emailed a receipt with the name.

I have successfully e-transfered to Germany for some parts and to Switzerland. So it isn't just domestic. But there were other hurdles.

Is there a way around this? If not seems a lousy scam setup if the scammer positively identifies themselves

You are right. But it's way too much work for them if there is no motive. I'll see if I can figure it out next time one comes up. They are pretty easy to spot. Usually a large collection of expensive stuff selling for pennies on the dollar. Got a new job out west - everything has to go fast. Or hubby died and all this stuff has to go cuz I get reminded of him when I see it. Or just divorced and selling the stuff cheap to stiff the bitch.

Usually the exact same stuff readvertized.

 

[jorogi]

I’m sorry to hear that, you must be totally pissed. I would be.

It’s sad how sophisticated scammers are becoming. I’ve been fooled into going to a website that looks exactly like a mainstream newspapers.

Apparently Canada has become the international scammers target of choice due to the low likelihood of repercussions.

I almost got stung with one of those and I'm cynical and suspicious as all get out, they're very slick.
With me it was a pair of electrically heated gloves for the lovely. They sent pair but they were just plain gloves. Complained to the company and they wanted a video showing the gloves not working. The games went on and to be honest I had quite a bit of fun with them. They finally came to the point where I could get the advertised full refund guarantee if I sent the gloves back, and as that would cost me $65 - $85 they would offer to let me keep the gloves and refund me $10 instead.
I contacted VISA and ended up mailing a letter to the company asking them to confirm for me by email that the address I had mailed the letter to was indeed the correct address to return the gloves to. After no response in 10 days VISA refunded my full sale price and I got a free pair of not bad but not electrial gloves for the $2 cost of mailing a letter to Hong Kong.

 

[Tom Kitta]

The last bank account I set up, personal and commerical, they sat and carefully scrutinized photo ID.


I can see that, but how do they swipe your bank account for the e transfer? And if they are so good, they pick an $80 faceplate vs saying putting up a new iphone at a good price and get 100's of takers?

The last bank account I set up, personal and commercial, they sat and carefully scrutinized photo ID. That was traditional brick and mortar oligopoly, maybe the virtual banks are more lax, but imo it doesn't add up as a scam, i.e. all done as an intentional con.

Hope i'm right for the OP's sake

Why face plate? Maybe b/c too many people realized iPhones are fakes. This is a full time job for someone. All they do is sell fake stuff on 100s of profiles that were stolen. Bank stuff can be stolen as well, same as ID.

Its a fully run commercial scam organizations that are the problem, with 100s or 1000s of employees. They stolen 100s of bank accounts and 100s or 1000s of other IDs and are selling at one time millions of items.

Heck there is trade out there in stolen accounts / identities.

 

[Mcgyver]

I have successfully e-transfered to Germany for some parts and to Switzerland. So it isn't just domestic. But there were other hurdles.

I should have been more specific, Interac e transfer ..... the one most of use, where your email address is where payments are sent. That registry of emails connected with accounts is Canadian so if there is a bank offering an international Interac e transfer you'll know it. i.e. instead of just giving an email you'll have to give a name, swift code, account number etc. Of course there are lots of other electronic transfer methods, but if someone wants you to wire money to an account in Nigeria for a face plate, my guess is your spidey senses will be tingling .

You are not sending an Interact e transfer in Canada without seeing the persons name first as well as getting a receipt showing the name. That name is hard to fake for a Canadian account. That plus a phone number and quick call with machining context, combined with low value and very low volume items like a lathe steady puts the odds of an out and out scam at an extremely low level imo.

I 'm speaking in generalities, doesn't help the OP if the vendor got hit by bus or is losing his marbles and has forgotten all about it. but hopefully the guy comes to.

 

[Tom Kitta]

I should have been more specific, Interac e transfer ..... the one most of use, where its your email you give for payment to be sent. That registry of emails connected with accounts is Canadian so if there is a bank offering an international Interac e transfer you'll know it. i.e. instead of just giving an email you'll have to give a name, swift code, account number etc. Of course there are lots of other electronic transfer method, but if you someone wants money wired to an account in Nigeria for a face plate, my guess is you spidey senses will be tingling

There are many remit services available. But I do assume most people are not crazy enough to send international transfers. This is how I pay for many of my international mountaineering trips. Scary stuff!
I also assume many of these remit services are used to move money out of Canada - you send them e-transfer and then move $$$ out. Through these services do have limits on amount of $$$ that can be moved with accounts that are opened with just picture ID. For moving say $3000 per week you need a video of the person opening the account... than again, AI can now, given online video of you, create fake video of you...

I think everyone already knows that images are no proof already - they can be easily faked or generated. But fake videos - even real time videos (conference call with your "boss" that is actually a fake live feed of him / his voice) are now possibility.

This shows a lot of security camera evidence now needs a lot of scrutiny.

 

[Susquatch]

This is how I pay for many of my international mountaineering trips. Scary stuff!

You mean you did that more than once? yup Scary Stuff indeed! And I don't mean the money either! How many trips have you done?

 

[Tom Kitta]

You mean you did that more than once? yup Scary Stuff indeed! And I don't mean the money either! How many trips have you done?

I done 10 expeditions. I was scammed once, in Nepal for $1000. Local police are useless. Hotel also got scammed but hired locals who "persuaded" him to pay out.

 

[Susquatch]

I done 10 expeditions. I was scammed once, in Nepal for $1000. Local police are useless. Hotel also got scammed but hired locals who "persuaded" him to pay out.

Holy Crap! What the toughest one you did?

 

[Tom Kitta]

Holy Crap! What the toughest one you did?

Well, I think the last one - Manaslu - my first 8000er. Also first Canadian to reach the true top solo without use of oxygen.

There is a small writeup on the site about this - in the off topic section.

Usually things run smooth - theft is there but usually "small" - on bigger mountains through it grows - apparently like 10% of all oxygen gets stolen.

 

[Susquatch]

There is a small writeup on the site about this - in the off topic section.

I already read that one and commented there several times. I just didn't know that wasn't the only one.

 

[Tom Kitta]

I already read that one and commented there several times. I just didn't know that wasn't the only one.

Oh no, I did not just go and do 8000er like that - tourists could - they have like an army of people making sure they are OK.

Here is a link to power point presentation in English - https://we.tl/t-gpGcWhVTKq

 

[Dabbler]

Back to scams. If you are a seller, in Canada, some banks and credit unions take a long time to post the transaction. So someone can come to your shop, e-transfer the money, drive off, and then reverse the transaction before it has completed. Because it was reversed before it was posted, there is no trail in your bank to find the culprit. It depends on your bank, the originating institution, and the mechanism of transfer.

source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/etransfers-autodeposit-cancelled-scam-interac-1.6764431

There is also an in-depth story on Marketplace, but I'm going out 5 minutes ago*** so you'll have to look it up...

 

[gerritv]

for eTransfer you MUST set up your account for auto deposit. There is essentially no delay then for someone to take advantage of. And to be certain, don't hand over the item until you get notification that money is in your account.

 

[Dabbler]

for eTransfer you MUST set up your account for auto deposit. There is essentially no delay then for someone to take advantage of. And to be certain, don't hand over the item until you get notification that money is in your account.

You are right about seeing it get into your account.... but the article I pointed to, the transaction was cancelled 90 minutes later.... and she had auto-deposit. So that is no longer a defense.

 

[Susquatch]

for eTransfer you MUST set up your account for auto deposit.

I set mine up a few years ago and autodeposit was an option then. I later changed my account to autodeposit. But I have periodically made transfers to people who didn't have autodeposit setup yet. You know right away when you send money because my bank recognizes autodeposit clients.

Perhaps that a requirement at your bank, but I don't think it's universal. I just sent some cash to my son who isn't setup. He had no trouble accepting the money into his account. But it didn't happen immediately.

When I give money to a seller, I either give them cash or I wait till they receive the money electronically before leaving with the goods.

 

[gerritv]

You missed my point, you need to set your account up that way for YOU to receive money without miscreants able to claw it back on the way out of your driveway.
What ppl do with money you send to them is their issue. But you should tell your son to set it up.
I should add that I use a credit union, not one of the big leeches.

 

[gerritv]

You are right about seeing it get into your account.... but the article I pointed to, the transaction was cancelled 90 minutes later.... and she had auto-deposit. So that is no longer a defense.

The problem with that article is that they also missed the point. She did not see a notification that the money was in her avccount, only that he had sent it:
"Mason entered her email, watched him type in $480 and hit "send." She then read a confirmation number, indicating the transaction was done." For all she knows he was typing into a fake app that generated the confirmation. The recipient needs to see the deposit notification.

I stated previously on a similar post here; a terribly written article.

 

[Susquatch]

for eTransfer you MUST set up your account for auto deposit.

You missed my point, you need to set your account up that way for YOU to receive money without miscreants able to claw it back on the way out of your driveway.

I was just reacting to your comment "for eTransfer you MUST set up your account for auto deposit." The capital MUST makes it sound like that's a requirement of the bank.

For myself, I don't sell stuff that way - I only buy that way. Or at least I haven't sold anything that way yet.