While starting a new business this September, I fell victim to a scam. It was an old scam, but packaged in a brand-new way.
I needed a concession stand to sell a new food product. After looking for a few months, I was disappointed with what was available locally. I used Craigslist, trailer dealers, even eBay. I found another one on craigslist and contacted the seller. They wanted to sell using eBay’s “Vehicle Purchase Protection” program. I’ve heard of it before, so I wasn’t too worried. The seller and stand were in different states (far from me) and wanted to use a third-party shipping agent, but they provided very specific details and pics, even answering some very detailed questions from me regarding fuel and waste capacity. Stuff only a concession owner should know. I’m wary, but not bad.
I gave a few searches for concession-trailer scams. Didn’t find anything. Not once. A concession stand is a pretty specialized piece of equipment. One wouldn’t think a con-man would bother waiting-around for someone to grab at that, I guess.
The EBay reference, the detail, lack of concession-stand fraud: all this helped me feel a little better about the transaction. I went for it.
Oddly, they wanted payment using Western Union. Yes, this should have been a big red flag for me, but, in my defense, I wasn’t familiar with using wire services. I’ve relied completely on bank transfers, credit-cards, and Paypal for moving money when I needed. But, my wife uses a similar service every month to send money to her family. She showed me how easy it was. Soon $5000 was on its way.
But to whom?
I assumed these Western Union account numbers were only associated with a specific city office and person (with proper ID). Afterwards, the wife tells me that the account numbers work anywhere.
“What about an ID?” I ask.
“Sometimes.”
Sometimes?! Maybe not at all? But that would make for a really easy scam. Someone would just need wire transfer number and any old name and…
Shit.
Even before the trailer was supposed to arrive, I started checking. I check seller’s address against county tax records from her state- wrong family.
‘Eh?
I track the agent’s phone number: a fax machine in the wrong city.
Fuuuuuu…
EBay’s “Vehicle Purchase Protection” program- shut down for months. And, there had been a recent rash of expensive CAR scams using EBay’s name. They used exactly the same form advertisements that I received. But, because no one had done a concession-trailer scam before, I didn’t find it in time.
…uuuuuuukkkk!#*$^@*@!!!!
The night of delivery, I already had reports into craigslist, ebay, and the FBI, all ending ” … it seems these scammers are branching-out into new areas. Not just cars anymore.” That morning, I was at the local police station giving a report. I’d been scammed, just like all those other idiots. I wonder how many people just walk away as dupes without reporting because of embarrassment. Luckily, I was too angry to be embarrassed.
I’m pissed. I start digging through the internet to see what I could find. I start tracking the agent in NYC. I find his apartment, how much he makes, his parents in Florida…
That can’t be right.
The fax number was in Chicago and this guy’s info was too easy to find. I call his parents to get his number. Ten minutes later HE CALLS ME. This wasn’t the guy. He’s scared shitless that his identity was stolen. I tell him to check bank and credit statements. Two days later, local police tell me they talk to him to and come to the same conclusions.
The only lead is the office where the money was picked-up. Western Union records pickup times, dates, and locations. Maybe even a video feed would have picked-up the culprit during the transaction. But, Western Union won’t divulge that info to customers, even with a local and federal case ID numbers. They even admitted they won’t contact the police when informed of fraud.
The police must contact them. But, what police?
This scam works so well because it crosses state lines. Apparently, even after 9/11, jurisdictional cooperation is still a major issue. Advertising done in one state, culprits in a second, and victims in another: the jurisdiction of who to report this crime to becomes a major issue. In order to start the process, you must report these crimes to you local police department. They can do some cursory checking, but , like they told me…
“Sorry, but our jurisdiction stops at the border’.
By the time the police in the proper jurisdiction have been notified, the perpetrator (and evidence, apparently) is long gone. This is where the FBI is supposed to step in. They had all the information first. They are supposed to coordinate these types of interstate investigations. But, to this date, neither I nor my local police department has received any info from them. With all the anti-terrorism efforts, my little 5-grand problem probably got lost in their spam folder.
Western Union had what meager evidence there was, but it may be lost now. I found the original advertisement site still up for a while, and then a new one popped up on a different server. Everybody’s been notified, but I know I’m wasting my time. No sting operation is going to happen, and my cash is still gone. I’m back to getting the business ready, but this lesson still stings.
If the business doesn’t work-out, at least I now know one that will pay well.
December 6, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I saw the same scam. As near as I can tell it was the same photo and everything, but I did not fall for the scam.
The perpetrator went by the name Maria W. with an email address of w.maria67@yahoo.com
Also, be very careful of the following craigslist sellers.
Maria Parker: maria01parker@msn.com
Jessica Shipman: shipmanj@rocketmail.com
While I would not necessarily accuse these two “people” of being scammers, the patterns of their listings and information in their emails is extremely similar to the scam you fell for, although the particular photos they used are different.
Before transferring any money to anyone claiming to be working through ebay be sure you go to the ebay site and very carefully read how to spot scams.
Good luck with your concession stand business.
August 25, 2010 at 8:49 pm
I got the following
Re: concession trailer
…
From:
Maria Parker
…
Add to Contacts
To: Bill Cherniak
It’s still for sale but before I start answering your questions, I’ll have to let you know that I left town a few days ago because I have to help my daughter organize her wedding, and I may stay here a while, but this is no problem because I’ll sell it through Liberty Consignment Stores. I guess you used Liberty Consignment Stores before, if you didn’t then let me know because I met people that never used it and I will explain how it works in detail. Also let me know if you have other questions about the item.
Thank you
Maria
August 26, 2010 at 3:05 am
Yea. New bull…same M.O. At some point, they should ask to send money via a wire service (Moneygram, Western union, etc.) This is the key to the scam. Non-bank wire service is set-up specifically to deny any sort of traceability to transactions. Any transaction ID number is available anywhere in the US (or around the world, in some cases). No ID usually needed, no pictures taken, no cooperation with police (as I found-out). Great for illegal activity, bad for business. Anyone asking to wire cash… stay away.
August 26, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I’m glad you are still interested. No problem, I’ll explain the Liberty Consignment Stores concept, their website is http://www.libertyconsignmentstores.com. They are a chain of ebay drop off stores and they offer their services for craigslist users too. I left the item in their possession when I left and intended to sell it when I got back but the wedding costs too much and I need to sell it now to help my daughter get married. They will handle the shipping and the payment. If you want to purchase this, you must register on their website, they send you an invoice with the transaction details and payment instructions and you send the payment to one of their agents. They receive the payment and start the shipping process. You receive the item and you have 10 days to inspect it and see if it’s exactly as described. If you decide to keep it, you let them know and they will transfer the payment to me, if you decide to return it, they will give you a full refund back and return the item on my cost. So you can be sure the item is exactly as described because I wouldn’t sell something that I know it will be returned and lose extra money. The shipping cost is already included in the price listed on craigslist so you don’t have to worry about that. The process is very simple, it probably looks a little complicated from what I explained but it’s not and for a better understanding of how their service works you can check out their “Selling on eBay and Craigslist” page. Let me know if you are still interested and if you have questions please ask, no problem. Also, if you don’t want to register on their website for any reason, you can send me your full name and shipping address and I will forward it to them, but it’s better if you register yourself.
Thank you
Maria
PS: I am sorry for the long email but I couldn’t explain the process in less words.
I responded with
I want to pick it up myself and inspect it before I buy it. How do we do this
She responded back with
Re: concession trailer
…
From:
Maria Parker
…
Add to Contacts
To: Bill Cherniak
Sold, thanks.
Maria
August 27, 2010 at 4:20 am
“libertyconsignmentstores.com” Domain Creation Date…….. 2010-08-03, with a registered business address as a P.O. box in Sunnyvale, CA.
Don’t honestly expect site to last 3 more months before attention gets too hot for these scammers, and they move on.
January 9, 2011 at 10:31 pm
I recieved a similar replies 2 times from two different sites. The Concession trailer was too good to be true. One was 4200.00 and the other was 5200.00. They said they traveled a lot and they would ship it for free because they had already sold it to someone and paid the shipping and they couldn’t get a refund. They were both so similar that it looked like the same person could have written it. I’m sure it was a scam. I can’t rememeber one of the names but one name was Alen Butler. Beware.
February 16, 2011 at 11:40 pm
Below are is a scam that I almost fell for re: an 09 Cargo Craft Expedition Concession Trailer
Alen Butler Alen Butleralenbutler@msn.com
Send email
Find email Add to contactsTo
From: Alen Butler (alenbutler@msn.com)
Sent: Fri 1/07/11 11:37 AM
To:
Hi,
The trailer is located in Seattle/WA.The price for the trailer is $5520 and it includes shipping and border fees.The trailer It’s in perfect condition without any mechanical problems,with no damages or hidden defects,no need for additional repairs,clear title without any accidents,liens or loans and it has the health dept. certified in any state.I had a buyer from California but his loan was not approved and now the trailer is still for sale.Shipping is already paid, as I explained, my buyer couldn’t take the loan after I made the arrangements to ship the trailer,and the trucking company won’t refund me, but I am able to ship the trailer anywhere in USA.As I travel a lot and I can’t do this transaction personally, the transaction will be made thru eBay for the safety of both of us and so we can be sure of the legitimacy of our deal…to do that i need your full name and full shipping address and ebay will contact you shortly with all the information you need.
I have to let you know that I want a fast deal because I have some financial problems right now.
Please reply me asap if interested.
Alen
P.S. Here you can see more pictures: http://img255.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=descm.jpg
Mr. Butler:
I was contacting you regarding the concession trailer that you were selling. I was just wondering if you still had it for sale or if it has been sold already. Could you please let me know either way.
Hi again Maria,
The trailer is already at the shipping company in Seattle/WA with all the taxes payed waiting for the destination and they don’t show the trailer to anyone if i am not there.This is the reason why i chose to sell my trailer over the internet.
Allow me to explain the payment terms and I am asking you to confirm you agreement:
The payment process will be very simple. It will all be handled by eBay. So mainly you have know that the money will be sent to an eBay agent that will handle our case.First you have to send a half from the total amount and after you will receive and inspect the trailer the other half.The transfer will be verified by the eBay agent and as soon as it confirms they will instruct me to send the trailer over.After you receive the trailer, you will have 5 days for inspection. After this trial period, let the eBay agent what your final decision is. If you keep the trailer, ONLY then they will release the money to me and the deal will be closed. If you decide from whatever reason that the trailer is not what I advertised, it will be taken back and your money will be refunded 100% by the eBay agent.
If you accept the terms above, email me your details so I can start the paperwork.
Full name:
Full shipping address:
Thanks!
Alen
April 16, 2011 at 9:46 pm
It is now mark Thomas…instead of alen..
April 16, 2011 at 9:55 pm
It is on craiglist right now, and I just got the above emails word for word from an M Thomas..
April 17, 2011 at 4:42 am
Guess he thought no one would notice. Because these money-transfer scams are so easy, it’s possible multiple people are running this con using the same form-letter.
BTW.. I’ve discovered the FBI’s Internet crime division (the one with the fancy website) actually does nothing. I’ve found this scam several times and notified them.
No response.
Not even a form-letter blow-off. local cops have had the same experience with them.
If you find yourself in the middle of this situation, you won’t receive help from anyone. The only chance you have is to play your own scam to lure this guy into a face-to-face for the money. Then shoot him. (But, then you’re stuck with body disposal. No-win all around.)
Unfortunately, they only leave their parent’s basements long enough to walk to the corner liquor store for the money you just sent. They’re smart enough to avoid any human contact at all. And, since this game can be played entirely over the internet, they can achieve almost total seclusion.
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