Briar Press users who have placed an ad in the Classifieds occasionally receive offers from scammers. Here’s a typical example:
Subject: urgent purchase of your item
Hello, How are you doing today, hope everythings is alright, am interested in immediate purchase of your item, After several consideration over the advert placed on the ad, i am really interested in it, let me know the present condition of the item and the total amount, payment shall be via Money Order or Cashier’s Check.
Send me your full name and address and phone number and total amount of the item so that payment can be issue asap, be inform that the item will be pick-up by my shipping agent after the check clears in bank okay, so get back to me asap thanks.
The message contains a number of classic scam indicators. Be suspicious of any potential buyer who
• uses the generic word item,
• wants to overpay for the item,
• wants to use a ‘shipping agent’, and
• seems to be in a rush to purchase the item.
The message is also written in broken English, but not all buyers who struggle with English are necessarily suspicious buyers.
What to do if you receive a suspicious offer
Don’t be tempted to respond to suspicious offers. Individuals who contact you through Briar Press will never see your email address unless you respond directly. Instead, forward the entire email message to spam [at] briarpress.org.
Please do not cut and paste the correspondence regarding the ad into a new email. Without the entire email message we may not be able to take appropriate action.
We immediately ban users who send suspicious offers or abusive messages to our members.
