Strange gite enquiry

Yogateacher · Post by **Yogateacher** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 09:50

We have a couple of gites and recently got an enquiry in rather broken english, which seems really interesting. They want to rent for the whole summer and will pay our full rates, but the payment will be made by their company. For some reason they have to send us a cheque for 120,000 euros, we simply deduct the cost of the rental and send them back the balance. At the same time we will be entered into a prize draw but we have to send the originals of our passports and bank cards to register. Do you think this could be a scam?

pfrancis · Post by **pfrancis** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 10:19

this would appear to be a scam.
Paul.

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 10:22

sounds like a scam and money laundering all rolled into one to me!!

john · Post by **john** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 10:24

Scam with a capital "S",I'd say........

cufc · Post by **cufc** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 10:50

DEFFO a scam. We had something similar selling a car on Ebay and it turned out to be a money laundering scheme. He would pay over the odds, send a cheque for too much cos he owed someone money in this country and we would send on the balance!! Run a mile!!

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 11:42

I bet it's those 'generous' Nigerians again ....................

ruby · Post by **ruby** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 14:20

yep its a scam - we had one the same as cufc with selling a car on EBay, then we also had 900 taken from our account and then received an email from the Spanish lottery telling us we had won loads of cash as they had entered our French postcode into it - hahahaha - Life can be a funny thing - and no one ever said it would be easy!

cufc · Post by **cufc** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 15:05

Fortunately the canny Scot in me screamed "If it sounds too good to be true. it probably is".

We did pass it on to Ebay who tried to investigate but of course the account had been closed.

Yogateacher · Post by **Yogateacher** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 18:43

We once got a call from a bloke who said "congratulations you have won a free holiday in the Canary Islands, please come along to our prize centre to pick up your tickets. We went along and were lectured about time-share for a couple of hours. They then asked for two hundred pounds 'admin' fee for the holiday, which I paid. Three months later we enjoyed a fantastic holiday for four in a really luxurious appartement in Lanzarote, flights included. The next year the same thing happened and we had a great holiday in Portugal and a completely free weekend thrown in, in Cornwall. A couple of days after we got back a friend of mine said "I got a phone call last night from somebody saying I had won a free holiday - he must think I'm an idiot. I put the phone straight down."

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 19:38

I remember beign sucked in to one of those time-share free-holiday things when I was young, poor and gullible. We had to endure 2 hours of hard-sell from some really obnoxious salesmen and were then given vouchers for "free" holidays (with admin charges). We gave them to a friend whos circumstances allowed her to take advantage of the difficult flight times and short-notice.

So, yes, if you are unemployed or retired with no flexibility issues, you can take advantage of these deals but if your time is precious it's an unpleasant way to get a cheap holiday.

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 19:49

Back to the original topic. Those scams have been around for a long time. There are several good websites for checking scams. Just google your contact's details. Booking a gite/hotel/restaurant for a large number and getting you to accept money in one form and pay some back in another is classic money-laundering. Chances are that the cheque or credit card payment that you receive will bounce - after you've paid out.

I've recently been approached by a Chinese wine importer who seems to have conned several people already.

It's a clever scam. They make a contract for an attractive amount of wine at a good price but then insist you fly to China to seal the deal. They pay for the flight and put you up in a hotel but then explain that to seal a deal in China requires a gift. They take you to an art gallery and get you to buy a piece of fake art for a few grand.

Needless to say, the order for the wine never comes through.

But if you are a hard-nosed SOB and fancy a freee holiday to China, you can be my rep.

PS : It probably helps if you have Special Forces experience to get you out of the gallery without buying anything

John & Elaine · Post by **John & Elaine** » Fri 05 Feb 2010 20:09

For some reason they have to send us a cheque for 120,000 euros, we simply deduct the cost of the rental and send them back the balance. At the same time we will be entered into a prize draw but we have to send the originals of our passports and bank cards to register. Do you think this could be a scam?

Never ever send this kind of information to anyone. This is one of the most famous scams on the web!!

Hope we are all not too late!

John

pfrancis · Post by **pfrancis** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 06:35

In conversation with a senior executive responsible for fraud (detecting it, not committing it) at HSBC some years ago. He mentioned to me that well over 50% of goods on sale on eBay were effectively stolen goods as were bought by people using skimmed/stolen credit cards. An easy way for them to generate cash. I must admit I have bought very few items via eBay since it's inception in any case, but found this fact an interesting one. No idea if the situation now is better or worse in terms of eBay?
Paul.

john · Post by **john** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 11:44

cufc wrote:Fortunately the canny Scot in me screamed "If it sounds too good to be true. it probably is".

.

Always a good maxim to remember. That, and "there aint such a thing as a free lunch".

But,at the same time, it's very easy to get smug/complacent etc. It's something I try to avoid,this buying on impulse business,which of course is what the Ebays of this world feed on. I've never bought anything off it,nor do I intend to. I suppose I'm old-fashioned enough to want to actually see/hold the goods before I part with any cash.

Rather assumed that Ebay was a conduit for fencing stolen swag. I suppose it's hard to prove anything one way or the other,but it's obvious if you think about it.

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 12:14

I have bought a couple of things on Ebay.fr "successfully".

One was a silver (argent massif) eggcup and spoon set for my grandson's christening
Vey nice engraved French antique set on which I had a local jeweller write his name and date etc. My daughter (his mother) was very happy with that!!

The other was a small miracle for me!!
When I was christened I had my silver spoon which I "lost" somewhere at a fairly early age.
Lo and behold, while searching for the above set, I found an exact replica for sale (by auction) which I got by a bid in the last 30 seconds (!) for 20 euros! Incredible really as this was part of a limited edition 1898 from a UK silversmith and to find it on French Ebay was, to say the least, a chance in a million!! It graces a very special place in my collection!

blackduff · Post by **blackduff** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 12:28

Roger O wrote:I have bought a couple of things on Ebay.fr "successfully".

One was a silver (argent massif) eggcup and spoon set for my grandson's christening
Vey nice engraved French antique set on which I had a local jeweller write his name and date etc. My daughter (his mother) was very happy with that!!

The other was a small miracle for me!!
When I was christened I had my silver spoon which I "lost" somewhere at a fairly early age.
Lo and behold, while searching for the above set, I found an exact replica for sale (by auction) which I got by a bid in the last 30 seconds (!) for 20 euros! Incredible really as this was part of a limited edition 1898 from a UK silversmith and to find it on French Ebay was, to say the least, a chance in a million!! It graces a very special place in my collection!

Roger
I would have never thought that you are so old!

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 13:05

I don't think that is true about Ebay. I'm sure there are some stolen goods but most of the vendors are legit. I've used it for all sorts including car parts, a Sky box, kids clothes, books and games.

The strength is that most people use PayPal which freezes transactions, and even accounts if there is a dispute.

cufc · Post by **cufc** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 13:38

I agree Santiago. We've bought and sold loads from cars to football programmes without problems as long as you use Paypal and some common sense.

Yogateacher · Post by **Yogateacher** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 14:10

Santiago wrote:I remember beign sucked in to one of those time-share free-holiday things when I was young, poor and gullible. We had to endure 2 hours of hard-sell from some really obnoxious salesmen and were then given vouchers for "free" holidays (with admin charges). We gave them to a friend whos circumstances allowed her to take advantage of the difficult flight times and short-notice.

So, yes, if you are unemployed or retired with no flexibility issues, you can take advantage of these deals but if your time is precious it's an unpleasant way to get a cheap holiday.

You make a very good point Santiago, that you have to be flexible, as they don't give you a lot of notice about the holiday dates, but the quality was really excellent. The business was the 'Grand Vacation Club' although I think they also go by other names. Their maths in the presentation was seriously dodgy as they didn't take accont of the interest foregone if one invested in their scheme and I don't think they factored in the maintenance fees. I wasn't retired or unemployed though, just self-employed and flexible. The deal definately seemed too good to be true but for us it worked - twice!
We didn't take the scam booking by the way. I posted it as much to raise awareness about these things as to get advice, but I appreciate people's responses.

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 14:27

Santiago wrote:The strength is that most people use PayPal which freezes transactions, and even accounts if there is a dispute.

I wouldn't get too exited about Paypal, we have had problems with them in the past (on 2 occasions where complete strangers had bought something from ebay on our son's paypal account) and now if you have to pay using Paypal we just don't buy the item ...........

john · Post by **john** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 14:36

Yogateacher wrote:[at you have to be flexible, as they don't give you a lot of notice about the holiday dates, but the quality was really excellent. . I wasn't retired or unemployed though, just self-employed and flexible. The deal definately seemed too good to be true but for us it worked - twice!
.

You are indeed very fortunate,YT , if you can just drop everything at short notice and whizz off to Lanzarote ! The majority of us could not,so I guess that's what is meant by being too good to be true. I got collared last year at Barcelona Airport departure lounge by one of these companies who asked if I was interested in a "free" trip to Tenerife in a couple of days. I wonder what this guy thought I was doing in the Departure lounge in the first place?

Like serge,I too have had problems using PayPal. Would not trust it. Another reason why I do not use Ebay.

opas · Post by **opas** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 16:41

Santiago wrote: .

But if you are a hard-nosed SOB and fancy a freee holiday to China, you can be my rep.

PS : It probably helps if you have Special Forces experience to get you out of the gallery without buying anything

Outie will do it! he has a degree in `short arms, deep pockets` which can be recognised in any language

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 16:52

Santiago wrote:The strength is that most people use PayPal which freezes transactions, and even accounts if there is a dispute.

Sorry but I can't agree through personal experience!
But I do agree completely with Serge on this point!

Paypal accounts can be filched - and Alizée had to cancel and change the credit card registered to her Paypal accounts after a total of more than 450 euros was debited by external source - the last amount being 150 euros!!
Depite her closing the account; I got 3 Paypal debits on my card of around 20 euros each and had to do the same - as she had used my card once only for authorised payment and it didn't get deregistered/cancelled at time of the Paypal account closure - or it had already been compromised!!

I pay only by direct bank-to-bank transfer controlled by me (and Crédit mutuel!) which means if the seller wants the money, I need the seller's bona fide bank RIB/IBAN - with the guarantee that the transfer will be stopped by my bank in case of invalidity! Genuine Ebay professional sellers have no problem with that - actually, most welcome it - as it's a guarantee for them too that the buyer is genuine and serious.
It is also much faster than Paypal. I can do a bank-bank transfer in under 5 minutes anywhere in the world via "CyberMut" with the additional security for the seller of confirmation from my bank (integral in the transfer details) that I have correctly given it my personal daily security authorisation code.

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Sat 06 Feb 2010 20:43

Perhaps there are security issues with PayPal but essentially it is password protected and if you don't give your password away, just like your like online bank account password, you are safe. Plus most people link paypal to their credit card so have an extra chance to stop the transaction.

The advantage of PayPal is you can buy in foreign currencies without large exchage costs, such as would have for buying a $5 book in €.

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