Hey guys,
I am 99.9% sure I have been targeted as part of a scam.
I put an ad up online a few months ago to buy silver 1966 50 cent pieces at a good rate.
I get a call today from a private number from Steve who is a young Aussie bloke on a disability pension.
He tells me he lives in Brisbane but is not willing to do face to face (I have family there) as he does everything by mail
(suspicious but no obvious alarm bells ringing so far).
He has gone around to different LCS's/dealers and has offered to sell 18000 of these 1966 fifties.
Prices have varied from $2-3 up to about $6 per coin.
He asks me straight out if I can buy them for say $6.50- $7 a coin.
I tell him correctly that I don't have the liquidity to do that deal right now but given a bit of time I could get it done if it is legit.
He asks me how long and I tell him probably a few weeks/ a month ish. To be honest I don't know because I was put on the spot
but I'd have to shuffle some things around.
Anyway, I have another idea, I said if I can get you $7.25 a coin and sell them for $7.75 and keep .50 a coin would you be happy with that
and I'd do all the leg work.
He replies yes that would be awesome. So far so good but I want to make sure its legit plus I don't want to f up my trade reputation on the forum.
So I ask him for some id, if he can send it to me, he replies he can send me his pension card. I reply well can you send me your licence?
He says no I cannot due to the fact I don't have one but my girlfriend does. I asked him how he got into pubs (he is a young bloke)
his response was that he doesn't go out.
He also tells me she has a bank account he uses and he doesn't have one. Plus he doesn't have paypal because "he is not computer literate".
The strikes are starting to add up. He kept talking to someone in the background, example- "Hey babe, how do I get into pubs then? Do I use
my birth certificate right?" I was like no that would not work, you need photo id mate, then he said he doesn't go out. I guess I found
myself cutting him some slack because he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, I put this down to the fact he said he was on a disability pension.
He told me he inherited cash off his grandparents a few years ago and invested in gold and silver.
We have a chat for an hr and a half and he tells me he wouldn't waste that much time on me if he wasn't legitimate. I reply well mate for that kind
of money a scammer would. He knows enough about bullion, sovs, round fifties etc as I was subtly testing him and this made him appear more legit.
He informed me his coins are off property which is pretty standard and he'd need 72hrs to get them, box them and post them.
He also told me he has done many deals where "guys just pay me and I then mail them the coins", he has never had an issue apparently.
One idea I had was to ask for six references off him, this occurred to me after I got off the phone.
We ended the conversation with him saying he would email me his missus id. He was happy to give me his address (didn't get it), phone number
which I got and full name. He even offered to stand out the front of his "house" with tomorrows courier mail or give me his car rego number-
both things I told him were not tangible or good enough. I told him to set up a paypal account to because I wouldn't be depositing directly into his bank account, the person buying
would paypal me and I'd then deposit. There was some apprehension there but he seemed to understand after I explained it.
I also told him I needed some ID off him with a picture, he offered his gf's but I am worried it will just be a stolen id.
He and I are going to think about it for 48hrs and then hopefully we can work out a way for him to show id.
Now that I am off the phone alarm bells are well and truly ringing.
Especially when I reverse checked his phone number and it came up with this-
'Nuisance callers everyday non stop from 04------- calling 100s of times and SMS 1000s of times wanting to sell 20-30K worth of non-existent Gold and Silver. Trying to ask for money first - deposit to Wespac Bank BSB 733546 - WILEY refusing to allow anyone to seeing the goods before sending the cash.
Clearly a pair of drug induced idiots who think they are bright 'sparkles' in an otherwise dull world."
So yeah now I am adamant it is a scam, does anyone have any advice on how I can get this bloke to provide his details or
how I can get law enforcement to nail him if he is indeed scamming people?
There is still a extremely small chance (I'd say far less than 1%) that he is legit although I highly doubt it.
I am 99.9% sure I have been targeted as part of a scam.
I put an ad up online a few months ago to buy silver 1966 50 cent pieces at a good rate.
I get a call today from a private number from Steve who is a young Aussie bloke on a disability pension.
He tells me he lives in Brisbane but is not willing to do face to face (I have family there) as he does everything by mail
(suspicious but no obvious alarm bells ringing so far).
He has gone around to different LCS's/dealers and has offered to sell 18000 of these 1966 fifties.
Prices have varied from $2-3 up to about $6 per coin.
He asks me straight out if I can buy them for say $6.50- $7 a coin.
I tell him correctly that I don't have the liquidity to do that deal right now but given a bit of time I could get it done if it is legit.
He asks me how long and I tell him probably a few weeks/ a month ish. To be honest I don't know because I was put on the spot
but I'd have to shuffle some things around.
Anyway, I have another idea, I said if I can get you $7.25 a coin and sell them for $7.75 and keep .50 a coin would you be happy with that
and I'd do all the leg work.
He replies yes that would be awesome. So far so good but I want to make sure its legit plus I don't want to f up my trade reputation on the forum.
So I ask him for some id, if he can send it to me, he replies he can send me his pension card. I reply well can you send me your licence?
He says no I cannot due to the fact I don't have one but my girlfriend does. I asked him how he got into pubs (he is a young bloke)
his response was that he doesn't go out.
He also tells me she has a bank account he uses and he doesn't have one. Plus he doesn't have paypal because "he is not computer literate".
The strikes are starting to add up. He kept talking to someone in the background, example- "Hey babe, how do I get into pubs then? Do I use
my birth certificate right?" I was like no that would not work, you need photo id mate, then he said he doesn't go out. I guess I found
myself cutting him some slack because he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, I put this down to the fact he said he was on a disability pension.
He told me he inherited cash off his grandparents a few years ago and invested in gold and silver.
We have a chat for an hr and a half and he tells me he wouldn't waste that much time on me if he wasn't legitimate. I reply well mate for that kind
of money a scammer would. He knows enough about bullion, sovs, round fifties etc as I was subtly testing him and this made him appear more legit.
He informed me his coins are off property which is pretty standard and he'd need 72hrs to get them, box them and post them.
He also told me he has done many deals where "guys just pay me and I then mail them the coins", he has never had an issue apparently.
One idea I had was to ask for six references off him, this occurred to me after I got off the phone.
We ended the conversation with him saying he would email me his missus id. He was happy to give me his address (didn't get it), phone number
which I got and full name. He even offered to stand out the front of his "house" with tomorrows courier mail or give me his car rego number-
both things I told him were not tangible or good enough. I told him to set up a paypal account to because I wouldn't be depositing directly into his bank account, the person buying
would paypal me and I'd then deposit. There was some apprehension there but he seemed to understand after I explained it.
I also told him I needed some ID off him with a picture, he offered his gf's but I am worried it will just be a stolen id.
He and I are going to think about it for 48hrs and then hopefully we can work out a way for him to show id.
Now that I am off the phone alarm bells are well and truly ringing.
Especially when I reverse checked his phone number and it came up with this-
'Nuisance callers everyday non stop from 04------- calling 100s of times and SMS 1000s of times wanting to sell 20-30K worth of non-existent Gold and Silver. Trying to ask for money first - deposit to Wespac Bank BSB 733546 - WILEY refusing to allow anyone to seeing the goods before sending the cash.
Clearly a pair of drug induced idiots who think they are bright 'sparkles' in an otherwise dull world."
So yeah now I am adamant it is a scam, does anyone have any advice on how I can get this bloke to provide his details or
how I can get law enforcement to nail him if he is indeed scamming people?
There is still a extremely small chance (I'd say far less than 1%) that he is legit although I highly doubt it.
