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View Full Version : Pretty sure this is a horse buying scam...

missyrideson
Aug. 6, 2009, 05:37 PM
I'm pretty sure this is a scam, i was suspicious right away but wrote back just to see. Below is first email I received:

Hello,
I am Anthony Jackson from Canada, I am indeed interested in your horse posted for sale. I want to buy the horse as a surprise birthday gift for my 20 year old daughter. I will like to know if the horse is still available. Please let me know your asking price if the horse is still available for sale, the reason for selling and recent picture if available so we can proceed from there. I will be looking forward to hear from you.

Regards
Anthony
Canada


So I wrote back and get this back:

Hello,
Thanks for your email. I am so glad to read back from you and also to hear that the horse is still available for sale. I am very much interested in buying this horse for my daughter and i will like to know your final asking price because i believe the horse is in good health. I live in Montreal, Canada with my family and like i said in my previous email, i want the horse for my lovely daughter's birthday. I choose to buy this horse for her because she is an horse lover. I have once bought a horse for her but unfortunately the horse died few months ago of old age. She really loved the horse so much and and she use to ride the horse uptown and downtown.. I can assure you your horse will be coming to a very good home. We are expert in breeding horses and my daughter is also good at riding and training horses and she has trained 4 horses in the past. I want to buy this horse as a replacement for her late horse and i will love to present this horse on her birthday. I will be glad if we can make the transaction as fast as possible because the birthday is near. I will inform my PA to get your payment ready which will be in form of Money Order so it will clear the same day you receive it. I will also contact my shipper who will come over there for the pickup for shipping estimation as soon as i confirm that the horse will be ours. I don't want any further delay on the sales of this horse so i want you to get back to me if you are willing to sell this horse to me and if you are fine with my payment so i can inform my Personal Assistant(P.A) to get your payment ready. Presently, i am in Spain for a conference but I will instruct my PA to get your payment ready so that there won't be any form of delay. I also want you to know that my daughter's formal horse lived fine with us until she passed out and your horse will also be fine with us till the old age. I will be looking forward to hear from you to start with the arrangement.

Anthony Jackson
Canada

Wow they are getting a little better, it doesn't say 'item', 'car' or 'it' like most of them!

We are expert in breeding horses? If you have a PA and are in Spain why do you want a measly priced horse like mine!


So anyone else's red flag lighting on fire right now?
foundationmare
Aug. 6, 2009, 05:43 PM
OF COURSE it's a scam. I'd suggest sending it to some of our fellow COTHers who have been known to have a little bit of fun with these mental midgets who, unfortunately, manage to find their intellectual equivalents in hapless suckers who fall for their ludicrous attempts to steal their money!
MILOUTE55
Aug. 6, 2009, 05:44 PM
well.... he says he would pay with a money order so you take absolutely no risk in saying yes.
It doesn't look like the real typical scam to me, even though the English is approximate and some parts do sound suspicious. It could just be someone not fluent in English.
Why don't you try giving the person a call? It's way easier to make your opinion this way!
greysandbays
Aug. 6, 2009, 05:50 PM
If you are sure it's a scam, say you want $500,000 for the horse, and your reason for sellig is because he's lame, mean, and stupid. And send them that picture that was going around of the horse with his head stuck in a tree.
missyrideson
Aug. 6, 2009, 06:03 PM
MILOUTE55 the FBI states that emails where a money order or certified check are offered are usually scams and one should always ask for cash. At first I maybe thought it could be bad english, I lived near Quebec and it is a French speaking province. The money order part was what made my 75% sure its was a scam to 99.9% sure. This is probably one of the best I've seen so far.
beesknees
Aug. 6, 2009, 06:27 PM
that is good. Tell him to do an online money transfer through e-mail as that just takes seconds and would make it that much faster :P
and all of the banks in Canada have that ability.
Danged Arab
Aug. 6, 2009, 07:51 PM
In his next email he'll tell you he's going to send a money order for the full price of the horse plus the price of shipping, and would you be so kind as to pay the shipper in advance. He won't mention that the money you send to the "shipper" will actually go to him, and then his money order will be found by your bank to be a counterfeit.

I love Greysandbays' suggestion! I bet the emailer will still say he wants the horse!
MILOUTE55
Aug. 6, 2009, 07:56 PM
In his next email he'll tell you he's going to send a money order for the full price of the horse plus the price of shipping, and would you be so kind as to pay the shipper in advance. He won't mention that the money you send to the "shipper" will actually go to him, and then his money order will be found by your bank to be a counterfeit.



ok, it makes sense now... I had no idea that it would be the next step and I was wondering how the scammer would get any money. That's why I first thought it was legit.
Ambrey
Aug. 6, 2009, 07:59 PM
Is his daughter a drinker? Or only used the horses at school dances?

I also want you to know that my daughter's formal horse lived fine with us until she passed out and your horse will also be fine with us till the old age.
Weighaton
Aug. 7, 2009, 02:25 AM
SCAM but a little bit better grammer than most.
Trees4U
Aug. 7, 2009, 12:48 PM
Play along. and keep us informed.

Its entertaining:D:D
missyrideson
Aug. 7, 2009, 06:02 PM
So I wrote back to scammer that I wasn't comfortable selling my horse to someone sight unseen b/c I want her to go to a good home and I haven't heard a peep since!!
Saidapal
Aug. 7, 2009, 06:21 PM
Who passed out? The girl or the horse????:lol::lol::lol::lol:

NO SALE!!!!!

Just reading his convoluted answer screamed SCAM!! They breed but can't come up with a new horse for the daughter?
tothepointe
Aug. 7, 2009, 06:43 PM
well.... he says he would pay with a money order so you take absolutely no risk in saying yes.
It doesn't look like the real typical scam to me, even though the English is approximate and some parts do sound suspicious. It could just be someone not fluent in English.
Why don't you try giving the person a call? It's way easier to make your opinion this way!

Umm to put it gently this is how a lot of people get scammed because they think that because its a money order there is no risk when in fact the money order is a fake. When I was selling a lot of ebay I would prefer a personal check over a money order because then I have reason to hold the shipment and if it bounces I have legal recourse
delaney14
Aug. 8, 2009, 11:35 PM
I recieved the EXACT same email from the SAME GUY! Everything was word for word the same. I was nervous when he said he lived in Montreal and that is like 30 hours away! The shipping would cost more than my horse! If you get this email from Anthony Jackson don't believe it IT IS A SCAM
Kate66
Aug. 9, 2009, 09:15 AM
well.... he says he would pay with a money order so you take absolutely no risk in saying yes.
It doesn't look like the real typical scam to me, even though the English is approximate and some parts do sound suspicious. It could just be someone not fluent in English.
Why don't you try giving the person a call? It's way easier to make your opinion this way!


Are you serious? Every single bit of this email, including the language and the money order are the exact hallmarks of these internet scams.
missyrideson
Aug. 11, 2009, 04:59 PM
I received nearly the same email today but under another name...I submitted the emails as scams to the site I'm PAYING to post my horse for sale. I haven't sold a horse in a while, what sites do you find best?
DeeThbd
Aug. 11, 2009, 05:28 PM
Oh yes.....I am sure that there are PLENTY of Montrealers riding their horses "uptown and downtown".....Montreal is a large, busy, cosmopolitan city - it would be kind of the same reaction as if somebody said Manhattan or somewhere as busy as that! :lol:
Dee