I just got scammed by what truly sounded like a legit advertisement on Kijiji. Long story short is I am out $750. I have gotten over it, but I want to make sure no one else ends up getting scammed by the same clown.
Details of ad:
Michael MacMan <imamacman@gmail.com> (I presume he changes email addresses each time he successfully scams someone - he used iamcanadian85@gmail.com when he scammed me.)
Hey,
Thank you for your interest in my Macbook. Just to confirm the unit is a 2.4 Ghz 13.3" Black Macbook. I have upgraded the ram to 4GB of 667Mhz DDR2 Ram. The laptop is like new, there are no scratches, the battery life is amazing, and it operates perfectly.
In terms of warranty I have an extended Apple care warranty until 2011 on the unit which is registered to the serial #. This covers almost everything except physical neglect.
I also have Microsoft Office, VM Fusion (Allows you to run Windows in a window), no pun intended, and a few other programs. I have the original boot disks which I will include with the box, but if you would like me to reset it to it's original state I can do so, or I can just leave it as is so you can take advantage of the additional software.
I have taken a few pictures of the unit and attached them to this email for you to see. I have put a piece of paper with my email todays date and the exact specs of the laptop so you know the laptop is in my possession.
I am asking $900 for the unit, the price is firm. I am located in Sarnia myself where are you located exactly? You can either pick up the unit and pay cash or I can ship the unit to you and accept your payment by either Interac Email Money Transfer, or Bank Wire Transfer.
Thanks for your interest, I look forward to hearing back from you.
Cheers,
Michael
This is the second ad I saw from him. The first he was a student in Halifax. I agreed to buy the laptop and send $ via Interac Money Transfer. Lesson learned. The email confirming he accepted payment was the last I heard of him...
He had given me bank account info and a name (Michael Mazza) to do a wire transfer, but that would have cost me $30-$80, so we agreed to the Interac Money Transfer. His bank account info was a CIBC on Laird Street in Toronto.
I should have done my Google search earlier. Afterwards I found a posting from back in February from someone claiming they were scammed by the name name on an iPhone purchase. Bank wire transfer details were for a TD Bank on Laird Street in Toronto. Should have realized this earlier... My hard lesson to learn.
I just don't want to see anyone else scammed by this guy. Heads up everyone...
(Now I think I'm back to apple.ca to buy a refurbished unit...)
So are you just giving up? If you have his name and everything, you can always report it to the police and the bank, they can probably check the security cameras or something. For such a huge sum of money, there's no way the police and bank will ignore you.
My general rule of thumb is that if you're paying for something you can't see in person, use PayPal.
The lesson learned is not to use Kijiji to attempt to buy stuff from people you can't meet personally. Kijiji is not EBay, does not have PayPal - so it's caveat emptor in it's finest hour...
I am always suspicious of people selling brand new machines at some slightly discounted price - it's usually a scam, especially if they "upgraded" the machine significantly. I would also be highly suspicious of someone who two weeks ago was a student in Halifax, then ended up in Sarnia, and both times had different email accounts.
As for recourse - basically you sent money and have no case to bring forth, since you did not meet the person, or work through an intermediary that acts as a witness to the transaction (as the records that EBay maintains would attest to). And really, if you tried to "go after" this guy, if you could even find it, he could just say you've been hounding him by email for $900 for something he never owned.
So the lesson earned, Craigslist and Kijiji are for local transactions only, where you can check out the goods, and make payment in cash, just like their disclaimers state.
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So are you just giving up? If you have his name and everything, you can always report it to the police and the bank, they can probably check the security cameras or something. For such a huge sum of money, there's no way the police and bank will ignore you.
My general rule of thumb is that if you're paying for something you can't see in person, use PayPal.
I did a few things. I dropped by my local Police district station to file a report, but they said for such a small amount of money (to them), that they wouldn't be able to investigate it. They said there were fraud cases in the $20,000+ range that they couldn't even get to. Basically, I was out my $.
I will call my bank, since they should be able to track who claimed the Interac Money Transfer. I highly doubt they will be able to do anything.
I did learn my lesson. Even though I have had no problems with eBay and other person-to-person sites over the years, Kijiji is for in-person, cash transactions. They even say such on EVERY listing! I just don't want to see others tempted by the same guy...
I did a few things. I dropped by my local Police district station to file a report, but they said for such a small amount of money (to them), that they wouldn't be able to investigate it. They said there were fraud cases in the $20,000+ range that they couldn't even get to. Basically, I was out my $.
I will call my bank, since they should be able to track who claimed the Interac Money Transfer. I highly doubt they will be able to do anything.
That's an obvious sign the Police aren't doing their job. During this time, $900 is a huge sum of money, and $20,000 is enormous.
I'm sure your bank can do something, assuming that they think $900 is a large amount. Just tell them that if you can't look into it you're switching to a different bank. Simple as that. They just want your business.
So are you just giving up? If you have his name and everything, you can always report it to the police and the bank, they can probably check the security cameras or something. For such a huge sum of money, there's no way the police and bank will ignore you.
My general rule of thumb is that if you're paying for something you can't see in person, use PayPal.
What makes you think Michael Mazza is the persons real name?
He or even she could have just picked that name - maybe they watched TV
Also, question to the OP - the email you posted said $900.- firm and then he/she accepted only $750.-?
That a pretty big drop from a "firm" price. Would have made me suspicious but I'm sorry you lost your money.
The banking information he provided for the wire transfer used this name, so I presumed his bank accounts are actually tied to his name... but I could be wrong!
Yep, I got scammed out of 200 from a similar ad. I was convinced that it wasn't a scam, as the guy said it was available for pickup. Thats the last time I ever order something from kijiji. File a police report, but they probably won't do anything.
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Yeah, I eat the whole apple. The core, stem, seeds, everything.
The banking information he provided for the wire transfer used this name, so I presumed his bank accounts are actually tied to his name... but I could be wrong!
It's unlikely that he used a real name. You could probably use any name, money will go to a specific account number regardless.
As a long shot though, have you tried the whitepages:
Hi there, I too just got scammed out of $300 today by the same person. imamacman@gmail.com He went by Michael MacMan.
I have put in a call to the Fraud Dept at my local police dept. and hopefully I will hear back from them tomorrow so I can at least file a report.
The scam was worded exactly the same for me as for you too.
The bank said they could not trace where the money went.
SCAMMER ALERT - Kijiji
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