Thought that the Toshiba laptop you have spotted is a pretty good bargain? Chances are that it is not. Halifax Live would like to remind its readers that items listed on local classified web-sites are not immune from foreign based fraudsters.  Thus, a new variation of an old scam has found its way onto Kijiji Halifax, though it is likely not limited to that site.

The scam goes something like this: a high end item is listed on a local classified site that purports to be from a local seller. Typically, this item is geared towards a very specific group  (e.g. serious photographers,  bike racers,  high-end computer users). It is also priced low enough to spur interest but not so low as to give the game away. Furthermore, unlike the typical Nigerian scam, the wording of the text is less stilted and not fraught with as many grammatical or spelling errors.  

Next, the vendor assures the seller that everything will be above board, since he will be using an escrow service to hold the merchandise until the money for the item arrives. In the two cases we investigated, the seller suggested using TNT as the third party which would supposedly hold the item until payment was received.

(TNT, a legitimate Dutch based logistics company, has long been a favourite amongst scam artist based in Europe who have managed to almost perfectly replicate the company’s website and invoices.  The company admits as much on its website, where it warns customers that  “TNT is aware that attempts have been made to mislead internet shoppers by the fraudulent use of the TNT name and brand, in addition to false e-mails concerning methods of advanced fee fraud”. )

Having waited a day or two to lend credence to his/her excuse, the vendor will then inform the buyer that he has, indeed,  shipped the item to TNT. This will be followed by an invoice, allegedly sent by TNT which confirms the receipt of the item and instructs the buyer to wire the agreed upon sum via Western Union.

Although the invoice looks legitimate on first glance, a number of glaring irregularities appear on closer inspection. Thus, the initial vendors name and address has changed. In our case, we were no longer dealing with Diciola Sandro from Dartmouth. Instead, payment was to be made to a certain Mr. Trail Howard  (our scammers were kindly inept enough to confuse Given and Surnames) residing at an address in Rome.

A careful inspection also revealed that the email originated from “ This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ”. A quick excursion to www.post-tnt.com brought us to a perfect copy of the legitimate TNT website (www.tnt.com) .  A spokesperson for TNT later confirmed that the site was indeed a forgery and that the internal security department has been notified.

(Using a quick WHOIS search, Halifax Live learned that the administrative and technical contact for the fake site is a certain Marcie Sandfort, whose contact address was given 1013 Meier Chico, CA 95926. It also showed that the domain name was created earlier this month. A quick call to the registrar of the domain, a legitimate company in new Orleans , confirmed that the domain name had been black-flagged for credit card fraud and was in the process of being taken down. )

One final formality had to be undertaken to confirm the fraud. Thus, when we inserted the reference number of the invoice into the legitimate TNT online shipment tracker, the result was as expected: the item was never received by the company.

There remains no doubt, then, that any sum sent in response to the invoice would have vanished into the pockets of a scam artists, likely located somewhere in Europe, possibly even finding its way back to North America.

As frauds go, this one shows only moderate sophistication. Still, by masquerading as a locally sold product, it has the potential to draw in victims that hitherto shied away from the more glaring scams.

Here are some tips to protect yourself:

-         Never, ever use Western Union or any other money wiring services to pay for on-line purchases. ( It is astounding, by the way, that Western Union whose name is quickly becoming synonymous with online scams has not done more to protect its reputation).

-         If you have even the slightest doubt over the legitimacy of a purchase, terminate the transaction.

-         Remember that a stranger will never have any reason to cut you a deal.

-         Always search the internet before  engaging in a transaction regardless of the method of payment involved. In our case, a quick Google search of the name “Diciola Sandro” revealed that it was used in similar scams.

-         Closely examine the sender’s email. Make sure that the domain name that forms the second part of the email address does not contain hyphens or extra dots.

-         Don’t be greedy.