What do you think - scam or real?

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Texatdurango

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With all the scams going around the internet today, I, as most of us are very sceptical about everything we see.

For those who have selling pens on their websites for a while, have you ever gotten something similar to message below?

Part of me wants to think I have gotten lucky with a large order but I am more apt to believe it is just part one of a scam with the hook or "conditions" to follow.

Here is what I received, the name and numbers have been removed by me.

Hi,
Some of your pens are really outstanding. There are 11 I would like to order to save for Christmas presents. Would you accept a postal money order rather than credit card?

I'm interested in: Jr Gentleman # 38, #133, #134, #138 #199, at $55 each with rollerballs. Also Baron # 21 with rollerball at $55. Also Sierra #78 and #81 with rollerballs at $45 each. Also the 3 box elder burl Gentlemans rollerball in wine, green, and violet at $70 each. The exact pens as shown on your site are what I would like in the colors and platings in the pictures.

That's 6 pens at $55., 2 at $45., and 3 @$70 for $630 plus shipping.
I will send a postal M.O. Wednesday if acceptable to you. If you need credit card payment, I'll have to send in a payment to VISA before ordering to make sure I have enough available limit to make this purchase.

Either way, I would like them.
I will be at work at ***-***-**** from 2-6pm Wednesday if you would like confirmation that i am serious about ordering these. If money order is acceptable, just tell me the total with shipping and the address and I'll send it out tomorrow via priority before I go to work.
Thanks,
Mike (if any are already sold, i'll take the balance of the order)

Michael ***, MSW
** **** St.
Rochester, NY 14621
 
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I don't yet sell on the Internet but the scenario sounds legitimate to me. A postal money order is legal tender. Get it first, take it to the post office to cash it. If they do, then send the pens. Call him if you are still unsure. I would be concerned if they did not provide a name, address, or phone number and they wanted to pay by personal check.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Thanks Bruce,

I did reply, saying that the particular pens were available and to go ahead send the money order.

The only thing to do is wait and see what happens next. Sure would be nice to sell this many pens at once but the skeptic in me is sorta expecting to see the next message read like... "I've sent a money order for $1000 because I don't want my wife to know about the extra money, could you send back $340 in cash with the pens"! [:D]
 
Another thing to try is to do a 411.com search on his phone number. If this matches his address, and a map search confirms this is a real address, it would be less likely to be bogus than if they don't match a real place.
 
Sounds good to me. I also would cash the Money Order prior to shipping. There are a series of fake money orders out there. (friend in the business)But the post office will know if the number is bad. Good luck with it and congrats.
 
Sounds good to me also. if a postal M.O. they can make sure it is legit for you. if not, then I would let teh bank clear the payment before you ship, or take it to Western Union or wherever else it was from and cash it there.
 
the only sketchy thing on there is that he goes into some serious detail about payment, which seems odd... in general penturners' websites probably aren't running out of stock that quickly, so it's a little strange that he seems so eager with over a month before christmas but maybe he has the money now or something... but he seems to have really studied which pens he wants also, so that makes it sound legit. let's hope it's real! let us know what becomes of it. i used to be in a band where we'd get gig offers that ended up being scams, but you can usually tell right off the bat which ones they are due to the poor grammar and this one doesn't have that.
 
It sound's good to me, but I would let him know that you have reservations because of scams with money orders. Let him know that you will not send anything out until it has cleared for a week.
 
Be Cautious...

For a couple years now, there has been a lot fake P.O. Money Orders. Before you commit to anything, please read this alert from the USPS.

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/moalert.htm

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right on JB. you got to the good info before I could. Also FYI to everyone. If you get a MO from a bank outside of the USA, it could take up to 3 months to clear or be returned as a worthless document.
 
With scammers, in general, they want your most expensive stuff. They aren't too familiar with details. I had someone want 7 Helixx rings, all $800 rings, but didn't seem too concerned with what size they were. Big red flag! Another is that they want it quickly. They don't care what shipping costs because they won't be paying it anyway. More time to not get caught. You can offer a $250 courier express option, and they would pick that. For credit cards, they usually have a different address on the card and the ship to address. Another red flag. Ahoiberg mentioned misspelled words or grammer. The above order was requested to be sent to somewhere in Kentucky, which he abbreviated KN. Oopsie. Also check e-mail addresses. Chuxter5555@aol.com would be logical for someone named Charles, not necessarily for someone named Fred or Mary. Sometimes you need to go with your gut. Losing an order that seems too good to be true is better than losing the money and effort to a scammer.
 
Thanks for all the opinions.

Earlier I replied saying it was OK to send the postal money order, and about five minutes ago he replied saying the payment will be going out in about 30 minutes via Express mail if my area is served by it or if not by Priority.

Again, time will tell and I will of course cash the check when it arrives before shipping anything out. If this works out to be legit, what a way to celebrate the innagural week of my website accepting credit cards![:)]

Originally posted by JimBobTucson
<br />Be Cautious...
For a couple years now, there has been a lot fake P.O. Money Orders. Before you commit to anything, please read this alert from the USPS.

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/moalert.htm
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link Jim, after reading the info, I called the number given and learned that any post office can cash a USPS money order so no worry about waiting for it clear a bank for 10 - 15 days.
 
Sounds quite legitimate to me - the only concern is that he has 600 dollars cash that he can send in the form of a money order, but that his credit card doesn't have a 600 dollar limit....most people with money to blow like that have credit cards with high limits, I would think.

But definitely, have him send the money order, mail NOTHING in advance, and check it out. Being so close to Christmas, if he wants to ship them out to friends and family (esp. out of the Country), he'll have to get them quickly, hence the haste.

As well, he asked for specific pens, not just "give me 10 of your best Barons", or something like that. Sounds legit, but be wary!

Andrew
 
Yup. I agree that this does probably sound legit. There weren't too many of the red flags raised. At least he's sending the money order quickly. I get orders to be paid by check or money orders, and they never seem to arrive. I suppose they thing product will be shipped before receiving payment!?
 
Receiving an order like that has to be exciting! It's especially important to be cautious during moments of exuberance. The part of the correspondence that I find troubling is his statement that "if you would like confirmation that i am serious about ordering these." It just raises a little red flag with me that he would even mention that.

I'd take the money order to the bank, have them make certain it's the real thing, then send the pens.
 
As my friend Ed would probably put it.... <b>Woo! Hoo!</b>

This morning I called my Post Office and they said the EXPRESS Mail package had arrived. I accepted it, signed the postal money order and handed it back to the teller who gave me the cash! Took all of four minutes and I was driving back home.

Needless to say the order will be mailed out this afternoon!

As stated above, this IS exciting! I spent the past two weekends sitting in craft shows trying to lower my pen count only to sell fewer pens than this one order! And, this was clearly out of the blue, no emails going back and forth, just one email listing what the customer wanted.

Thanks for the concern shared by many of you. Just for grins, here are the pens he ordered.... I'll actually miss a few of them, especially the Amboyna burl and green dyed box elder which I like looking at, but hey, I have a lathe and more blanks![:D]

2007118174522_first%20web%20sale.jpg
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[;)]Damn you're fast -- even updated your website already [:D]

Great sale.
The pens look gorgeous, the web presentation is clean and easy to navigate, and he's gonna have a Christmas to write about. [8D]
 
Gee,congrats is in order,,just looked at your web site,something i got to get going as soon as i meet all these challenges of making all the diff.pens..I saw your inst.on the knots,i was close but not there,seeing that is going to help..Thanks Carl
 
in my experience the scams would try to buy a dozen of one style of pen. saying nearly nothing about the pens themselves and asking to hurry up about shipping them. they would also want to pay by credit card and avoid using my pay pal pay check out.
a money order is as good as cash as far as I know.
Get money order and cash it. after that it would be all good.
 
Originally posted by Texatdurango

That's 6 pens at $55., 2 at $45., and 3 @$70 for $630 plus shipping.
Click to expand...


Man! That does sound like a scam! Who on earth would pay that much for 11 pens? Good grief![:0]









OK I AM KIDDING!!

It actually sounds good to me, perhaps a customer that is a bit over-zealous (a good thing) and really wants to get them in before the Christmas shipping fiasco starts.

Just keep your eye on the legitimacy of the money order, as said before.

Congrats on the big order. That is awesome.[:D]
 
Good for you.
I recently took a money order to the bank to deposit and was informed that is was fake.
I looked at the teller in disbelief and explained that there was no way. She showed me that it was actually a very high tech copy and that I was out the funds. Not Good!! Luckily the buyers products were still in my truck as the post office was next.

I am now working on a request for a very large order that makes me very suspicious. After a while you will just feel that something smells funny and move on.

Congrats on the great sale!
 
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