Well I thought it was a Nigerian...

Imagine living in a country so poor and unnecessary to the rest of the worlds thriving economy that it is little more than a sandy wasteland.  it is filled with Internet cafes where "crafty" locals have made a pet industry, the only economy out of scamming people out of their hard earned money.  You may not have realized that such a place of disease and wonder really exists but it does and its name is Nigeria, an African attempt at a country like many others filled with "thieves and villainy."  This story however doesn't take place there, it takes place in Romania and features a local trickster there... 

Doing my normal searching on Ebay for old consoles and classic game bargains was I.  I found a great lot of old Dreamcast hardware cheap, and made a bid.  I forgot about the auction and later that evening got the dreaded "you lost email"  grr... Oh well such is the hunt for old and amusing games sometimes you win but mostly you lose.  Then I got this shabbily put together email:

Second Chance Offer

eBay

eBay sent this message on behalf of an eBay member via My Messages.

Responses sent using email will go to the eBay member directly and will include your email address. This message has been sent through the eBay Mail System.

Second Chance Offer

Item: SEGA DREAMCAST Complete in Box w/ 45 Games, Memory (280163502744)

This message was sent after the listing closed.

Good news! The following eBay item on which you placed a bid for -- on

23-10-2007 02:34:20 AM PDT is now available for purchase:

SEGA DREAMCAST Complete in Box w/ 45 Games, Memory (280163502744)

Your Price:

Offer end date:

5 business days

Second Chance Offer

The seller is making this Second Chance Offer because the high bidder was either unable to complete the transaction or the seller has a duplicate item for sale.

The selling of this item through Second Chance Offer is in compliance with eBay policy; you will be able to exchange Feedback with the seller and will be eligible for all eBay services associated with a transaction, such as fraud protection.

Act Now - This Offer Expires Soon

To take advantage of this opportunity, please act quickly. This offer expires in 5 days.

You may purchase this item by contacting the seller in this email eu2087@gmail.com

Thank you for using eBay!

I have had lots of second chance offers before from eBay but never one asking me to make good through a private email, I could almost smell Nigeria.  I went ahead and contacted hthe original seller and confirmed the fact the auction was indeed succesful and there was no second chance offer...  Now for fun I emailed back my African friend.  I made an offer to which he responded, accepted and in very broken english explained an email from eBay would arrive shortly:

Hi, I have contacted eBay and they told me that your invoice was sent (it`s posible to received in your junk mail too) and also they have sent me a copy with our deal. So please follow the eBay's instructions to complete the deal succesfully. I will wait your mail soon so I can start the shipping.

This is really a sad attempt at the old auction insertion method hack, the same thing plagues banking sites where fake emails generate realistic looking login prompts asking for account infos.  I replied quickly that i had not seen anything from eBay yet and was worried that my American money wasn't going to get spent, I had my Nigerian and I was ready for plunder.  Then my inbox was graced with this gem:

Congratulations, the item is yours. Please pay now!

eBay

eBay sent this message on behalf of an eBay member noodleshorts ( eu2087@gmail.com ) via My Messages. Responses sent using email will go to the eBay member directly and will include your email address.

ID Verify

Buy The Item You Recently Bid On

Item Title:SEGA DREAMCAST Complete in Box w/ 45 Games, Memory(

280163502744)

Buy It Now Price: USD $150.00

eu2087@gmail.com is the seller.

Good news! The following eBay item on which you placed a bid SEGA DREAMCAST Complete in Box w/ 45 Games, Memory is now available for purchase. :

The following item(s) are clear for eBay's item insurance policy:

Your Price:

US$ 150.00 *** Including shipping charges ***

Item Number :

280163502744

Buy It Now Offer

The seller,noodleshorts ( 868 Feedback score is 500 to 999 ) About Me aking this  Offer for the price of:USD $ 150.00

Selling and Buying this item through Buy It Now is in compliance with eBay policy. You will be able to exchange feedback with the seller and will be eligible for all eBay services associated with a transaction, such as fraud protection.

Act Now - This Offer Ends Soon

To take advantage of this opportunity, please act quickly.

• Complete your eBay transaction in 4 easy steps:

eBay accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer The buyer sends payment and the seller receives it. After the payment is received, the seller must notify eBay. Buyer will send the payment details directly to the seller's email address. The seller has three business days to send the tracking number of the shipment to the buyer and to eBay . If no tracking number is provided, a full refund is immediately sent to the buyer; Buyer receives the merchandise and has ten days to inspect it. If it is complete and as described, the buyer should accept the merchandise. If he refuses the merchandise, the buyer must ship the merchandise back to the seller within three business days. After the inspection period is over (10 days), the buyer must contact eBay with the result of the inspection. If the buyer refuses the merchandise, the refund will be sent to the buyer after the tracking number for the return shipment is verified.

Our seller uses Western Union Service for the payment.

• Payment must be sent by Western Union Money Transfer

Our seller uses WesternUnion Service for the payment due the fact is not able to temporarly use: PayPal,Escrow, Credit Card as a method of payment .

Escrow.com VisaMasterCardDiscover American ExpresseCheck

• Next step to be taken: The buyer must send the payment to the seller

It is recommended to send the payment as soon as possible, because your purchase protection is valid for 20 days only. Sending the payment by any other method of payment will void this transaction and your right to refund. Seller's verified payment address:

First name: Dragos

Last name: Hunuzau

Address: Petrisor Nr 15

City: Valcea / Ramnicu Valcea

Zip code 1000

Country: Romania

That's right, wait huh??  ROMANIA!!  Not Nigeria...  Grrr I thought I had the little scamster pegged from the get-go, and I was dead wrong.  My Nigeriadar must be getting weak from the daily email scams, I must be slipping, I never would have guessed Romania.  Western Union haha this scam is so obvious it is almost painful, it is sad to think people actually fall for this stuff.  Wouldn't you think on your way down to make a wire cash transfer to a real shit farm like Romania you might think hmm, something is amiss??  People.  Do not take any transaction outside of eBay. Everyone on Myspace is a guy.  Girls don't play online video games.  Follow these simple rules and your balls and bank will remain intact. 

Comments

[Marcela Popesco]

This is a Real email froma Open Case for this Scammer

Dear Sir/Madame,
My name is M. Popescu and I am working in Romanian National Police,
Cyber Crime Unit.

We received your complaint submitted at webmaster@politiaromana.ro
regarding Internet fraud committed by HUNUZAU Dragos.
According to our legislation, in order to open a penal case and press
charge against this person we need the following documents from you:
-complaint in Romanian form (see attached);
-copies of the correspondence with the subject
-copy of the payment document and any other document related to this
transaction.
You must sign all the documents on each page and send us by normal mail or
express mail at the following address:

General Inspectorate of Romanian Police –DGCCO-DCCO
Sos. Stefan cel Mare, nr. 13-15
Sector 2,
Bucuresti, 020123
Romania
In attn. D1/S5/POPESCU

Very important: Please print the emails received from the subject with
full header in order to identify the IP addresses he used.
I look forward to cooperate with you.
Best regards.

M. Popescu
Romania Police agent

[Marius Dascalu]

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS AND REFORM
OF ADMINISTRATION UNSECRETLY
POLICE INSPECTORATE OF COUNTY VALCEA
10 january 2008





Dear Mr. ,


We represent the romanian authorities in the county Valcea . We are investigating the case regarding internet frauds comited by romanian citizens against foreign citizens. You have informed the authorities that a romanian citizen named Hunuzau Dragos is making international fraud using western Union.
We have identified the person but in order to take the legal measures against him we need a written complaint against the person. After you complete it send it in Romania , Rm.Valcea, George Enescu street , number 29 for the Departement of Fighting against Organised Crime, in attention of Mr. Macau Cosmin the officer in charge with the case. This complaint is absolutely necessary according to the romanian law.
I have attached you a form that must be handwritten, dated and signed on each page by you. Please send it as soon as possible to our adress.
For further information, don't hesitate to contact us.

Best Regards



Chief of Countering Organized Crime Valcea
Mr. Marius Dascalu

C O M P L A I N T
Internet Fraud (non delivery of goods or misrepresentation)

I, the undersigned ________________________________ address _________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ ,
would like to report the following:

Description of the facts:
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

Details regarding the transaction:
Date & Time: ___________________________________________
Auction web site: ________________________________________
Description of item: ______________________________________
Amount of money: _______________________________________
Method of payment: ______________________________________
Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN): ____________________

Signature: ____________________
Information about the individual that victimezed me:
Name: __________________________________________________
Alias: __________________________________________________
Gender: _________________________________________________
Phone number(s): _________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Address(es): _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Email(s): ________________________________________________
IP address(s): ____________________________________________
Web site(s): ______________________________________________

For the reasons stated above, I consider that I have sustained a loss of (listing of specific damages): __________________________
and I intend to press charges against the above mentioned (name of suspect) ________________________________________________ .
I request that the criminal investigations be carried out and that (name of the suspect) ____________________________ be held criminally liable.
I append to this complaint the following documents:
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

I require civil compensation amounting to ___________ which is the equivalent value of the losses I have been caused to sustain through the criminal activities of the abovementioned (name of suspect) ___________________________________ .

Date: __________ Signature: ____________________

[Malcolm]

Good article. I am interested in the following: where do you download music and films? I download video and music ( http://www.filecatch.com/trends/ro/14-07-2010.html ) here.

[PENNINGTONElla19]

Houses are quite expensive and not everyone is able to buy it. However, business loans are invented to support people in such cases.