SCAMPATROL

[kimbear]

Received a request to buy my business that is for sale, from ben shilton. Is he real?. I googled the name, and saw a few postings on this forum, but no specific statments referring to how he scams.
Like a fool I provided him with my address before finding this forum...so what do i do now, if he is a scammer?? Thanks!

[Q]

The name Ben Shilton has cropped up before. Can you please provide more information regarding what Ben has said or asked of you uptil now? We should be then be able the type of scam he is running.

In the meantime please don't answer Ben Shilton until we can advise you of the best course of action to take.

Take care!

[jez]

Kimbear - if Ben Shilton contacted you by email, could you post his email(s), along with the full headers, here (and please remove your own email address from it before posting).

[kim]

----- Original Message -----
From: BEN SHILTON
To:
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2005 9:33 PM
Subject: Single Seater Sport Hovercraft Manufacturing Business


Dear Seller,

I saw your ad on the net and I am instrested in buying your Single Seater Sport Hovercraft Manufacturing Business .The price( 20,000 cdn) is ok by me as it fits my capital price budget ,but I will like to see how easily relocatable it can be to another state also to U.K and it's estimated cost and if okay by me I would have to inform my investor about this who is based in Canada also to release payment cheque to you on conclusion.

Please send your full company names and address (not P.O.Box) so as to enable him issue a cashiers check in your name and send to the address you would provide.

I will await your confirmation alongside address so that My investor can come over for look up.

I look forward to reading from you soonest.

Thanks and God bless,my regards to you and family.

Ben Shilton

Duplicate post removed - Q

[Tae]

That's a scam!

They want you to sent a fake check for more than the agreed price and ask you to send them the balance. Your bank will probably clear the check at first but in a few weeks it will come back as fake and you have to pay the money back.

And you might also get in big trouble with the police for cashing a fake check!

[Q]

This looks to me like a cheque scam. I don't think he is in the slightest bit interested in the business. If you were to proceed with the transaction I expect he will come up with some reason why he will have to send a cheque which exceeds what you are asking for the business and you will be required to wire the extra amount back - thats the scam. The cheque is a dud.

Now you might think that's ok I will wait for the funds to show up in my account. Unfortunately you can't rely on this as even dud cheques do appear to clear and the funds are made available by your bank. However the bank will eventually find out the cheque is a dud and will serve a chargeback for that amount on your account - removing the funds. They have up to 6 months to do this!!

I would cease all communication with Ben Shilton and block his email address, if its possible change his email address because scammers will generally bug you from other email addresses if they are getting no answer.

Look for another seller for your business. If you can amend your advert or the next time your list it for sale I would recommend stating the following sentences in your ad:

[kim]

Yah...after about 5 seconds of good quiet thought, I figured it was too good to be true (especially since he emailed me with absolutely no questions, and didnt question the price). Unfortunatly that was about 10 seconds after I sent my address. I will cease communications with thids gentleman (???!!!) immediatly.
I appreciate your help, you guys provide a truly valuable service...es-pecially since you do it for free.

[kim]

If I do receive a cheque (as he now has my address)...should I turn it in to the police...or just shred it?????
Thanks
Kim

[Q]

If you do receive a cheque you can either give it to the police, hand it into the issuing bank or just shred it. Its really upto you. But whatever you do don't be tempted to bank it.

[eight]

My advice would be to take it to the police, and also tell them he has your address, just to be on the safe side, although if you keep ignoring him, I think he'll get the message and move on to someone more cooperative.
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eight