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The Internet is world wide and can be viewed by millions of people, this can result in offers from potential buyers from abroad. Some advertisers on the site have been approached by foreign "bogus buyers". Any offers for a caravan far in excess of the asking price are more than often bogus and should be ignored and not replied to.
These e-mails can be relatively
easy to spot as they are often grammatically incorrect, mention "reputable
shippers" and "certified cashier cheques". Often foreign buyers
send cheques for far in excess of the asking price of the Caravan - the cheques
appear to be drawn on UK Banks but can prove to be invalid. These cheques may
appear initially to be cleared by a bank - but later the bank declares the cheque
or draft to be invalid (a forgery or stolen) and wants its money back.
These bogus buyers also request the balance of the money to be sent (often via
Western Union) to arrange shipping. - DON'T SEND ANY MONEY
IT IS A SCAM
If the scam is a Hotmail or Yahoo account you can report the scam by e-mailing
and enclosing the offending mail to: abuse@hotmail.com
or abuse@yahoo.com This can result in the
offender's account being closed down and they'll find it hard to establish another
one with the same provider. Many of the bogus offers are from yahoo accounts.
Remember that it is very easy to open an e-mail account with very little or no ID needed with no confirmation of address or name needed. Therefore great care should be taken when communicating with a potential buyer or seller solely via e-mail.
If a potential buyer appears to be dubious - it is best to use your common sense and not to reply to the e-mail and wait for a more creditable offer. By not replying to such e-mails it discourages any dubious buyers from using the site and also prevents the seller getting into lengthy unprofitable e-mail correspondence.
E-mail addresses of bogus offers that have been received by advertisers are shown at www.caravans4u.co.uk/bogusoffers.html
Regarding payment, services offered by paypal.com
Telephone numbers and addresses can be cross referenced
in the UK using bt.com (directory enquiries)
and consignia-online.com Also
names and addresses in the UK can be compared using "people search"
at 192.com
UK STD telephone codes and postcodes can be checked at ukphoneinfo
The country and region of international numbers can be checked using http://www.primeris.com/fonefind/
If you are expecting replies via e-mail, it is advisable that all computers that receive e-mails have an up to date anti-virus programme.
Beware if any prospective buyer sends another person on their behalf to purchase a caravan. Check that the cheque or bankers draft is genuine.