[fallzboater]

I found a good deal (possibly too good, which makes me a bit nervous) on sellabike.com on a used road bike in London that I'm real interested in (I'm in Oregon). He sent an address on Wilson St., zip code EC2A 2BU.

The guy doesn't want to do PayPal, but wants me to send Western Union (or Money Gram). He has suggested that I could send the money to the UK with a different (bogus) name, send him a scan of the receipt, and when I get the bike, change the name to his. That sounds like a fairly good plan to me, but I haven't worked with anything but PayPal, before. (I understand why some people don't like to use PayPal, though.) I don't know if my credit card would protect me at all, in this case. Any other suggestions for a safe transfer?

This is a bit of a stretch, but anyone in London interested in helping me check it out? I think the bike is fine, but just verifying that it's a legit seller. I could probably work it out to buy you a pint and a meat pie, or whatever you eat over there. I'll PM or e-mail the name and full address, or maybe he could meet you at a shop or somewhere.

 

[principiamacb]

Why have you got to send it with a bogus name?

Western union is brilliant to use under the right circumstances. My dad used it to send me money when I was in India earlier in the year and I had problems with my bank card. Its fast and I got a better exchange rate than changing cash.

Dodgy people use it because you don’t need an account so its a lot easier to scam people and not get caught.

Sounds dodgy to me. I wouldn’t take it any further until at least some fine person from London on here checked it out first.

 

[principiamacb]

So does he want you to send it with a bogous name as some kind of security for you?

I dont think this would work as the most important thing with western union is a 8 (i think) digit number which would be on the recipt. The rest of the imformation he would need would be on the recipt as well.

 

[twowheelsdown2002]

Sounds pretty risky!! I would stick to the States if I were you. There are a lot of good deals to be had right here on Craigslist, MTBR, Roadbikereview etc. You will be totally helpless if he hoses you.

You would have to have him take it to a shop that you could verify, and have them ship it to you and then they would need a piece of the action. Seems like way too hard to make sure you don't get shafted.

 

[beastwood9]

no way

Its is a scam 99.9%

 

[[email protected]]

I live in london, there's a few markets/ places selling used bikes at good prices, sounds good yes?
Thing is, a lot of them are stolen.
Not so good.
If it is someone selling a stolen bike, whats to stop them stealing your money as well?
I'd stick with what you can find over there, the bike could also get damaged in transit, theres been a lot of threads on here about that happening with no payback from the company
edit: out of curiosity, what bike is it?

 

[volition72]

I'm from the uk but I don't live anywhere near london so can't check it out for you but it sounds dodgy to me. We have a big problem here in the uk with stuff like that/credit card fraud/cash machine scamming etc with london being the worst place for it! I don't know anyone who hasn't lost money in one way or another. I would stay well clear unless you can verify it in some way.

 

[fallzboater]

So does he want you to send it with a bogous name as some kind of security for you?

I dont think this would work as the most important thing with western union is a 8 (i think) digit number which would be on the recipt. The rest of the imformation he would need would be on the recipt as well.

Yeah, I told him I wasn't going to send him money, first, and he made that suggestion for buyer's protection. You may be right that he could still get the money with the other info on the receipt. I suppose I could black the number out, and wait for the bike, but it's still a lot of hassle for me, if it is a scam.

 

[AZ]

Dont send anything , its a SCAM .

 

[fallzboater]

I live in london, there's a few markets/ places selling used bikes at good prices, sounds good yes?
Thing is, a lot of them are stolen.
Not so good.
If it is someone selling a stolen bike, whats to stop them stealing your money as well?
I'd stick with what you can find over there, the bike could also get damaged in transit, theres been a lot of threads on here about that happening with no payback from the company
edit: out of curiosity, what bike is it?

Thanks, this is sounding more like a scam, since now he says that he works every day and doesn't have time to meet anyone that would look at the bike for me.

It's a 61 cm 2009 Speciallized Tarmac SL Pro (link to ad), nothing super special, but there are not a lot of stock carbon frames that fit me. He's asking $1,500 shipped, which is quite cheap (less than I just paid for my used Sultan frame only).

I'll pass.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks, this is sounding more like a scam, since now he says that he works every day and doesn't have time to meet anyone that would look at the bike for me.

It's a 61 cm 2009 Speciallized Tarmac SL Pro (link to ad), nothing super special, but there are not a lot of stock carbon frames that fit me. He's asking $1,500 shipped, which is quite cheap (less than I just paid for my used Sultan frame only).

I'll pass.

Good idea, it does look like a good deal, but those sort of bikes are the most likely to be stolen with so many people commuting to the city center and locking their bikes up where they cant see them.
Good luck finding something else

 

[doco]

Scam!!!!!!!

 

[alexkraemer]

scam. Craigslist has a big warning at the top of each page in the For Sale section about Western Union scams.

 

[DriveByBikeShooting]

why the he!! would you want a road bike?

 

[fallzboater]

why the he!! would you want a road bike?

Well, there are times (like right now, for instance) here when the trails are unrideable due to snow or mud, but the roads are OK. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've been riding road (since the early '80s) much longer than trail. OTOH, road bikes have had right-sized wheels for quite some time.

 

[dmx1]

I would stay away from it. My GF was tricked into an appartment rental scam only recently with Western Union being in the deal as well. The scammer went as far as using the name of TNT as third party.

 

[freebiker]

don't do it, specialized blows

 

[dunxster]

Ask yourself the questions, "Why would someone in London want to advertise a bike for sale in the US and advertise the price in dollars? Why not just put it for sale on UK sites?"
Doesn't make any sense does it.

 

[fallzboater]

I'm not a huge Specialized fan, in fact I'd prefer not having the same bike that half the guys I ride with here do. There are only a couple of other (more expensive) stock carbon frames that fit me, though.

[thanks for editing your post, freebiker]

 

[slocaus]

It is a SCAM. He gets your money, you get a nice piece of worthless paper. Western Union protects the money recipient and not the sender!

Look at the second bold line from Craiglist
http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

You can sidestep would-be scammers by following these common-sense rules:

* DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist.
* NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.
* FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later.
* CRAIGSLIST IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY TRANSACTION, and does not handle payments, guarantee transactions, provide escrow services, or offer "buyer protection" or "seller certification"
* NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)
* AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAMMER WILL "GUARANTEE" YOUR TRANSACTION.