Am I being scammed selling a textbook?

[Rhymenocerous]

Alright so I'm a college student. Well at the end of last quarter I decided to sell my textbooks online. I figured I could get a lot more money selling them to actual people than to the bookstore which will buy them back for a small amount then sell them back to people for more. Anyway I've been using facebook to sell some books. Haven't sold any books yet but saved $20 on a history book. Well I get an email from someone. He doesn't have any picture or any network. For those that know facebook a network is where you live. This gives me some suspicion already. Here's his first contact with me:
"Hello,
I'm interest in buying your item
How much is the final asking price?
Is the price firm?
Do you accept a U.S cashier check/money order for the payment?
What is the present condition of the item?
Kindly get back to me with your full name and address so that the payment can be issue and mailout as soon as possible directly to my email box at ***********
NB:Email me directly via my email box at************** cos i do check facebook occassionally.
I will be looking forward to hear from you as soon as possible.
Thanks"

Looking at his email to me he seems either foreign or that english is not his native language. Not proper english, whatever. Gives me more suspicion though. Here's my fist email to him.

"Hi ******* this is ***** ******. You contacted me on facebook about buying my chemistry book. I'll accept $95 for the book but you must pay shipping. I cannot estimate at this time the price of shipping because I don't know where you want it shipped. I'm assuming you're not at the University of ***********? It will be shipped from ********. If you're interested get back to me with where you want it shipped and I can figure out shipping and let you know a price."

A day later I get this:

"Thanks so much for the prompt response...I'm okay with
the price of  the Book.
As for the pick up of the Book,you do not need to be
worried yourself about the shipment as there is a
shipper that will be coming over for pick up of the
Book from you becos i still have many Books the
shipper will be picking up for me.
All what i need from you is to trust you with the
money!
The payment that will be coming to you will be enough
to handle the transaction.Money for the Book,also
$30.00 for taking your time and your effort to wire
the rest of the funds via Western Union to the shipper
information that will be enclosed with the payment.
Response to the question bellow:
1.Can i trust you with the money?
2 Will you be available when the shipper will be
coming over for the pick up of the Book?
3.Can you wire the rest of the funds to the shipper
the same day you received and cashed the check?
If so kindly get back to me with your full name and address,also with a valid cell phone number for immediately issuing of the check.
Thanks.


I haven't emailed him back yet. I can't even understand what he is talking about. Me wiring money to the shipper? Someone picking the book up from me and shipping it? I don't even know. What do you guys think. I mean it sounds like he is running some kind of business.

[rogueclown]

that sounds really sketchy to me.  usually people buying textbooks don't talk about western union fees, intermediaries, etc...  i don't even know if he's running a business, or just trying to ease your mind about how sketchy this is by making you think it's a business.

[Rhymenocerous]

It sounds sketchy to me too. Where do you think I could get scammed. I imagine it would happen somewhere with the western union thing. I don't even want to mess with western union money orders.

[N3gativ3sanity]

I'm pretty sure it is a scam. What will most likely happen is you'll cash the check, wire the money, then your bank will tell you that there wasn't any money in the account on the check, or something like that. A friend of mine got burned like that.

[PEneoark]

Just ask him to use paypal, or actually confirm that the check has cleared before sending the book.  I would be very wary on this.  Sounds like a crock to me.


A

[Rhymenocerous]

I'm not even sure if I even want to continue talking with him. Seems way to complicated to be legit. If it was legit I would think it would be this: He sends me a check, I cash check, I give book to the guy picking it up. Done deal.

[rogueclown]

good instinct.  no legit college book buyer makes it that messy.

put the book on half.com or ebay or amazon or something...you'll have better luck getting money from a reputable source.

[Rhymenocerous]

Here's some more conversation I've been having with this person. Now it's painfully clear it's a scam look at this. Here's an email I sent to him:

I'm not really understanding how this process will work. As I believe it you will send me a check, I will cash that check, the shipper will pick the book up from me, then I will wire money to the shipper? I'm just a little confused by this thanks for your patience.

And here's what I get back the next day:

hello ******,
Thank you for your responds, how are you doing over there? You dont need to worry yourself about this transaction as everything will go on smoothly with God.
This is what will happen, a check will be mail out to you of which you will have to deduct your item fund and send the balance to the shipper also $30..00 for yourself for taking your time and your effort to wire the rest of the funds via Money Gram to the shipper info that will be coming along with the check meanwhile you will need to provide a pick up address and make urself available while the shipper will be comming.

The check is about to issue and mailout,Kindly get
back to me with your full name and address,also with a
valid cell phone number for immeditely issuing of the
check.

I feel better about this transaction knowing that everything will go on smoothly with God. /sarcasm. Wow this guy is nuts. Is it against the rules to post this guys email or name? Maybe I'll just post it to a chan.

[rbcp]

Sell them on Amazon.  And buy from there too.  Student bookstores are a ripoff.

[Rhymenocerous]

I've never sold on Amazon but I have sold things on Ebay. Are they similar at all?

[rbcp]

They both have their good and bad points.  Amazon is a lot quicker when you're listing lots of items.  And they don't charge you money when you don't sell something.

[mr_doc]

Your book will sell a lot faster on amazon which is important because the next edition of your textbook will be released in about 14 minutes, making your copy worthless

[Rhymenocerous]

Wow these people just do not stop. I believe I've got another scammer here. Once again no network, no picture. Here's his email

Hello,
i am james Albert . i saw your advert concerning your item ( For sale: Principles of General Chemistry by Martin S. Silberberg ) for sale . i m interested in it . i will like to know the asking price for the item asd if the item is in good condition . you can email me at c .. i will be waiting for your reply..
Email Adress:******************
Jamea Albert...

Crazy

[Rhymenocerous]

Hello,
I am so happy to hear back from you.I need this item urgently in my store cos of its higher demand. i will be paying $100 for them item..My method of payment is via money orders or a certified cashier's check which has been my method of payment since i started business of buying and selling . The payment will cover the shipment of the item from your location which will be handled by my shipper.

All you need to do as soon as you receive the payment, Take the payment to your bank for funds,deduct the cost for the item and send the rest balance to my shipper's information via Western Union / Money Gram. I will email you the tracking number for the payment will be delivered to you via FEDEX / UPS and as well email you my shipper's information so that the rest balance can be sent to him for the pick up and shipment of the item from your location and my shipper will contact you for the shipment processes.

Kindly email me the information below for the payment:

Same scam, different name.

[Zazen]

Just ask him to use paypal, or actually confirm that the check has cleared before sending the book.  I would be very wary on this.  Sounds like a crock to me.

They'd be cashiers checks or money orders, the funds should be available immediately.

This is a common nigerian scam. They send you a phony check for too much and ask you to send them the difference. Their counterfeit cashiers checks and money orders are so good that your bank will credit you the amount immediately then deduct it a few days later when they figure out it's bogus. By then you've already wired the scammer some money. They do not want your book.

I think you should get him to send you some checks. Keep pretending you didn't get it and see how many phony checks you can amass from this guy. I'm sure it's not cheap for him to make good-quality fake bank checks.