Classified Advertising Warning Page

To ensure a safe and secure transaction for both buyer and seller I recommend the services of Escrow.com to complete the deal.

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IMPORTANT E-MAIL SCAM ALERT!!!

There is a widespread scam occurring in the world of online classified advertising that you should be aware of. It affects the both the big advertising sites and small niche sites such as this one. It is a con artists ploy using a ruse story where the con artist tries to get YOU to send him a monetary difference between the item you are selling him and a large money note he (or the friend in the scam story) sends you. Although you are able to deposit the money note, it is indeed worthless - no funds actually there. Meantime, they hope you honor your agreement and send off the overpayment and perhaps whatever you are selling only to learn later on that the money note is worthless. Bang - YOU have been taken. The story line used changes, and there are several con artists now modeling this ploy - because it is working.

Please be careful - only deal with REAL money - cash, PayPal, checks or bank notes that you verify funds on. Remember, BANK DRAFTS ARE NOT AS GOOD AS CASH. Your bank will release the funds to you usually within 48 hours BUT a fake draft can take up to four weeks to come back to the bank - then you are on the hook for whatever amount it was! Always call the issuing bank to confirm the draft AND wait at least two to four weeks for the funds to clear. If the teller says it will clear in a couple of days - don't believe it! Remember also that a fake draft will have a fake address and/or phone number. Check with directory assistance to confirm that the name of the bank, address and phone number are legitimate.

The best solution is to use the services of Escrow.com - a third party escrow service. I recommend this escrow service because it is REAL. 90% of online escrow sites are fake! The scammers will insist on using an escrow service of their choice which itself turns out to be fraudulent.

A recent (un-edited), example of these con artists in action is below:

"Good day,
I am a business man in Nigeria, i would like to have the auto has i understand it is for sale(Chevy, Corvette), so then i will be offering you the sum of $18000.00 for the payment,but if my offer is accepted by you,then i think i should i will like to see some more pics of it and i also want to let you know that i intend paying for it with a cashier's check drawn from a US bank due to the fact that wire transfer these days is not safe for payment,so then i will kindly wait you,as you reply soon,so we can get on with the transaction immedaitely.
Thank you very much as i await your reply.
MR PETER LONG. "

The first tip off is the subject line of the E-mail. In many examples the scammers usually just copy and past your item description directly into the subject line of the E-mail. Second big tip off is in regards to shipping. The scammers almost always offer to take care of arranging shipping themselves. They will also mention paying with a Cashier's Check in the initial E-mail. Suspicious E-mails may also use all capital letters, have bad spelling, request more contact or banking info from you, will not be concerned with the condition or price of the sled, and will probably claim to be a re-seller or agent for someone else. If any of these things are in an E-mail you receive you have a scammer on your hands! They will most likely be using a free E-mail service as well. Yahoo, Hotmail and USA.com are common ones but there are many more worldwide. If you do not recognize the domain of the E-mail (the part after the @) just copy and paste it into your browser and go check it out. If it is a free service be very wary.

Unfortunately, the scammers are getting better. Here is a recent example I received;

"Hello,
Merry Christmas. I just saw the advert of your snowmobile for sale and decided to mail you and find out if it is still for sale. I would like to know your last offering price and a photo if possible. Thanks as I await your reply.
Sincerely,
John Norman"

Tip offs are the fake name (two first names - the scammer can't come up with a good last name), slightly awkward sentences (far to formal for an enquiry regarding a sled), incorrect use of words ("last offering price" - have you ever said that in a sentence?), he's asking for a price and picture even though there are one or both in the ad, the E-mail it is addressed to isn't even your own, and finally, as always, they are using a free E-mail service (sify.com in this case).

Here is an example of a "second contact" E-mail. This is what you would get if you replied to their original enquiry;

"Hello,
Thanks for the mail.The price is okay by my client and i am ready to purchase from you immediately, i will offer you $7,700.00(U.S.DOLLARS)for the 2001 Arctic Cat ZRT 800 Triple and i want you to delete the ad from the website.I have a reputable shipper in london that will take care of shipping from your end.
I want you to know that i am going to pay you with certified cashier's cheque on my behalf and as soon as the cheque arrives,you hold out your amount and send the difference to my shipper in london via western union for the pick up in your place and also i will like to see the recent picture of the 2001 Arctic Cat ZRT 800 Triple .I hope i can trust you with my balance and also you will be contacting my shipper with all neccesary information needed for pick up in your place i.e the actual weight and e xact dimension of the 2001 Arctic Cat ZRT 800 Triple . if this terms are okay by you,do get back to me with the followin g details like this :
Home Address...
Full Name on cheque...
State...
Zipcode...
Country...
Telephone Number...
Mobilephone number...
Fax Number...
Do get back to me asap with this details for payment to be made out to you immediately.
Waiting to hearing from you.
Thanks.
KEVIN."

I believe the request to "delete the ad from the website" is a new development as of the summer of 2004. There are so many scammers trying this now they are afraid that, during the scam process, you will receive similar E-mails from other scammers which will be a tip off that something is fishy. Having you delete the ad is the only way to prevent this for them.

I now recommend not running your E-mail address in your ad - just a phone number. Almost all of the scammers rely on E-mail for their initial contact. However, if you've read this far you do have enough info to be able to spot most of the clues in a scammer's E-mail. It is really your choice.

Believe it or not, these scammers, from Africa or India, would even attempt to buy a snowmobile for this scam. Please be aware of this fraud and tell everyone you know about it, too. The internet is a wonderful tool for bring people and sleds together. Lets not let these criminals ruin it for us! Visit Scam Victims United for even more detailed information on this problem.

Allan Lewis
webmaster@snowmobilelinks.com

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The Legal Fine Print:

snowmobilelinks.com acts as a venue for sellers to list snowmobiles and parts and buyers to purchase snowmobiles and parts. We are not involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers. As a result, we have no control over the quality, or safety of the items advertised, the accuracy of the ads, the ability of owners to sell items or the ability of buyers to buy items. We cannot ensure that a buyer or seller will actually complete the transaction. We also encourage you to communicate directly with sellers. Since we are not involved in the actual transaction between buyers and sellers and any such dealings occur without our knowledge and are outside of the website herein, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more users, you release snowmobilelinks.com from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

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Allan Lewis Enterprises
449479 Tenth Line, RR#2
Singhampton, Ontario
Canada, N0C-1M0
519-922-3321
webmaster@snowmobilelinks.com