I’ve recently uncovered a ridiculously elaborate online scam while shopping around for a MacBook on Craig’s List. I’m still in disbelief that people would go to these lengths to steal people’s hard earned money. I know that opinions may differ on what actually defines an elaborate scam, but read on, and you’ll see that I’m not exaggerating.

While on Craig’s List I spotted a post for a black MacBook for $400.00. I thought “This sounds way to good to be true!” but I decided to investigate this “awesome” deal anyway. Remember the old saying; If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I sent an email stating that I was interested in buying the laptop and waited for a response. The next day I received this reply:

“Bold Dreamer”

10/03/2008 04:30 AM
Subject
Re: 13” MacBook, 2,16 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2 Gb memory, 120 Gb HD - $400

Hello,

The laptop is still available and I hope you are still interested. My name is Amy and I am now in Manchester, U.K.
This machine has been used for professional needs over the past 13 Months, it is in great condition and runs perfectly, and beyond evidence of normal use the laptop is in perfect shape. The warranty is good until August 2009 and it is fully transferable. One more thing, it works on US voltage so you do not need a converter.
I have attached some pics with the laptop to this e-mail so you can see the condition of the laptop.
Please get back to me and let me know if you like the laptop if you’re really interested in buying it.

Thanks,
Amy

Seems pretty straight up at first glance, but a few things should jump right out at you if you’re good at sniffing these types of scams out. The first thing - It’s the ‘ol bait and switch. “Sure I still have the computer, but I’m in the UK now.” Then why are you posting this in US cities on Craig’s List? Why not just put it on eBay? They do make power/wattage converters. Secondly, why isn’t the keyboard completely visible? How am I supposed to verify that it is a US model? I decided to have a little fun and send an email to “Amy” (probably a dude) to see if I could get some more out of her/him/them. This is what I received:

Hello
The laptop will come with everything in the pics, case, mouse, disks.
I will pay for a 2 days delivery so you will receive the laptop within 3-4 days.
Obviously we need a safe way to complete this deal that will allow us to make sure we receive what we are after.
I have found a way for us to complete the deal safely and fast, and in this way you will receive the laptop in less than 3 days, if you move fast as well. The solution is provided by a worldwide delivery company DHL, and they will provide assistance in hadling the payment and delivery of the laptop.
With this procedure you will have the change to test the laptop before I receive my payment.
The procedure is explained on the DHL webpage and please click on the link below to the DHL website to see how we can complete the deal safely and fast directly from the website of the company.
dhl.co.uk/publish/gb/en/services/log_services/air.high.html
Let me know
Amy

(I’ve broken all of the links so you’re not tempted to click on them. You can reassemble them and go for it if you want to though)

That’s weird. I’ve used DHL before. They don’t offer any kind of escrow service like the one described in this email. They are a shipping company- nothing more. If you follow that link you’ll see that there is absolutely nothing there that describes anything of the sort either. Also, it seems that “Amy” is suddenly having a hard time grasping the English language.

Now, check this out - a few minutes later I receive this email:

Look at the red text in the yellow box in this photo (near the middle). You’ll notice another red flag, you have to “pay first then we ship”. Yeah, I bet you will…

They went all out, didn’t they? Contained in this email from “DHL”, were two email addresses (seen in the last photo):
customerservice@sameday-logistics- dhlpost.com (online customer support)
paymentservice@global- dhl.com (payment service)

This is getting pretty interesting! Let’s have some fun! If you put sameday-logistics-dhlpost.com into your address bar, you get a website that has absolutely no ties with DHL whatsoever. Here’s a shot of where you end up:

An untouched stock template. These scammers are using this domain to send the emails that are made to look like they are from DHL. The same is also true of the other email address. This really makes me mad, I’m not going to lie. You know, our parents (and grandparents) could easily fall for this. It’s just convincing enough.

So, at this point in this scandalous transaction, all that’s left for you to do is wire the money to the “DHL” agent. He’ll then clear the package for delivery and you’ll receive it in just a few days. Hold on a minute… Wire the money? Sure, I’ll get right on that… The sad thing is, these scammers have gone to great lengths to dupe people out of their dough, and after doing some research on Google, I’ve unfortunately found out that it has been working.

So, I bring this to you as a warning (and I hate to put it this way, but… ) - There really are some people out there that are just waiting to catch you slipping - and then bang you for all you’re worth. Hopefully this entry has saved either you or someone you know some hard-earned money.

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