There is a person that is going around and is trying to get breeders of sugar gliders and offering payment via a cashieers check or money order that is fake. The money order is written in excess of the purchase price. They send you a money order and you go cash it. It clears initally. You get the money and send it back to them. The send someone over and pick up the glider. Then they leave the bank contacts you and they determin the money order is a fake and you have to pay for it. Plus you are out of your gliders. This has happened to a member. I have gotten a few emails from them. If you have any emails that you believe are fraudulent or you have been the victim of this crime then please email me at:

[]dragon_assasin@yahoo.com[/]

I need you to copy and paste the full headers in the text of your email.

I will attempt to see if there is a common link and see if they can be caught. I have included the emails that have been sent to me below:

Email 1:

From: "jack smith" <jack_smith04@graffiti.net>
Add to Address Book
To: []Ushuaia_mail@yahoo.com[/]
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 04:15:22 +0800
Subject: your OOP Proven Cinnamon Male gliders

Hello,
I am interested in your OOP Proven Cinnamon Male gliders, I will like to know the least asking price and the present condition and also i will like to seize this chance to let you know that i will be paying with certified acshier check .Please i will need the pictures for what i am paying
for.I have a shipping agent that will take care of the pick up as soon as the price is negotiated. Hope to read from you asap.

Email 2:

From: "jack smith" <jack_smith04@graffiti.net> Add to Address Book
To: "Ushuaia" <ushuaia_mail@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 03:54:05 +0800
Subject: Re: your OOP Proven Cinnamon Male gliders

Thank for your mail response,am okay with the price of the goods for the both, my mode of payment is very easy and comfortable their is a client of mine living in US he will pay on behalf of me with a certified cashier check drawn from US bank with the total amount of $5000 ,please the
excess fund on the check will be wire via western union money tranfer to the shipping company please dont get confuse with the amount on the check, i am willing to purchase at the actual price , but when i contact my
client he said that this is the only chance that he has to issued the total sum of money that he owes me ,please am really sorry for the inconvinieces. please if this is okay by you kindly contact me with your full name , address and your contact full number.

Best Regard
jack.

PLEASE if anyone else recieves an email anything like this let us know. We cannot have our members in this situation.

I can only guess that the one sending these emails are "lurkers" So should they read this I hope they know that GC will NOT tolorated this.

[:"blue"] Unfortuanately this has happened in the Chinchilla community too... If you need more information on this let me know and I will contact my friend who kept getting these e-mails about her Chinchillas... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> [/]

i think its good everyone will be alerted to this god knows what this idiot does with these gliders. obviously he or she is someone who shouldnt own an animal let alone a glider. especially since he calls them goods

Please send there information and emails to the email address I listed above.

Ushuaia

this is very true and a very old and common scam

check this out.>>

http://chicago.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

I got one a few weeks ago, and I'm not even selling any gliders. I just deleted it.

I've hard of this scam. I believe it was someone on CnG that got bit. Linda can tell you for sure. I'm not too positive that it hasn't happend to someone on GC as well.

Ushuaia, I was thinking it happend to someone here!! You must have as good of a memory as I do!!!

I know of one member that it happened to. I will try and contact them to get the info. I also have received the emails as well but deleted them too. What was weird about it though, It was shortly after I got my first glider. I wonder if they are visiting here to get the emails?

I know this is a little different, but Im tryin to sell my car on car trader, and I get those emails ALL THE TIME. they always say they live in the UK and to send the excess money over, and blah blah blah...they even have said they want to buy it right way, they dont even ask to see it or know anything about it! theyre soooooooo stupid, and im sorry for anyone who has fallen for it, its really a shame, and i wish there were something we could do to stop it, but I think because theyre outta country, it wont work....unless I could be wrong?

I have gotten numerous one also, I just ignore them or send them some dumb response.

why hasn't anyone contacted these ppl & had the laws waiting for em when they come to pick up the gliders? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nixweiss.gif" alt="" />

[:"blue"] Chris,
E-Mails we spoke about have been sent <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/agree.gif" alt="" /> [/]

[:"blue"] The board that I mod (Chins and Prairie Dogs) is still down...I am trying to get that information for you, I didn't leave you hanging... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumb.gif" alt="" /> [/]

That is because they use a delivery service to pick them up, or an individual. I still have there interest, so they must not have come to this board recently. I will examin the emails later in the week. For now I have to go to bed it is 4:25am.

Ushuaia

just give ma cold hard cash!
Thats the ONLY way I work. I am wayy too leery of anybody that wants me to give money for anything these days.
And nobodys touchin my babies! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tantrum.gif" alt="" />

thank you for this alert ill be sure to watch out for it an tell you i get one. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumb.gif" alt="" />

So, I get these things all the time, except usually someone has died with no relatives and they need to put the money somewhere...and will give you a cut. One way that stops them is to send them an threatening email claiming you will contact the FBI because of identity theft. I think this is a major part of it because they usually ask you for all your information. Rule of thumb...if they EVER ask you for your social, hit delete.
Here is one thing my husband and I have found. When we got high speed, within a day, we had a trojan virus on our computer. So, we set up a firewall and got trojan protection, as well as other virus protection. Norton found the trojan, but couldn't get it off of our computer...we had to call someone for assistance because we just couldn't get it off. (I think a trojan in you computer copies all your credit card info, and bank info, and passwords off of your computer and sends it back to the original computer that it came from)
One other thing we got was a different form of explorer. I think it is called Avant..but I'm not sure. It does a much better job of watching what comes into your computer while you are online, and is freeware I believe.
So, these emails you all are getting man not necessisarily be coming from here, but your own computer. If they have the spy ware in your computer, they can find anything out about you and try to scam you.
And, and just to note...we downloaded a game off of yahoo and it had a trojan attached to it. So, even places that seem safe aren't.

I have a nortan antivirus which does a weekly scan also it is continually updated. I also have a firewall. I know I do not have spywhere on my computer. That means they get their information from classifides. I just got one the other day with the bigbug virus attached. I was not infected but the emial contained well researched information only available in a classified add.

Ushuaia

I was just trying to give helpful info. Norton didn't pick up our trojan we had on our computer. Mark just decided to get a trojan protecter, and that's when we found out we had it. It's a good heads up to know though.

I know this sounds soooo horrible but since they are also doing this with chins......do you think it could be for their fur?????? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" />

Update:

I have received word that the FBI are now involved in this case and have been for some time. The people responsible are in Nigeria and for the most part the FBI has not been able to get the local government to take action against these people. A breeder has received a money order and has sent that to the FBI. The evidence is mounting against these people but unless their local government choses to take action little can be done but to warn breeders.

A while ago a question was asked about topics to be discussed at the SGGA and I would really like to see that how to identify a fraudulent buyer or seller would be invaluable to the glider community. Please continue to send in your suspected fraudulent emails to me.

Ushuaia

It seems to me unlikely that the gliders would be used for their fur. It is more likely that they are resold into the pet trade or just destroyed or abandoned. The cost to ship these animals to nigeria even just the skins probably would not justify the cost or the risk to the people responsible for these crimes. Only accept money orders for the amount of the animal, and always allow ten days to clear. If you suspect that a money order is fake take it to your local bank and ask to speak with a supervisor on duty. Tell them the full story behind the incident.

Ushuaia

Wow. I got some emails like this a while back and saved them on my yahoo account because they seemed a little fishy to me. lol. Are they still needed? If so, PM me, and I will forward them to you...

I am still taking these. Please forward any you have to me here:

[]dragon_assasin@yahoo.com[/]

Ushuaia

I have recieved one a while ago but deleted it cuz the way it was written you could tell for sure it was a fraud! But I just recieved one the other day that I thought was legit so I emailed back. Here is what I sent and he sent.....it just makes me laugh. Ushuaia I will forward them to you as well.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Hello i have so much interesting to your Female Joey 2,what is the price list on it and this will handling with a cheque from my mumm because i am in school as at now and my school feez must to send within this week
I hope to read as soon as possible.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

me:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
I have already found her a home. If you would like I can put you on my contact list to let you know when I have some more available. However I do not accept a checks.
Thanks
Elisabeth

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

his reply LOL <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" />
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Hello Elisabeth,

Thanks so much for the mail that i received soonest I am not in need of homne '''''' i am glad for it .
Elisabeth,I am in need of a favour from you in a sense that i have sent a mail to my mumm to sending school feez and house payment in the school with one or two expenses which she have make a promise to send the money with a cheque to me but if the cheque could get directly to you it will please me but i will know how to confuse her for the cheque to get to you ,please kindly send the contact details with your full name ,country ,zip code,city,and tel no to my mumm (seyi4love01@yahoo.com) the cheque on the cheque worth of $5,400.00 and i will want the balance to send back to me in the school.

I hope to read from you as soon as possible

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

What on earth?! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" /> That person isn't even literate! That response was laughably obvious.

The person is speaking in broken english and obviously english is not their native lanauage. Email them back and tell them you can speak a variety of lanauages and see if they will speak to you in their own lanauage this could help trace them.

Ushuaia

I think anyone having this type of experience should privately email or phone Ushuaia because the man may have a way of watching us try to track him on GC. Just like the lady who used the photos off GC without asking. She was changing the photos as GC members were speaking online at that very moment.

Terri