This Digest in the past had posts about folks in foreign countries
placing large orders, and it being a scam. I just received a large
order for my jewelry from Katherine Norman of Nigeria. Is there a
way to be “safe” about this transaction?
Allyson, The only safe way is to get full payment by wire transfer
before you ship. Please be careful !!
Hanuman
Many thanks.
Allyson Gernandt
Sounds like the scam that is going around. Was the orderer by any
chance using a yahoo.com email address? That is typical. Also, they
often use people’s names with western sounding names…I’m sure they
think it promotes trust.
Jeanne
Two words for your Nigerian frenz, (sic) “SCAM & FRAUD” As its
written somewhere, “Thou shalt not touch!”…Gerry 1.0-1.1
These guys also use the telephone system for the deaf. They can
access it from their computers. Please be very wary of this, and do
not take a credit card!
Kerry
http://www.celtcraftjewelry.com
http://www.beadcoop.com
http://www.thecoopauctions.com
Don’t Do it… I used my husband’s office as an address…I backed out
of the whole thing. And They got the office phone and were calling
it looking for me. The office manager was pretty unnerved about the
whole thing. Me too. Be very careful.
Joan
Allyson,
Even a wire transfer can bounce. Make certain with your bank that
the funds are in your account, cannot be withheld by anyone
including your bank and then order materials to fill the order. Call
your bank before you ship to make certain that the funds are still
in your account. BETTER YET, FORGET IT!!! IT’S 99.999% SURE TO BE A
SCAM!!!
Ray Grossman
Hello All,
I work for a very high end jewelry store and we recieve at last 3 of
these a week wanting us to ship to all points of the world. We don’t
even read them. They are just deleted right away.
Rodney
www.lithosjewelry.com
Also, they often use people's names with western sounding names...I'm sure they think it promotes trust.
Actually, they often use stolen credit cards, so the names could be
western sounding because that’s where stolen card numbers come from.
That was the case with one of my accounts who got greedy and fell for
one of those. His case was the kind using the internet operator for
the deaf thing. Just google it, it’s all over the net. Try
searching using “Nigerian” and “scam”.
David L. Huffman
Ignore orders from Nigeria. A simple call to your credit card
authorizer will get you the facts. They will tell you not to do it.
You will never get your money because the card holder will refuse
the charge, keep the product and you will be charged back for it.
Lose, lose situation. Bill
Reactive Metals Studio, Inc.
PO Box 890 * Clarkdale, AZ 86324
Ph-928/634-3434 * Ph-800/876-3434 * Fax-928/634-6734
E-mail- @Michele_Deborah_Bill
Catalog- www.reactivemetals.com
Allyson, The only safe way is to get full payment by wire transfer before you ship. Please be careful !!
I wouldn’t even trust wire transfer. Though it’s well arguable that
these requests don’t even rate a reply, I did ask my Nigerian
‘customer’ for full pre-payment couriered to me in US dollars, and
… haven’t heard back yet.
Brian
BEWARE of all jewelry orders from Nigeria! Expect them to be BOGUS.
For more on the current Nigerian jewelry scams go to
I have been told that all of these email communications regarding
doing business in Nigeria are scams. I had an offer which seemed
pretty much on the up and up, but when I spoke with others, I was
told that even the credit card numbers you may be given won’t end up
paying you. If they are stolen cards (which they often are) the
charge may go through at your end, but you won’t get the money. In
any case–whenever you’re approached to do business, it is always
appropriate to ask for business credentials, etc. As soon as I did
this, the emails stopped. And someone I know gets several emails
daily (yes, I mean it) from people (and it seems they are mostly
from Nigeria) who have a lot of money, but they need a safe place to
keep it–so they want to use this person’s bank account–for which,
naturally, there will be a handsome payment, so would he please send
his bank account I hope there aren’t too many people
falling for this–but there must be some, since these emails keep on
coming.
Be careful!!!
Carolyn
Hanuman’s advice is, of course, the best, and the most basic way to
approach this order. With money in hand (real money – not payment
in some method that can be canceled or reversed as we have read
about lately), you may ship the jewelry. Any other conditions are
unacceptable.
For anyone considering filling such an order, please ask yourselves:
Why is this person placing a “large order” out of the blue?
What is the history of your relationship with this person?
If you don’t have a relationship, consider whether you have ever
before received a large order without discussion, publicity,
consultation, shipping considerations, the whole nine years. Have
you ever had this?
We know you must have great jewelry – but why is it suddenly in
demand in Nigeria?
It is a fact that the Nigerians are among the most intelligent and
resourceful people in the world but it is also a fact that many of
them apply those qualities to scamming other people. I have begun a
collection of letters emailed to me by the endless former wives,
children and other relatives of the late dictator and others of his
ilk that turn up on my computer with distressing regularity.
They ask me to send my bank account number. Can you imagine doing
that? Apparently many people can, have and continue to do. They
even go to Nigeria to facilitate the “$25 million payment” only to
find their very lives in jeopardy to say nothing of their bank
account balances.
Nigerians have migrated into South Africa since the end of apartheid
and are now busy scamming people there.
Substitute the words “Nevada,” “New Jersey,” or “Oregon” for
"Nigeria" and ask yourself: would you expect a large order from
someone you didn’t know in one of those places?
Please don’t fall into this trap. Don’t be tempted.
Ettagale Blauer
Our advise is also–Don’t Do It!!! There have been too many bogus
operations coming out of Nigeria… Once you start the
transaction-no matter how carefully done, the risk factor is far too
high and it will be extremely difficult to recoup…Sincerely,
Jo-Ann Dnivan
Gerald wrote:
Two words for your Nigerian frenz, (sic) "SCAM & FRAUD" As its written somewhere, "Thou shalt not touch!"...Gerry 1.0-1.1
If you’d like some interesting (and amusing) reading… “The Lads
from Lagos” at http://www.scamorama.com
Some of these folks have decided that not only will the scammers get
to have all of the fun…
Gary W. Bourbonais
A.J.P. (GIA)
Hi All,
Even getting a cashiers check isnt valid anymore. One of the scams
going around is that ‘they’ want to buy your product. ‘They’ will
send a cahsiers check for over the amount, and ask you to send back
the difference via Cashiers Check or wire transfer. Their check is
bogus, but looks good enough for your bank to accept it and process
it.
It bounces as it is bogus, and you are left out in the cold, missing
the ‘balance’ you returned to them.
I was warned of this scam, and when I put my Motorcycle on the
Internet for sale, got about 10 offers to buy, all saying the same
thing. Their Agent will be by to pick up the bike, and the check was
in the mail, please send the difference.
Love and God Bless
randy
The question of Nigerian orders is addressed in the latest issue
(#120) of Internet ScamBusters.
They describe themselves as “Internet ScamBusters ™ The #1
Publication on Internet Fraud”
David Barzilay
Lord of the Rings
607 S Hill St Ste 850
Los Angeles, CA 90014-1718
213-488-9157
A friend of mine was taken for over US $13,000 this past December by
several telephone orders from Nigeria. He doesn’t even have a
website, so they must have just pulled his name out of the phonebook.
On another discussion group several artists who were scammed admitted
that part of the motivation for sending the work, despite their gut
feelings that it was not right, was that they were all torn up about
feeling that they might be racist if they treated an order from
Africa any different from somewhere else. One woman said that she
felt she would rather take the chance and ship the order and not feel
the guilt of possibly being racist, but after she was ripped-off and
learned how common these scams are from Nigeria she felt pretty
stupid and angry about it.
This situation must be an awful problem for anyone in Nigeria who
actually wants to do honest international trade. But that is a
problem for the Nigerian government. These guys are so slick that I
think even if I had the cash in hand I would be wondering how it was
going to go wrong if I actually shipped to them. My friend who was
scammed said they were very good at putting him at ease and had very
plausible sounding reasons for wanting to buy gold chains from a
small town jeweler in Western New York State. The charge-backs didn’t
start until more than a month after the first of 4 sales.
Stephen Walker
Continue from:
BEWARE of all jewelry orders from Nigeria!
I might add: BEWARE of ALL orders from Nigeria. The Nigerian scam
extends into all types of tangible goods. I can’t count the Bible
orders, especially for electronic Bibles, I have received. Pass the
word on to others who are not in the jewelry business. If they sell
any tangible goods they will likely be contacted. I am happy to say
that I have not responded to their requests, but I had an employee
who almost did. So, another caveat: Be sure everyone who works for
you or with you is aware. I might also add that Nigeria is the
location of choice for these scams, but some originate from other
countries as well.
Del Pearson, PhD, of Designs of Eagle Creek in Beautiful South Texas,
where people are wearing out their cameras taking pictures of
all the wildflowers.