LOTR LE PINBALL SCAM "LE SCAM"<br>
<br>
<b>As the old saying goes:  If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.</b><br>
<br>
The original advert appeared on Gumtree on 24th Feb 2010, titled "LORD OF THE RINGS PINBALL ARCADE GAME MACHINE STERN" (ad# 54452921)".<br>
Gumtree is a London area "Craigslist", if you reading this from outside the UK.<br>
It was a picture of the long shot and playfield view of a Stern LOTR with black trim and lockbar.  I could see figures mounted on the plastics, but the pitures weren't closeups.  Game location was given as Preston, Lancs. Which was a bit strange but I'm willing to travel and collect for the right deal on a pinball game.  So I replied to the Ad, but I expected an LOTR for £1000 or so ($1,500 USD) to be already spoken for.<br>
<br>
<br>
<hr>
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:20:17 +0000<br>
From: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
To: dance4u90@hotmail.com<br>
Subject: Reply to your ad: LORD OF THE RINGS PINBALL ARCADE GAME MACHINE STERN<br>
<br>
Hi there Alex, you have received a reply to your Gumtree posting "LORD OF THE RINGS PINBALL ARCADE GAME MACHINE STERN" (ad# 54452921) from  harvey@tiscali.com<br>
Want more responses? Click here to Feature your ad and go to the top of listings.<br>
Here's your message:<br>
<b>Has the pinball game been sold? Thanks, Richard</b><br>
<br> 
<hr>
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<br>
From: Marcus B &lt;dance4u90@hotmail.com&gt;<br>
To: &lt;harvey@tiscali.com&gt;<br>
Subject: RE: Reply to your ad: LORD OF THE RINGS PINBALL ARCADE GAME MACHINE
 STERN<br>
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:03:13 +0100<br>
Importance: Normal<br>
<br>
<b>Hi,<br>
 Still available.<br>
Where are you located ?<br>
Cheers!!</b><br>
<br>
<hr>
<b>OK.  He gives no name, and a very short reply.  But let's find out more...</b><br>
<br>
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:37:32 +0100<br>
From: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
To: dance4u90@hotmail.com<br>
Subject:<br> 
<br>
Hi<br>
<br>
I'm Richard and live in London SE14. Can I have your postcode? If you are in Liverpool then I know it’s hours away from me... but I don’t mind travelling to get this game.<br>
Are you willing to consider it sold for £1K? I can pay cash and pick it up tomorrow or whenever you would like..<br>
Thanks and regards<br>
<br>
Richard<br>
<br>
<hr>
From: Marcus B [mailto:dance4u90@hotmail.com]<br>
Sent: 24 February 2010 17:16<br>
To: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
Subject: RE:<br>
<br>
Hi,<br>
Or we can do this way,<br>
You will make the payment trought western union you will send the money to a friend, family .. you will send me your full name and receiver full name the MTCN to check on the website that you have the money, after i check tomorrow i will go to make the delivery arrangements to you.<br>
You have 7 days to check LORD OF THE RINGS PINBALL ARCADE GAME afther that you will go to the western union and put my name on the receiver so i can pick up the money.<br>
Final price will be 900 pounds plus you have to pay western union taxes.<br>
If you are agree with me please give me your full name and address to make the delivery arrangements.<br>
Cheers!<br>
<br>
<hr>
<b>Hmmm... well it's a scam for sure, notice the item is in CAPS and copied directly from the ad.  No one who owned the game would call it that, except in an ad.  Also the grammer is all wrong, <i>"If you are agree with me...</i> I wonder if they have robots that do this or if he is just following a script? Maybe there is still some fun to be had.</b><br>
<br>
Alex or Marcus B (or  whomever you are)<br>
You never gave me your name.  Now this transaction is sounding strange.<br>
First off  -Where in the UK are you located?<br>
Where is the game?  In your house?<br>
I need you to give me a full UK postcode, also a mobile number (or your telephone number in the UK) and I will ring  you to discuss further.<br>
Whenever I see the words “western union” then alarm bells ring.   What you propose is not going to happen.  I have the money, but this would be a CASH sale only.  I’m sorry but I ALWAYS need to see the goods before I pay over one penny.  I have paid over £3,000 cash in hand for a nice condition pinball game before.<br>
<br>
But not this time as it looks wrong to me, Del-Boy.   Do you work for Trotter's independant Traders?<br>
<br>
Cheers!<br>
<br>
Richard<br>
<br>
<hr>
<b>Some explanation may be needed here.  Other thatn the obvious requests about the pinball game, no self respecting person living in England would miss this insult.  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Boy" target="_blank">Del Boy</a> is a con man in a popular sitcom here in the UK called "Only Fools and Horses".  The Del character is lovable, but not too bright.  He's full of high hopes that his fantastic get rich quick schemes will work.  Trotter's independant Traders (TIT) is his company, and on his 3 wheel <a href="le-scam/tit-van.jpg" target="_blank">van</a> he advertises: "Pairs, New York, Peckham".  But this goes right over the head of our scammer.</b><br>
<br>
From: Marcus B [mailto:dance4u90@hotmail.com]<br> 
Sent: 25 February 2010 03:02<br>
To: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
Subject: RE: LOTR PINBALL MACHINE<br>
<br>
Yes i understand you but we can do this way and it`s safe for you.<br>
Send the money to a friend and only give me your full name and MTCN to check that they are online on the website, after that i will make the delivery.<br>
After you receive the LOTR PINBALL MACHINE you will move the money to my name if you like it.<br>
Cheers!<br>
<br>
<hr>
<b>At this point I wanted ideas and to understand how the scam worked.  This is clearly a variation of a "Classified Ad Scam" or "advanced fee" scam, usually the scammer will answer YOUR ad and then overpay for an expensive item you are selling with a fraudulent cashier's cheque.  You refund the difference by Western Union or another payment method they have specified.  By the timne your bank lets you know the cashier's cheque has bounced, the scammer is long gone.  I wasn't sure how it would work in this case.  The scammer seemed willing to delay collecting the payment until I had inspected the pinball machine. But I was fairly sure this would change as the scam unfolded.<br>
<br>
I was reading some 419 scams online and wrote to the webmaster "Gilbert" of this <a href="http://www.scambuster419.co.uk" target="_blank">web site</a>, asking how the scam worked, but sadly never got a reply.</b><br>
<br>
I reported the ad to Gumtree as a scam saying I had been asked for a £900 Western Union payment.  They replied,<br>
<i>"Thank you for your email reporting this to us. You're correct, the information you have shared with us does, in our experience, show hallmarks of fraudulent activity. We take reports of this nature, and the safety of our users, very seriously. I have removed this ad and used the information to try and prevent this person from using Gumtree again in the future."</i><br>
<br>
And here is the next instalment from me:<br>
<br>
From: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
Date: 26/02/2010 10:54 <br>
To: &lt;dance4u90@hotmail.com&gt;<br>
Subj: RE: LOTR PINBALL MACHINE<br>
Dear Marcus B<br>
<br>
This is getting repetitive.<br>
You have not answered the questions I ask in the email thread.  If you really have the pinball machine “HUO Stern LOTR” you advertised for £1000, you will understand and must answer the following few questions honestly.  If you fail to do this, then goodbye.<br>  
<br>
1.       What is your real full name?<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>Remember this would be the name I put on a WU money transfer  for you to collect so tell the truth.  It has to match later.</b><br>
2.       Where are you really located?  Postcode ? Country?<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>You said the game is in Liverpool, UK  on your ad.  But your IP source address looks more like Whichita, Kansas in the USA and you are using AOL.  Why is this?</b><br>
3. Where is the Stern LOTR pinball game located?  What shipping company are you planning to use?<br>
4.       If the pinball game is NOT in the UK, what will be the VAT and any customs duties I will have to pay on import? <br>
5.       If you really have the game, what character in the Fellowship of the Ring has a symbol that looks like a sun in a square?<br>
6.       If you really have the game, what is the symbol on the front of the spinner, and what is on the back?<br>
<br>
Answer these 6 questions and we can move forward with the transfer of £900.  Otherwise, sadly it’s GAME OVER.  I don’t have time to waste on you and will look elsewhere for the game I want to buy.<br>  
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Richard<br>
<br>
<hr>
<b>And the reply.  Notice that he answers #1 and #2 (sort of- USA is a big area) and #3.  And the missing articles are interesting: I am from (the) USA.
The Game is with me in (the) USA.  And now he offers to pay the shipping (from USA to the UK)! What an amazing seller, I only wish they existed in real life. </b><br>
Oh, and here's the puchline: He included 7 photos of a NIB LOTR LE with this email.  I put them in a <a href="lotr-le-scampics.html">photo gallery</a> for your enjoyment.<br>
<br>
From: Marcus B [mailto:dance4u90@hotmail.com]<br>
Sent: 26 February 2010 13:55<br>
To: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
Subject: RE: LOTR PINBALL MACHINE<br>
<br>
Allright Richard i understand you <br>
Marcus Barn is my full name <br>
I am from USA and i am using my aol account, a friend told me that i can sell the game much faster in uk (he is right now in uk).<br>
The Game is with me in USA i will use DHL for shipping and i will pay for the shipping.<br>
And these are the photos with ther game.<br>
Hope you understand me.<br>
Have a nice day!<br>
<br> 
<hr>
<b>And my reply.  I'm stringing him along now, planning to hit him with the LOTR LE information later once he says he's had the game for ages.  He could search www.IPDB.org for LTOR and see that "Sam" is the answer to question #5 from a picture of the game playfield.  For #6, a ring appears on the front of the spinner, and the "Eye of Sauron" on the back, which could be harder to find out. <i>The point is that if you have access to the game this information is trivial to find out.</i></b><br>
<br>
From: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
Sent: 26 February 2010 20:40<br>
To: dance4u90@hotmail.com<br>
Subject: LOTR PINBALL MACHINE<br>
<br>
Hi Marcus<br>
<br>
OK.  Thanks for your honesty.<br>
The pinball game looks very nice, these pictures must have been when you first took delivery of the LOTR pinball game.  How long have you owned the game in the pictures?<br>
<br>
You still need to provide me an answer to questions 4,5, and 6 :<br>
4.       If the pinball game is NOT in the UK, what will be the VAT and any customs duties I will have to pay on import?<br>
5.       If you really have the game, what character in the Fellowship of the Ring has a symbol that looks like a sun in a square?<br>
6.       If you really have the game, what is the symbol on the front of the spinner, and what is on the back?<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Richard<br> 
<br>
<hr>
<b>Must admit at this point I'm hoping to get him to do all sorts of work to find out the answers to 4,5 and 6.  Search VAT and UK customs charges, figure out about the game symbols.  But he's not up to that.  I was also planning to ask him to take a photo of the Balrog holding a post-it note that says <i>"Send me the money today, or the Balrog Gets It!"</i>.  But I know at this point he's nowhere near a LOTR pinball machine. So on to his reply:</b><br>
<br>
From: Marcus B [mailto:dance4u90@hotmail.com]<br> 
Sent: 27 February 2010 19:01<br>
To: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
Subject: RE: LOTR PINBALL MACHINE<br>
<br>
Hi Richard,<br>
i have bought the game 6 7 months ago.<br>
i will pay all the shipping taxes you will only pay the payment taxes to the WU.<br>
This are all my pictures i don`t se any ring that have the simbol a sun in a square only in the pictures i se one look closely.<br>
Have a nice day!<br>
<br>
<hr>
<b>He's falling to bits now in his replies.  Can't spell "see", or even copy "symbol" from my email.  Is he admitting he only has pictures at this point?<br>
So I'm giving up on him too, and will hit him with what I know:</b><br>
<br>
From: harvey@tiscali.com<br>
Sent: 27 February 2010 22:29<br>
To: dance4u90@hotmail.com<br>
Subject: RE: LOTR PINBALL MACHINE<br>
<br>
Well Marcus Barn,<br>
<br>
If you had a LOTR game to look at, you could easily have answered questions 5 & 6.  You don't have one and can only look at the pictures on the Internet and you are too stupid to even do that.  I'm sure you have never played that pinball game in your life, you only dream of being able to own one like that.  Besides, I'm bored of these questions now.<br>
<br>
On the Gumtree ad I first responded to, you showed pictures of an original LOTR.  It had a black lockbar, siderails and legs.  You say you had this pinball game since new and for 6 or 7 months!  Uh no, that's completely impossible.<br>
<br>
The pictures you have sent me in emails are of a BRAND NEW LOTR "Limited Edition" which only 240 were made up to now.  Stern pinball only plan to make 500 of these LOTR LE games EVER.  Very exclusive.<br>
<br>
The "Limited Edition" or LOTR LE were only made by Stern since mid December 2009 and have only just shipped out near to Christmas 2009 to people that had been on a pre-order waiting list. They cost more because they have gold trim.  It's like a custom car, rare and hard to get.  That Stern game would cost $5,000+ new in Chicago in DEC '09, and then you pay the shipping costs to get it to your house.  You couldn't get one looking like that for less than 6,000+ and it could only be 2 months old at the most.<br>
<br>
So what are the chances that you would buy a brand new pinball game on (or after) December 15th 2009 for $5,000+ and then modify it with extras- and then sell that game to me for less than $1,650? Oh and then offer to ship it for free to me the UK - which would cost you another $750 or so?<br>
I know the answer:  ABOSLUTELY NONE.  You would be giving away $5,000 in my estimation.  Did you think you could EVER fool me with that load of bull shit?<br>
<br>
You ask if I understand you. Yes- very well.  I understand you are a little cheat and a liar too.  And I can tell you know nothing about pinball games you pretend to own.<br>
<br>
I even found the gallery where you have copied those pictures from. So someone else owns that game and would never be selling it, he only just bought it after putting down a deposit and then being in a waiting list.  You loser!  The  pictures on his web site match your pictures.<br>
<br>
So - I'm going to pass on this "great deal" my friend.<br>
<br>
Why try and scam me over someting that you know nothing about?  Go find a paying job instead of trying to screw money out of people that work for their living.  Sheesh. You are so busted.<br>
<br>
Are you a little kid using your dad's computer?    If you ever succeed in getting money, the FBI will catch you easily.<br>
<br>
Richard<br>
<hr>
<b>As of writing, I never got a reply.  And didn't really expect to.  They move on to someone else they think they can still scam.<b>
<br>
<i>"Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive." - Sir Walter Scott (1808)</i><br>
<br>