Leica MP scam?

I'd guess a hijacked account. Only buying cheap cloths and DVD's prior to this - not quite what I'd expect of someone who owned a MP.

William
 
Not too bad... although the seller has a string of very inexpensive purchases for the last two months. The fact that may tip off anyone is that the seller wants a bank transfer, offers no warranty whatsoever and seems to be inflexible in the terms of the sale (i.e., asks for a lot, and only offers a camera without a reserve price).

I felt tempted to place a playful bid, but then... what if I win? Forget it. Thanks for the alert! :)
 
I have done the buy it now and communicated the following to him via email. lets see what happens next.:

i have executed the buy it now on your mp. I see you have two locations Belfats and Oxford. In either case, I can arange for friends in both locations to pay and pick up the camera. please advise of the best time to contact you and when to meet for the transaction to be finalized.

Thanks,

JT
 
A Buy It Now for only about $1200 USD for an MP in that kind of condition? Darn right it was a scam. A load of stolen accounts, especially UK ones for some reason, have shown up on eBay lately.
 
The plot thickens. Let us know what happens, Jorge.

And just in case this pans out, le't's not forget the finder's fee ;)
 
Jorge Torralba said:
I have done the buy it now and communicated the following to him via email. lets see what happens next.:

i have executed the buy it now on your mp. I see you have two locations Belfats and Oxford. In either case, I can arange for friends in both locations to pay and pick up the camera. please advise of the best time to contact you and when to meet for the transaction to be finalized.

Thanks,

JT

Ooooh, I bet you don't hear another word!

At least you shut it down before someone got scammed.
 
i just contacted a guy through ebay that purchased two M6 ttls (or something like that) from an obviously hijacked account. didn't hear back. i tried!
 
It will be interesting to see what happens. To me there are too many anomalies. It is a UK account and yet all non US bidders must contact first. Non UK I could understand, but it looks as though he expects a US sale. What's more, the postage (shipping) is all wrong. First class mail is for low value items with no tracking. For this in the UK, it would have to be special delivery and some form of international signed for for international sales.

On his other items, he has a Canon 10D for sale. It says unwanted gift but he has 3 available! I wish someone would give me 3 unwanted 10Ds :eek:

Kim
 
Maybe he's selling a "hot" MP. "Rangefinderforum" seems to have won the bid. Funny. :cool:
 
Last edited:
Here is the latest email from the scammer :)

We accept only Bank transfer or direct debit in my account (prefer and the fastest way to
send payment and get the item). We can send item only by post!
We don't accept credit card, paypal, western union auction payment (bidpay), cash on
delivery.
Item will be sent as soon as payment cleared in my account via royal mail special
delivery.

Many thanks,
Mr Maris Stepins

And this is how I replyed:

I will do a direct deposit into your bank in Belfast or Oxford once my frined or
brother-inlaw meets you to pickup the camera. They will deposit the money for
you infront of you and you will get the transaction you request. They just need
to pickup the camera in person.

JT
 
At least he is not trying to get your credit card number.
Kurt M.
 
Here is the latest exchange. Start from the bottom and read up :)

Hi,
What for to you all this information. I sold a lot of goods and I know, that it is enough
bank data for payment.

Thanks


[Hide Quoted Text]
From:
To: Maris Stepins <gultargurlie@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: leica mp
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 09:07:49 -0800

i need your contact information as well. telephone (land line, not
mobile) and address. Surely you dont expect me to send money without
being able to reach
you.

JT


Quoting Maris Stepins <gultargurlie@hotmail.com>:
Hi Jorge Torralba,
Please send payment to:

Bank: Natwest
name: Mr Maris Stepins
sort code: 60-20-44
account number: xxxxxxxxx
IBAN: xxxxxxx
BIC: xxxxx

Please inform me about payment.

Many thanks, and best wishes.

From:
To: Maris Stepins <gultargurlie@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: leica mp
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2005 11:21:14 -0800

please provide bank info , nmae contact information aba, swift code and
account
number of a bank in Oxford or Belfast.


Quoting Maris Stepins <gultargurlie@hotmail.com>:
Hi,
Sorry, but we can send item only by post. We can send the goods to
your relatives in England, the uk ship is free.

Thanks,
Maris Stepins
 
UK shipping is free, what a nice guy LOL
man this conversation sounds worse than the famous "prince joe" scam story.
 
Is this worth a retaliatory negative feedback? I'd be afraid of giving a scammer the pleasure of ruining my ratings.

I'm also a saxophonist and active on the sax web forums and one of the users regularly bids on scam vintage sax listings (and there are MANY) with the username "saxfraudbuster".
 
Jorge,

I give you points for bravery, that's for sure!

On that note, maybe we should create an account for the entire forum for the express purpose of rooting out these sales.

"FraudBusterRFF" ?
 
Contact your local postmaster... this would be considered mail fraud and thier investigators are _very_ good. Heh. Federal offence anyone?

William
 
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