Wanting to know the fraudability?

[ironicchronic]

I'm pretty sure this is a fraud deal already just because it's Western Union, but I'm still curious as to the method he's suggesting for payment. Just wanting to know if this would actually work or if it's just pure fantasy.

This is the email I got back after my many repeated questions of methods for payment:

ok then,
For the moment I am in Italy.
As for the payment method, this is what you have to do : go to the nearest Western Union location with the money in cash.Ask for a "to send money" form and just complete it.At the receiver`s part you complete with the name of one of your friends (this will be your security that I won`t touch the money until you have the goods in your hand) but my italian address so I can check the transfer from my location here.After you send the money you must get back to me with the scanned receipt from WU ... you can send it as an attachement to the email.When I receive that , I shall call a WU agenty and if I see that the transfer was done I shall start the shipping to you and provide you the tracking information.After you receive the items, you have a 7 days inspection period to check them and to decide if you buy them or not.If you decide to buy them you keep the items and change the receiver`s name into mine.If you don`t keep them you can send them back to me with UPS and I shall send you the shipping costs through Western Union
If you agree with this way of dealing e-mail me and let me know if you want my address to make the payment!
Thank you!

Thanks for any help!

[georg]

its the typical scam-letter. do not send money via western-union to unknow person..its a fraud !!

[CapriceFéline]

Hi Ironic....

Western Union advises you, to keep papers with the money transfer details (name of expedient, name of recipient, exact amount of money, MTCN-number)) in a safe and secure place.
Everybody who knows those details can draw that amount of money at any of the 240000 Western Union offices all over the world, 15 minutes after the expedient has deposited the money.
That is the trick. Even if you send money to George Bush or Christopher Columbus, when somebody knows the recipient is Christopher Columbus , he can get the cash.
The original conception was to help friends or family members in a foreign country very quickly, when they needed cash (f.i. money lost).

As some people suppose Western Union a bank with normal bank security standards, they do as proposed by the fraudsters and loose some minutes later all that money.
That is the way, it works
Caprice

[ironicchronic]

Thanks Caprice, that answered my question.

[CapriceFéline]

Hi Ironic,

keep on asking a lot of details about that "scanned receipt". Finally the gangsters use to get very angry , because you are wasting their precious time.
Caprice

[ironicchronic]

What I ended up doing is asking if we could use a escrow company of my choice and they still have not replied. They must have figured I wasted enough of their effort already. Thanks anyways though