UsedPEI-Kijiji Scam for iPhone’s Uncovered By Yours Truly…

With all the hype over the new Bell/Telus HSPA network and the launching of the iPhone, I’d say that there are a lot of people that are looking at getting the brand new device and likely looking to get it as cheap as possible.

Me being one of them.

While looking up information on the packages and such, I decided that I’d go to my local online classifieds to see if anyone was selling any online… this is when I came across the following ad:

As you can see, the price looked right for sure.. at $550, so I decided to email them on it.. to which I received a reply soon after:

The email came from someone called Roza and the email was (rozaazura@gmail.com)

Hi,

Have only black available right now.We offer local pickup in Chambly (about a hour away from Montreal) and shipping. You can pay cash with local pickup (there is a atm machine around the corner from me) and with shipping we use interac email transfer. Everybody in canada can do it as long as you have online banking. Please let me know something a.s.a.p because have about 35 mails to answer and only 3 phones left.  O and shipping is standard delivery, express would be between 5-8$ extra depending from where you are.

Best Regards, Roza

Immediately I thought this was a scam, but a clever one. They know that I’m from PEI and not local, so they offer local pickup knowing that I’m not going to take advantage of it. So I emailed back asking how I knew he or she was legit, I noticed that when I did a lookup on their email address (quick google search), it came up as Charlottetown, PE.. I didn’t think the search was accurate, however wanted to play dumb.

Odd, it appears your email address is from Ch’town, PE..

How do I know you’re legit?

And recieved another reply quickly:

Hi Len,

China, no way? I’m from Chambly, is about a hour away from Montreal. The phones i get are also not from china get them from a guy in Vancouver. Sold over 30 phones the last 2 weeks. And about payment i asked for interac you can only use this within Canada, outside from this i listed very clear in the ad I DO NOT SHIP OUTSIDE CANADA. No way how i can proof to you that i’m legit, could do 50% upfront and 50% after delivery? Risk for me to because i only make 55$ profit on every phone.

Best,

Roza

Now I’m starting to really think they are a scam, so I sent the following email back to them:

Umm.. Charlottetown, PE.. as in Prince Edward Island.. Canada?

How about a few pictures of you and your stock? Facebook pages? Web sites? And realize that the 1/2 and 1/2 deal doesn’t exactly set my mind at ease.

How about the supply company? Or name? I don’t know.. anything other than your word which, not to be rude.. but on the internet doesn’t mean anything.

Thanks,

Len

PS: What about paypal? At least it offers buyer protection..

To which they finally replied:

Hi,

Just leave it have 35 emails even local but offer between 500 and 525, With shipping it doesn’t really matter anyways. Will sell local.

Best,

Roza

I didn’t get any response from them again.. but I did send the following to them:

You say you’re a commercial seller but have no information to pass on?

Good luck with your scamming.

Now I was going to just leave it at that, and I did report the ad to the UsedPei ‘report this’ feature they supply at the bottom of every listing, however I wanted to see if they listed in Montreal.. and guess what? They do, I found the ad on UsedMontreal and decided that I’d use another email address of mine to write and see what they said as in this ad they have it listed they have references.

This is what I sent to them from another completely separate email address:

Hi there.
Interested in the iphone 3gs.
Can you pass on the refences you speak of?
What is your address for pickup?
Nervous about buying something online. Do you accept Paypal?
Is $550 the best price you can give?

To which I recieved the following:

Hi,

No paypal, is good for buyers but no seller protection. Cost me 1200 in the last 10 months. The references yes sure, will give you 2 from people that got there phone this week or last week. Check up on me make a lots of $ on the side but a honest business.

Best,

Jonas

Robert Sieter

montrea1@aol.com

Roza.azura

Roza.azura@gmail.com

You can see the last ‘reference’ they list eh? The same person that emailed me the first time!! I’ve reported both ads, however as of this writing they are still online.

I will hand it to them though, the scam is a good one.. considering that there is likely plenty of people whom are looking for new iPhones both for Christmas and due to the new Bell/Telus HSPA network, so the market is there. The Interac Online is an immediate payment processor and would put money immediately into one of their bank accounts without every revealing whom it was sent to.. all they’d have to do is run down to the bank machine and they’d have their money… so the funding gateway is there, and their ads are good… they offer things that don’t exist.. and use each other as references.

I just sincerely hope and pray no one sends money to these crooks.

Related posts:

1. UPS Delivery From The US – The Biggest Legal SCAM I’ve Ever Heard Of…
2. I Was JUST About Scammed From Kijiji…. WARNING TO OTHERS!!
3. UsedPEI.com Got A Great Facelift!
4. Attention Bell/Telus Users! iPhone coming next month!!
5. No more Kijiji Charlottetown..