Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally!

[MajorH]

Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally!

Beware any deal involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, cashier check, money order, shipping, escrow, or any promise of transaction protection/certification/guarantee.

If you suspect that an item posted for sale on lakesweetwater.com may be part of a scam, please email the details to "webmaster@lakesweetwater.com".

You can sidestep would-be scammers by following these common-sense rules:

? DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on the internet.
? NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.
? FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later.
? LAKESWEETWATER.COM IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY TRANSACTION, and does not handle payments, guarantee transactions, provide escrow services, or offer "buyer protection" or "seller certification"
? NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)
? AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAMMER WILL "GUARANTEE" YOUR TRANSACTION.

Recognizing scams

Most scams involve one or more of the following:
? inquiry from someone far away, often in another country
? Western Union, Money Gram, cashier's check, money order, shipping, escrow service, or a "guarantee"
? inability or refusal to meet face-to-face before consumating transaction

Examples of Scams

1. Claims that a third party will guarantee a transaction, certify a buyer/seller, or will handle or provide protection for a payment.
? Scammer will often send an official looking email that appears to come from some company, offering a guarantee, certifying a seller, providing payment services -- all such emails are fakes!

2. distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier's check
? you receive an email offering to buy your item sight unseen.
? cashier's check is offered for your sale item, or as a deposit.
? value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - scammer offers to "trust" you, and asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service
? banks will often cash these fake checks AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR, including criminal prosecution in some cases!
? scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc)

3. Someone requests wire service payment via Western Union or MoneyGram:
? Scam "bait" items include apartments, laptops, plasma TVs, cell phones, tickets - but could be almost anything
? Often claim that an MTCN or confirmation code is needed before he can withdraw your money - this is FALSE, once you've wired money, it is GONE.
? Common countries currently include: Nigeria, Romania, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Netherlands - but could be anywhere
? Buyer poses as local, but claims to be "traveling" or "relocating" and needs you to wire money to them abroad
? Deal often seems too good to be true, price is too low, rent is below market, etc

4. distant person offers to send you a money order and then have you wire money:
? this is ALWAYS a scam, in our experience - the cashier's check or money order is FAKE
? sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not
? scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake check
? deal often seems too good to be true

5. distant seller suggests use of an online escrow service.
? most online escrow sites are FRAUDULENT, operated by scammers
? for more info, do a google search on "fake escrow" or "escrow fraud"

6. distant seller asks for a partial payment upfront, after which he will ship goods
? he says he trusts you with the partial payment
? he may say he has already shipped the goods
? deal often sounds too good to be true

7. foreign company offers you a job receiving payments from customers, then wiring funds
? foreign company may claim it is unable to receive payments from its customers directly
? you are typically offered a percentage of payments received
? this kind of "position" may be posted as a job, or offered to you via email