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Avoiding common internet scams & fraud

Also see: Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Frequently Asked Questions

While most individuals who use Franglo have success with buying, selling, renting or connecting with others, from time to time we do get reports of people attempting to scam or defraud our users. We have found that one of the best ways to address this problem is to ensure that all transactions take place locally and in-person. Remember that Franglo is a local classifieds web service and ads are not reviewed before they go live on the site.

Postings for items for sale (notably vehicles, electronics, household items) are common targets of fraudsters, and fraudulent inquiries about apartments for rent are increasing. The good news is that fraud attempts are generally easy to identify if you know what to look out for.

If you suspect a fraud attempt, please be very careful before accepting any offer to buy or sell. We have presented some information about common scams here, and some actual examples of fraudulent emails below. Please read this information carefully.

On this page:

Precautions

  • When buying or selling, you should meet in-person to see the product and exchange funds.
  • Never send or wire money to sellers or buyers. This includes never mailing a cheque or using payment services like Bidpay, Western Union or Money Gram to pay for items found on Franglo.
  • Franglo does not offer any sort of buyer protection programs or secure payment systems. Any emails or web sites that talk about such systems are scams, even if they may have the Franglo logo. If you receive any emails promoting these services, please forward the message to us.
  • Never provide your personal or banking information (e.g. social insurance number, credit card number) to others over the Internet.
  • Make yourself aware of common scams and fraud (see below). Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your help in any task.
  • Inform Franglo of any attempted fraud or suspicious emails, ads, or other activity by community members. In case of fraud, file a police report and contact us. (See below for more details on reporting scams and fraud.)
  • Use common sense. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

What to look out for:

1. A distant buyer offers a high-value (but fake) cashier's check in exchange for your item:

  • You receive an odd email offering to buy your item without seeing it beforehand.
  • The cashier's check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an apartment, or just about anything else.
  • The value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - buyer 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.
  • The scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc).

2. A distant seller requests payment via Western Union or MoneyGram:

  • The seller often claims 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 items offered include laptops, plasma TVs, cell phones, tickets - but could be almost anything.
  • Common countries of origin include Nigeria, Romania, Ukraine, Spain, UK, Italy, Netherlands - but could be anywhere.
  • Deal often seems too good to be true.

3. A distant seller offers to send you a cashier's check and then have you wire money:

  • This is nearly always a scam - the cashier's check is probably 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.

4. A distant seller suggests use of an online escrow service:

  • Most online escrow sites are fraudulent and operated by scammers.
  • For more information, do a google search on "fake escrow" or "escrow fraud".
  • If you must do business with a distant seller, insist on a legitimate service, such as www.escrow.com.

5. A distant seller asks for a partial payment upfront, after which he/she will ship goods:

  • Scammer says he/she trusts you with the partial payment.
  • Scammer may say he/she has already shipped the goods.
  • The deal often sounds too good to be true.

6. "Phishing": Phishing is the act of attempting to fraudulently acquire through deception sensitive personal information such as passwords and credit card details by masquerading in an official-looking email, IM, etc. as someone trustworthy with a real need for such information.

  • A French bank will NEVER ask you to confirm your either your bank number or access codes. You will recieve it in a letter addressed to your permanent address. If you lose it, or decide to change it for any reason, you will likely incurr a service charge.
  • For additional and up-to-date information on phishing, please review the Wikipedia entry located here.

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How to protect yourself:

  • Do business locally! Research the sender's location by looking up his/her city by IP address in a "whois" directory (for example, visit www.dnsstuff.com and use the CITY BY IP ADDRESS box) ;
  • Do not conduct business with anyone unless you are sure the offer is legitimate;
  • Do not include your email address in your Franglo postings. Your email address is contained securely in your Franglo account and other users should reply to your postings via the Franglo website, not by sending an email directly to you;
  • In general, avoid accepting cheques;
  • If you have an ad posted on Franglo and receive a suspect response, send an email to abuse@franglo.com.

Franglo will make every attempt to protect its users from fraud. If a suspected email is sent via the Franglo system, we will ban the sender from using the site and make an attempt to notify the recipient. We have blocked many IP ranges and have cancelled numerous scammer accounts, but you still must be careful.

For local police help, call a non-emergency police number.

If you have evidence of scams occurring on Franglo, please let us know by clicking "Flag for review" on the posting in question and/or emailing abuse@franglo.com.

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Additional resources:

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Actual examples of fraudulent emails sent to Franglo users:

Hello Seller,
I hereby wish to inform you that i am interested to purchase from you.
Your best offer ?
Are you the owner?
Tell me is condition?
To let you no that payment we be made by CHEQUE.
If its still for sale ,provide the details below .
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY
POST CODE
STATE
COUNTRY
PHONE
LAST OFFER
I look forward todo bizness with you.
Thanks.
=========================
my name is lawrence i run a auto shop in Nigeria and i
would love to purchase your Renault Grand Espace IV
Expression 2.2 dCi 150 BV6 22400€
Please inform me of its availability.
=========================
Mon nom est Stephen, j'habite en Londres où je cours un atelier.je d'auto aimerait acheter cette voiture (1990 buick royal) à vendre m'informe s'il vous plaît si c'est toujours disponible. Je regarde en avant à l'audience de vous bientôt
Stephen
=========================
l got your contact for the sales of your vehicle ( 1930 Ford-7,500
euros) on a weblink-(FRANCE PROPERTY AND CLASSIFIEDS)which i am intrested in buying.
I want to know more about the conditions of the vehicle including the millage.
I will want you furnish me the last price you are willing to sell this
vehicle. I want you to send me more pics of the vehicle if there is.

I also want to have your contact phone number for better communication.

Kindly get back to me ASAP.

Best regards

Brian Kimberly.
=========================
I saw this your ads.( 1930 Ford & 1931 Chevy Roadster Both Project
Cars ) I am interested in buying it. I will like to know the present
condition of it and your last price you
want to sell it. Payment will be through a certified cheque.and shipment will be handled by my reliable shipping company so i want you
to get back to me asap today
thank's.
=========================
i am an interested buy of your car i will like you to email me with the last price you will be giving it out
=========================
My name is Tony Smith, and i reside in the United Kingdom.
After much surfin of the internet, i came across your Bookcases /CD tower, and as such i am interested in makin a purchase of it. Therefore i will like to have your final askin price for the item, and i will also like to know how u will like to be paid, though my preffered payment method is through check.
Hope to hear from u a.s.a.p along with more pictures, and do have a nice day.
Regards

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A real story from a Franglo user:

"Wanting to sell our car, we placed an ad on the Franglo website. We received a response from someone who wanted to pay more for the car than was advertised.

"Being quite wary still of scammers we went ahead as this person kept in regular contact with us and "seemed" genuine. We then received the cheque for the sale of the car and paid it into the bank, and even asked the bank if the cheque was genuine, which they said yes to. We had to wait 2 weeks for clearance as the cheque was from another country.

"The buyer had told us she lived in UK but worked abroad in Denmark and her main office was Canada, where we received the cheque from. After 2 weeks the cheque cleared and we asked again at the bank if everything was in order. The bank told us it was fine, so like normal, we spent the money.

"On the day that the buyers son was due to collect the car we received e-mail saying he had been in serious car accident and was critically ill. Could we send some or all of the money back to her via transfer. After saying no, we didnt have the money and that she was more than welcome to come and collect the car when possible, she became quite threatening, name calling started, and we were being threatened by her going to local authorities etc.

"This continued for 2 weeks, i telephoned hospitals in UK to see if i could find her son, no such person had been admitted. She threatened us every day to send her money for the operation on her son and eventually she gave up. The worst is that we then received a letter from the bank to say we were in debt as the cheque was fake. This took 1 month for the bank to realise, and now its us paying for it. Luckily we still have our car and parted with no money."

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