posted by Doyle
I decided I needed (OK, maybe not needed, but certainly could use… OK, I just wanted) the new 120GB iPod, so I put my 80GB iPod on Craig’s List. The first email I got was from a “doctor” in Boulder who was in vacation in Hawaii, but wanted to pay me via PayPal and have me send it to his “woman” in Africa.
Yeah, right. Maybe he’ll trade me for my beautiful seafront property in Nebraska.
Then I got this email from Ro Ju (I’ll put his email address here – r.ju05@yahoo.com — so all the other spammers will find it and he’ll at least have to register for a new Yahoo account!). It said:
Hi is it still available,if yes,do you accept paypal?
I decided to have some fun with this one, so I responded that I would be happy to take PayPal. I didn’t ask him why, but he felt compelled to explain his situation to me. The next email said:
Thanks for your reply, i am a very busy man thats why, can you ship to Africa for me to my lovely wife who is on a missionary trip there for our church with my son and i pay you with paypal since it secures both buyer and seller, and you can confirm payment from your account before you ship? is it possible?i will pay you for all extra charges and also for shipment to make sure you get your exact amount for the sale.
Hope to read from you soon.
Anyone else notice that he never asked the condition, what it came with, etc.? You know, all the stuff that someone that really wanted to buy an iPod would ask? I responded that I’d be happy to help out, but I’d need to increase the price to $400, and I estimated shipping would be $200. I asked if that would be OK. The response:
so kindly send me a PayPal money request or just give me your PayPal email address so i can pay immediately
So now Ro “Savvy Internet Shopper” Ju is happy to pay me $600 for a used 80GB iPod when he could buy a new 120GB from Apple for $249. Gosh, I must be an amazing salesman.
As an aside, is there a “how to be an idiot Internet scam artist” Web site out there that advises everyone to note your beautiful wife is doing missionary work? Seriously.
So, this is kind of fun. I wondered how far I could take this and sent the following response:
OK, but I’m so concerned for and moved by your family doing God’s work in Africa, let me make this offer: I’ll fly personally to Africa and deliver the iPod to your lovely wife. I’ve priced tickets, and I’ll need to invoice you via PayPal for $3,264.27 (airfare to Africa and hotel ) plus the $400 for the iPod and I’m requesting a $500/day per diem to enjoy the continent while I’m delivering this iPod to your wife.
I’ll document the entire trip via photo and video and post it to my blog so the world can see how much you care for your lovely wife and how much she will be enjoying her new iPod.
Let me know if this is acceptable to you. Happy to help out with your busy schedule!
Sadly, that was too rich for Ro Ju, who asked me to just send him the invoice for $600. No trip to Africa for me, I guess. That’s OK, we’ve been pretty busy at work.
22 responses so far ↓
1 GeekMommy // Dec 28, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Sadly, I’m sure the guy probably gets several iPods, iPhones, and other various and sundry “resellables” a week this way.
Love your story – wish he’d bought into the ‘travel’ bit… I thought the per diem request was particularly amusing!
2 DaveTaylor // Dec 29, 2008 at 8:41 am
Wait, you mean to imply that the PR agency where you hire them but pay their wives who are on church missions in Africa is a scam too? Oh no….
Well, gosh, can I still deduct the cost from my taxes?
3 Spoon // Feb 5, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I've got a fresh one too wanting to ship to Africa. Buyer never asked any questions about product or mentioned how he was going to use it. His emails didn't really reflect a logical transaction for an overseas purchase so I googled "Craigslist buyers shipping to Africa" and found your site. He offered up adding $200 to paypal payment for shipment prior to having a clue of the shipping weight (which is heavy & $200 probably wouldn't cover it). He also wanted my paypal account "for my immediate payment that was waiting for me". Anyway, sellers BEWARE! TKS everyone for posting your experience-it helps save all of us!
4 pixie // Feb 11, 2009 at 3:03 am
Hi, I just listed my diamond engagement ring and received an email if the ring was still available. I replied yes and quickly received this email (even though I specified on craiglist pickup/cash only) here's the reply I received:
Good to read from you and i believe we can continue on this
transaction because i don't like to beat around the bush and am not
here for games, I am buying this item for my spouse located USA and i
will be responsible for the shipping and handling cost, All you have
to do now is to send me a money request via paypal as for me to
confirm if your account is still active or not or you get back to me
with your paypal registered email account as for me to remit the
payment. Please get back to me as soon as possible if you are still
interested to further with this transaction.and i will like if you
can ship the item through USPS Global International Express Mail
(EMS)…. I will be looking forward to read from you. I will also like
to know the condition of the item
Regards.
Now, this sounds pretty legit but I'm a skeptic and was pretty clear when I said face-to-face transaction/pick up/cash only. He hasn't seen the ring, didn't ask (as two other would-be buyers did) about the actual size or carat?
I know if I or anyone I know were about to purchase something over $500.- would at least ask or want to see the item. I stated it was my ring and was gently used for probably a year on/off. I began to go online and research a bit on this and found this site. What do you think? Scam? Doesn't sound to real or trustworthy. I'm in no rush.
5 Doyle Albee // Feb 20, 2009 at 3:50 am
Sounds like a scam to me, if nothing else just from the "good to read from you." My rule with Craigslist: in person, cash only. Anything else is a potential problem. Thanks for commenting!
6 Seth // Feb 28, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I posted my PC on craigslist. Ro Ju's doing well. His son is a missionary in Africa right now. I found this by googling his name. I just got the same exact emails, except it's now his son rather than the beautiful wife
7 doyle_albe45231 // Feb 28, 2009 at 6:57 pm
What a lovely, dedicated family that Ro Ju has.
8 kmay // Mar 9, 2009 at 4:35 am
So, I just got almost the VERY same message from the very same guy. He now has a ymail account.
From: "Ro Ju" <sweetro04@ymail.com>
Thanks for your reply,i am a very busy man thats why, can you ship to Africa for me to my son as a birthday gift,he is on a missionary trip there for our church and needs it urgently,i want you to pls help me with this,i would have loved to pick this up myself and send to him but i am not in the city and do not have time to go to the post office.. i'll pay you with paypal since it secures both buyer and seller, and you can confirm payment from your account before you ship? and be sure of getting your money… is it possible?i will pay you for all extra charges and also for shipment to make sure you get your exact amount for the sale..i am willing to give you an extra $40 for any stress caused.
Hope to read from you soon.
Sounded fishy so I googled it and I found this and pretty god damned glad i did !
He must have read your blog because he now decided to remember to ask how the condition is!
9 Bryan // Mar 31, 2009 at 2:52 am
"Thanks for your reply,i am a very busy man thats why, can you ship to
Africa for me to my son as a birthday gift,he is on a missionary trip
there for our church and needs it urgently,i want you to pls help me
with this,i would have loved to pick this up myself and send to him
but i am not in the city and do not have time to go to the post
office.. i'll pay you with paypal since it secures both buyer and
seller, and you can confirm payment from your account before you ship?
and be sure of getting your money… is it possible?i will pay you for
all extra charges and also for shipment to make sure you get your
exact amount for the sale.i am willing to give you an extra $40 for
any stress caused.
Hope to read from you soon.
It is free to register and takes just few minutes to sign up at http://www.paypal.com"
I knew it sounded fishy.. I am so thankful this post was here and google helped me find it. Now to have some fun with "tren fergerson."
10 Doyle Albee // Mar 31, 2009 at 3:02 am
I just hope this clown (or ring of clowns… wait, is a group of clowns called a posse?) is finding far fewer iPods and far more grief in his future. Let's keep telling the tale!
11 Artaqq // Apr 1, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Oh, my! "Ro Ju' is a very busy man! He just bought my Piano under two identities: James Phillips, <jamesphilps34506@yahoo.com> and Ashley Bobby <bobbyashelly001.ssc@gmail.com>. The emails sent were just about ver bat-um, except, being a piano, it would be difficult to ship to Africa so he was sending 'movers'. Check it out: Hello,
Glad to read from you…. I'm really interested in your item but i'm so sorry as i won't be able to come for a look as i'm the busy type. Well, i'll keep in touch with my financier to mail a check for the amount you're requesting for and will have a shipping company to come for the pick up as soon as you confirm to me that you receive the check and it clears your bank.
If this arrangement is acceptable, pls get back to me with your name as it will appear on the check and your contact address that the check will be mail to, along with your cell # with the (LAST OFFER YOU WANT FOR IT). Get back as soon as possible.
Thanks for your understanding and have a have bless day..
Regards..
The lousy English and grammar was my first tip that a scam was in process.
12 Beth Rachau // Apr 9, 2009 at 8:30 pm
I am so stupid. I didn't google until after I had shipped my item. Does anyone know how I would go about getting my item back? I feel so stupid and used. I would also like to add that he has a new email out there: trencute02@gmail.com
13 Beth // Apr 9, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Just an update, it started out with asking Hi,is it still in good condition and do you accept PayPal? So, they are now getting smarter as to asking about the product.
14 Johnson // Apr 29, 2009 at 12:22 am
Ru Jo is now in Miami and apparently looking for an Xbox for his son. Using the e-mail rowanju@gmail.com.
15 Jessica // May 13, 2009 at 1:10 am
He asked me if the price I listed was the lowest I would go…he then emailed me back asking if I would ship to Tampa and if I accepted Paypal. I am skeptical on a lot of things I do, just because I can't afford not to and because of a couple of things that I listed and got CRAP emails about some money thing.
We packed up our Wii and was waiting for a response and I decided to google the name attached to the email and saw this. Thanks guys. I have never had problems with Craigslist.
16 Jeanine Walker // May 18, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Seriously, spammers are so dumb. Why don't they take an English course and figure out how to hone their "voice"? It's ridiculous how easy it is to tell a real person from a spammer. It is sad, but at the same time, I'm laughing.
17 Mike // May 28, 2009 at 2:36 am
yeah tren fergerson is still looking to rip someone off i found this thread and found out the guy that wanted to buy my ring is a fake and going by trencute04@gmail.com but im playing along with him, he thinks im in africa and needs the money to get back to the states. lol
18 kemishdo // May 28, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Tren is now trying to buy my sapphire and diamond ring, but I'm not so dumb as to ever send anything before I get the money transferred into my bank account.
19 Doyle Albee // May 28, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Careful… the "account transfers" are part of some of the scams, as emails can be faked. When it comes to Craigslist, my recommendation is local and cash.
20 kemishdo // May 28, 2009 at 5:32 pm
they can't fake the money in my bank account, that is what I meant, I'm still not even stupid enough to fall for an email saying my money was transferred. Nothing would make me ship anything unless I actually saw the money in my bank account through my bank account branch itself. Anybody who doesn't take the time to check your accounts is out of the mind!
21 Smithers560 // Jun 23, 2009 at 10:13 pm
I think what Doyle is saying is that they CAN fake money in your bank, by sending you a postal order (not sure that's what you Yanks call it). The bank will add the funds to your acc, you ship the item then a few days later the other bank tells your bank it's a fake PO, and they pull the funds.
Great read btw
22 Brittany // Jul 30, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I found a dog on Cleveland.com. I requested more info and got an email from trencute03@gmail.com. He tells me that he and his wife are working on missionary work in Bell, CA and are unable to care for her. He requests that she either be picked up or shipped. The only thing he's asking for payment for is the shipping. I asked about paypal and he told me he has a shipping agent and uses western union. He gave me shipping agents name/number.
Needless to say, or search for a puppy will continue!
I checked around and found that the number he'd given me tor each him was in Washinton State. The number for the shipping agent is in Mryland. He claims to be located in California right now.
Glad we read this first! Thanks for the advice!
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