Hay Scams
www.hay-scams.com

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You have hay for sale and you have just received an e-mail from someone who wants to buy your hay.  "Something" seems wrong.  Is this the start of a "Hay Scam"?

We can help you!

What is this "Hay Scam" and who are the scammers? 

Simple answer, someone sends you a counterfeit check to cover the cost of the hay plus 'trucking' and asks you to Wire money back to the 'trucker' so he can come and get the hay.  No one comes for the hay, the check bounces a month or two later and you have lost the money you wired out.  Most of the scammers are in Nigeria.

How does it work?

A check drawn on an account with "insufficient funds" will bounce quickly but a Counterfeit check can take up to 3 months for the account holder to get the check in their bank statement,  challenge the counterfeit check and have it returned.   The scammers count on you to wire them money when you to think the check has 'cleared' after a few days.

More information about the counterfeit check scams can be found here: http://www.cashierscheckscam.com/

Warning!!!  You can no longer count on the scam message to be written in broken English.  See Example-81

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How can I know if the purchaser is real or a scammer?

Here are the things to look out for, over the next 3 messages from the scammer:

Great big "RED FLAGS":
They use Yahoo or more recently Gmail!
If they ask: How much hay can I (the scammer)  get for X dollars?
Current scam message are worded to sounds like it is coming from a woman.
If they use the words "Dual payment" or say they are sending an excess amount to cover the cost of the 'hauler or trucker'.

Extreme RED FLAG ...  phone number that starts with +44???????? or +234?????????? (the first example is a British number that will transfer your call to anywhere in the world and the second example is a direct call to Nigeria) 
Be aware that current scams use cell phone numbers from here in the US as well as cell phones out of Canada.

Enter a Country Calling Code, then "reverse it" to find the corresponding country

Any reference to Patrick Atim Etim Inyang, Atim Etim Patrick Inyang, Patrick Inyang Etim,  Inyang Etim Patrick, Etim Inyang Patrick,  Atim P.I. Etim,  Mr. I. E. Patrick,  A. P .I Etim, or further combinations of those initials ......  it's a hay purchaser scam.

and the Biggest proof that this is a scam is:
You are to Wire money to someone you do not know, after cashing the purchaser's check.

Common traits of the scam:
Messages that 'sound strange' or from apparent foreign language speaking individuals
They want you to hurry and deposit the check
Click here for more "Common Traits"

What are other clues that this is a scam? I don't want to lose a hay sale by mistake.

They want to buy your hay?  Ask the person to send you a deposit of about $25 to $50 via Paypal.  Valid purchasers will do it.   Scammer..... no!

Scammers always ask for your full contact information   (so they can send you the check) but are extremely vague about themselves.   Ask them for their name, address and phone number so you can do a reverse search and check on them.  Search for all the combinations of a phone number (i.e. 234-8034-868-265,        234 8034868265,       234.8034.868.265   etc. )

Try Goggling the scammer's name and e-addy to see if someone else has posted something about them.  You can also try Goggling a distinctive phrase to see if it comes up somewhere else.  If the scammer give you a physical address, try Google Earth and see if you can zoom down to look and see what the neighborhood looks like. 

Oct. '08 We are seeing occasional scammers who will search the internet for locations and steal a valid farm or company name and address but use their own phone number so Google every address and double check it.

You can get a sense of what the scammers sound like by reading through these scammer messages,  some use broken English but most are now using words that sound very legitimate.   Check the most recent messages to see if you have one of them also.

This is a "Perfect" example of how the scam plays out Example-89  Excellent English, uses local news, stolen company name and address and a long time to 'set the hook'!

Is this a counterfeiting ring?
We feel the counterfeits most likely come from one or two individuals  here in the US. with a high quality ink jet printer using common software (like Quicken Books) and printing on genuine blank check paper obtained from a place like this: www.micrfonts.com/micr.htm   They are partnered with the scammers outside of the US who do the e-mailing.

Am I in trouble if I reply back to their messages?

No.  In fact you can have some fun with them.  The only time you are in trouble is if you wire money back to them.  You need to realize that the check or money order that they send to you is counterfeit and it WILL bounce.   The trap is started when they send the bogus funds to you and the trap is cocked when you deposit the counterfeit funds.   The trap snaps painfully on you when you wire the 'hauling fees' back to them.  You can not recover the money that you wire out!  NEVER!  They are in Nigeria and outside the reach of our laws.  They don't want your hay, they want the "hauler's fee".

What about the scammer's e-mail address?

You can check the list of e-mail names and addresses below.  It is obviously not a complete list but may be some help.

Scammers create and change their e-mail address and name about as often as most of us change our underwear so their e-mail address is only a snapshot of what has happened in the past.  Occasionally a scammers will bring up old addresses and run them again, so following is a list of some of those used by the scammers including the most recent at the top..  Be sure to check the underlying actual address <someone@some.com> and not just the  <Name> in the messages you get from the scammer since the scammers will occasionally change the name that goes with the old e-mail address.

How else can you help me determine if this is a scam?
(Click here for information --  including how to submit a scammer's message)

Our web server is logging information requests from all over the world,
including from NIGERIA as the scammers check up!

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