If it sounds too good….. 

Being as i’m in FL for a couple of weeks this December, I’m hoping to catch a Dolphins game out there.  As luck would have it, they are playing the Patriots smack in the middle of my two week stay.  So a buddy of mine from the US office has been keeping his eyes out for some decent seats on Ebay.

We thought we had some today, seemed to good to be true.  4 x 1st row tickets, 500USD for all 4.  Having looked at the Dolphins site, the regular tickets for this section go for about 90USD a piece so it didn’t seem to bad.  The guy in the US emails the seller (zero feedback btw lol) and gets the following in return.

From: Blocull@aol.com [mailto:Blocull@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 10:39 AM
To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: 4 Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots - SECTION 142  

Hi,  

The total price for 4 Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots - SECTION 142 is $500. All the seats are together in SEC 142 Row 1.  Parking pass included.  

I sell them for my boss. He is from USA. Right now we are located in LONDON, UK
with some business problems and my boss will not arrive in time that’s why I’m selling
the tickets for him. He bought them trough his company so don’t worry the tickets are
genuine. Beside this we will use a safe scheme.
We will use Square Trade to handle this. aThey will act like a 3rd party in this deal like
Escrow.
We will use Western Union as a method of payment and Fed Ex as a shipping method.
Here are in few words the deal steps:
Buyer and seller agree on the transaction terms and a selling price. Seller contacts eBay’s
Square Trade Center with the transaction details; eBay’s Square Trade Center accepts the
transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer (if the transaction is declined, no
further action is required from either the buyer or the seller);
The buyer deposit the payment at a Western Union office.
After the payment is deposited, the eBay’s Square Trade Center will released the notification that the transfer details are received. After  buyer receives the merchandise has five days to inspect it.
If it is complete and as described, the buyer should accept the merchandise.
If he refuses the merchandise, the buyer must ship the merchandise back to the seller within three business days. After the inspection period is over, the buyer must contact eBay’s Square Trade Center with the result of the inspection. If the buyer refuses the merchandise, the money from Western Union is retired after the tracking number for the returned shipment is verified.
If you decide to keep the merchandise you will provide the transfer details to the seller in order to pick his money.
Attention: Sending the payment by any other method will void this transaction and your right to refund.
The payment details are confidential and will not be released under any circumstances.
Square Trade security measures are constantly reviewed and modified given involving circumstances globally, drawing on both internal assessments and the support of government agencies.
Their constant priority is for the safety of their people, their customers, and public. Square Trade always tries to fulfill its customers’ need.
If you agree with my terms please drop me your full name and address so we can start the deal.  

ATTENTION: IN CONCLUSION THE MONEY STAY AT WU UNTIL THE BUYER RECEIVE THE TICKETS ARE IT IS SATISFIED ABOUT THEM.
Shipping will be done trough Fed Ex overnight delivery. It will take about 24 hours to reach your location.

IF YOU WANT TO PURCHASE THEM EMAIL ME BACK WITH: YOUR FULL NAME:…….
YOUR ADRESS:…
CITY:…
STATE:…
ZIP CODE:….
EMAIL ADDRESS:….
I WILL NEED THESE DETAILS FOR SQUARE TRADE SO THEY CAN CONTACT YOU

THANK YOU

Fortunately, neither of us are dumbasses so he forwards me on the email asking what I think.  It sounds a bit fishy to me, especially the poor grammar (not what i’d expect from someone who travels for business!) so I google the senders address Blocull@aol.com.

Voila - Scam-tastic Report on Ebay about this guy.  Unbelievably, a few people have actually sent this guy a money transfer over Western Union…