Scam: Need a Stable Computer Expert …

When suspicious about opening or responding to an email, I usually either delete or google it to find out if it’s a

scam or virus. Today I received an email in response to an add I put on Craigslist for computer services. It seemed too good to be true but guess what I did? I opened it anyway. It wasn’t a virus but it turns out it is a scam. Here is the text from the email. Don’t respond to this email or you will get additional emails from the scammer!!!

Following is the original email and the subsequent emails that show how the scam works.

1^st Email ————————————————————————————-

Am Krista Gomez i am 32 years old.. into Computer sales and also buying and selling of computers to Local stores within and outside the USA,am are Looking for a stable computer expert to format and reload computers and prepared them for Office and Homes use.I saw your advert and i want to make enquirers …Pls get back to me asap

Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.

1 Format Hard Drive 2 Instal Win Xp with Service Pack 2 3 Microsoft Office Package 4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates) 5 Adobe Acrobat 6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case. 7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdrom, floppy, etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of (8 )Eight unite

Laptop Name: SONY VIAO Rating: CENTRINO Look View: VERY CLEAN Hard drive Installed: 80 GIG HDD Memory Installed: 1Gig Ram Webcam: YES Bluetooth: NO Wireless Lan: YES CD Rom: DVD CD +Rw Screen size: 14.1 inches Operating system: Windows XP

8.. How much will it cost me for the Eight…?

9. How much is the deposit fee that will be required to be paid?) 10. What is the location of the place..full address When will you be available for this service ? i will pay you with a certified check .also like to ship them in as soon as possible

The set of computers to be reloaded are Laptops , They all Sony products. I need to know if you are capable and willing to work with this . The first set of Laptops to be shipped to you for reloading is Eight unite , and shall be shipped to you together with all software you might need including the anti-virus. Let me know your charges and how you want to be paid.

Thanx

End of 1^st Email ——————————————————————————-

I responded to the original email but didn’t give my address. Next day here was what I got in the second email:

2^nd Email —————————————————————————————–

Hello,
I appreciate your positive response,I really do appreciate it, I would have loved us to see before making any plan but i really have a lot of things to do right now and there is not time to waste..,But it will be okay if you can tell me more about your service and your self , i also got your price which is okay for me these are the important soft wares to load on the computers are Microsoft excel,Adobe Photo shop,Co rel Draw,Microsoft Power Point, and Ant-Virus.All soft wares will be shipped along with the laptops.

They all Sony products and about the shipping, there is a shipper that will handle that, Both shipping of the Laptops to you and Picking it up there after Loading will be handle by the shipper. This is what i am going to do, The check will be mail to you, Get it cashed, deduct your money and send the rest to the shipper.

Is That Understood? And if YES please provide me with the following information to get the payment/shipment to you to avoid package missing in transit.I will prefer to ship them to your work address because you will always be available at work from morning till evening but if home address it will be sitting there and no one will be at home to receive the package.And if you don’t receive package at your office address then I guess your home address will be good for the delivery right ? But to avoid any delay of you receiving at home then I guess any address will be fine as long as you will be able to receive them .

Kindly get back to me with this requested address contact information of where the laptops will be shipped to and also The Payment can be mailed out to you as soon as possible this is only an introductory e-mail, as time goes on we should be able to arrange a proper meeting to get things started officially. I do have a number of Laptops you could help me with only if you will be available, i really need to test you with this first 8 unite to know how really fast you are … Let me know your interest if you are really ready to work with me …So Fill This Application And Email It Back Here Asap!!!

APPLICATION FORM
First Name______________________
Middle Name___________________________
Last Name_____________________________
Street Address_____________________________
City, State, Zip Code______________________________________
Sex________
Nationality___________________________
Cell Phone Number (___)___________________________________

Home Phone Number(___)___________________________________

Email:____________________________

Forward me the this filled details above if you are good with the offer, to enable my Client issue out the paycheck to you as soon as possible,
Thanks.i canot wait to Business with you
Yours Sincerely

End of 2^nd Email ——————————————————————————-