FeatherPower
Well-Known Member
Hello - not sure if this has been mentioned already, so apologies if it has. Only posting now further to a comment made by someone about a horse advertised on here and then for double the money somewhere else.
According to a piece on Radio 4 the latest scam is for horse adverts to be copied almost exactly, expect for the price, which is usually a lot lower and has a 'deposit to secure' feature.
This is based on the number of people willing to buy a horse online without seeing it first, or just pay a deposit before they are able to get there. The deposits range from £500 - £1000 and when contacting the 'seller' people are greeted with tales of 'family tragedy' as a reason for the sale of the horse.
It advises that there are contact details, usually email addresses and numbers that look like mobile numbers but start with 070.... these numbers are premium rate international numbers
The scammers, it appears, are mainly from Nigeria, similar to the recent email money scams encouraging people to offer bank details in return for large sums of money left by people in their wills.
SO - if this has already been said, my apologies, if not be very careful when looking at adverts online and when selling a horse keep an eye out for your advert, often copied word for word along with your pictures, appearing on other sites.
Organisations such as horse and hound are very good at spotting these fake ads and have various filter systems in place but I think they encourage you to report anything suspicious. The adverts appear on less trusted websites.
SO - don't pay deposits without seeing a horse unless you are 110% its a genuine seller!
x
According to a piece on Radio 4 the latest scam is for horse adverts to be copied almost exactly, expect for the price, which is usually a lot lower and has a 'deposit to secure' feature.
This is based on the number of people willing to buy a horse online without seeing it first, or just pay a deposit before they are able to get there. The deposits range from £500 - £1000 and when contacting the 'seller' people are greeted with tales of 'family tragedy' as a reason for the sale of the horse.
It advises that there are contact details, usually email addresses and numbers that look like mobile numbers but start with 070.... these numbers are premium rate international numbers
The scammers, it appears, are mainly from Nigeria, similar to the recent email money scams encouraging people to offer bank details in return for large sums of money left by people in their wills.
SO - if this has already been said, my apologies, if not be very careful when looking at adverts online and when selling a horse keep an eye out for your advert, often copied word for word along with your pictures, appearing on other sites.
Organisations such as horse and hound are very good at spotting these fake ads and have various filter systems in place but I think they encourage you to report anything suspicious. The adverts appear on less trusted websites.
SO - don't pay deposits without seeing a horse unless you are 110% its a genuine seller!
x
