Vendo auto, acepto bitcoins. Tomándole el pelo a un estafador

Imagen tomada de http://bit.ly/2zYGw8r

En estos días puse un aviso poniendo en venta mi auto y entre los primeros mensajes que me llegaron estaba éste:

hola vendedor, me gusta tu post aquí y me gustaría hacer una compra, responder a mi correo electrónico para la comunicación rápida (gfrankwilliam4477@gmail.com) y me dan el precio final en dólares estadounidenses .... también puede responder mí en Inglés si es posible. GRACIAS ....

Según Mercado Libre la pregunta venía de un tal George Frank William. Noté que el número de teléfono parecía falso, que no tenía ninguna actividad de compras o ventas, y... sospeché algo raro.

Busqué en Google, y el resultado no parecía muy alentador:



El primero de esos resultados corresponde a denuncias a PayPal acerca de alguien que con ese nombre responde a avisos de venta de autos y ofrece comprarlos desde Estados Unidos, utilizando PayPal. Como decía, nada alentador...

Con la siguiente búsqueda obtuve aún más datos, incluyendo una descripción de a qué clase de trucos apuntan con esto.




Según explica allí una abogada de la Oficina de Defensa del Consumidor de la FTC USA, a veces intentan hacer que registres una cuenta nueva en PayPal, pero te envían a una página falsa. De esa forma uno cree que le está dando datos personales y de tarjeta de crédito a PayPal, pero en realidad se los está dando al estafador.

Otras veces intentan hacerte creer que te enviaron el dinero pero por una cantidad mayor y piden que les hagas un giro por la diferencia.

En otros casos incluso hacen un pago real para que uno le mande lo que está vendiendo, pero en realidad están pagando con una cuenta de un tercero estafado, y luego cuando éste reclama y se cancela el pago, uno se queda sin lo que vendió y sin el dinero.

Jueves 16 de Noviembre, 5:03 PM

De todas formas, movido por la curiosidad e intentando divertirme un rato decidí hacerme pasar por Juan Pérez y seguirle un poco el juego a quien se hacía pasar por George Frank William.

Éste fue mi primer mensaje:

From: Juan Perez
Date: Thu, Nov 16, 2017 at 5:03 PM
Subject: Car for sale in Mercado Libre
To: gfrankwilliam4477@gmail.com

Hi, George

Received a message about a post in Mercado Libre (on which I'm offering to sell my car) and asking me to contact this address?

Are you interested in the car?

Regards,

Jueves 16, 7:02 PM

Por suerte no tuve que esperar mucho, y un par de horas después ya recibí respuesta de mi amigo George:

From: GEORGE FRANK WILLIAM <gfrankwilliam4477@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Nov 16, 2017 at 7:02 PM
Subject: Re: Car for sale in Mercado Libre
To: Juan Perez

what is your final price in US dollars?

Jueves 16, 7:54 PM

Decidí hacerle una oferta tentadora, para comenzar a hablar:

From: Juan Perez
Date: Thu, Nov 16, 2017 at 7:54 PM
Subject: Re: Car for sale in Mercado Libre
To: GEORGE FRANK WILLIAM <gfrankwilliam4477@gmail.com>

US Dollars 13,000

Viernes 17, 3:39 AM

Aparentemente la oferta resultó suficientemente tentadora y George ya estaba dispuesto a cerrar negocio!

From: GEORGE FRANK WILLIAM <gfrankwilliam4477@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 17, 2017 at 3:39 AM
Subject: Re: Car for sale in Mercado Libre
To: Juan Perez

Thanks for the response. I am okay with the final price and the present condition as I'm ready to make the purchase now. I will like you to know I'm really interested in buying this for my father, I won't be able to come to view/purchase in person due to the nature of my job and present location, but not to worry, The shipping company supervisor and pick up agents will handle everything concerning the signing of the paperwork and pick up process on my behalf. I will be making the payment by PayPal and i believed you have a verified PayPal account to receive the payment. I'll be waiting to hear from you, and I'd like to send me the Name and E-mail and the phone Number with your country code you used to registered on PayPal account with Firm Price to send payment. Thanks and waiting for your email.

Viernes 17, 8:11 PM

Eso de "shipping company supervisor and pick up agents" me resultó bastante gracioso...

Como recibir pagos por PayPal no me resulta muy conveniente decidí hacerle una contraoferta.

From: Juan Perez
Date: Fri, Nov 17, 2017 at 8:11 PM
Subject: Re: Car for sale in Mercado Libre
To: GEORGE FRANK WILLIAM <gfrankwilliam4477@gmail.com>

Hi, my apologies for the delay.

I'm afraid I can't use PayPal due to religious constraints and in fact I don't even have a PayPal account.

However, you may simply transfer the funds to your shipping company supervisor or pick up agents, so that they can pay me in cash. That wouldn't be a problem.

Otherwise, if you do prefer to do it electronically, I will be happy to receive bitcoins, for which we don't need to use PayPal!

The price of the car in bitcoins is BTC 1.55, which at the moment (see bellow for the current price at http://blockhain.info ) represents USD 12,246.57, so it would be even cheaper than the USD 13,000 on which we already have an agreement.



However, if you do want to buy the car I strongly advise you to hurry up because as you probably already know the bitcoin price is expected to raise to near USD 8,200 in the short term (most probably during this weekend) due to the recent news about the latest blockchain fork and its impact on the mining ecosystem.

To send me the BTC 1.55 you may use the following address (QR code is also included for your convenience).

1EMDWKYLsPKU3p9eJJbEWzNK9sjcizbzEf

​
Please let me know as soon as you have transferred the bitcoins and you may ask the pick up agents to contact me to coordinate.

Regards,

Nota: Lo del fork y el impacto en el ecosistema de minado era simple "blah, blah, blahh", pero este lunes el bitcoin efectivamente llegó a más de 8.200... :)

Viernes 17, 10:02 PM

George insiste con PayPal, debido a su "present location".

From: GEORGE FRANK WILLIAM <gfrankwilliam4477@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 17, 2017 at 10:02 PM
Subject: Re: Car for sale in Mercado Libre
To: Juan Perez

I would have loved to pay in cash but due to my present location and i only have a paypal attached to my account. Its reliable and easy to use PayPal. I insisted on PayPal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it. PayPal is a means of sending and receiving funds worldwide online, and paypal also ensures we are both safe and secured online in the transaction. with paypal you can send and receive funds securely online. all you need to do is go to www.paypal.com and set up an account there and register and once you have done that just get back to me with your paypal Name and email address and phone Number with your country code.... which you used to register on paypal, so i can proceed with the payment asap and once we are done with that we can proceed from there in arranging for the pickup.

Sábado 18, 10:13 AM

PayPal podría ser una opción, pero mi religión no me lo permite. ¿Qué es eso de que está en un lugar que no tiene acceso a los bancos? ¿Será que está preso, o algo similar?

From: Juan Perez
Date: Sat, Nov 18, 2017 at 10:13 AM
Subject: Re: Car for sale in Mercado Libre
To: GEORGE FRANK WILLIAM <gfrankwilliam4477@gmail.com>

Hi, George again.

As I told you in my previous message I have religious constraints against using PayPal. I'm a devoted member of the Pastafarian Church, and for us, all payments through technological means were forbidden many years ago. Do you think I would be able to use it without them knowing it? If they ever find out they wouldn't let me enter the Temple again!

That's why I suggested using bitcoins. Since they were invented many years after the prohibition was set, the church laws are still somewhat blurry on that issue, but in practice they are allowed, at least for now.

Can you send me the 1.55 bitcoins? It's even faster than PayPal! The bitcoin is at 7,700 right now so it's cheaper for you, at least for now.

Oh, another idea: why don't you use PayPal to send the money to the shipping company so that they give it to me when they come to pickup the car? I think that's a very good idea, don't you think?

You got me worried about that present location of yours with no bank access? Are you in jail? That would be very sad for you and I hope they set you free as soon as possible. I really don't like that people have to suffer in jails, and I'd wish they'll set them free forever.

Besides that, if you were in jail it would be a problem because we Pastafarians are not allowed to get in business with convicted people, at least while they are in prison. I really hope that is not the case and that I just misunderstood you.

Regards,

Lunes 20

Ya estamos a lunes, y no he vuelto a saber del amigo George Frank William; supongo que consiguió alguna mejor oferta, o quizá GMail le canceló la cuenta o vaya uno a saber... Aunque yo ya estaba entusiasmado, finalmente no pudimos cerrar el negocio...

A propósito, el coche aún sigue a la venta, así que si saben de alguien al que pueda interesarle avísenle, por favor :)

Puede ser en dólares o en bitcoins, a elección del comprador!

♦