[RE-wrenches] Fake Email solar orders

[John Raynes]

Jeff,

We get a few a week, every week.  They're always for a list of parts, 
never for a group of items that would go together and make anything 
resembling a system.  I've never been tempted to even try to respond.

It seems to me as if they always leave that "signature" of bad 
grammar, or "Dear Sir/Ma", almost as if to cue any savvy dealer, whom 
they would not want to deal with.  They're only trolling for rank 
newbies, I would think.

John Raynes
RE Solar
Torrey, UT


At 01:00 PM 9/10/2008, you wrote:
>I am wondering if any of you are receiving fake email orders as I 
>think they are a scam by hackers in China or other countries.
>
>They always start out asking for a very "odd" list of items they are 
>looking for.  For example, they will say they will take almost any 
>brand of solar module and any size.  They  also ask for solar pumps 
>or inverters, but do not care what size.  If I am trying to order a 
>pump, inverter, or solar module for a specific job, I would expect 
>to know the size I need and not take whatever the supplier is willing to sell.
>
>Also, all of these email's have a non-business email address using 
>one of those free email services, and always indicate they have also 
>sent the same email to others as"un-disclosed."   When we check the 
>street address they give us, it is usually an apartment complex or 
>residential area of a large city.   They always say right up-front 
>that they will be paying by credit card
>
>Finally, the real give-away is their grammar is never correct and 
>they always mis-match the verb tense or there is a mis-match in 
>subject-verb.   Here is a recent one we received  -
>
>Hello, Kindly get quoted pricing for these Grundfos well pump for us 
>,we would be glad for offer your discounted prices.
>LET ME KNOW THE POSSIBILITY OF THE SUPPLY AND KIND OF CREDIT CARDS 
>YOU HOST FOR PAYMENT. MUCH REGARDS
>
>
>I have heard these scammers are using stolen or bogus credit card 
>numbers which are good when you check, but a few days after you ship 
>out the solar hardware the credit card is declined.  I have also 
>heard they ship to some apartment that is rented for a few months 
>where the turn the orders around and ship overseas to 3rd world 
>countries where they can get rid of almost anything that is solar 
>with no questions asked.
>
>Has anybody been stung by these fake orders, and please do not check 
>my email grammar!!
>Jeff Yago
>
>
>
>
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