Fighting back!

After receiving a number of reports of scammers contacting advertisers
not only at my web site but other people's site too, I decided to fight
back.  Most email providers have Terms of Service contracts for which
their clients are required to accept the terms.  The contract normally
has a clause or two about misuse of their service and what constitutes
a violation.  Reputable providers don't want people misusing their
service for sending out scam, spam, viruses, etc., and will shut down
an email address from which this type of activity originates.  But
someone has to report them, and I've already turned in several
scammers.  Yes, I know that these people just go establish another
email address somewhere else, but just keep turning them in.

What scammers don't realize is that their messages all say the same
thing: "I want to buy your (piano, music box, organ).  I live in
another country and my agent will be acting for me."  They give
long-winded information in poorly written English concerning how the
deal will be transacted, but they never ask anything about the item
itself or the shipping details.  They go on to say that they will be
sending a check, always for more than the asking price, and want to be
refunded the difference.  (Why send a check for more than the amount?)
Since they all use the same method of operation, they're easy to spot,
but they are a nuisance.

In order to combat these scammers, I have placed a bogus ad at my web
site with myself as the contact.  It's the one for the Barrow & Gilt
upright piano.  You will notice that it has a strange description that
a serious piano buyer will find confusing.  Those of you from an
agricultural background will get a chuckle out of the piano name
"Barrow & Gilt".  A barrow is a castrated male pig; a gilt is a young
female pig.

And yes, I have had responses to my ad.  A scammer isn't looking for
a piano; he's looking for money.  I forward the messages on to their
email provider.  I've received responses from the providers and
although they can't give me all the details due to privacy restrictions,
there are hints that they have had other similar reports and they have
shut down the offending email address.

I know my actions are just one drop in the ocean but if we can all keep
fighting these scammers, we may make headway eventually.

Joyce Brite - Player Piano and Mechanical Music Exchange
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Exchange/