Typical scam letter: "Sir, We are interested in buying your above mentioned products at advertised rate. Goods to be shipped to West Coast Africa. Cost and modalities of shipping to be born by us. Payment for the purchase is by check through a debtor in US. The debtor  owes us higher  than our purchase. He will therefore be sending you a check for $5,000 to cover the cost of our order, as well as the Shipping costs. On receipt of the check, you will cash and deduct the cost of our order .The balance you will send as we would instruct you to the Agency that will ship the Goods to us. If this arrangement suites you fine, please send us your address where to send the check, as well as the name to be on it. Also send us your phone number for easy communication. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Best Regards, MR. IDRIS ABUBAKAR". 3/26

I just received another one for my other saddle from a different person. Unbelievable!! This is rediculous. Be careful everyone. I have been nearly scammed!! His name is Lawrence Smith and he claims to be a dealer from Africa who wanted to send me a cashiers check for $5500 for a $1000 saddle. Then he wanted me to rewire him the remaining money less shipping through an unknown account that he would tell me at a later date. It sounded fishy to me! So I came to Bayequest because I knew there were previous posts on this. Low and behold it was the African Buyers Scam. Thanks Bayequest and its users for your help. Glad the horse community can look out for each other. Hope this helps other people too. 3/26

THE SCAM ARTIST IS BACK--- I just received an inquiry on one of my horses, posted in BAEN- from a Jones Phillip-- REMEMBER THESE!!! Inquiries- The person asked a few questions in the first email, about the horse and stated that he was helping other people find great horses and the second email I received is this "THANKS FOR THE MAIL. THE PRICE IS OKAY BY MY CUSTOMER. AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT HE IS READY TO PURCHASE IT IMMEDIATELY. I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT, I HAVE A CLIENT WHO IS IN THE STATE, AND THAT CLIENT OF MINE IS OWING ME $4,500.I WILL INSTRUCT HIM TO ISSUE YOU A CHECK ON MY BEHALF. AND AS SOON AS THE CHECK GETS TO YOU AND CLEARS IN YOUR BANK. I WOULD LIKE YOU TO DEDUCT YOUR MONEY AND SEND DOWN MY CUSTOMER'S BALANCE THROUGH WESTERN UNION, SO THAT I CAN BE ABLE TO MAKE AN ARRANGEMENT FOR THE SHIPPING OF THE HORSE DOWN TO HIM IN WEST AFRICA. IF THIS IS OKAY BY YOU PROVIDE ME YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER WHERE THE CHEQUE WILL BE SENT TO. THANKS," Keep Your RED FLAGS up people-- If this is the same guy- he has a lot of nerve. 3/18

RECENTY ON BAEN I LISTED A 1966 STIDHAM HORSE TRAILER FOR SALE AT $1,000. AFTER THREE DAYS I RECEIVED AN E-MAIL STATING THE PERSON WAS AN ANTIQUE BUYER FROM WEST AFRICA AND WAS PURCHASING HORSE EQUIPMENT FOR THEIR CLIENT. THEY WERE GOING TO PAY ME A CASHIER CHECK FOR THE $1,000. PLUS $4,350. WHICH INCLUDED OTHER ITEMS THESE SO CALLED ANTIQUE BUYERS HAD PURCHASED. I WAS TO CASH THIS CASHIERS CHECK AND SEND THEM THE BALANCE OF $4,350 TO AN ADDRESS I WAS TO GET LATER. THE TRAILER WAS TO HAVE ARRANGEMENTS FOR SOMEONE TO PICK IT UP AT A LATER DATE. SO I TOLD THEM I WANTED MY MONEY SEPERATE AND DID NOT WANT TO BE A PART OF ANOTHER TRANSACTION. THEY TOLD ME THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO TAKE CARE OF PAYMENT FOR MY TRAILER . SINCE THEY WERE OUT OF THE COUNTRY AND DID NOT WANT TO MAKE OUT SEVERAL CHECKS. I JUST TOLD THEM THE TRAILER WAS FOR SALE AND IF THEY WERE IN THE AREA TO JUST COME BY AND I WOULD BE GLAD TO EXCEPT A CASHIERS CHECK OR CASH. I NEVER HEARD FROM THEM AGAIN! I HAD READ ON YOUR BULLETIN BOARD ABOUT A SCAM FROM NIGERIA SO I JUST FIGURED IT WAS THE SAME GROUP OF PEOPLE. THE PERSON E-MAILING ME WAS ALICE HAMMOND FROM WEST AFRICA. I HOPE THIS HELPS STOP THE THIEVES. MARGE. 3/19

I just received this email from an ad I had posted on BAEN, regarding my puppies.  I think it might have something to do with the African buyer scam!  I thought I'd forward it to you to look at, just in case.  Thank you for posting that Scam alert!  I am a very trusting, person, just the type to fall for that.  Glad I saw your alert first!  Thanks again!  "hello, am erick powell, an american based in africa and am looking for a nice pup to buy. please let me know your last price offer and be glad if you send me a pic of the pup. thanks and regards, erick....."  3/5

Here is an email I received from a South African: "From: Mary Berkley. Hello, Thanks for your mail.I will like to have the Mare. I am located in South Africa. I am into country racing and i have a ranch of about 10-15 horses. I intend getting the mare for my little son so that he can also ride with me. Be sure your horse would be in a save hand and i am also in love with animals likewise my Son. I will arrange for my shipping agengy to pick it up as soon as payment is made. What method of payment is acceptable to you? What about a cashier's check or credit card? Mary.  nb.  i would also like to see the pics and where are you located." 3/5

The Sacramento Bee published an article on this subject on 3/4/03

Attention Horseowners: There are people posing as potential horse buyers from Africa. These people answer your ads and send you cashiers checks way over and beyond your asking price in hopes that you will wire them the balance to send to their "shippers". These cashiers checks are bogus. I almost got taken for $5500 for my cutting mare (which I did not send). Please do not deposit these checks they will bounce on you and if someone from overseas wants to buy please only accept cash via Western Union only. That is the only way you will be guaranteed the money. These cashiers checks look real and they even have the watermark on the back but they are not trust me I went to the bank with one and it was bogus. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me anything. Email me at imahorselover2@hotmail.com. 3/3

I wanted to alert you that we received an email from someone in (S. Africa) regarding purchasing an old truck we had for sale on your website.  I had read your info on the bulletin board about a scam and we did not follow through with the sale. However, I just spoke to a friend of mine who had a broodmare for sale on your website, and was communicating with a person from Nairobi.  She had not heard of the scam and was getting ready to Western Union him a sizable amount (over $4,000) as change from a cashiers check he sent her.  She was unaware of the scam that is going around.  She assumed that a cashiers check was sufficient payment. 3/3

Horse Buying Scam Alert. People selling horses on-line are receiving buyer inquiries from a third party regarding the purchase of a horse from a potential buyer in Nigeria or Africa. This inquiry commonly attempts to arrange the purchase of the horse with a cashiers check covering the price of the horse and shipping. After the horse has been shipped, they commonly ask you to refund the shipping charges as part of a “finders’ fee” arrangement. Unfortunately, the cashier’s check that is sent is counterfeit. This fact is not uncovered until the horse and the finder’s fee have been forwarded to the scam artists. To protect yourselves and others against this type of activity, it is important to try and obtain as much information about the buyer as possible. 3/3

Overseas Horse buying Scam: A BAEN visitor suggests: "I received one of those scam emails not too long ago. I DO happen to deal in horses outside of the US. All I did when I received the email was tell them of my policy, which is all horses who are sold off my place must be paid for in cash or via bank transfer, no checks, visa cards, money orders, or cashiers checks. If they wish to pay using anything other than cash, the horse stays here at their expense. It doesn't step foot off the property until I have confirmed with the bank that all the funds are there and there are no stop payments or anything along that line. And board etc. must be paid in cash before the horse is loaded on the van. Funny, but I never heard back from those people." 2/20