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Over the last 24 hours a seller using the name Mark Cole has been sending out emails allegedly from Scarlet Mist. These emails do not originate from us. I have pasted one of them below, together with an email we received from a Scarlet Mist user. If you have been approached by this person we advise you to take great care.------------------------------ ----------------
Hi there,
I'm pretty sure I've identified a fraudulent seller. I also tried emailing / messaging your website earlier to ask questions, but after a bit of googling I'm quite sure I was nearly scammed. The seller calls himself 'Mark Cole'...
MARK COLE Verified Seller address: 23 LONSDALE ROAD W11 1UL LONDON UK
markcole1983@yahoo.com He advertised 4 weekend tickets for Reading Festival on Scarlet Mist, and sent me a fake confirmation email from this address- scarletmist_aw_confirm@yahoo.com. He required me to buy a minimum of two tickets and we corresponded mostly by email as I didn't get to the final 'buy' confirmation on Scarlet Mist (so I guess he must have promised tickets to 4 other people, along with anyone who clicked on his email address). I thought as a seller he must be able to choose who to sell to, so even though I didn't get to clicking the final button, I hoped it was still a bona fide Scarlet Mist transaction. The man asks for Western Union Transfer, which got me suspicious, and the email didn't sound like it was written by someone from Scarlet Mist- too many gaps, crap formatting, cut/paste style typos, and exclamation marks! I googled him but couldn't find much. Then he emailed me to ask if I'd gotten an email from gumtree- so, he'd forgotten which site he was pretending to be. I googled 'mark cole gumtree' and got this thread about very probably him http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vZm9ydW1zLmd1bXRyZWUuY29tL3RvcGljMTU3NzkwLmh0bWw=">http://forums. gumtree. com/topic157790. html There's some other similar sounding fake confirmation emails maybe written by him here too- http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vZm9ydW1zLmd1bXRyZWUuY29tL2Fib3V0MzktMTc1Lmh0bWw=">http://forums. gumtree. com/about39-175. html As a newbie to Scarlet Mist (would have been my first transaction ;) ) and someone who was ecstatic for about 3 hours, thinking she was going to Reading Festival, I feel intensely pissed off at this guy and want everyone to be warned about him as much as possible! Thanks for taking the time to read this. Can I also say, although it might seem obvious to you that any email address ending in yahoo, etc is NOT from Scarlet Mist, I was so excited I was nearly taken in. Maybe you could write some guidelines on your website about what a genuine confirmation email looks like? Many thanks,
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THE EMAIL BELOW DOES NOT ORIGINATE FROM SCARLET MIST.
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..tr> ..table> ..tr>| Thank you for contacting Scarlet Mist Support team! Per your request, we have verified all the details of this transaction. We concluded that they are accurate. Please follow our instructions to complete the transaction safely. | ..table>..tr> ..tr>
|  |  |  | ..tr> ..tr> ..tr> ..tr>| ..tr> ..table> SCARLET MIST Transaction 2 reading festival full weekend+camping tickets Current status: Payment pending ..table>..table> Transaction details: ..tr>
| ..table>..tr valign="top"> ..table>..table>..table> Complete your SCARLET MIST transaction in 5 easy steps: - Scarlet Mist accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer (if the transaction is declined, no further action is required from either the buyer or the seller);
- The buyer sends payment and the seller receives it. After the payment was received, the seller must notify Scarlet Mist . Buyer will send the payment details directly to the seller email address. The seller has three business days to send the buyer and Scarlet Mist the tracking number of the shipment. If no tracking number is provided, a full refund is immediately sent to the buyer;
- Buyer receives the merchandise and has five days to inspect it. If it is complete and as described, the buyer should accept the merchandise. If he refuses the merchandise, the buyer must ship the merchandise back to the seller within three business days.
- After the inspection period is over, the buyer must contact Scarlet Mist with the result of the inspection. If the buyer refuses the merchandise, the refund will be sent to the buyer after the tracking number for the returned shipment is verified.
Payment must be sent by WesternUnion Wire Transfer to: ..tr>| | 2 reading festival full weekend+camping tickets |
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| | | 300 GBP | | | Ready to ship | | | Pending | ..table>..tr valign="top">..table> Next step to be taken: The buyer must send the payment to the seller It is recommended to send the payment as soon as possible, because your purchase protection is valid for 30 days only. Sending the payment by any other method of payment will void this transaction and your right to refund. Payment instructions:
To submit the payment with WesternUnion Money Transfer, you have 2 options: 1. Pay for the transfer with cash at a local WesternUnion agent. Click here to locate the agents in your area http://www.westernunion.com/info/selectCountry.asp to one of them and send the payment to the verified name of the seller, available in United Kingdom and U.S.. 2. If you are now in the USA and need to use a credit/debit card (Visa or MasterCard), call 1-800-CALL-CASH and make the payment to the verified name of the seller. An additional fee will be charged on most cards because this transaction will be considered a cash advance on your card. westernunion Money Transfer is the only service that has ultimate authentication of the identity of the receiver of funds. Several IDs and utility bills are required before the funds are paid. Therefore, no one else but your seller can pick up the money. Your payments cannot be lost in the mail, like money orders or checks. However, westernunion Money Transfer is designed mainly for sending cash to friends and family in need, so telling them you are sending the money to an Gumtree seller will prevent your money transfer to go through and you will be unable to complete this transaction. Once the payment was sent, email the seller the following information: 1. 10 digit Number (Reference Transfer ) 2. Exact sender's name on file with westernunion: 3. Your street address on file with westernunion: 4. City and country where you sent the money from: 5. Amount sent: Then wait for the confirmation the payment was received. Within 3 business days, you will receive the tracking number for your merchandise.
Purchase protection and refund: Currently, this seller has a GBP 20,000.00 deposit in an Scarlet Mist managed purchase protection account. Transactions with this Scarlet Mist seller are covered by purchase protection against fraud and description errors. For your safety, this account was locked today, for 90 days time period. The seller is unable to withdraw any money from it, within this period. Should you need a refund for this transaction, the insured amount will be taken from the seller's purchase protection account and sent to you. The refund is sent to your bank account, or by check or money order. The way you are refunded is at your choice. You have 90 days from the above verification date to request a refund. Refund requests are processed within 3 days. The account is managed by Scarlet Mist SquareTrade center. This transaction is supervised by Scarlet Mist SafeHarbor team. Conditions to be met before you may ask for a refund: Here are the situations suitable for a refund request: 1. If the item doesn't arrive and/or the seller stops communications after the payment was received; 2. If the merchandise you receive has different specifications than the ones you agreed on; 3. If your merchandise arrives in a much longer period than the one you agreed on (more than 15 days from the payment clearance day); For cases 2. and 3. you have to send back the merchandise to the seller prior to ask for your refund. If you did not pay the seller by payment method required by us, your refund request will be declined. Important Usage Guidelines: 1. The contact information should only be used for resolving matters related to Scarlet Mist . Any other use is strictly prohibited. 2. This transaction is protected by Scarlet Mist services such as insurance, feedback and dispute resolution. 3. You may buy and sell with confidence in all transactions with this Scarlet Mist member. 4. Should you need to dispute this transaction, keep the transaction number at hand when contacting Scarlet Mist . Any complaints must be filed within 90 days from the verification date. This e-mail message was sent to you from Scarlet Mist SafeHarbor team, with the full support of the SquareTrade center.
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| Verified Seller name: |
| MARK COLE |
| Verified Seller address: |
| 23 LONSDALE ROAD W11 1UL LONDON UK | ..table>..table>..table>..table>..table>
7:27 AM
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