"Jack Denver" > wrote in message
...
> Your response does not compute - the email from the scammer specifically
> asked that the scammee use Western Union money transfer, not Paypal . Even
> if Paypal didn't exist, the scam could go on.

Oops, I agree just re-read OP.
You are right though, consumer need to exersice caution in their every
business transcation (buyer beware) since scammers are very adaptive and
evolving creatures.
Ah these times of ours!
Oh tempora oh mores.

> Nor is this WU's fault either. The WU money transfer system is
specifically
> for sending cash to known recipients such as family members. It is not
meant
> to be a system for merchandise payments. They don't require that you have
> ID, just to know the pickup #. This is because the reason many WU money
> transfer happen in the 1st place is because the recipient has lost his
> wallet while traveling and has no ID or cash.
>
> If you mail the scammer a check, is it your bank's fault?
>
> Trust me, if there was no WU and no Paypal, the scammers would figure some
> other way to have the gullible pay them. They are endlessly inventive and
> can think up endless lies and schemes.
>
> The real problem lies with credulous purchasers who have forgetten the
maxim
> "buyer beware". We live in a society with (what we hope) is an effective
> system of law enforcement, so merchants usually do not feel free to cheat
> and lie with impugnity. If they do, eventually the legal system may catch
up
> with them. This has conditioned us to have a certain level of trust. When
we
> mail the check off to L.L. Bean, we expect that they will mail us back
some
> hunting boots and this is a reasonable expectation. However, "rumenah2000"
> or "sibosyl" is not L.L. Bean and it is ultimately the buyer's
> responsibility to figure that out. Not Paypal's, not ebays, not visa's,
not
> WU's. You've got to make your own judgment and in this case, if your eyes
> and ears are open, there are red lights flashing and alarms sounding like
> crazy.
>
>
> OTOH, these scammers live in semi-lawless "Wild West" type societies such
> as Romania, Nigeria, Albania, etc. In addition, there is often desperate
> poverty and no alternative legal employment that would net you as much as
> scamming. Add to that the availability of internet connections that give
you
> a pipeline to Americans with bulging wallets and slim common sense and you
> have an irresistable combination.
>
> "DFN" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Yes and we have Paypal to thank in part as they have made it infinitely
> > easier to perpetuate scams like that.
> > At least with a real credit card vendor you have some recourse.
> >
>
>