# Phishing? [Response to Marketplace Ad]



## andycus (May 26, 2013)

Help please.

I just received a notice from Gmail of a suspected phishing attack - it says "This message may not have been sent by (email address of sender) - learn more / report phishing" - referring to a reply by someone to an ad I have on the TUG Marketplace. Lets call this guy Steven.

There were some instructions that went with the Gmail notice eg how to authenticate emails, how to check message headers and so forth which I tried to follow, and not being a techie, to be honest, I'm not sure I understood and got it all! 

A bit of background, I've received 2 replies to my For Sale ad so far. With the first (lets call this guy Mike), I have had a couple of email exchanges, and I've not disclosed to him any private/confidential info, other than a copy my latest MF bill, which he asked for and which I thought was ok to share, as my terms of sale include that buyer pick up the current MF. I have not heard from Mike for two days now after that.

Then today came the second reply to the ad (Steven's) - the suspected phishing attack described above. Curious, Steven seems to pick up from where I left off with Mike. Says he wants to buy my timeshare and that he has a closing company to use (he gave the name of the closing company which he says is TUG recommended!). Which was exactly how Mike and I ended our email exchange 2 days ago - he said he'd search for a closing company, to which I replied if he gave me a name, I'd run it past TUG members for their input.

The whole thing smells fishy to me. Am I getting drawn to some unsavory spot? Or am I getting paranoid - because of the many timeshares scam stories I've read on the internet?

Thanks.


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## csxjohn (May 26, 2013)

The suspected attack that gmail is warning you could turn out to be false but use caution just the same.

One thing I do is look at the "details" of emails I get in response to ads.  What I look for is to see if the "sent from" and "reply to" addresses are the same.

If they are different I don't reply.

It does seem suspicious that you appear to have a seamless conversation and the sender has changed.

However the second email could be completely legit as could the first.  What I don't like about the second one is that the use of a closing company comes in his first correspondence.

There has been a rash of scams the last few days being reported here and the use of the buyers closing agent is a recurring theme.

You can avoid all that by specifying the closing company you will use in your ad and in your replies and you can adjust your asking price to recover the money that it  will cost you unless you don't mind picking up the cost of the closing.


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## sb2313 (May 26, 2013)

Email is from me. I've been on this board for quite a while and am interested in your timeshare, not your info  
Closing company suggestion was legal timeshare transfers, which is quite respected on this board.
Whether or not you email back is up to you, but rest assured there's no scam attempt.


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## csxjohn (May 26, 2013)

andycus said:


> ... Am I getting drawn to some unsavory spot? Or am I getting paranoid - because of the many timeshares scam stories I've read on the internet?
> 
> Thanks.





sb2313 said:


> Email is from me. I've been on this board for quite a while and am interested in your timeshare, not your info
> Closing company suggestion was legal timeshare transfers, which is quite respected on this board.
> Whether or not you email back is up to you, but rest assured there's no scam attempt.



In view of Steve's response above I have to say that you asked and now you have the answer.

Good luck with the transaction, both of you.


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## andycus (May 26, 2013)

sb2313 said:


> Email is from me. I've been on this board for quite a while and am interested in your timeshare, not your info
> Closing company suggestion was legal timeshare transfers, which is quite respected on this board.
> Whether or not you email back is up to you, but rest assured there's no scam attempt.



Steve, no aspersion intended . Hope you understand where I was coming from, was trying to be very careful. I'll do a little research on legal timeshare transfers and come back to you. Thanks. Andy


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## andycus (May 26, 2013)

csxjohn said:


> In view of Steve's response above I have to say that you asked and now you have the answer.
> 
> Good luck with the transaction, both of you.



You are right, you ask and it shall be given to you. There are many helpful people around. Thanks.


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## sb2313 (May 26, 2013)

andycus said:


> Steve, no aspersion intended . Hope you understand where I was coming from, was trying to be very careful. I'll do a little research on legal timeshare transfers and come back to you. Thanks. Andy



None taken. Timeshare scams are everywhere! That's one of the great things about this board is how many people have been steered away from scams!


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## csxjohn (May 26, 2013)

Let me add that Legal Timeshare Transfers has handled 2 transactions for me and are recommended by many here on TUG.  They are very helpful and will get the deed work done for you.


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## DeniseM (May 26, 2013)

> I just received a notice from Gmail of a suspected phishing attack - it says "This message may not have been sent by (email address of sender) - learn more / report phishing" - referring to a reply by someone to an ad I have on the TUG Marketplace. Lets call this guy Steven.



When an email is sent through the TUG Marketplace system, for some reason, gmail sometimes sees it as something suspicious.

If you aren't sure if an email really came from TUG, go to your TUG Marketplace Acct., log in, and the message will be right there as well.


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## Ken555 (May 26, 2013)

andycus said:


> Steve, no aspersion intended . Hope you understand where I was coming from, was trying to be very careful. I'll do a little research on legal timeshare transfers and come back to you. Thanks. Andy



Legal Timeshare Transfers are great. I'm in the middle of two transactions with them now, and have used them in the past. Quick, courteous, inexpensive, and able to effectively communicate via email...exactly what I would want.


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## csxjohn (May 26, 2013)

DeniseM said:


> When an email is sent through the TUG Marketplace system, for some reason, gmail sometimes sees it as something suspicious.
> 
> If you aren't sure if an email really came from TUG, go to your TUG Marketplace Acct., log in, and the message will be right there as well.



Another reminder, just because you get a response for a TUG member on an ad you have placed does not mean it's legit and you must still check things out.

I'm not talking about sb2313 but this recent scam was on my mind when this thread started.  

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192396&highlight=sister

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192116&highlight=sister

Post #95 on page 4 of the second link cracks me up!
"this has a new turn to it, as it appears this person (claiming to be sister goeb) actually did pay for a TUG membership and is now demanding a refund."

:hysterical:


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## jarta (May 27, 2013)

DeniseM said:


> Moved it to where it actually belongs.



Actually, this thread might belong with the other threads about false reads of TUG as malware on the "About TUG BBS" forum.  Hard to believe, although, that you believe anything related to a sale of a Starwood week belongs on a non-Starwood forum.     Salty


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## TUGBrian (May 27, 2013)

jarta said:


> Actually, this thread might belong with the other threads about false reads of TUG as malware on the "About TUG BBS" forum.      Salty



Actually it has nothing to do with the TUGBBS since it is about the TUG Marketplace...which is not only not related to the forums in any way...but runs on a completely separate server.

(also cleaned up the other nonsense on this thread)


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## Rent_Share (May 27, 2013)

TUGBrian said:


> .
> 
> (also cleaned up the other nonsense on this thread)


 

Now that's a slippery slope to ascend


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## andycus (May 27, 2013)

Thanks to all for your enlightening comments. Andy


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