Scammers and Spammers...

Everyone has heard of them by now. They have infiltrated just about every corner of the internet. Lately, we've been getting our share of visits by them here at Canada4SaleByOwner.com.

They want to send you messages, asking for information that you've already provided. Then, somehow, they expect to get money out of you. Some folks fall for it. But Scammers and Spammers aren't as crafty as you'd think, and there are easy ways to identify them. First, They use REALLY bad english. Typically, they originate in countries like UK, Africa, Iran, Egypt, and Turkey (because everyone knows cars and housing are hard to find outside of North America!)

They want to give you money up front. Usually it's a money order they want to send. Then for some reason they want change. Sometimes its a sob story.

We've gone an extra step and installed a NEW messaging system which allows our members who post ads on our site to remain anonymous- so that when one of these types wants to contact you, they have to do it through us. We don't monitor every conversation. However, you can help curb these scammers if you receive a message from one. Simply mark the message as suspicious, and instantly that scammer identity is blocked from using our website, until they develop another identity.

We have free services such as YAHOO to thank for not really caring who they give an email address to. We've tried to go the extra miile and report the scammers that you report to us- (funny how they mostly have YAHOO ids) but YAHOO refuses to acknowledge that there's a problem. So, that said, we assume now that we're on our own so this new ANTI-SCAMMER system of ours needs your help to work effectively. For others, and for you.

Our hope is to give the scammers and Spammers enough grief that they decide to leave us all alone and go bug other sites.

So, though we can't stop every message, there are certainly characteristics that each scammer and spammer uses that are easily recognized to an experienced eye. We've decided to share with you some of those techniques here.

So here is a list of scammers and spammers we've blocked so far, and the messages they typically use. Keep in mind that their email addresses will change, and eventually, even their messages will change (in some ways) but their scams won't. If you are reading this then you will be ready if you receive such a contact. And if you ever receive a contact that you're not sure of- let us know- forward us the message and we'll be happy to share our thoughts with you.