Local man had a little fun with a scammer; but warns others

Local financial adviser Dave Swayn never realized the fun he would have by putting a pair of boots for sale on Discover Moose Jaw's website.
Bought on EBay, the pair of peanut brittle shaded lizard skin cowboy boots didn't fit, so he put them on the market, requesting e-mail responses only.
He soon received a response showing interest, but asking for more information.
Swayn and his prospect exchanged several e-mails with Swayn providing more information such as photos. Each time, says Swayn, the prospect thanked him for holding the boots, but needed more detail.
One e-mail asked for weight and size measurements. Swayn complied and was told he had a deal.
But the buyer was unable to use Swayn's online PayPal account to pay.
Several days later Swayn received a letter in the mail with two money orders made out to him, each for $999.99 from Jimmy Eng of Nato, Alta.
A cover letter apologized for the delay in payment, and made a strange request:
Take the $100 payment and $50 for his patience from the money orders and send the rest ($1,849.99) via Western Union to a shipper in Paris, France. The shipper needed the funds to cover other purchases Eng had made.
"At first I thought who the heck does this guy think he is?" said Swayn. "I smelled a rat and thought I'd have some fun, screw with his head."
A call to Canada Post confirmed the legitimate-looking money orders were fakes.
Swayn e-mailed the buyer, complaining his staff had done all the work and he needed more money.
"Take $80 plus the payment," came the reply.
Swayn called Phone Busters to report the scam and was told, "You're about the thousandth person this week wanting to help with this scam."
He was advised to make his friends aware of the scam, and have no more contact with the scam artist. "If I pissed him off he might put a virus on my computer."
Nevertheless, Swayn couldn't resist more fun.
On Tuesday, the buyer e-mailed again to see if Swayn was sending the money to Western Union. Swayn responded that his staff would do the job Wednesday and gave the prospect his phone number to call and confirm.
When he got the morning call, Swayn claimed his staff was still out with banking chores, but he should know in an hour. Call back.
"I called the police. I was naÏve, thinking they could track the call. They told me I'd been watching too much CSI. He was probably calling from a prepaid disposable cellphone."
The scammer called twice before Swayn let him know he knew this was a scam.
"I just don't want others to get taken in by this," said Swayn.

Ron Walter can be reached at 691-1264.