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Established Canadian businesses - For Sale by Owner - in Canada

 

 
Protection from Spam & Scams

"We Help You Sell Your Business"

  See Some Examples of Previous Scam Emails  
 
  An Example email that you can use to spot a Scam  

 
For Sale - Canada Spam  &  Scams For Sale - Canada
Protection  from
"Spam"  &  "Scams"


  What   is   S P A M ......    
SPAM is un-wanted e-mail.   It's e-mail that you receive but don't want.   It usually offers to sell you some product or service that you don't really want or need.   The Internet is "big business" and as such, there is a constant effort to collect lists of people's e-mail addresses, and to send literally millions of unsolicited e-mails every day to any and all people on the list whether they may want the item being sold or not.   Usually e-mail addresses are "harvested" off of any existing Internet web pages by computer driven "robots" - 24 hours a day.   There is no way to effectively keep them out of a website.   SPAM is illegal - but there is no authority effectively policing this problem.   It's the "junk mail" of the Internet.
 
  What we do ......    
Your e-mail address (the one that was entered by you when you originally listed your Business For Sale), is specially coded into the BusinessSellCanada website so that it can only be read by humans and is not easily readable by "harvesting" robots - so that it can't automatically become part of someone's mailing list as a result of you entering a Listing on our site.  
 
Please note however, that this protection does not apply to anywhere else that you might have entered your e-mail address (or phone number, or FAX number) into a regular text part of your listing.   Those "text" entries are open to being scanned and picked up by computer robots and can result in you receiving undesired SPAM e-mails.   While an exposed e-mail address like this shows a friendly openness for the benefit of the prospective business purchaser - it does have it's disadvantages.
 
  What you can do ....    
If you want to keep your existing e-mail address relatively free from SPAM - now and in the future - then you will need to open a new alternate e-mail address - specifically for the duration of this listing - at one of the "free" e-mail providers such as Outlook.com, or Google gmail.   Use this new e-mail address as the only one that is shown to the public on your For Sale listing .... But Please .... Remember to check this alternate e-mail account EVERY DAY for the duration of your listing.   Avoiding SPAM will do you no good - if you also end up missing legitimate purchasers by not checking this email address regularly - or by having an inoperative mailbox because it's "Full".   Just to be sure, you should regularly send yourself an e-mail from your own Listing on BusinessSellCanada to this new e-mail address every few days just to make sure that everything's working OK with it.
 
You should also be aware, that if you "Reply" to an e-mail from a prospective purchaser using your usual e-mail application, he will then be able to see your own regular e-mail address - (and if he's unscrupulous), use it to send you "spam" in the future.
 
 


 
  What is a SCAM ......    
A SCAM is a fraudulent attempt to steal money from you or to trick you into giving your money to an individual who doesn't deserve it.   In this case, most "scam artists" (also called "con artists") appear as legitimate purchasers interested in buying your company.   They usually seem to be very keen to buy your business and want to pay you top dollar - sometimes even to "pay up front" - sight unseen.   Usually however, they have some "small" reason why this won't be a normal transaction ....   Like:  they want to deposit the money directly into your bank account, they want FAX/photo copies of your ID (with your signature), their money is currently tied up - so you'll have to help and pay off a "small" fee to release it, or they're trying to keep this transaction "secret" from somebody else - so you'll have to just play along.   There are many and varied schemes - but they can all be SCAMS.
 
The latest scams seem to focus on sending you a cheque for a larger amount than you are asking for, and then requesting that you 'refund' the difference.  The excuses for the larger cheque are: - He can only take money out of his bank in certain increments ... - He needs to show that he paid a certain amount for immigration purposes, but you are to refund the extra.... - Someone in Canada owes him a larger amount and he's going to have them send you that cheque and you're to send the difference to another of his family/associates.
 
  What we do ......    
There is very little that we can do here at BusinessSellCanada about these people - except to warn you to be cautious.   These SCAMS are perpetrated by real live individuals located usually in Third World countries and using false names, temporary e-mail addresses and cell phones.   They pose as legitimate purchasers - and as such they have e-mail access to you through your own listing information.   Most of the "prevention" responsibility rests with you - your knowledge and your wisdom.   After they have your money, they can just throw away the cell phone and disappear.   They live in countries where obedience to the law and law enforcement are very lax.
 
  What you can do ....    
Be CAUTIOUS !!   If an offer looks too good to be true - or hints of illegal dealings - such as avoiding taxes or Third World dictators - it is probably a "SCAM".   If you are unsure, then deal with the situation cautiously and slowly, and involve others in the process such as your accountant, your lawyer, your bank manager, etc.   These people can tell you how to safely transfer funds from other countries.   Do not accept 'overpayments' for your business, where you will have to 'refund' the difference.   Anyone who suggests this 'overpayment' (too large a cheque) technique is definitely a SCAM.
 
Don't forget that - these SCAMsters are not restricted by the nice safe laws and legal system that we enjoy here in Canada.   Don't expect to go to your local police afterwards and lay a charge of "Fraud" against some individual who only said that he was from Nigeria - and for whom you have only a fake name and a "now inoperative" e-mail address !!!
 
Remember, you don't need to give out your personal ID or any documents about yourself to someone who says that he wants to PAY money TO YOU - but - he may need such things to steal money FROM YOU out of your own bank account.   If necessary, open a new separate bank account for any money transactions that seem to be dubious.   Check with your local bank manager.
 
If you believe that someone might be legit, and want to continue to deal with him - then ask him for his full name and the City and Country that he lives in.   Then invest the time and the small cost to call Telephone Directory Assistance in that country and get a real phone number for him and then you can call it and see who answers.   It's not a perfect solution, but it's a whole lot better than him simply giving you his cell phone number (world wide satellite phone) and you relying on him being who he says he is.
 
  Who we are ....    
Almost all email correspondence from us ends with our "tag line" signature.
 
Mike Merritt  (-name-@businesssellcanada.com)
 
--- Business Sell Canada ---
Classified Ads of Businesses For Sale in Canada
Buy a Profitable Business - Sell your Own Business
--- https://www.BusinessSellCanada.com ---

 
If you don't see these signature lines, regardless of how real and authentic the email looks to be, then the email is probably not legitimate and not from us.
 
If you are in doubt, then go to our Web Site (this website) https://www.BusinessSellCanada.com.  Click on the "Contact Us" tab at the top of any page and send us an e-mail from the E-mail form that you'll find there - or- you can telephone us.  The phone number of our office in Havelock, Ontario is also on this "Contact Us" page.  If there's no one in the office at the current time, then leave a message on our answering service, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
 
We do not ask you to email passwords, user name, banking or credit card information to us.  Please be very careful making on-line payments.  We use "PayPal" to clear Credit Card payments for us.  The URL showing in the Address bar at the top of your Browser must say: "https://www.paypal.com"  -  Note the "S" in the httpS: part of the URL (not just the usual "http://" that you usually see) - This is important !  It means that it's a "secure" site and your data is specially encrypted during transmission.
 
 


 
  Who is this "SCAM" man .... ?    
This is a BAD man, a con artist, a scammer.  He lives in some third world country, and as a living, he writes emails to people in more affluent countries and tries to con them out of their ID so that he can steal money from their bank account.  -OR- He tries to gain their trust so that they send him money for some "perfectly good reason" - which is a lie; or for some deceitful reason which a greedy person sees as not being quite illegal enough to be ashamed of.
 
He keeps his own actual identity well hidden - all anyone ever has on him is an email address and a cell phone number.   Both of these are very temporary things that he'll just throw away once he "scores" some money.   He lives in a country where there is little respect for the law and it is not enforced -or- it is filled with corruption.
 
He often adopts the identity and address for a real (famous) person such as a head of business, or someone currently in the news.  That way, if you research the name / address - you'll find it is a real person - but its really not his true identity.  Would you believe that (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau at Sussex Drive, Ottawa wants to buy your Dry Cleaning business in New Brunswick ??
 
He works by trying to gain your confidence (or by your own greed) to want to sell your business for "Cash".  He sends you his ID and a copy of his Passport to prove that he's "real" (it's a forgery), then asks you for your full name, bank info, and a copy of your Driver's Licence in return to prove that you're honest.   If he get's these ---- he does a "wire transfer" of money FROM your Bank to some temporary account of his in a third world country - where he withdraws it as Cash and then throws away his email address and his cell phone.   If your Bank objects before the transfer, he responds with full address, name, etc. for you, and will even send them the copy of your driver's licence to "prove" that it's really you and that you are "caught in Bulgaria and have to have cash from your account to post a $20,000 bond to get out of prison" ... or some other such plausible and desperate story.
 
There are different variations to the scam, but most work along as either Identity Theft - or as him overpaying and you sending him back a cash refund (of his overpayment) - which in the end proves to be a fraud.
 


So, in the future - Be cautious !   Nobody's going to buy your business for cash up front without them actually standing there in front of you and shaking your hand.   And if the sale's that clean and that easy and that fast, I can assure you that it'll be for a lot less than the amount of your current asking price.   :-(
 
Your best course of action from these people is to just ignore their emails and throw them in the trash.
 


 

 
 

 
 
>>>   An Example email that you can use to spot a Scam   <<<

 
 
The RCMP website of: FRAUD - SCAMS - ALERTS

 
The US Federal Trade Commission - Web Scams

 
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  DISCLAIMER  
BusinessSellCanada is not responsible for the accuracy
of the information shown in any of the:  "Business
For Sale" listings.  The Buyer should contact the
Seller/Agent directly and verify the accuracy of
all information to his/her own satisfaction.


Ichthus - Christ