Examples of Suspected Fraud or Fake Emails

[PayPal_Andy]

Hey Everybody!

In an effort to make things easier to find and research, I'm going to consolidate as many threads as possible where we have examples of people trying to defraud hard working sellers (Craigslist emails, 'PayPal' emails asking you to send money outside of PayPal, etc).  This will also be used as a master thread for future posts regarding this same situation.

When you post your examples here, please remember to not include last names or contact information of whoever is sending these emails.  There's no way to confirm if that person has been defrauded as well and the name is being used fraudulently.

Thanks for your cooperation and remember, keep the conversation productive, on task, and above all, keep it clean. I know these things can be difficult and frustrating, but bleep filled posts or posts that look like government redacted files will never benefit anyone. 😄

Andy

[LazyK]

I just got an email from <removed> saying someone might be using my account so could I log in and verify. I'm still laughing about it.

[FrankCai]

No need to post it here, but congrats for finding out!

[Lang1234]

100% sure this is a phishing email from some bot. Just thought to share. Even the link is https. 

[DPCreations]

What was the real email address of the sender.  It was truncated in the image. 

It would be helpful to show that address to also show the first spoofed address shows PayPal but the hidden real address would not be PayPal.

Your analysis, however, is correct and shows the dangerous link.

[freebirdy]

I received this email when selling an item. I smelt a rat so followed my instincts. Dont trust anyone who sends emails like this. ESPECIALLY cos i asked buyer to collect. Cash only. Heres the message i got: Thanks for your response, I want you to consider this a deal as i am willing to pay your full asking price! i actually want to buy it for a relative who is in need of it, i have checked through your advert and i'm fully satisfied with it. Unfortunately, i would not be able to come personally to collect but would send my courier agent to collect after you have fully received your money, i work offshore so i don't have time at all, but like i said i am 100% OK with the advert. However, I will pay you via PayPal once you are ready and send my courier agent after you have received your money as that is the only means of payment available to me at the moment. I would also appreciate if you could remove the advert asap. If that's Ok with you please get back to me with a suitable collection time.

[TheJayJayStore]

Oh my goodness. Did you contact anyone about this?

[freebirdy]

Only my email provider. Who do you suggest?

[TheJayJayStore]

Ok. Good. Other steps I suggest to follow is:

1. Login to PayPal
2. At the bottom, click on a link that says "Security."
3. Towards the bottom, click on another link that says "Stop fraudulent emails or website" and the steps for your country should be there.

For the US, you could just forward the email to spoof@paypal.com. Reporting these emails helps protect yourself and everyone else, too. So, thank you, for what you do. Your government might also have other steps you can follow, make sure to follow those, as well.

Did this help? Let me know by giving me some kudos and selecting this as the solution. Otherwise, go ahead and reply to this forum with the correct solution. Also, help other's in this community! Enjoy!

[Mockingjayael]

Hi i have someone who bought a phone off me from ebay he first wanted to pay $550 but i was only asking for $450 and he wanted me to send it to the us. I priced it with aus post and it was only going to cost $23.00 so i agreed. Within a few hrs of agreeing he said he had sent me paypent via my paypal. I checked my account and there was no money there or even pending. Then a confirmation email came through it didn't look like it was from paypal so i checked with their phishing email check and the said it was a phishing attempt. I then messaged the buyer back asking to send me payment the correct way through paypal or i won't send the item. This is the response i got... "New message from: williasmit921 Hello, Your money has already been deducted from my PayPal account but PayPal centre here in North Carolina said the money will be on pending till you ship the item due to the several bad experiences most of their customers shared with them. They said some customers complained that after sending money to some sellers, they received the money but never send the items they paid for, and that's why they came up with this policy and stand as intermediary between both the sellers and their customers just to make us be on a safer side and also to prevent us from being duped by Internet fraudsters. They insisted that the item must be shipped first and you get back to them with scan copy receipt of the shipping for shipping verification before your PayPal account can be credited. Best regards " What do i do??? I don't want to send the phone unless I'm guaranteed payment. Is this person trying to scam me???

[kernowlass]

@Mockingjayael

THIS IS A TYPICAL PAYPAL SCAM.

They encourage you to use paypal and may ask you to send the item internationally. They don't quibble on cost and may offer to pay you more to tempt you into sending the item.

If its Ebay then they WILL NOT use Ebay checkout as they DO NOT have a Paypal account. They tell you that they will pay you direct via Paypal but its all done via SPOOF EMAILS / FAKES.

You will get/got a "fake" email that looks as though it is from paypal.....it isn't.
It will say the buyer has paid ...you won't have been paid.
They will tell you that the payment is released when you provide paypal with a tracking/shipping number......this won't happen.

They also threaten legal action or send more fake paypal messages to try and convince you of new policies etc to prevent fraud..........   LOL

Paypal NEVER tell you to send an item before the payment is showing in your paypal account.
Paypal do not tell you to send trackable, they advise it for selling protection but it is not compulsory.

Paypal does not do Escrow.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.