Examples of Suspected Fraud or Fake Emails

PayPal_Andy
Moderator
Moderator

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

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Whac-A-Mole
Frequent Advisor
Frequent Advisor

if you canot find the transaction in your paypal account,then you have not been paid.

all paypal email end with  paypal.com,when in doubt ,forward it to spoof @ paypal.com.

scammers are always looking for ways to scam,digital items have no seller protection ,you should read PAypal terms and agreement when you sign up.

 

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Whac-A-Mole
Frequent Advisor
Frequent Advisor

paypal does not fund your credit to your bank.

if you are paid,it sits in your Paypal account ,it could be withheld by Paypal up to 21 days,or 3 days after you upload tracking showing it has been delivered,then you tranfer to your bank account 3-5 days later it wil be in your bank account.

if this is a scam and the email does notc ome from Paypal,then it is not paypal problem.

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SGD411
New Community Member

I recieved this email:Paypal@Id : Your account has been restricted, case ID Number : PP-003-640-457-996.  But I went to resolution center (not through this email) and found that there were no issues.  Have anyone recieved this type of email before? Is this an hack?

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@SGD411

 

Its a spoof.


Firstly if the email addressed you as ''Dear Member'' / ''Customer'' / ''Client'' OR your ''email address'' then that confirms its a spoof as paypal would address you by your full name eg Dear John Smith.


Secondly if there was a link OR attachment in that email to ''cancel'' the transaction or ''confirm'' any details then again it would be a spoof.


If there was a problem with your account paypal would not ask you to click on an unsafe link in an email or by downloading an attachment, they would direct you to log in normally and go to the resolution or the message centre for more information.


More info here >>
https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/how-to-spot-fake-emails-faq2340/2





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JunkPlanet
Member
Member

I received this email today and went to paypal.com to check my account activity but did not find any transactions for this amount for or from Australia. I am in the States.  =/  Is this a scam email? I forwarded it to spoof@paypal.com. Anything else I need to do? ETA: Sorry I don't know how to trim the content down to make it not an html or image as I just copy pasted the email, please edit if needed. ETA again: Well, so much for forwarding it to spoof@paypal.com, I just got a bounced bab auto response saying the messege was blocked. Huh? Here is the messege: 

 

>>>

Thanks for contacting PayPal and sending us the suspicious email you received. 

We have identified malicious content in the email you sent to us and have blocked that email from our systems. 

If you haven’t done so already, please delete the email. Thanks again for contacting us and letting us know about this fake email. You can visit our Help Center to learn more about spoof and how to protect yourself from scams. 

***Please do not respond to this message. It was sent from a non-monitored box.***


FW: You sent a payment of $130.50 AUD to Kozmetika Jerneja Ltd.
08/03/17
>>>

 

 

22 Jul 2017 22:42:15 AEDT
Transaction ID:  <removed>
You sent a payment of $130.50 AUD to Kozmetika Jerneja Ltd.   (info@kozmetika-jerneja.si)

It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in the Recent Activity list in your Account Overview.
Merchant
Kozmetika Jerneja Ltd.
<removed> Instructions to merchant
You haven't entered any instructions.  DescriptionUnit priceQtyAmountLimfna drenaža$130.50 AUD1$130.50 AUD Subtotal$130.50 AUD Total$130.50 AUD Payment$130.50 AUDPayment sent to <removed> 
Invoice ID: <removed>

Issues with this transaction?
To   CANCEL  this order click the link below to login to your paypal account. On the next page, complete the required details and cancel the payment.

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/helpce  nter/helphub/topic/?topicID=REFUNDS_AND_RETURNS


Please do not reply to this email. This ma ilbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For help, log in to your PayP al account and click Help on any PayPal page.

To re ceive emails as plain text instead of HTML, change your Notifi cations preferences. Just log in to your PayPal account, go to your Profile and click My Settings.

 


Copyright © 1999-2017 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved.
PayPal Australia Pty Limited. Any general financial product advice provided in this site has not taken into account your objectives, financial situations or needs.
PayPal Email ID PP120 

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marcelo95sv
Contributor
Contributor

I was trying to sell a Jeep that I posted online and I was contacted pretty soon after posting it by a guy named "Tom." After agreeing on the price and providing my paypal email, I received 4 emails that looked pretty fake. I began realizing the guy was pretty off in his poor grammar and did not want to speak on the phone cause apparently he was "deaf." I also noticed his area code was from Michigan. Here's something that was posted on one of the emails:

"In order to complete this transaction and get the funds approved in your account. We advise you go to nearest Walmart and send the excess sum of $1,200.00 USD to the Transport Agent and send us a Scanned Copy/Photograph of your Western Union Transaction Receipt (in .JPG Format)." 

 

Here I have some screenshots of the conversation. Hopefully it is helpful.

pic1.pngpic2.pngpic3.pngpic4.pngIMG_2490.PNG

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Nellof77
Member
Member

Is this email legit <removed>?

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Nellof77
Member
Member

Is this email address legit <removed>

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@Nellof77

 

Highly unlikely.

 

I will re-post this info but its already all over this thread if you just look for it.

 

 A TYPICAL PAYPAL SCAM.

They encourage you to use paypal and often ask you to send the item as a gift to a relative somewhere often Nigeria.

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.

If the item requires shipping the 'fake' paypal email will tell you that the buyer has paid for the item + shipping costs but you must send those shipping costs to the courier via western union / moneygram BEFORE the funds are released to you.

They are not interested in the item, they just want the western union etc funds and you will never see money in your paypal balance.

They also threaten legal action...have a laugh at that one and ignore it as its rubbish.

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 NEVER expect you to use a rival money transfer service eg moneygram or western union.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.


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Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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Aniksic
New Community Member
I just recieved a reciept of payment and i didn’t authorize this payment, i went to cancel and it looked like i was going to paypal account and it asked me for my addtess, SIN# and credit card #, is this legit? I don’t see it on my paypal account as a purchase
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