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

[Kaislinn]

Yes, it was listed on eBay. It sold but still says awaiting payment. I have heard of people "buying" your items and never paying to ward off new sellers or competition and started to think maybe that was the case, so I checked out the buyer but he has all good feedback and seems normal.

I am really worried though because I got an email sent to my ebay email address saying that I will be able to access my money after I click a link to fill out registration.

Later I saw an email saying that I have an unclaimed payment and that I need to set up a buisness account to be able to claim it. I got halfway through setting up a business account on paypal until it was asking for my SSN and date of birth and I exited out.

Now every time I try to go back on paypal, even from the email I set it up with, I get taken back to where I was in setting up the business account.

Did anyone else HAVE to set up a business account in order to recieve payments?

[DPCreations]

The email was a scam to get your sensitive data.  Why are you going back to the email reach a PayPal account?  Did you provide your PayPal email and password when you clicked on the email link?  If so, then the scammer may be in control now.

Did you ever get your PayPal account set up before the scam email?  How much sensitive information did you give to PayPal when started setting up your account directly?

You need to urgently phone PayPal support in the morning and hope they can identify you as the owner of your account.

[Kaislinn]

It was so dumb of me to go back to the link. I guess I wasn't thinking right because I was too busy being worried that the guy probably already paid me and was expecting his item soon and it was my fault for not knowing how to use paypal properley. At first I didn't think about checking my 2nd email address because it's not the one I used for paypal so I was just checking eBay and paypal and waiting for a notification that the buyer paid, then I finally decided to check my 2nd email address and when I saw the email from "paypal" I was so desparate to finish the transaction, that I overlooked such obvious signs. I kept going back to the link because it was the only place that mentioned the customer waiting on me and whenever I tried to go to paypal outside of the link it seemed normal like I had no pending money or updates...now I know why.

These are pictures of part of the email and where the link takes you. I noticed that in the "paypal" link there is not even the S that stands for "secure" in the https part of the link.

Sadly, I did put in my paypal email and password in the log in area. I'm probably doomed.

I forget exactly what information I gave paypal when setting it up. I know I didn't link it to my bank account yet, but I have used my debit card through it, I also provided my name and address.

I forward the email to spoof@paypal.com and I emailed customer service to tell them about what happened. I will definitely call asap if I don't hear back soon. 

Thank you for all your advice!

[Kelita]

Hi everyone,

I have also received an offer for something I offered on Gumtree, almost exactly the same wording as you have all mentioned; He is buying for his farther, he will give me £100 above the asking price & will send an agent to pick it up, he will use paypal......even when I saw "paypal" I was still suspicious!

Luckily I googled his name before I replied!

Thank you to you all for helping stop this happening to anyone else

If he sees these posts, or gets found out, he will probably do the same thing under a different name anyway!

Beware!! (& Thanks again guys)

[ilov2deal]

I too received a similar if not exact email when trying to sell my boat on craigs list. IN MY OPINION, A PERSON SHOULD NOT DO ANY BUSINESS WITH THIS PERSON, LUKE **removed**.

Here's the email I was sent:

"

Thank for your mail. I'm satisfied with the condition of it as
advertised in the listing,i will like to add $100 to your final price
for you to keep off from all offer,and consider it sold to me alone as
i am serious with this.I would like you to know that i am really
interested in buying this for my father,payment will be through PayPal
and the pick up will be arranged by me as i will have my agent come
down to pick it up...i will be waiting to hear from you,and i will
like you to send me the name and email address on the PayPal account
to send the payment and send me more pics of this item if available
since i would not be seen it in person so i can pay it right away I am
a busy at work and do not have much time around me.Make sure you get
back to me so that we can arrange for pick up as i will like the item
to be picked at your residence,so no shipping
 
Thanks and reply asap.
 
Regards"

[jojofbby726]

hi guys

im seeling an iphone on craigslist for 200 or best offer, and i got an email asking if it was still for sale, i said yes it is , and then she told me that she wanted to buy it for her cousin that she cant meet up in person because of her working hours, she said she would give me 250$ for the shipping and the hasle so then she said she would pay me thru paypal but she wanted the phone to be shipped to her cousin,

30 minutes later i receive an email from paypal saying that i have recieved money from her. 

how can i know if the email is real or fake?

btw "the cousin" lives in nigeria. i got the address included in the email .

should i believe this ? this is my first time selling on craigslist

[ilov2deal]

were you able to tell from her payment if she is confirmed or not? If she's not confirmed, I wouldn't send the item yet. In fact, I'd probably call PayPal to ask them how the money was received--if it was a money order, personal check, credit card, etc.

I believe you are smart to be suspicious.

Hope that helps

[PayPal_Andy]

jojofbby726- Well, here's my take on things.  If someone's willing to give you $50 more than what you're asking, something is fishy.  Beyond this, if you ship an item to an address other than the one listed in your transaction details page (not from an email), we have no coverage for you through our Seller Protection.  I would also ask you if you had logged into your PayPal account to see the money for yourself.  A lot of the time you get very official looking emails from 'PayPal' telling you the money's there, but then you log in and your account is strangely empty.

I would be very cautious with this situation, and make sure you cover all your bases.  We certainly wouldn't want you to lose out on your item. 

Andy

[moonsea]

PLEASE, if you don't know if the PayPal email is real, log into your PayPal account and see if the money is there. And do we really have to tell you NOT to do any kind of transaction with Nigeria?

[bishopm123]

I received 2 identical emails from a michael *****. exact word for word email. only for a 29,900 skid steer and a 4,000 skidsteer trencher. I though it was a scam. he wanted to pay with paypal and pick up the items.