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

[clmason]

Sometimes to get the money, tracy does what they did to me - I am dealing with this right now - she wanted me to wire money to " a shipping company" which was fake and sent a fake PayPal email saying I could not receive her payment until I wired the money for "security reasons" or sometimes she has you ship out the item and just never pays - sends the fake PayPal payment confirmation

[myharley]

same thing just happened to us this week on a car we have for sale.  This time it was Sandra- fake shipping company - wanting us to send $1250 via western union to a person in Canada and then she would add that money as payment to our account. Received a fake receipt from paypal saying the money would be transferred once we gave a western union confirmation# that we transferred the money.   She did give a name and address to send the money to - any way to trace that???  Said she was a marine chef on a boat - limited access to internet and phone.  Yet she emailed us every night, and apparently lots of other people!

[paulabuster]

I too just this morning had a response on a Craigslist ad from Kimberly <removed> supposedly from New Hampshire.

"THank you so much. I have forwarded the address to the shipping company so they can calculate the pick up and delivery cost for me to make the payment. I'm sure they will contact you soon. I would like you to know that the payment will be made via PayPal, All you have to send me is your paypal email address so I can make the payment immediately. Also I will be including the pick up cost with the total payment so you will help me send it to the shipping company via Western union money transfer as soon as you receive the payment from paypal. I would have done it myself but I'm an handicapable, i cant walk and thats why i need this to make my life more easier again, I will appreciate your help here.

Please note that I will include additional $80 for the western union charges to send the pick up money to the shipping company.

Please get back to me as soon as possible."

My response to her was "Sorry, I do not have a paypal account.  Due to all the stupid people scamming, I will only accept cash upon pickup.  If that's not possible, I'm sorry but I cannot sell to you".  The shipping company also emailed me - e-cargo express.  I tried emailing them directly - of course it was returned as undeliverable.

What a bunch of crap. 

[deer123]

I also just recieved a email from a craigslist item, and it had some of the same language on it.. He wanted me to sen my full name full address and paypal email address, i am guessing this is a indenity scam. they get all you info and scam you. I wish craigslist would do something about this happening. Thanks to everyone for helping avoid this headache.

[deer123]

David was the guys name, just sent me another email talking about his shipping company should have sent me an email already about the pick up schedule.

[RichieBates]

The name on mine was different, Rose if I recall, but the language was identical. Same reply when I questioned the need for my name and address.

I think they just want to generate a phony pay pal receipt to email to you, including the shipping charge.

They are looking to have you forward back the shipping charges. Which is why they select bigger items, so the shipping charges make it worth their while. You know, as opposed to finding a real job with an honest wage.

My rule of thumb is to always request a phone conversation by asking for their number so you can discuss the transaction. That usually halts the emails.

Seller beware!

[thehammer]

same experience here, below is the text and reply

Hi,

I'm interested in buying this item, and I'd like to know if its still available for sale?I will like to ask you some questions about it, like how long you have been using it? Did you bought it new?(are you the first owner, did you get it from someone trustworthy) Is it still in good condition? what's your reason for selling it?Not trying to be rude here, but there are tons of crappy items out there and don't want to be stuck with something in bad condition. Can you provide me more pictures of it? Finally what's your last price? Get back ASAP.

Thankx.

Hi,

Thank you very much for the details. So Sad im buying this for myself(im an handicapped and I need this to make my life more better again), for this reason, I will not be able to come and see it, but I will take your word that its in good condition. Just to let you know that you will not be responsible for shipping and handling. I have made an arrangement with a shipping company who will come to your location for pick up. Kindly provide me your full address, so i can forward it to the shipping company to calculate the cost of pick up for me. Please get back to me as soon as possible.

[roborg]

Here it is again - 

Thanks you so much. I have forwarded the address to the shipping company so they can calculate the pick up and delivery cost for me to make the payment. I'm sure they will contact you soon. I would like you to know that the payment will be made via PayPal, All you have to send me is your PayPal email address so I can make the payment immediately. Also I will be including the pick up cost with the total payment which is $350 so you will help me send it to the shipping company via Western union money transfer as soon as you receive the payment from PayPal. I would have done it myself but I'm an handicapped and am at home and the only method of payment they accept is this,i cant walk and that's why i ask for this help.Note i will also send addition of $50.00 USD as western union charges,i am a little incapacitated.....I will appreciate your help
God Bless You
Regards

Not sure if it may be for identity theft cause I really want to give them my paypal email just to see how far they will go with this... like will they actually make a payment.  Anytime someone offers to give you more money than what you are asking - whether it be for shipping charges or whatever... it's a scam.  Some company named E Cargo out of Miami... 

Come to think of it, I'm going to ask for her address and offer to get a quote from a more reputable shipper... but I'll bet she doen't provide it.

[myharley]

OMG!!  We were scammed as well (well, she didn't get our money, I had a bad feeling so I did some investigating tonight).  We were selling a car on craigslist and along comes this "buyer".  I just looked back on the emails that she sent and I notice that her email address changed.  It came from Sandra.    All of the same typos as everyone else received and requesting a western union payment to cover shipping charges.  Here's one of the emails I received right after I said I could accept payment through paypal.  I just sent her an email explaining that I don't have money to send a western union payment and told her how she could do it herself.  In another email she said she was a marine chef on a boat with limited access to internet and phone.She was buying this car as a surprise b-day gift for her son since she wouldn't be able to be home with him for his b-day.   Here is one of her emails below.  One of her most recent emails was signed as "Debby". She must have forgot who she was for a moment.  This just makes me sick!!!!

Email from Sandra:

 I was just about to transfer the payment when i had this little problem with the pick up of the item. The logistics agent i was able to negotiate the pick up of the item with said i will have to pay commission fee in advance, directly to their corporate international head office in Canada. where all payment deposit are made to, for any logistics services across the globe and the only form of payment they accept is via western union money transfer. They charged me and we agreed at $1,250 for pick up and delivery to door step, (fist class treatment). I will have to add the commission fee of $1,250 to the total money i am transfer into your PayPal account and i will need you to help me reimburse the shipping fee and send it over to them in their corporate international: head office in Canada. Through western union money transfer, so that i can be rest assured my appointment for the pick up is arranged and secured. The western union transfer can be made from any post office or online as well at <www.westernunion.com>..i would have done it myself, but i will need a credit card which i did not bring aboard, i am a little incapacitated..I will be making the payment shortly and will want you to get back to me before i get the money transferred. OK! Make sure you remove the ad from market immediately so it does not further generate interest..?

[AK1984]

I THANK GOD that I found this thread! I just received emails from a Tracy, telling me she wanted to buy my power wheel chair and that she was going to send me the payment through Paypal, as well as Western Union fees to send the shipping fee to the pick up company. She also agreed to pay the fees that Paypal would charge me to receive her payment. I just happened to google the e-Cargo Express company & found this thread. The emails she sent me were exactly the same emails she sent others who posted here. Typos & all. Thank you all for the info you provided. I believe it helped me to avoid a scam. Thanks so much!