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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2,000 REPLIES 2,000

dywagner
New Community Member

I almost fell for this!  But something in my GUT said "don't do it"!  I called PayPal, got a real person and they told me it is a SCAM!  I then found this thread and to my surprise, the e-mail I received has the same name as the one your referencing!

 

Here is the e-mail I received - BEWARE!!!

 

Dear  David xxxz,

    You have an Instant Payment of $250.00 USD from mark xxxxx.  Please note that it may take a little while for this Transaction to appear in the Recent Activity list on your Account Overview.      
     

Note from merchant:

i have just sent you the payment for the Goods the postage to my cousin,please quickly post it out to my cousin and let me know the tracking number






Payment Details

Purchased From :David xxxxx

   

Transaction ID : 3W492637HE3368307

 

   

 

Date

Discription

Quantity

Price

Subtotal

6/11/2012                                             

Goods


1

$150.00 
USD

$150.00
USD

 

Shipping & Handling via USPS Express Delivery to 23401: 
(includes any seller handling fees)

$90.00 USD

Shipping Insurance (offered):

$10.00 USD

 

Total  

$250.00 USD


 


 

   Delivery Information

 

   

 

       

 

Address :

 

oribayo xxxx
*removed*
Surulere Lagos
23401
Nigeria.

 

 

     

 

Address Status:

     

 

Confirmed 

 

           
         
             

Important Note: This PayPal® payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has 
been "APPROVED"but will not be credited to your account until the shipment reference/tracking 
number is sent to us for verification so as to secure both the buyer and the seller.

Below are the necessary information requested before your account will be credited.

Send tracking number to us or email us through this mail xxxx and our customer care service will attend to you. As soon as you send us the shipment's tracking number to us for security purposes and the safety of the buyer and the seller,the money will be credited to your account.

                                                          **PLEASE NOTE**
Once item has been shipped and the tracking number sent to us, 
You will receive a "CONFIRMATION EMAIL"  from PayPal® Team informing you that the Fund has been credited
 


Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team
                                     




Copyright © 2012 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved. PayPal is located at 2211 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95131.\ PayPal Email ID PP1557

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kindlegirl69
Contributor
Contributor

Okay, I have the exact same situation.  Fortunately I didn't send item yet (got tracking # from local PO and sent to buyer) and now waiting to see if funds will be released to me ($400).  I am VERY tempted to just cancel the transaction (how do I do that?) and relist my item (iPhone) on ebay.  First time on CL and very uncomfortable w/this transaction.  Please help.

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almostscamed
Contributor
Contributor

hello! very important... go with your gut,if you feel it is not right dont do it. do not ever send $$ to a buyer,wire transfers or any thing like that..  good luck.   jeff

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iamtheelvy
Contributor
Contributor

I have had contact from someone interested in an item I am selling. Their last email, however, has raised my suspicians. Here's what he said:

 

Thanks for your mail. i would be glad to pay for it as soon as possible though i will not be available to come for an inspection due to my flexible schedule.Kindly get back to me with the following
questions below:
1) What is the condition?
2) Are you the Owner?
3) Your Pick up Location?
4) Your full name and your PayPal email id for the instant payment
I would be glad to make the payment immediately through PayPal so kindly get back to me with your PayPal ID. You need not to worry yourself about title transfer and shipment,i will instruct the shipping company to handle that..
Thanks and hope to read from you soon.
I personally feel that I shouldn't continue with this transaction, but would you feel otherwise?
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jomoin
Contributor
Contributor

I received a very similar sounding e-mail in reply to an item I'm selling on Craigs List....can you share the buyer's fist name? It is rather unique...  I'm not comfortable with the offer either...

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iamtheelvy
Contributor
Contributor

Email came from a <name removed>.

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jomoin
Contributor
Contributor

Mine came from a "Bent", but after some research, this is a scam.  I just copied and pasted his whole message into a Google search and found several articles where the very same language had been used in various scams on Craigs List....an attempt to steal account info, apparently.  Good luck!

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iamtheelvy
Contributor
Contributor
Thanks for the advice!
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jeelect
New Community Member

I had a similar email from a gavin *removed* but since i refused have not heard from him.

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BlueWaters87
Member
Member

I received the same thing, almost word for word, from Amazon. I sent it to their "spoof" department and was told that it was definitely a scam. So sorry you got one too.

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