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

[bmdcm]

Attempted Scam by Chandria ********* aka Paul ****** and who know how many other names this person goes by.  We listed our car for sale on Craigslist and this person responded sounding very interested in the car.  They wanted to pay for it using paypal and wanted our paypal info.  Something sounded fishy when this person wouldn't talk to us directly on the phone, everything was email so we googled the name and found a listing on Scamwarners.com telling how this person is doing this to many, many people and after getting paypal info is sending out phishing emails, trying to get passwords I would guess.  Anyway these are the two emails this person is using <email removed>          beware if someone won't talk to you over the phone.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post a quick reminder.

You may not post the names, address, email addresses, phone numbers, or any other identification information for any person, whether they are a scammer or not. Please remember that the names you are posting are potentially the actual names of individuals who have been victimized previously by the scammers, and whose identities they have adopted to commit further fraud. When this information is posted, it may serve to further victimize someone who has already experienced identity theft.

For more information, please refer to the PayPal Community Rules and Guidelines, and to the first post in this thread.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Olivia

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi everyone,

There's a new phishing email going around, and I wanted to give you a heads-up of what it looks like. Please remember to always avoid clicking links in emails.

Click here to see a full-size version.

[Searcher]

Paypal Olivia..........

I got it as well but when I tried to forward it to "spoof@paypal.com" as requested by Paypal, I get this in reply:

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

      Subject:    FW: Your Paypal.com transaction confirmation.

      Sent: 6/4/2012 11:28 AM

The following recipient(s) cannot be reached:

      'spoof@paypal.com' on 6/4/2012 11:28 AM

            550 5.7.1 q54GSBH7015305 This message has been blocked due to SPAM-like characteristics or poor IP reputation. Please include the original message, along with this error code, and contact XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  if you require additional assistance.

It seems the filter process allows the email to get into my email box but blocks me from forwarding and reporting it as fraudulent to the appropriate address. Since I have a dynamic IP that cannot be the reason.  I have since sent it to the  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX but doubt anything will be done. Site rules require the contact address to be masked.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi Searcher,

Welcome to the Community! 🙂

The phishing email in question is very recent, but it has been very prolific. It's entirely possible that some mail servers have updated to block the characteristics of this specific email, just in the time since you received it. I'm sorry to hear that you've been unable to forward it to spoof@paypal.com, but please rest assured that we have plenty of examples of it! 🙂

Please feel free to go ahead and permanently delete the email.

Olivia

[kkyun83]

Hi Olivia, 

I have got a receipt from paypal. I never spend but it says I created a shipping label which cost $97.57

tried to dispute this on paypal resolve center but I can't...since it was USPS related item 

Paypal gave me some other route but it won't work!!

I'm so frustrating, annoying...Who could help me with my problem

Do you have any idea Who do I have to contact for resolve my problem? this is extremly uncomfortable experience.

please help me.

thank you 

Kyun

[PayPal_Adrian]

kkyun83 -

Welcome to the Community!

If you can see the purchase within your account, then you can enter a report of unauthorized activity for a USPS label by contacting Customer Service directly.  A representative will be happy to assist you and get you back up and running.  In the mean time, be certain to change your password and security questions to ensure no further unauthorized activity takes place.

Thanks!

Adrian

[Searcher]

Olivia

Thank you for the quick response.  I try to report any suspicious email I see because my brother was scammed once.   I have deleted it but had already forwarded it to my IP provider with the following comment because this has happened to me in the past several times where my ISP blocks the reporting of the message as phishing/spam/fraud but still allows it to get into my email (often multiple iterations):

"Postmaster

Please forward this to “spoof@paypal.com” .  It is one of the best fraudulent emails I have seen.  I do not understand how I can get it in my email through your filters but the same filters prevent me from forwarding/reporting it to the proper authorities for resolution as requested by Paypal.

Please let me know when this is done. I am trying to coordinate this with Paypal."

I will let you know if they respond.  I just want to get the reporting through my ISP simplified/reliable.  Thanks again, at least I know it is known about by PayPal.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi Searcher,

Thank you! I'd definitely appreciate it if you'd let us know when you hear something from your ISP. 🙂

Olivia

[smilealways04]

Thank you for the post for I just received an e-mail that looked real. Very real I looked at the sender and it appeared to be real and the email was very convincing. Except I've learned from paypal to never open directly from your e-mail and if there is a real problem then paypal would notify me when I open in a new window for paypal. 

It stated that there was some odd activity on my account and it wanted me to log on to my account through the email.

So I sent it to spoof@paypal.com

 Thank you very much for the post again.

 Sincerely,

smilelaways04