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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PayPal_Olivia
Moderator
Moderator

Hi everyone!

 

There have been so many examples of fraudulent emails posted! I wanted to chime in and make sure that you know how to identify a spoof/phishing email, and know what to do if you receive one.

 

First of all, for some tips on identifying a fake email, take a look here. There is a list of stuff to check for that is common in spoof emails. You can also open a fresh browser window and log into your account (not through a link in the email) and check to see if there are any alerts or messages, or if there are any corresponding transactions. If what you see in your account doesn't match up with what you saw in the email, it's a good bet that it's a fake.

 

Once you've determined that the email you received is a fake, it should be forwarded, exactly the way it is, to spoof@paypal.com. Do not click on any links.

 

If you have already clicked on a link, don't panic! Here are some tips on what you should do.

  • Run a virus scan on your computer to make sure that the link did not subject your computer to any malware.
  • If you clicked a link and entered your password and/or security questions for PayPal, log in to your PayPal account from a new browser window and change the password and security questions as soon as possible, after the virus scan. Make sure to pick a unique password that is not used on any other sites... but if you did use the same password anywhere else, make sure to change your password on those sites, too.
  • If you entered any other information (such as credit card, bank, social security numbers, etc.), take a look at this page for tips on next steps.

Please stay safe!

 

Olivia

 

 

If this post or any other was helpful, please enrich the Community by giving kudos to its author, accepting it as a solution, and/or coming back to assist others. Members make this Community great!

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2,000 REPLIES 2,000

Camie1234
Member
Member

This guy "Matthew *****" claimed he wanted to buy a Dunebuggie from me I had posted on a local news website. I had never bought or sold online so I was Nieve and almost fell for this scam until I had my dad look at it and he showed me that it was a scam. This guy wanted me to ship the buggie to the UK and use all these private agents and then he tried to get me to send $400 dollars via western union to his "shipping agent" before the funds woiuld be released by paypal! I was getting emails from a site that was supposedly "Paypal Services" stating that the funds had been transfered to my account, but there was a hold on the transaction. There was no funds in my account and no pending transactions. I looked up the "Transport agency" he was claiming to use and I just found alot of other people claiming they had been scammed by them as well. I sent an e-mail back to "matthew" telling him I knew it was a scam and he sent me another e-mail from"paypal services" stating that I was being reported to the FBI for fraud if his $400 wasnt' there within 24 hours!

Just wanted to warn everyone!!!

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hsms2002
Contributor
Contributor

I was just approached by the same scammers using exactly the same MO. I thought the name of the shipping agent was fishy and when I surfed for UAB"Kuršiu *****" I found Camie 1234's scam message. 

 

Thanks Camie.

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jarieg007
New Community Member

I was just sent a similar, almost identical scam. I listed my Wedding Dress on Craiglist and this lady sent me emails of a pyment confirmation but it does not show on my actual paypal account. She said somethign about being over seas and needing a pick up agent fee to send her $350.00. THIS IS A SCAM!

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faylamb32
New Community Member

I also have the same scam in the process right now. I am asking 500 for my wedding dress and she wants to send me an extra 300 for an ''agent" through western union. I let her know that I know she is scamming me and is not getting my dress.

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Tshay
New Community Member

This Lady keeps blowing up my phone with this text messages saying she sent 750.00 to me I told her my wedding dress is 400.00 but she insisted she pays only 350.00 & give the rest to her agent which is 350.00. Lady im not stupid & saying the fbi will arrest me THERE'S NO MONEY IN MY ACCOUNT...

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Faith2
New Community Member

I am going through this right now.  I did get an email that looks legit  from PayPal stating they have the funds pending waiting for confirmation I sent $1200.  To the shipping agent. 

I knew the minute they said use money out of my own pocket it was a scam. Also why can't he send the money . I assume from this thread I will shortly get the text I am being reported to the FBI

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grpabc214
New Community Member

I had recently listed my PS4 on eBay, and received an email from a woman in Malaysia that wished to purchase it for 300 dollars more than it really should sell for. Investigated a bit further, and after she had sent the payment confirmation emails, there was no record of this in my actual paypal acount. So i then sent the emails to paypal and deleted them from my inbox, and reported the email address to paypal and ebay. Be careful out there!

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leighann1975
Member
Member
how do you send the emails to PayPal because there's a lady that is doing the same thing with the wedding dress that I have for sale on Craigslist and she wants to send me 800 for the dress and 458 it she wants me to send 800 in my paypal account but it's not
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jmorrison3682
New Community Member
spoof@paypal.com this is the email to paypal for fraud forward the email to this address then delete. Hope that helps... This lady told me she would report me to the fbi I told her to go ahead and why I was at it Ill file a report to help her get her money back lol. She stopped texting me then lol... Scam!!!
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