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

[Seymour-]

If you wish to have your phone inundated with texts and calls from people you don't know offering, threatening, begging, promising all kinds of inheritences, free money, goods, services ALL of which will never materialize and only cost You.

then, go ahead, text it.

[perfect_liberty]

I just listed a high end item on Craigslist here in AZ and also recieved several texts of customers wanting to purchase.  Both said they were in Texas.  The first guy seemed legit - he asked about the conditon of the item, etc.  He wanted to use paypal so i figured he might be legit.  So i called him and talked to him.  His english was broken and the phone eventually died.  So we continued texting.  In order to make the transaction truely legit, and to determine if he was a scammer, I told him that i would send him an invoice from Paypal, which I did.  He paid the $7000 immediately so i thougth wow, maybe i was wrong. The funds are pending but i'm starting to think this was a scam.  I would appreciated the thoughts of anyone who may have gone this far into a transaction.  Should I be concerned that i have begun the transaction through Paypal??  Advice please...

[Seymour-]

Need more information:

How did you determine that the funds are pending?

Did you login to your PayPal account to confirm it?

Or, did you just receive an email all of a sudden telling you (or showing you) the money was in your PP acct.? (check who & where the email came from CAREFULLY)

A couple of red flags went off in my head:

1. broken English. not a conclusive indicator of a scam.

2. phone dying in middle of call. Again, not a conclusive indicator (but, add it to the broken English)

[perfect_liberty]

I logged into my PayPal account (not by clicking some random link) and checked the status and sure enough, it showed the payment but it also showing "pending". My wife is telling me to just cancel the transaction and be done with it. I do find it interesting that the guy paid right away - well, he hasn't officially paid since it's still "pending".

[Seymour-]

Now, wait a minute. You actually saw the Pending payment in your PayPal account? This actually may be a legitimate transaction. I'd suggest you contact the fine people at PayPal and ask them what they think.

[perfect_liberty]

Yes it said "pending" but I already cancelled the transaction and I sent the guy a text letting him know I cancelled and he never responded so...

[dakkota_22]

I thought there was a limit on the amount of money you could pay through paypal?

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[Seymour-]

Sometimes, these scams progress in stages.

Stage 1 - make contact & establish trust.

Stage 2 - execute the scam. collect an advance fee for nothing, or collect info for identity theft or use in future scams.

The  fact he paid right away is not suspicious on it's own.

Was it for the correct amount?

[perfect_liberty]

Yes it was the correct amount.

[minty1]

Hi perfect_liberty

Not all people are legit because they want to pay by ppal as u have probably read

Since the funds are pending and have not cleared the payment still isnt yours yet, although the transaction could be legit which I doubt (but just my opinion)it could also be from a hijacked account,

Scammers do target high valued items even items that they havent even seen or tested because they arent interested in buying your item only free money or free items!!

What address do u have for shipping?

Do they want it shipping abroad?

Have they offered u over the odds and asked u if u can pay their shipper/mover?

Have they asked u o make a western union payment yet?

Have they asked u to send tracking info in order to receive the payment?I suggest u do not ship

It doest really matter u have begun thru ppal

Remember never accept ppal for items that need collecting