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

[Sarcasim02]

Got this email Didnt respond
The email came from a *Removed*

 

Dear Member,

Some information on your account appears to be missing or incorrect.
Please update your information promptly so that you can continue to enjoy
all the benefits of your PayPal account.
If you don't update your information within 37 days, we'll limit what you can do with your PayPal account.

*Removed*

Or confirm your email on *Removed*
Just log in to your account, click Confirm email address, then click the link in Step 2, and paste in this Confirmation number:

*Removed*

This email was sent by an automated system, so if you reply, nobody will see it. To get in touch with us,*Removed* to your account and click "Contact Us" at the bottom of any page.

Copyright © 2014 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved. PayPal is located at 2211 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95131.

[GrammySC]

I just received an email confirming my payment of 102.05 Canadian dollars which I did not pay or authorize. How do I handle or report this? it says if you dispute this transaction to click on a link but I'm scared that will give them more information.

[minty1]

Hi GrammySC

U can handle it by forwarding to spoof@paypal.com and deleting it or just delete it

Genuine ppal emails :

Always address u as Dear Full Name

Never ask u to click on links/downloads

Never ask for personal/sensitive info

Always log in to you ppal account by the official site

If u do click on links change your password and security questions

[BSSMStu]

Just caught one, too. Including his contact info (numbers replaced with #) so it comes up on google searches since PayPal did email me back and confirm the fraud..

Guy's "email" address related to account is ******* (and no, that doesn't give away his name as it was different) - has been texting me from a "San Diego" number ****** and sounding pretty convincing.......... but I found out he's in Nigeria when he sent me fake emails from "New PayPal Anti Fraud Rule" saying:
Email 1
"We have now received and confirmed payment from the buyer of your Item. This payment is currently pending to be credited into your account due to the security measures we have taken. You are now required to ship out the item and send us the shipment tracking number for verification of shipment. As soon as we have verified the shipment, your account will be credited with the full payment. This security methods have been taken due to fraudulent sellers
 
We await the shipment tracking number to us through our tracking email***** for verification so we can credit your account immediately. Note that you are advised not to send out the shipment tracking number to the buyer until we have verified the shipment and credited your account. "

Email 2
"Thanks for your affirmative mail regarding your PayPal funds.

We clearly understand your concern about our new service.

We have your PayPal fund save with us Transaction ID :- 5H940684GS992010652. 

You need to get this item off to the Post Office and there you would be given a receipt to prove postage of item.

On that receipt you would find the Tracking Number/Reference Number which you need in other to get your check.

Forward it to the buyer then the buyer will now forward it to us - ***** is our email to verify tracking number to secure both the buyer and the seller so you account can be credit and process immediately.

We only requested for you to send the Tracking Number to the buyer in other to protect both you and the buyer.

This is also part of our New PayPal Anti Fraud Rule for safe transaction on eBay and PayPal.

Note : Forward the Tracking Number to the buyer so the buyer can forward it to us for fast respond ." 

(Nice English... did those typos come standard? And, PS I never emailed you anything but I'm glad you're preempting my "concerns" about your fraudulent anti fraud rule....)

Email 3
"This is an authorization letter from PayPal to confirm that*****(*****) [WHICH IS ACTUALLY LINKED TO *****] is a Verified buyer, and your funds($620.00 USD) 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.

Your Payment is safe with us,You can now proceed with the shipment as instructed and your account shall be credited immediately we confirm the shipment tracking number through our*****once tracking number of shipment has been confirmed and verified authentic, we will credit your account immediately you can also forward the tracking number to the buyer also your account will be credited with the sum of ($620.00 USD) and a confirmation will be sent to your PayPal Email.

(Shipping Address Confirmed) USPS Express Mail

Name *****
Address *****   
*****
*****
Country *****
Zip Code *****

Help us to serve you better."

Totally bogus. What a waste of time.

[bmbmbm]

To BSSMSTu

Someone from Nigeria is trying to do the same thing to me I think, they mentioned paypal having a "New PayPal Anti Fraud Rule', claiming they have sent me £70 and that I will only recieve it once I give them the shipment barcode!

What a load of rubbish!

As if I will send anything without recieving the payment first. But they are trying to claim now that the £70 is out of their account haha, where is it then if it isn't in mine?

[KitKit]

I posted an ad on CraigsList to sell my cell phone and received a reply. The person who replied advised they would cover shipping costs and add $30.00 to my posted request amount. The person said they needed it for their son who was going to some school in CO. However, the person wanted me to send it to a female in WI.  Below is the "Buyer's" info: Also, along the way they sent me emails using two different names. TThe person advised they would send me payment  via paypal and all I would have to do is send a reply email to PayPal with the shipping info to release the funds. However, the PayPal email addresses the person provided ended with cash4u.com and in.com. I did not ship the device. They had pulled images from the PayPal site to make the emails appear real and the contact phone number for the "Buyer" had a 666 area code which does not exist.

[kputnam1978]

I recently put a dining room set on craigslist - within an hour, was sent a letter from a person who said he was in the military and wanted to buy this dining room set, sight unseen, mind you, as a surprise for someone.  He would deposit the money in my paypal account, however, when he said he did, he also said he put in an extra 680.00 to pay for the mover, but this money had to be sent to an agent.  This is when it got sketchy....also received two bogus letters with paypal logo on them indicating that this was a secure transaction, and all I had to do was send this money to the agency and supply paypal with a Western Union transfer number and the money would be released to my account.  This is when I started doing some research.  The Airbase that he claims to be working in is closed .....went on the craigslist fraud and there was the same letter that he had sent to a couple other people wanting to buy items on craigslist...apparently this guy has been around, now using a different email according to one of the complaints

[Olethunders]

I placed my bike on Craiglist and within 24 hours I had this response...

Thanks for the mail, I'm interested in your BIKE  and I'm okay
with the asking price, would love to go ahead with the deal right away
because this meets my perfect search for time being now, I'm on duty
now, so coming to your residence for inspection won't be possible, so
you have to assure me that its in condition described. You may now
consider me a favorite buyer and if possible withdraw the posting from
the site immediately so that I can be rest assured that it is all
mine.

Like I said earlier, I'm very busy with my job, as I work as a
geophysical investigator and am currently in the mountain until July
22nd, so I will be paying you on line via my PayPal account which is
attached to my bank account because it is the only form of payment
that I have access to right now and also because of its good security
nature. If you are interested in selling it please provide me  with
the following information:

1) Your full name
2) PayPal email address,
3) Address for pick up
4) Your personal mobile #

Kindly get back to me with the required for us to proceed,You will not
be responsible for the shipping as shipping agent will be coming over
to your address for the pick up after I  have made the payment and you
have received the confirmation of Payment from PayPal. Do hope to read
from you.

Thanks, Mason.

[abracadabra9]

Just received this e-mail--puportededly from PayPal -- but had a person's name as the actual sender.   What should I do with it?

"Someone recently used your password to try to sign in to your account.

We prevented the sign-in attempt in case this was a hijacker trying to access your account.
Please review the details of the sign-in attempt:

Thursday, May 15, 2014 06:42:31 AM
IP Address: 94.152.189.4
Location: Krakow, Poland

If you do not recognize this sign-in attempt, someone else might be trying to access your account. You should sign in to your account and confirm your identity immediately. "

Confirm identity 

[minty1]

Hi abracadabra9

Pppal wouldnt put someone elses name on so I think this is fake

If unsure forward to spoof@paypal.com for confirmation

Genuine ppal emails always address u as Dear Full Name

Never ask u to click on links/downloads

Never ask for personal/sensitive info

Always log in to your ppal via the official site