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

[DJLEFTY]

 I received an email that looked legit from Paypal saying my account was locked because of suspicious activity.  I clicked the link and up popped a page that wanted my address, social security #, mothers maiden name, phone, address, etc.  I then logged into paypal on my computer to see that my account was fine.  Glad I didn't give these **bleep** anything.  Be careful!!

[yecats]

ok here is a good one for everyone....my boyfriend sold a phone to someone in tx already shipped it fed ex he used my paypa; acct to make the invoice etc I didnt really follow it much because i didnt care his deal but then I rec this email saying they need 400.00 dollars fr him but it will be refunded back with the sell price...WTF and this email came from paypal with my name on it................help me here everyone what the heck has he donw?  can i verify if this person even has a paypal acct or I am thinking old bf just **bleep**ed himself????  Please feedback!1

[yecats]

oh and one more thing recd another email addressing me by name fr paypal requesting the tracking number of the fed ex shipment.....I never had anything like this when i used paypal years ago

[sharpiemarker]

hi yecats,

basically, the buyer of the phone filed a PayPal claim due to not receiving the phone yet it seems like and paypal put those funds on hold for possible refund if not delivered. ask your bf if he has the fedex tracking info and enter it so PayPal/buyer can track it.

good luck.

[yecats]

there are no claims filed on my paypal account it shows pending as the status on the invoice the email did request the tracking number of the shipment to <email removed> I so think he is involved in a scam and sent his item to someone who isnt going to pay the person whom he was dealing with told him something about this being purchased for one of her kids or husband or whoever but now all the sudden the cell phone is going to Nigera??  Thinking scammmmm but he did sent it federal express and insured so maybe that might  help?  feedback?

[sharpiemarker]

yecats said: "there are no claims filed on my paypal account"

Ok, that's a good thing I guess but where did the first email originate from?  Was it an official PayPal email?  Was it from the buyer? For it sounds like in your first post that PayPal sent you a message asking for money back: "I rec this email saying they need 400.00 dollars fr him but it will be refunded back with the sell price...WTF and this email came from paypal with my name on it"  Or could it be that the buyer replied to a PayPal email communication they received that had your name on it

yecats said: "it shows pending as the status on the invoice"

That means payment was not sent via the invoice and was probably sent independently, like say, via "Send Money" tab. Did you in fact get payment for the item sold though?

yecats said: "the email did request the tracking number of the shipment to <email removed> I so think he is involved in a scam and sent his item to someone who isnt going to pay the person whom he was dealing with told him something about this being purchased for one of her kids or husband or whoever but now all the sudden the cell phone is going to Nigera??  Thinking scammmmm but he did sent it federal express and insured so maybe that might  help?  feedback?"

was PayPal requesting this information or the buyer is requesting the tracking info?  more and more it seems like the buyer has contacted you requesting if they can get money back because "the item was sent to someone who isn't going to pay the buyer back" etc as an excuse to, in a skrewy way cancel the transaction (yet did not file a PayPal claim) but is asking for tracking information and item has already shipped.  so they can wound up getting the item and the money back?!  no way... if payment was received and you shipped it to the address directed in the payment and was confirmed delivered, your bit is done.  you can't get involved in whatever outside issues the buyer has mentioned, that's their problem if they are telling the truth that is, let alone to ship it someplace else after the item has been shipped.  that's crazy.

and yes, sending it Fedex, insured does help.  i would suggest tracking it yourself to see if it has been delivered, better yet, call up FedEx to see if you can recall the shipment.  and I suggest by all means contact PayPal customer service about the situation because they can best deal with this problem.

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@yecats wrote:

there are no claims filed on my paypal account it shows pending as the status on the invoice the email did request the tracking number of the shipment to <email removed> I so think he is involved in a scam and sent his item to someone who isnt going to pay the person whom he was dealing with told him something about this being purchased for one of her kids or husband or whoever but now all the sudden the cell phone is going to Nigera??  Thinking scammmmm but he did sent it federal express and insured so maybe that might  help?  feedback?

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[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi yecats and sharpiemarker,

I've moved your posts here for relevance. Take a look at the first post in this thread. It may answer some questions for you.

Olivia

[Shirley21]

Good luck getting a tracking number or how they shipped from paypal I couldn't get any information. ..it's like paypal pockets your money and seller doesn't get your order Your **bleep**

[sharpiemarker]

hi,

sounds like the buyer may have filed a PayPal claim on the monies they sent to your account since your boyfriend used your account to invoice the buyer either because they haven't received the item or received but not as described.

if the invoice was sent from your account, you can log onto your account and view the transaction details of the sale to see if the buyer/sender of the money is verified.  also check your "My account" page to see if there is a dispute opened.  usually the dispute center will give you detailed info on why you were sent that email asking for money back.

i would look for a telephone number to talk to PayPal customer service and most importantly, check the email header of the email you received asking for this 400 dollars to see if any of the email addresses look suspicious just to be sure.

good luck.

[minty1]

Hi

Who was the email from stating thy wanted 400.00 dollars from you are you sure it was from PayPall and did they say why they wanted it?

How much did he sell the phone for?

It could be a spoof email or it could be this was an unauthorised payment ?