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

[Ibeda]

Just got an email from "paypal" completely fake Be aware, when I clicked on the link, i took me to a different website. They wanted to sign in with my personal info The website was <removed per Community guidelines>

[minty1]

Hi Ibeda

Since u clicked the link I suggest u change your password and security questions immediately

[TheMeister]

I'm selling my bicycle for the first time on the Internet. There is a guy named " Harrision wright. My bike costs 800 but he said he made a payment to me ( 1.280 eur ) , 800 for the bike, 400 for the shipping agent 80 for western Union. He said i have to go to Western Union and pay them 400 euro to get a code. After I give him a code, I'll get my money on my paypal acc. But it was already suspicious because in confirmation email that has been sent to me wasn't the legit email from PayPal itself. The email was named like the real paypal email but without any sign of trusted sender behind the email. I sent an email back to him and say that this is scamming but he's trying hard to make me believe that this is the real deal.... 

[Seymour-]

It's a scam. All he really wants is the $400. Of course, he's gonna do everything he can to convince you that the deal's legitimate. He wants that money!

Stop communicating with him, he'll soon move onto threats. When you still don't cough up the funds, then he'll give up on getting money out of you (for now).

[panosspartan]

It seems that we have been fraud!! By Nigerian Company whose contact person was Rita.
We sent money through Western Union - unfortunately.

Does anyone know if we can ever get back the money lost and how?

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[LoveMrsLaws]

I've just become a landlord, and have already had several people offer to wire me large sums to rent, sight unseen. They always text, and talk way more than real renters, so they're not hard to spot. But the "overpayment" scam BACKED UP BY FAKE PAYPAL EMAILS, is a new one to me. I use Paypal a lot, and might not have fallen for it; but if nothing else I've been likely saved days of aggravation, checking my paypal balance and trying to ask the "renter" when the money would be there. 

Thank you ALL for sharing your experiences, and saving me (and many others!) a lot of pain and possibly a lot of money. THANK YOU.

[PeteinEngland]

I have experienced something very similar today.

Trying to sell a saxophone on a UK site. Guy called Bruno.,

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PayPal_Andy wrote

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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 responded and said he couldn't make it but would be interested in closing the deal and would transfer money to day and arrange a courier.  Great --sent him Paypal request --all going well.THEN he sent me the following mail:

Thanks for your mail..Am sorry  i should have inform you about this before 

making the payment,i don't have access to western union at the moment due 

to my nature of work.That is the reason why i add the money to your payment so 

you can help me to pay the shipping agent fee.

PayPal is holding the payment just to secure both party as they have 

already deducted the money from my account which is on the way to your 

account history.You just have to send the money the shipping agent through 

Western Union Money Transfer at your Local Post Office and email the 

western union receipt to PayPal Customer care email in order to receive the 

whole money into your account.

Thanks..Hope to read back from you soon.

At this stage we parted company -- les than politely!

Avoid this guy like the plague!

[Metta123]

I posted an iPad on Craigslist for $300 and buyer actually offered me more..."$420 with the shipping and insurance to my son, and i will be paying you via paypal. do get back to me with your paypal email so i can send you the payment"

I thought this was too good to be true, but was tempted to find out?  I proceeded to asking the buyer the city/state of his/her son to determine shipping costs, but the buyer didn't directly answer me.  Instead said that shipping address will be confirmed through paypal.  This should've been RED FLAG!  Buyer proceeded to ask em for my paypal account, which I gave, then name to the account.  This info I denied stating secuirty reasons.  Buyer then proceeded to ask me to send a money request, which I did.  I learned you could verify a paypal account, so I checked and of course buyer's account was not verified.  Out of curiosity I continued the process.  Buyer sent through PayPal a notice that says I need a tracking/reference number before I can get credited for payment.  I also noticed that the shipping address was to Nigeria!!!  This is where I ended the process.  Hope this helps...good luck!

[lhusnik]

Hello  Jeffrey's Journey,

Thank you for using PayPal®. This is to inform you that a review of recent transaction made to your account by Richard   indicates that you have received a payment but it is currently pending for shipment verification due to the security measures we've taken. Your payment is safe with us and this security measure is invented due to high rates of complains from buyers that after payment has been received by sellers, sellers hesitate to ship out the items. Therefore, carry out the shipment as instructed, send us the shipment tracking details of the package and your account will be credited immediately we have confirmed and authentically verified the shipment tracking number. 

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Transaction Details
------------------------------ ----
 
Seller's: Jeffrey's Journey

Seller's email:

Transaction ID: 94P72125F6337403F

Transaction date: April 24, 2015

Transaction amount: $798.25 USD 

Item:  Goods  

NOTE: This payment has been approved and deducted from the buyer's account. Your account will definitely be credited as soon as we and the buyer have verified your shipment.
 
SEND THE TRACKING NUMBER click reply this mail with the tracking number.

Thank you for your cooperation.
 
Sincerely,
 PayPal®

The PayPal Team

[CarGuy87]

I also received a Craigslist reply for a built-in bar for $1,800.  I got a reply from "removed" except his supposed email name is 'removed'.  The crummy Paypal email instructing me to send $850 to his shipping agent via Western Union has return address *****@accountant.com.  

The "click here" link (no, I didn't click on it, I right clicked to get the address) is also ****@accountant.com

He's using a throw away Gmail address 'removed'@****.