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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2,000 REPLIES 2,000

Linstwins55
Contributor
Contributor

If it is raining and there is nothing else to do, for kicks, I play along for a little while too, just to get THEM excited like they did me when I  thought I was getting more money than what I asked for on an item sight unseen! (another red flag)

Of course, I am wiser now, 3 years later after closing my PP account AND my bank account.

.  Sell locally, delete the rest...but not before replyng with expletives-makes you feel better.

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catie2
Member
Member

I have a vehicle on craigslist and have now had 2 e-mails from people in the marines. The first one "frank" wants it shipped to the UK.  Think this is a scam well duh!!!!!

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Linstwins55
Contributor
Contributor

Yeah, cuz the UK DOESN'T SELL CARS! 

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Linstwins55
Contributor
Contributor

They always want to send their own shipper, whatever that means.  It never seems to be the person emailing that is going to pick it up.  Not sure why.  No one is going to show up any way, once you give them your pay pal account info.  And what does a guy in the military need a washer/dryer on Craigs list for?  And how come the person who is in a wheel chair wants to buy your Total Gym?  For an extra $100?  Not rocket science. 

ANY time Western Union is mentioned, delete or, just for kicks, play along for a little while, just to get THEM excited like they did you when you thought you were getting more money than what you asked for on an item sight unseen! (another red flag)

Do NOT give your pay pal address.  This is how they hack in to your account..  There will be no money sent, but he will have access to your pp acct and if it is hooked up to your bank account, he can take money even if you don't have any!

Then you have the overdrawn fees to deal with at the bank.  This happened to me.  Sell locally, delete the rest...but not before replyng with expletives-makes you feel better.

 

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BeKeZ
Contributor
Contributor
I am selling a vehicle on craigslist and I got a response from a potential buyer who sent this Great. am glad to read from you ,will appreciate more pictures... i am a marine engineer, i am at sea right now.I am buying this for my son as a surprise promise Gift  so am willing to offer you the amount you required. I can only pay through PayPal at the moment as i don't have access to my bank account online(i don't have internet banking with it), but i have it attached to my PayPal account, and this is why i insisted on using PayPal to pay,all i will need is your PayPal email address to make the payments, and if you don't have a PayPal account yet, you can set one up at www.paypal.com  it cant take you less than 3mins to do that, i will be expecting your PayPal email so l can pay and also get back to me with your best price on this. I have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up after payments has been sorted. l will be waiting for your reply asap.....thanks I know paypal is a reputable company and have dealt with them in the past and have good things to say about it but this could be a scam and I don't want to get ripped off so if anyone has any advise as to how I should proceed or any questions or alternatives I could ask them please help me out. Thank you
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nme00108
Contributor
Contributor

I wouldn't set up anything with him or her. It's also better (and safer) to the item(s) locally to lessen the chances of scams/ fraud etc. I got an email similar to that, (I'm selling my Dell 14-R on craigslist/facebook)

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BeKeZ
Contributor
Contributor

Kadela
New Community Member

OMG...This is the email I just received from a potenial buyer of my motorcycle on Craigs List

 

Hi thanks for mailing, i am a marine engineer, i am at sea right now
am buying this for my son  so am willing to offer you the amount you
required. I can only pay through PayPal at the moment as i don't have
access to my bank account online(i don't have internet banking with
it), but i have it attached to my PayPal account, and this is why
insisted on using PayPal to pay,all i will need is your PayPal email
address to make the payment, and if you don't have a PayPal account
yet, you can set one up at  www.paypal.com  it cant take you less
than3 mins to do that, i will be expecting your PayPal email so l can
pay and also get back to me with your best price on this. I have a
pick up agent that will come for the pick up after payment has been
sorted. l will be waiting for your reply asap

 

This GOT to be a scam...I will only sell this in PERSON

 

Thanks for your Post!

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cqui
Contributor
Contributor

This is what I recieved from someone who wants to buy our boat for fishing! From what I know the paypal payment method is no guarentee the money is actually yours. They file a dispute and paypal has no proof the boat was ever recieved. Every time I list something for sale I get these:

 

Thanks for the prompt response..I fully understand the condition of what i am buying. I'm ready to buy it now for my wife in Ohio, but am not local and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it.Note that you will not be responsible for shipping and handling. My shipping company will come to your location for the pick up do provide me your name and full address so i can forward it to the shipping company to calculate the cost of pick up for me. And concerning the payment, i will prefer PayPal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking but i can pay from my PayPal account because i have my bank account attached to it. I will also need you to give me your PayPal email address so i can make the payments immediately and if you don't have an account with PayPal yet, it is very easy to set up, go to http://www.paypal.com  and get it set up, after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to deposit the fund. So get back to me with the following details
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Goldenboy75
New Community Member

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