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

[readuseragreeme]

Scam

[Nubzub]

Funny stuff.  Just got the same stuff happen to me listing my car for sale.  Paypal and then Western Union asking for $1500 for shipping.  This time the buyer is called Nelson, and the shipping agent is Patrick from the United Kingdom.

Email tags and all seem dodgy, with the 'paypal' email coming from a non paypal email officeemail.net.

Mate,thanks for the response,i would have loved to call but due to bad
weather our SAT phone is currently scrambled .Please am buying the car for
my wife who just gave birth to twins in my absentia.She lives in Darwin
presently so the car is going to be shipped to Darwin after have sorted out
with the payment.i want to be sure if the car is still in good condition ,
preferably if i can get more close up picture (engine and interior
inclusive), i will not be able to come for inspection now all i really need
from you is the exact details of the car.

Due to the nature of my work i am a very busy man working all day,am a
sailor am presently on-board .i will pay with the fastest and safest online
payment "PayPal" so i will need you to send me your PayPal email address so
i can effect the payment,as i have my ANZ bank a/c attached to my PayPal
account.I will be sending my shipping company to come and pick it up and
make a personal delivery for my wife in Darwin.

PS:In case you don't have a PayPal account,Its reliable fast,secure and easy
to use PayPal,all you need to do is to log on to visit www.paypal.com and
register with them. When you are done with the registration send me the
email used for the registration with PayPal so i can make the payment.Await
your response.
Regards,
Nelson. 

Thanks for the detailed photo mate ,Am really satisfied and i also
appreciate your honesty about the condition of the car  as that is what i
really need most as wont be able to come for inspection as am on-board ,
just want to buy the car as a surprise for my wife to show my appreciation
as she just gave birth to twins in my absentia, please the fund is ready and
available in my PayPal account so am ready to transfer the fund as soon as
you get back to me with your with the price of the car
Regards,
Nelson.

[mysjet]

can someone let me know if this is fraud?  they say the money is pending in paypal account and will be released upon sending agent's fee of $800.00 and supplying receipt to paypal(correct email) then fund will be put in my account.

[almostSCAMMED]

Please verify the email address...very clever...sooo deceiving!  

The real paypal address ends with intl.paypal.com, the fake ends with paypal.intl.com

Amount:		$500.00 CAD
Shipping Fee:		$380.00 CAD
Western Union		$20.00 CAD
Total Amount:		$900.00 CAD

..........................................................................................................................................................
NOTE: This is to inform you that you are required to send a sum of $380.00 CAD to the address below via Western union money transfer and e-mail the relevant information which you will be provided with after the money has been sent. You are requested to email to us, the Mtcn (Money Transfer Control Number) and the sender's name and address used to make the transfer, after which we will then credit a sum of $900.00 CAD into your PayPal account. Below is the address where the money is to be sent usingWestern Union Money Transfer.

Agent's Info:

joe blow 6 nowhere Chengdu, 631001 China.

Note:As this transaction was done via our e-mail payments service, any inquiries and necessary information should be sent to us by directly replying to this message, because of the status of this transaction, it has not been passed on to our customer care phone service section,and all inquiries should be directed to this e-mail address as it is the one monitored for your transaction.

I almost fell for this scam...how embarrassing...however, I wanted to make as many people aware of this scam as I could.  NEVER pay shipping fees out of your own money, because the fake paypal money isnt really there!

[profdata]

Forward it with headers to  SPOOF @ PAYPAL.COM

[jlskeptic]

So, I put an automobile on craigslist. A person responded saying he's from the UK, willing to pay my asking price and has a shipping agent since this is his business and wants to pay through paypal. A couple people warned me it might be a scam. How?

[ElaineW]

I have just had a similar situtaion.  I advertised a boat on Craigslist - I get a reply from someone wanting to buy, sight unseen but he's out of town, has no credit cards, etc etc etc and can only go thru paypal.  When I told him I didn't have a paypal (which I do), he keeps telling me to set one up - all they need is my bank account.  When I tell him, we have to meet in person any way to sign papers and THEN I'll set up a paypal - I hear no more from him.  What idiot is going to believe that someone will actually deposit $30,000 in their paypal account, never having seen the merchandise, not knowing if I really own or not and whether or not there is a mortage on it!!  By the way, for any of you out there - beware - he is using the  name David <removed>.

[carsonjboxer]

Do not us ups for shiping they over charged me $60.00 bucks they said that the quotes that i got from ebay and paypal are not accurate and you should charge more when you sell on ebay to cover the difference i found out thats not true its ups thats over charging you i will never use them again

[dreynolds]

I have sold an item and received a message from PayPal saying that my payment is on hold until I transfer $700 via Western Union  and confirm the transaction. Is this common? I hate to send $700 before I've received my payment.

[Cart-Ops]

sounds like a scam to me... email paypal directly to verify