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

[Audreycotter]

This is the exact same scam on craigslist that I am in right now.  As of today the scammer sent me an email to ship my car via western union and the email paypal for shipper info and he would add the amount that paypal is to give me for the price of my car.  His name is Blake *****, has a gmail account, an off shore marine engineer and wants this car as a present for his son.  He emailed an address to me in Arlington, TX.  So beware.  I just emailed him back and told him I needed the money sent by bank to bank transfer of funds and haven't heard back from him...and as far as shipping, I told him I'd set him up with a shipper that accepts paypal.

[blsmtfm1955]

phishing email received:

This notification e-mail was sent by PayPal's Account Review Department (ARD).
        Unusual charges were recently detected to a credit card linked to your PayPal account. Due to this, access to your account was limited.
        There were numerous log-in attempts by an unauthorized user to your account. To ensure greater security,  we have limited access to your account. We have attached a file in this e-mail for you that will verify that you are the legitimate account holder (owner). Please download and open it in your browser.
(This security breach issue may be found under reference PP # 882-178-609)                          Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure taken by our security team intended to protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sincerely, PayPal Account Review Department

~

Also recently had trpouble with a seller in Hong Kong - my attempted payments wouldn't go through. I contacted them and they responded - three times. Today they say other customers were having the same problem and requested I pay them by sending payment through their actual personal paypal account. I won't do it. If this was really a problem with others too why did they never say so before? And I was told by ebay that if I paid them to their personal business account that there would be no record through ebay that the item was paid for, so I'm not doing it and would suggest no one else do this if asked too.

[smeek6353]

Here is a recent scam from ******** - email: *****@*********

I was selling something on Craigslist - BEWARE!

Hello,
Thanks for your quick response ,I will not be coming to view it
because of my Job,i am a Marine and i am buying this for my Uncle.i am
at sea right now and am satisfied with your firm/advert price,as am
requesting this transaction should be done via PayPal so the PayPal
charges is on me and Payment will be made via PayPal (if you don't
have an account,its easy,safe and secured just log on to
(www.paypal.com) to get one and get back to me with the email used.My
mover will arrange for the pick up after payment clears and I hope we
can make the purchase as fast as possible? I want you to get back with
the following details

1: Your Paypal email ID or a paypal payment invoice

2: Your Last asking price

3: Your contact address for the pick up

4. More pics.


Thanks..

[lindalos54]

WOW - so very glad I came to check this out!  I got almost word for word the same email, but from a different party.

"Thanks for your quick response, Am trying to know condition because am
buying asap,so can you assure me that i will not be disappointed,also
no shipment involved as i have a mover that will come over for the
pick up and am satisfied with your firm/advert price, as am requesting
this transaction should be done via PayPal so the PayPal charges is on
me and Payment will be made via PayPal only(if you don't have an
account,its easy,safe and secured just log on to (www.paypal.com) i m
presently out of town for my new project,so am sorry i will not be
able to come over to look at it in person and that's the only reason
why PayPal is the only Payment option. I hope we can make the purchase
as fast as possible? I want you to get back with the following details
1: Your Paypal email ID or a paypal

2.Your last asking price

3.Your contact address

I will be waiting for you mail.Thanks"

Original email came from:   Pamela ***** ... **********@**************

Follow up emails have come from:     Pamela ***** .... *********@********

The 2nd email is the one she provided as her PayPal info.  I wanted to try and verify if it was legit or not.

I have emailed back and forth with "Pamela" a few times, at first thinking this was on the up and up...but still leery about giving out any of my information without getting more from her.  She would answer some questions I asked, but always seemed to miss giving the information I was asking for.

I asked for more information from them, as my attenae went up.  I asked for their PayPal account info and a phone number that I could call her to discuss.  She came back with "give me your number and my husband will speak to you".  Lucky for me, I had just arrived at work, so gave my office number.  Her "husband" had a very strong Indonesian type accent and was hard to understand, said his name was "David".  The caller ID screen on my phone showed the call as coming thru on a Bell South local  801 - usually a sign it is an out of area blocked number.  My antennae were vibrating before I even answered the phone.

He told me they were in Russia (I am in  Florida) and were looking to relocate and find jobs in New Jersey and would have the powerchair shipped there.  (Ya mean nobody in New Jersey has a power wheelchair for sale????)   So my attenae went crazy.  When I asked for a phone number so I could call back if I had any questions, he told me he would call me, and I should "not worry".   He kept repeating "Don't worry, Linda".    At some point in the conversation, as I was trying to ask more and understand what he was saying thru his accent, I thought he mentioned something about shipping the chair to China??? 
I have emailed Pamela back and told her I am not comfortable with the fact that I would have to disclose personal information to them, and yet cannot even get a phone number to call her.  I did not understand why I was not able to speak to her, but had to speak to her husband and I told her I had a hard time understanding him and was totally unsure about this entire transaction.  I have not given them my paypal info, but since it is the same email as she was getting my emails from , that would not be hard to fingure out..in fact she did ask me if that was the right email and I did not answer.

At least I have learned to listen to my instincts.     But dang it, I had really hoped to finally have sold this item!

[dktbdt04]

So the scam email came from ***********@************?

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi everyone!

Please remember that full names and contact information of other people may not be posted in the forums.

Even in situations where you are fairly certain the person is a fraudster, the reality is that they may have stolen the identity of another person to commit their fraud. If you post that information publicly, you run the risk of further victimizing someone who has already been defrauded.

For more information about identifying phishing and fraud emails, check out:

Your Guide to Phishing

OnGuard Online

Some more scam email examples

I hope this helps!

Olivia

[MustangSally]

Same thing here!  I am selling a ring on craigslist, and someone responds within 24 hours with...

Hello,

Thanks for your reply,i am really interested in buying this Ring, i would have loved to come and inspect this Ring  at your place myself, but I am a busy woman and i am presently out of state for business conference in Spain, Am buying this Ring for one of my customer in Malaysia, and i have send all the detail/ information of this Ring  to him and he was so excited about it, and he has promised to send the money to my account today, please just make sure the Ring is in condition described..I  will be sending your money asap.  but will you accept paypal for payment? Because i only make payment via paypal for this type of transaction because its the safest means of making payment as it protect both buyers and sellers interest, kindly get back with me if you accept paypal so that i can proceed with the payment.

Rgedards

Vennesa

Sounds suspicious and makes me nervous.  Feedback?

[lindalos54]

I would definitely not reply.   One thing I have learned since getting my email and doing research is that scammers use PayPal.  When someone is willing to buy something like you are offering, or what I had, without physically seeing it  -  that is a red flag. 

It's sad, because we get excited that we have a buyer for something, and in these days we all are looking for that extra dollar, and then we get hit with with something like this.   

Good luck with your sale.....but unfortunately this offer is not it.

Linda

---

@MustangSally wrote:

Same thing here!  I am selling a ring on craigslist, and someone responds within 24 hours with...

Hello,

Thanks for your reply,i am really interested in buying this Ring, i would have loved to come and inspect this Ring  at your place myself, but I am a busy woman and i am presently out of state for business conference in Spain, Am buying this Ring for one of my customer in Malaysia, and i have send all the detail/ information of this Ring  to him and he was so excited about it, and he has promised to send the money to my account today, please just make sure the Ring is in condition described..I  will be sending your money asap.  but will you accept paypal for payment? Because i only make payment via paypal for this type of transaction because its the safest means of making payment as it protect both buyers and sellers interest, kindly get back with me if you accept paypal so that i can proceed with the payment.

Rgedards

Vennesa

Sounds suspicious and makes me nervous.  Feedback?

---

[ShootingFish]

I am selling a desk on craigslist. I got an email from a buyer that would buy it sight unseen. They sent me an email from a moving company that would come and pick it up if I would verify my address, which I did. Then I got a receipt from paypal stating I had been paid for the desk and $400 for shipping. However, I could not have access to the money until I sent the $400 payment to the moving company.

You have an Instant Payment of $1100.00 USD from Roselia ******

---

Payment Details

Purchased: ****

Transaction ID:8S380593UR606674N

Item #	Item Title	Quantity	Price	Subtotal
Not Available	Desk, File Cabinet, Cabinet, Chair	1	$700.00USD	$700.00USD

Shipping & Handling via 1st Move International Removals Company to 03301  (includes any seller handling fees)	$400.00USD
Shipping Insurance (not offered):	--
Sales Tax :	$00.00 USD
Total:	$1100.00USD

Then I received the following email

PayPal Safety Measures Against Online Fraud!

Dear ******

               We have received an order from one of our customer to make an instant payment of $1100.00USD to your PayPal account. The payment has been made successfully and the money has been credited to your PayPal account  but you will not have access to it . However, since this money is meant for a purchase or a service that involve a Shipping Company.We have to receive a confirmation that you have sent the pick up cost to Shipping Company before the money will be available for spending. This is due to the large increase in the rate of the online scams recorded last year (2009). We have changed some of our rules and regulation to make sure our clients, are safe from scam, PayPal in conjunction with The FBI and The IFCC has invented certain preventive measure to ensure the safety of our customers.


 Such measure are:

1. Once a payment is made,A confirmation Email will be sent to the seller that the payment has been made to state the transaction details which has been sent to you. Also a confirmation is sent to the buyer that the money has been deducted from his or her account. So once you get this mail,You should take necessary action and get back to us with the confirmation that you have sent the pick up cost to the shipping company. Once we have confirmed the information provided with the shipping company, the money will be available instantly. 

2. Once a payment is made and it has been approved by PayPal, such transaction is Sealed (because both seller and buyer must have come to a conclusion before payment is made by the buyer) so therefore neither the buyer or seller can cancel this transaction or ask for the returned to the buyer's account. Also, this is where we generate our income, because the more transaction made through PayPal, the more we generate our Income. 

3. Failure to abide by these laid down safety measures by PayPal may leads to suspension from PayPal and further more invitation to an interrogation with the F.B.I

 So can you see we are very considerate about the safety of both buyer and seller.

 

Note: that the pick up cost has been included in the payment.

Then Followed by the following email to further the scam - 

My name is Richard ******. I'm a PayPal representative in charge of your transaction with Roselia ******.

Kindly reply to this message if you have any question regarding this transaction and I will be happy to help you. 

We thank you for being an asset to PayPal and we hope to serve you better in the nearest future. 

Sincerely,

Scott Thompson
President

PayPal Inc

So .... hope this helps someone from getting scammed!

[Caroline2000]

I just received this after putting a car on Craiglist, sounds WAY too good to be true.  Am I right?

I insisted on paypal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet banking and i can't go to the bank due to the nature of my job, but i can pay from my paypal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your paypal email address so i can make the payments asap for the vehicle and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set

up, go to 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 put the money through.

Regards

Bennie

On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 7:19 PM, wrote:

You haven't even seen the car, where are you from?

-------Original Message-------

From:

Date: 11/12/2011 7:10:01 PM

To:

Subject: Re: 2003 NISSAN MAXIMA GLE 3.5L V6 - $8000 (Dracut)

Hello.

I'm satisfied with the condition of the auto. I will be paying you through PayPal which is a fast, safe and reliable method of payment.. And i will take care of all Shipment Preparations for the automobile to my home . Email me with the actual price you are willing to sell

the vehicle.

Name:

PayPal Email address

Total Cost of the item.

Please Advice.