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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
Solved! Go to Solution.
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Yep sounds like the classic scam.
Do a google search and put in ebay/car/scam and read the guides 3rd and 4th article down about car scams.
Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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FYI - Someone just tried to scam me. I am selling an item on Craigslist and this guy said he wanted to purchase the item immediately, wanted me to remove it from Craigslist right away, offered to add $100 to my asking price to cover any fees I might incur since he is going to pay via paypal, and wanted me to send him my PayPal email information immediately. Fortunately I saw this forum and did a little more research and this guy has been doing this a LONG time and apparently doesn't change his email address often. Good luck to everyone. Hopefully his scamming days will be over soon if enough people report his information.
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Okay, so this is my first time using PayPal for any transaction, and probably the last. I sold my camera body over three weeks ago and have still not seen the money nor has it been 'pending' or 'on hold' in my account history. I got an email from PayPal the other day about them having technical difficulties, and that the money is in my account althought I can't see it. Yesterday I got an email saying that they had withdrew $100.00 extra from my customer's account and sent me an email saying that I need to go to my nearest Western Union and send out the money before anything will be credited to my account. Now, to me, that sounds kind of fishy considering I have no money in my account so how in the **bleep** am I suppose to come up with $100.00 out of thin air? I'm a college kid, with no job, so I don't understand. Has any one else had this prolem or is this some sort of sick scam?
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@AnEasyBakeOven wrote:
Okay, so this is my first time using PayPal for any transaction, and probably the last. I sold my camera body over three weeks ago and have still not seen the money nor has it been 'pending' or 'on hold' in my account history. I got an email from PayPal the other day about them having technical difficulties, and that the money is in my account althought I can't see it. Yesterday I got an email saying that they had withdrew $100.00 extra from my customer's account and sent me an email saying that I need to go to my nearest Western Union and send out the money before anything will be credited to my account. Now, to me, that sounds kind of fishy considering I have no money in my account so how in the **bleep** am I suppose to come up with $100.00 out of thin air? I'm a college kid, with no job, so I don't understand. Has any one else had this prolem or is this some sort of sick scam?
This is what is commonly known as Advanced Fee Fraud - you are not receiving emails from PayPal, but from someone who wants you to think you are receiving emails from PayPal. PayPal will never ask you to use Western Union; we transfer money ourselves. It's what we do Check out some of the other stories in this thread and you'll find very similar experiences, all of which were reported by the poster as suspected fraud.
Thanks!
Adrian
Did my post solve the issue? If so, please accept it as a solution!
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I just received this in my email today -- VERY convincing in full HTML display -- however note that the word member is mis-spelled and even though the BOGUS "update" button takes you to a pretty convincing login page - note that the URL used for the login page is not using SSL (https: VS http:)--------------- Everyone needs to look out for this one!! --------------------Bogus EMAIL text follows --------------------------> Attention! Your PayPal account has been limited! Dear PayPal Memeber, It has come to our attention that your PayPal Billing Information records are out of date. That requires you to verify the Billing Information. Failure to verify your records will result in account suspension. click the link below and enter your login information on the following page to confirm your Billing Information records.. You must update your billing information immediately in order to avoid any interruption to your services. You can update your billing information online simple by going to myaccount.paypal.com and clicking on "Billing Statement." If you need further assistance, you can contact an PayPal customer service representative at <phone # removed>. ---------------note that the GREEN HTML button located here was removed ------------- but the link takes you to a VERY convincing BOGUS login page!!-------------------enough for them to pull your username and login password. ----------------------> Save Time Update Online Thank you for your prompt response. Sincerely, PayPal Member Services About PayPal | Privacy | Contact Us | eBay Copyright 1999-2012 PayPal. All rights reserved.
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Posted a car on craiglist for 8000 yesterday, had someone email saying they were interested, send back saying it was still avaialbe yadayda, emailed me saying they wanted to pay right away through paypal to send my email address, name and phone number so they could pay, and then they would have a private shipping company get it. I had my doubts from the start, I conversed a little more saying I would only sell it if I sent and invoice, and then funds were transferred into my bank before the car ever left my possesion, she agreed and said to send the invoice asap. I got even more suspcious and asked who the transporter was, and she replies in all caps that it is a private transporter! At this point I know for sure its a scam, and I will be reporting this, its pathetic anymore. Her name was Amanda, I have read through some posts on here, and have seen that name pop up a couple times.
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Got this email yesterday. it came with a zip file to download. i'm sure this is a fraud but i just wanted to check and see if this has happened to anyone else?
We ask for your time to carefully read this notification sent by our Account Review Team.
As of the 19th of March 2012, our security system has blocked unusual charges to a credit
card linked to your account.
An intrusion into your account has been detected which shows that someone
tried to access your PayPal account without your permission. we have limited access to your
account due to this problem. Moreover, we have sent you an attachment which contains all the
necessary steps in order to restore your account access. Please download and open it in your
browser.
Thanks for your high attention. Please do understand that this is a security
measure taken with intention to protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Team
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kpopfangirl07 -
Welcome to the boards!
You're doing the right thing by checking in here. Your instincts are correct - this is a phishing email. PayPal won't ask you to download a zip file (or any file at all). If you want, forward the email to spoof@paypal.com and then promptly delete it from your email account.
For m ore information on spotting these types of emails, check out this thread.
Thanks!
Adrian
Did my post solve the issue? If so, please accept it as a solution!
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Hi everyone...thanx for this topic as i have the same case, selling car on internet...2 days ago i received an email saying the gut with name 'DANIEL' is a petroleum engineer and coming for a holiday...so interested to buy a car...and he likes the one i'm selling...and that the shipper company will come and pick up the car and do all the paperwork needed...asked me to give him my paypal account or account details...i was selling car for 4700 pound he said he will send 5350 so i can transfer the fees to his shipping company via western union transfer...but the statements were saying i will only be credited the money if i send them invoice from western union transfer with pasword etc...so i knew there is s'thing weird about it...i wrote him i will not send any money as long as the money will appear on my account in bank...now i found this topic and i know he's just the person trying to STEAL money from us...i wish ppl like that go to jail straight away...still waiting what he is going to answer...knowing he's just a thief...
thanx again...and ppl be careful about your money...
it's sad that ppl like that r stealing money from honest and hardworking ppl who look after the families...
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I just received an email - also to many others using similar email address-(fishing) saying I had made a payment and giving a transaction ID and saying the amount was sent using my bank account. I have not bought anything and the name Deandre is not familiar to me at all. I have not used PayPal in a few years and I doubt that the acct # on file is current. Have I been scammed? How do I check this out?
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