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

[rseitter]

I am new to using paypal so I need some help...I checked the address given to me by this person and it appears to be a business the builds airplane parts...they want me to sent money to someone to pick up the vechile and that was never talked about...this person had not spoken to me other than thru text messages...PLEASE Help

[PayPal_Frank]

Hi rseitter,

That does sound like a scam.  If any PayPal payment had been sent you would see a record of it in your PayPal account.  If there is no record of a payment in PayPal then that email you received is fake and not from us.

I'm glad you checked with the community about this one. 🙂

- Frank

[NormanRJ]

I got several of these, but not true, nor did they show up in my Pay-Pal account.  Pretty trcky use of a "from" address!  The Pay-Pal icon linked to some wierd address, too.

	You just sent a payment Transaction ID: 2SM69324P0770102B Hello norman, Thanks for using PayPal. It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account. Merchant Tanya [email address removed] Note to Thad You haven't sent a note. Shipping address - confirmed Michael  NY United States Total $120.00 USD Payment $140.00 USD Payment sent to Tanya

This email was sent by an automated system, so if you reply, nobody will see it. To get in touch with us, log in to your account and click "Contact Us" at the bottom of any page.
Copyright © 2012 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved. PayPal is located at 2211 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95131.

PayPal Email ID PP1526

[mrma45911]

I receive an email in response to my Craigslist ad to sell a diamond ring that said...

 Hello,i am interested in buying this Ring..please is it still available and in good condition? kindly get back to me as soon as possible..Thanks

Of course, I responded that it is, and this was the next response...

Hello,
Thanks for your reply, 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 man and 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 including the picture to him and he was so excited about it, 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 would you accept PayPal as my form of 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.
Regards-Vennesa

I immediately suspected a scam but wanted to be sure so I asked him what shipping arrangements he is requesting. His response was...

Alright, Kindly send me a paypal money request to my this email address including the shipping cost to Malaysia via USPS Express Mail International so that i can make the payment as soon as possible.here is the shipping address..
Name..Ahmed
Address..*removed*
City..Cheras,
Zip Code..56000
State..Kuala Lumpur,
Country..Malaysia
Phone..*removed*

Anyone have any thoughts on this one? He never suggests using Western Union or his own shipping company. I know that by shipping USPS I can have delivery confirmation, etc. So although it seems similar to other scam emails I have seen reported, I just want to get others' takes on this.  Thanks!!

[mrma45911]

After doing more research after I made this post, I found someone else who reported the same chain of emails I received.  In this other chain "Vennesa" is a woman...in my email "she" was a man.  I am glad I know for sure now!

[VerySkeptical]

I got an email from a guy saying he wanted to buy my motorcycle he saw on Craig's list.  He said he would pay what I asked and would pay the paypal fee.  He said he is an oil rigger off shore and wanted to send it to his son and would arrange for movers to come get it.  I am very leary of this.  I am wondering if there is a way to protect myself in this case.  I feel that I should make the shipping arrangements.  Is there a place the seller can put another person's name as the "Ship To".  Also, if I send and request a signature and the seller is not the one to sign am I liable or is the shipping co ???

[mrma45911]

Sounds like a scam...I would stay away from it and only deal with someone locally just to be safe.

[jdoogler]

This is the email i got from an ebay user looking to by something from me

Hello Seller,

I am a marine officer working for the US and currently on see 

right now, i have just make the payment through pay pal to your 

pay pal email address and i think by now you suppose to have 

received the payment confirmation to your pay pal email 

address.Once you have received the payment confirmation pack the 

item and make the shipment out to my son delivery address below:

Olaolu *removed*

*removed*

Osun State

23436

Nigeria

Make the shipment through USPS Register Mail and send the 

shipment tracking number to pay pal for verification and also 

get back to me with the shipment tracking number as soon as 

possible.

Get back to me as soon as possible.

Thanks.

Definitely a scam even though i recieved multiple emails claiming to be from paypal that looked pretty legit. Just a heads up to all paypal users out there

[dezeldog]

 I think I am being scammed in much the same way...also Nigeria ...different person and address but the message is the same... they want me to ship the item, then tell Pay Pal my shipping tracking number and then the funds will be released..don't think it works that way?? Trying to get a real person to answer the phone at Pay Pal is next to impossible so I am reaching out to the community for help. Is what they are saying true?? I have never shipped out of the US before?

[Lindacon]

If you have the money in advance, then I would go ahead and ship the item, because how can you lose?