Scam - taking ads from Kijiji and insisting on using Paypal

[Gailoldford27]

I posted an ad in Kijiji selling Pink tickets for Toronto. I received a text with the following: "Pink Tickets in Toronto still available for sale? Email me only at *removed* to have deal. Pls dont reply text due to the nature of my job. Thanks. Felicia". I did respond and the following are emails I received back:

I appreciate your prompt response, I am buying It ASAP for my cousin
residing in Ontario as a surprise. I wont be available by myself for
inspection due to the nature of my work and present location. I will
like you to email me with some close up shots of it and will arrange
for it to be picked up by a pick up agent who will be coming for the
inspection and pick up at your place once the payment clears, I will
also be paying you through Paypal which i believe is safe and secured
for both of us and I will also be responsible for the charges. All I
need from you now is to get back to me with your Paypal email and name
or send me Paypal invoice so that I can send your payment ASAP. What
is your final asking price?

Just want to be sure about the sale before i proceed and If you need
to reach me, send me an email as i Squeeze time every four-hours to
check correspondence and respond at the same time.

Thanks

-----

Okay get back to me with your paypal account and your final asking price

-----

Okay. I would have love to talk to you on phone and explain more
better but Due to the nature of my job,making phone calls and visiting
of website are restricted but i took permission from our IT Admin to
check this advert and sent you Text regarding this and instructing you
to text so I am not allowed to get out of the unit or give calls
whenever I want. I am an honorable person and you will receive your
full money cash in hand before my mover comes for pick up at your
place. And if you dont have a paypal account, It's pretty easy to set
up a PayPal account at www.paypal.com . it's just a few minutes away
from signing up. it's safe and secure for both Parties. You are on a
secured transaction with paypal. As soon as you open an account, get
back to me with the name and email that you linked with your paypal
account and I will have your money wired asap. I hope to read from you
asap

Regards

__________________________

I googled the phone number and it comes from Oregon - many people have received same text. I guess this is a "Seller's Beware" post - as you as a seller would be responsible (in most cases) for cost of whatever you are selling once anything is disputed!

[KNbuckingham]

Happy to find this, just thought I would check out an email that sounded suspicious, almos identical to yours but I am selling headers, substitute Pink tickets for headers and it is identical.

[beamatomy]

I got hit with the same scammers trying to buy may laptop and asking me to use paypal and also to ship to west africa!

read about it here lol

/t5/About-Selling/SCAM-Kijiji-buyer-asking-to-use-PayPal-only-for-buying-Laptop/td-p/1157041 

these americans or africans are trolling the Canada Kijiji forums!

[NM17]

Same this just happened to me, had a buyer interested but could not meet due to their current location, and resited that Paypal is safe for both user and buyer etc. Glad i found this website.

[Kupacha]

Received a similar text for my prom dress that is for sale. Good to hear that and hope this is real and legit post? because am willing to purchasing this for my cousin in Montreal,as gift and will want you to help me with the shipping and handling fee,i will include extra $120 for everything including the shipping fee so let me know if we have got a deal.Am brown by name and you .? The guy insisted that I ship the dress before the payment goes through. I received two emails from "PayPal" that went directly to my spam folder, and the email said that I had to send the shipment info before the payment went to my account. The number is a Brooklyn, New York number. I received a legit address that is in Montreal.

[Wolfe1924]

The scam I got was a little different but along same lines so I'm selling my gaming for $1100 got this text numbers from California Do you still have this item for sale?Gaming rig for sale $1,100.00 Yes I do I'm using it right now Thanks for your swift response, i want it shipped to my cousin outside of Canada as a birthday gift,i will pay you $1200 and additional $100 for shipping cost, i hope that this is real and not a scam, do you have a PayPal account?? I ended up replying no not interested in shipping it sorry Haven't heard nothing back from them I thought it was sketchy as **bleep** so I Googled and found my way here I'm in Ontario Canada and not near major cities there's no reason anyone in California should see my add and want it shipped outside of Canada glad I'm not the only one who has had this stuff happen to them I feel bad for though for people who fell for it I don't know why they didn't ask me to reply via email 😕 oh well

[padddyK]

Just got this today:

Good to have your reply. My name is Andrew Stein. I am a "Naval
Architect" and presently offshore. I am buying this for my father in
Ontario Canada as a surprise birthday gift and will not be able to come
for inspection due to the nature of my job. Send closeup shots to my
email if available and I will arrange for this to be picked up by a pick
up agent who will be coming for the inspection and pick up at your place
once the payment clears. I will also be paying you through Paypal which I
believe is safe and secure for both of us and will also be responsible
for the charges. Confirm sale to me on here and remove the add from post.
Get back to me with your Paypal email and name or send me Paypal invoice
so that I can send your payment ASAP.
regards<removed>

[Rachelb61]

Still going on. My husband sent MY paypal email address. They sent me two links (if you look closely the email actually comes from <service at paylpay dot com> looks like paypal but it is not.

When he sent us another email saying that we better accept the email (it said: transaction 96% complete, please click on link to pay $1200 via Western Union), or he would engage in legal proceedings. The nerve!

I told my husband to respond that we are on to him and that he is a scammer. He gets angrier and says his money is locked into this transaction. Legal proceedings yada yada yada.

I am so upset with my husband for falling for this and giving out MY paypal email address to this crook. The crook used the name Michael Hosek in our case. 

[alberta_valerie]

I really want to thank the postings on this site.  It was extremely helpful to have the scammer's exact wording pasted in the message because it left no doubt as to who I was dealing with in response to my ad.  Here is yesterday's response to an ad I posted on kijiji:

__________

Thank you for getting back to me. Can you assure me that I will not be disappointed with it? I'm ready to pay your asking price, I would have loved to come for the viewing, but My place is way too far from there in which I am located in Yukon in Canada So I thought of how to make this transaction work between us, which I came to conclusion with my husband to use a courier company to pick up the item from your place but we will send the money to your account first and after you get the money in your account, the pick up company will come to help us carry it. Since I'd not be seeing the item before I purchase it, So about the payment, I will like the payment to be made via PayPal online secure payment, Kindly get back to me with the details.

1. The lowest you can go for the price
2. Your PayPal Full Name
3. Your Paypal E-mail address.
4. Your phone number and remove the item on Kijiji.

Best Regards,

______

 Then my response was to ask:

__________ 

Hello,

I'm happy that you are interested and I'm able to assure you that I've been absolutely straight-forward about the unit.  I don't quite understand how a courier company can pick up a 5th wheel.  Can you help me understand how you will have the RV transported to the Yukon?

__________

I then googled "kijiji and paypal scam" and found this site.  Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences so others can know without any doubt that they are wasting their time and energy.

[alberta_valerie]

As a follow-up to my August 10, 2017 entry, I received another e-mail from the scammer and I wrote back with the following:

I can only guess that this is a game for you...maybe even a lucrative game.  You may justify it by telling yourself that if people are so stupid as to believe your nonsense then it is their fault (as in buyer beware).  However, it isn't that people are necessarily stupid (maybe naive) to take your lies at face value.  If you're a clever enough liar, then it's not the fault of others that the lie is believed.  Rather, it speaks to the sociopath nature of the liar.  I pity you because karma is a **bleep**...and someday you will pay for all your deceit.