Deep dive into another fraudulent buyer scam (birthday scenario)

[nicoletcunha]

Hi folks,

**Please note that this message is long and detailed, but I put red flags at the important points.

So, this weekend I was sucked into one of those gift card scams. Being a people pleaser, and librarian by profession, I try to see the good in people and had ignored red flags as they came up. This person 'bought' (never paid, I remembered later) something for their daughter's birthday and wanted to ship by Fed Ex. (Red flags #1 and 2. 🚩🚩)

The PayPal account said the buyer was from Florida, and their daughter was in California. (Red flag #3. 🚩)

They later asked me to buy the daughter a birthday card and a Vanilla Visa gift card. (Red flag #4.🚩 ) Being the helper I am, I said the card was too personal but would help them buy a gift card. I help people with technology all the time at work, so I didn't think to investigate.  (Listening to my intuition would've saved me hours of stress, money, and headache.)

I then tried to figure out shipping, but overnight (red flag #5🚩) was upwards of $138. I ended up finding 2-day shipping through USPS for $14.90. I was able to retrieve the package from the post office before it shipped.

This person proceeded to 'overpay' me $1490 (overpayment red flag #6 🚩), not before I asked them to wait for Paypal. They pushed and I tried to refund them through Western Credit Union (red flag #7 🚩) and they went by a different name, Charlie Taylor Wilkins (red flag #8 🚩). Charlie told me that they lived in Ohio (red flag #9 🚩). Luckily the credit union transfer did not go through.

Here's the e-mail I was sent, not realizing at the late hour that it wasn't even sent from a PayPal address-  ending with post.com (I can't seem to add the full e-mail, or this message won't be added to the community board. The full e-mail address isn't allowed in the US, apparently.)

(red flag #10 🚩)

Jumping ahead a bit, the person got me for 2 more Vanilla Visa gift cards and a PayPal transfer, but my credit card stopped them, recognizing the charges as a possible scam. (Red flags 11-13 🚩🚩🚩)

Yesterday, they hounded me about getting the 'refund' and sent more (this time closer to legitimate-looking) PayPal e-mails. All this time I'm trying to contact Paypal's helpline through the call center and messaging with NO RESPONSE whatsoever. How were they getting in contact with PayPal then? (Red flag 14 🚩). Looking at my account the next morning I never saw the $1490 (red flag 15, which should be 2 or 3 🚩)

  Citing that I'd see the money in my account once I paid the refund, they asked for a $1000 gift card. (Red flags 16 and 17 🚩🚩) Every time I refused (after my father talked sense into me), they kept coming back with 'you must not understand the process'. (Red flag #18 🚩). At this point, my father found evidence of similar scams and had been echoing the sentiment from the beginning. (As a librarian I should know to check my sources, but I'm hungry to help people right now, I admit that this was a MESS of my own making.)

NOTE: Yes, we had taken correspondence off Paypal and we were texting. Their number was from Alabama, another location that didn't help with establishing continuity. (Red flags #19 and 20 🚩🚩)

In the long run they 'cited legal action' (see the e-mail header and body message for details.) From what my father and I found here, PayPal can't really do this. (Red flag #21 🚩)

 

 

 

The more I pushed back and the less I contacted them, releasing myself from their game, the less they've reached out to me. I'm unsure if I should keep the text messages as evidence if I ever do have to make a claim against them.

I finally tracked down one place to report this fiasco, spoof@paypal.com, but they were not helpful. I detailed the entire ordeal, but they didn't return any constructive feedback. It was much more a form letter about using the resolution center and contacting customer care. I understand that they're understaffed, but I would've liked to talk to an employee about this.

I hope this post helps someone out there to avoid a scam in the future. I'm grateful that we were able to dispute the charges through the credit card company (including the initial gift card that did go through) and receive a new card quickly.  

Thank you to the community members who post and share their experiences! Sending light and positivity your way.

Warmly,

Nicole

[kernowlass]

@nicoletcunha 

Scams been ongoing for about 20 years and i post about it at least 6 times a day on here, glad you were not caught out.

SCAM.

They encourage you to accept a 'direct' Paypal payment and may ask you to send the item internationally.
No funds or activity of the transaction shows in your Paypal account and any emails 'may' go into your junk/spam folders.

They don't quibble on cost and may also say they can't view the item as they are disabled or working abroad etc etc but they will arrange a shipping agent to collect it.

You will get/got a "fake" email that looks as though it is from paypal.....it isn't because they don't actually have a Paypal account and have no intention of paying you.
It will say the buyer has paid ...you won't have been paid.
They will tell you that the payment is released when you provide paypal with a tracking/shipping number......this won't happen.

OR
The 'fake' paypal email will tell you that the buyer has paid for the item + shipping costs but you must send those shipping costs to the courier/ shipping agent via anther payment processor than Paypal OR via providing some vouchers or tokens before the funds are released to you.
They are not interested in the item, they just want that couriers/shipping funds and you will never see money in your paypal balance.

They also 'sometimes' threaten legal action...have a laugh at that one and ignore it as its rubbish.
Once you have become a victim they may try again with more fake Paypal emails with other 'reasons' that you must send them a payment for custom fees etc.

Paypal NEVER tell you to send an item before the payment is showing in your paypal account.
Paypal do not tell you to send trackable, they advise it for selling protection but it is not compulsory.
Paypal NEVER expect you to use a rival money transfer service eg Moneygram or Western Union etc.
Also their is no seller protection on paypal for any type of motor vehicle or item that is collected by the buyer.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.

[nicoletcunha]

Yes, I've learned all this information the hard way.

So, I've talked with Paypal since I've posted this. Perhaps they were closed for the weekend, but I thought I saw that the company's open different hours on Saturday and Sunday. 

ANYWAY, as of this morning, Paypal has escalated the refund dispute into a claim, and have contacted the other person about the refund. They are still giving the person three weeks to respond though I said they're a scammer. Regardless, I'm grateful that this whole ordeal has some record in their system.