Amazon Gift Card Scam

[MummyP]

Hello

I know this scam has probably been on the go for a while. Having read some of the post on hear some of the community have unfortunatley been caught out. It was attempted on me this morning. I will try to keep this short

I was selling an item on Gumtree the interested party quickly moved me off their sight to corresponde privately through emails.

After a couple of emails and collection being partly arranged, they then said their courier required payment with an Amazon gift card, the "buyer" was supposedly housebound and he was certain I'd be kind enough to help.

I then received a convincing email from "PayPal" stating there was £245 "on hold". £110 for the item, £115 for the gift card and and extra £20 for my trouble.

The "PayPal" eamil requested, once I had purchased the gift card I had to 'gently remove the activation bar, take a photo and attach the photo to the "PayPal" email'.

As soon as they received this they would release my money.

I did NONE of this. I contacted PayPal to confirm that there was infact no money "on hold".

Had I purchased the gift card and done as they requested, they would have enlarged the photo and used the gift card activation code on line! I'd have been scammed out of £115! 

There was No buyer, NO delivery driver and NO money on hold. Why would a seller pay a buyers delivery driver.

Please do not get caught out by this scam.

[ffarie]

I had this and yes, it is a longstanding scam. Somebody called John <removed>(obvs not real name) contacted my partner to buy a tent and then said he would arrange with a courier and asked for details. The paypal is in my name so my partner gave him my email address and already I was suspecting it because he asked for the account name (you don't need this to make a payment to Paypal) He emailed a couple of times saying he was waiting on his courier to get back to him and then in the morning emailed to say he had made payment. I got the two emails with £215 extra "for the courier" and £20 extra for my time and the second saying the money is on hold and asking for me to "scratch off panels on shopping vouchers and send photos"

Obviously didn't respond and blocked him but I am so annoyed that this person now has my email address to abuse.

The emails looked really legitimate and came up with the correct paypal address from my web browser, but my apple phone saw the address differently. 

Key takeaway from this is if you're selling something on Gumtree, use burner numbers and a separate email and Paypal account so that they can't wreck your normal one. 

[MummyP]

Hi ffarie I had the same person as tried to scam you. I received a convincing email from "PayPal" explaining everything and what to do to release the money. As soon as I saw request for gift card for his driver, I knew it was a scam. I strung him along over a six hour period, before I called his bluff. He told me "I was full of **bleep**e and a time waster, that he'd report me"

[kernowlass]

@MummyP 

Yep been ongoing for years in one form or another, been posting this for 15 years.

SCAM.
They may buy on Ebay but they use an anonymous or hijacked Ebay account and do not have a Paypal account so they can't use Ebay checkout.

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 or sending as a gift to a family member but they will arrange a shipping agent or courier 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 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 another payment processor than Paypal or by 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 / to verify, expand or upgrade an account.


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, Western Union, Bank Transfer or any sort of gift token or voucher.
There 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.

[MummyP]

Hi kernowlass Thank you for your reply. Quickly realised this was a scam. When I answered it was for them to pay the driver they said they were housebound. I said they could transfer the money to the drivers bank account, they ignored this suggestion and urged me to follow the guidance on the "PayPal " email. I strung them along over a six hour period before called their bluff and **bleep** them off. Why can't more be done to stop them? That's two of us where a scam has been attempted by same named account holder.

[kernowlass]

@MummyP 

What could be done?

They don't have Paypal accounts and nothing is done via Paypals site.

They use hijacked ebay or other sites accounts and anonymous or throwaway email addresses.

They rely on fake Paypal emails sent normally from an internet cafe somewhere in Africa !!!