Examples of Suspected Fraud/Fake Emails

[PayPal_Adrian]

Hello everyone!

One of the greatest strengths consumers possess against fraud and phishing is education and collaboration.  To help support your safety online, I'm going to open this special thread up for you.  Here, you can post examples of what you believe to be attempts by individuals to defraud you or others of their hard earned valuables and money. 

Before we begin, a few housekeeping points:

• We will be using this as a "master thread," so if we find an example in other areas of the boards, we may merge the post into this one.

• For everyone's safety, please remove any last names or contact information (including email addresses) from your examples.  In many instances, the names provided by fraudsters are fake or may actually be the name of someone they already defrauded. 

• On that same note, please don't ever attempt to confront a fraudster or attempt to track them down.  Instead, turn the information you do have over to your local authorities. 

• Please also remove any links from your posts, as these could potentially go to spoofed or phishing websites.

Other than that, we only ask that you keep it productive and stay within the Forum Decorum and posting guidelines.  I'll be stopping in on a regular basis to clean house and comment on posts, so don't be surprised if you see my mug - or another moderator - stopping in to say hello! 

With that said, I'm going to start moving posts in, so you might see some older examples mixed in with the new posts.  I hope this thread becomes a great resource for everyone!

Stay safe,

Adrian

[JennyPie]

Got this today.. at first I was happy ....

I currently travelled from Canada to US on business but i will like
you to ship it out on my behalf to my son in a military camp of West
Africa and I will be paying you for the shipping and handling of the
ps3. I will send you the exact address shortly..

Thanks for your respond,I hope its in good condition and you still

have the box, so please are you willing to ship out after you have

gotten payment because I want to get it for my son as a gift and i

will be offering you additional $250 for the postage,so can you ship

it out?

Here is the shipping address to my son..

Name: Mark <removed>

Street: <removed>

State: Lagos

City: Ikotun

Country: Nigeria

 Zip code:23401

then I googled part of the address and got this page.... 

[Decemberdawn23]

BEWARE - VERY ACTIVE SCAMMER

The original shipping address was in Georgia then changed to Nigeria!

"Hello seller,
How are you doing?i have made the payment of the purchase item and i want the item shipped to my Cousin as a birthday Gift. I made additional payment of 150.00 dollars for the shipping cost to the delivery address.
I would have ask you to post it to me but i am presently on a business trip out of the state.
Here is the delivery address i want the item shipped for my Cousin

AKINADE <removed>
<removed>
Ipaja
Lagos State
23401
Nigeria.


I am very sorry for the inconvenience this might caused you,i want the item shipped via Usps PRIORITY Mail International signed for, today.

Kindly get back to me with the tracking details after postage

Regards"

the message from "ebay"

The following is a notice from eBay Trust & Safety regarding:

We're writing to let you know that eBay has confirmed payment of  the following item you sold to Noor <removed>

  As eBay confirmed payment of the item, you can now ship the item to the buyer and email the shipping tracking number of the item shipped to PayPal customer care that assigned the transaction for shipment verification so that your PayPal account will be fully credited. However, the buyer is free to exchange feedback with you for future transactions on eBay.

Delivery address:

AKINADE <removed>

<removed>

IPAJA.

LAGOS STATE

23401

NIGERIA.

Thank you for your understanding. We wish you all the best buying and selling on eBay.


Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)

H12569

The message from "PayPal"

Transaction ID: C528-L006-Q899-____

You received a payment of $___.00 USD from Noor Samie: nooreamie088@     

Thanks for using PayPal. You can now send the item. Shipment of the item is required within the next 24hrs.
It might take 48hrs for this transaction to appear in your account.

Please read the issues with this transaction to know the next step to take. 

Seller Protection - Eligible!

Buyer:
Noor <removed>
<removed> Note to seller:
This money is for the item i won from you, please kindly send the item to my Cousin's address i gave you, i have also verified the address with paypal , It's my pleasure buying from you. Yours sincerely.

Shipping Address - Confirmed!
Name:      AKINADE <removed>
Address: <removed>

                  IPAJA

                  LAGOS STATE

                  23401

                  NIGERIA.

Postage details.
USPS PRIORITY MAIL INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR DELIVERY.

[Rolandka19]

I believe they're still at it. A "Matthew <removed>" from Chicago IL purchased a camera from me via eBay. He then texted me on my mobile phone wanting to complete payment. I sent a Money Request from PayPal. He said he completed payment and I recieved this email.

"It is my pleasure to trade with you, I'll like to inform you the payment for the item has being deposit via PayPal, I'm sending the package to my SON for his production. I have added $500.00 USD for the shipping cost because i want you to ship the package Via USPS Priority Mail with tracking number. I decided to have it sent directly to him because i'm currently away for home and it will take me up to a week to get back, and I can't guarantee it is safe if it's delivered while I am away from home, moreover there will be no one to sign for it. Therefore I want you to send it to my SON address instead of mine. The delivery address has being confirmed by both PayPal/eBay, you can find it below.

Name:- Joseph <removed>

Street:- <removed>

City:- Marina Lagos

State:- Lagos Island

Zip Code:- 23401

Country:- Nigeria.

Make sure you wrap the Package to prevent it from being damaged. I will be responsible for the package on it's way. I will be looking forward to hearing back from you at soonest when the package has being shipped, also keep me updated with the tracking number as soon as you can.

Warm Regards."

The additional $500 for shipping was the first thing that raised my eyebrow since I offered free shipping. I comfirmed with PayPal that I did not receive any funds so I cancelled the Money Request and the eBay purchase. I emailed him back explaining the situation with a link to this forum, and told him to not contact me again. I also noticed his eBay account was set up the day of the purchase.

If I hadn't randomly put the zip code into Google, I wouldn't have found this forum feed that saved me from having a much larger issue. Thank you PayPal community!

[ghernando]

Went through similiar situation. Buyer contacted me through text saying they deposited a total of $610 for a pair of shoes I was auctioning. Then automatically offered extra $100 for shipping (regardless of me having free shipping available) and changed the address to Nigeria. 

His text reads as follows...

"Hello I am the buyer for your eBay item. I won the item and will like to depost the fund via PayPal today. Kind send PayPal money request to my paypal email.

It is my daughters gift. Don't worry I will get back to you shortly once I have deposited the fund and also keep you updated with the shipping info because the shoe was bought for my daughter and I dont want her to get disappointed."

Joseph <removed>
<removed>

Marina Lagos, Lagos Island, 23401, Nigeria

Thank you for your forum post, because my first reaction was to continue with the purchase and ship out the shoes today. I hope that the scammer will not be able to infringe my account in any way. 

[Mcrz]

I just got it from Joan <removed> with this address <removed> Lawanson Itire Surulere 101014 Lagos Nigeria Acording to the person its for a charity.. But it sounded bad from the beginning cause they offered to pay more than what im asking for a watch and then when I asked for the address to calculate shipping cost the reply was to send it to this address that is not his but for some charity

[Cosmos2]

I hate these scams too. However, it's a good thing that Outlook (Hotmail) shows both email address, the fake one and the real one that they send the scams from. 

I've only gotten close to get scammed once, after that it was fine. The person wanted me to send it to Nigeria by mail. I thought why not, he's paying and would verify with PayPal that the funds are coming from a legit, and not stolen, account. However, when he offered $90 for the item I was sending I knew it wasn't enough. That's when the first red flag came up. I knew this as I got a Xbox 360, what I was selling, shipped from the US (seller) to Canada (me) and it costed me $150 altogether for shipping/custom fees. Now, Canada to Nigeria would probably cost a **bleep** alot more than $90. After the first red flag went up I decided to ask the guy a few questions. He denied a phone call when I requested one and denied a Skype call. Keep in mind this is someone "from" the US wanting me to send it to his daughter. I finally told him to **bleep** off and it was a scam. Got my hopes up at first but never getting them up again.

He told me to ship it to:
Name: Anna <removed>

Address: <removed>

Junction: Festac/Town

Country: Lagos/Nigeria

Zip Code: 23401

After that I troll them everytime. I wait for them to send me the fake email so I can see how stupid they make them. The only reason I troll them is because I sell a lot of items on Kijiji (Canada's Craigslist, we have Craigslist to but it's not as popular) and within 10 minutes of me posting an ad I get a text from a weird phone number asking to buy my item and will pay $90 cash (funny how it's always $90 cash no matter the product, unless it's a big product).

[omni-potent]

Same thing literally just happened to me. I made a post on craigslist about selling a 3rd generation ipad for $175. 40 minutes later i got a text from a number <removed> this is our conversation: (All spelling, spacing, or grammar mistakes are how they were in the texts)

Them: Ipad 3rd Generation (wi-fi capable)- $175, Hello is the item still available? Get back to me ASAP. Thanks.

Me: Yes it is. You are interested? 

Them: Do you still have the box, how long have you been using it and how much is your best offer?...

Me: I unfortunately do not have the box. I bought it from a store near me that sells used devices like Iphones, Ipads, etc., and it was sold to me in the case that I am selling it in. I have had it for about a year now and the reason I am selling it is because I hardly use it all. When I first bought it, i used it almost everyday. But for the last couple months, i've only used it maybe twice each month. It's kind of just sitting in my room. It works really well. I was hoping to get $175 for it becuase i really need the money.

Them: Thanks i want it for my Daughter who currently traveled Overseas on a missonary trip am willing too Offer you $265 USD both the shipp

anks....

ing fees Do you have a PayPal account so the payment can be made immediately, Give me your Paypal email so i can transfer the money th

Me: I do have a paypal account. It's: (my email here) Where would I be shipping it to?

Them: What your name on PayPal account?

Your name

Me: (text with my name) 

Where would I be shipping it to?        

(note: around this time i recieved an email that looked to be from paypal indicating that i had a pending payment from this person. But when i checked my paypal, nothing showed up. I became a wee bit sceptical but still proceeded to attempt to sell it)

Them: Payment has been made through your paypal email account (my email here) and you should have recieved the payment                     confirm

paypal and get back to me if seen               NAME............MIMI <removed> ADDRESS..........<removed> Festac Town CITY.............

aition email from paypal....so you are to kindly check your                   email both inbox and spam folder for the payment confirmation email                from

express Mail 3-5 days

..................Lagos           ZIP CODE...............23401      COUNTRY.............NIGERIA         PHONE NUMBER...............<removed>                 Shipping Via USPS E

(note: notice how weird the texts are? like they are sent in the wrong order and the typing and spacing is super off. I also thought that was weird) 

Me: Okay, I got the email. Is it okay if i send the package off tomorrow? 

Them: Okay thanks please do take the add off the craigslist marketplace right away 

Me: Okay will do. 

Them: Thanks 

Me: Okay, the ad is off of craigslist and i will send you a text tomorrow after I have sent it off. 

Them: Guess you sending it in the morning

Me: Yes.

Them: Sound good thanks 

Me:You're Welcome

(note: the following texts are the next day. i..e today) 

Them: Hello?

Me: Hello, I'll be leaving to drop it off in about 2 hours. I got stuck up at home. 

It's all packaged and ready to be dropped off at the UPS. 

Them: Tell them at the post office you want to send it to your sister so that they can reduce the price for you and package it well...Ok

Me: Okay, I will do that. 

Them: Not UPS it;s USPS Local Post Office 

Me: No i know. I have another package that i have to drop off at UPS so i got confused for a second. 

Them: Okay

(note: queue the bad feeling. I decided to google the address that they gave me and bam! this thread popped up. I read a few of the replies and decided to shoot them off two more texts) 

Me: I have a question...if you sent the money through paypal, why isn't it showing up in my account as pending? 

(note: waited about 10 minutes for a reply and continued to read more posts on this thread) 

Me: You know what, I'm sorry, I don't feel comfortable doing this. Seems a lot like a scam. So i am blocking your number and I will not be sending the package out. I would geel a lot more comfortable shipping if it was in the U.S. Apologies if it's not [a scam]. But I will not be selling to you. Since we did this through paypal, i did not actually recieve the money so yeah. 

(note: I then proceeded to block their number and write this post. What jerks man. A waste of time.)

[jusakae]

Dear users that were victims (or almost victims) of the Ebay Nigeria Scam:

I was a victim this week and I filed a complaint in the Federal Trade Comission (https://www.ftc.gov/) suggested by Ebay staff after hearing my (not uncommon) story. I was a first time user and that's the kind of user this criminal group seeks.

Let's ALL fill a complaint on the FTC website. If we all send information about this group, they might be able to stop them. Probably not get our products back, but they have to stop this to happen again.

This group's email, phone number and information of course must be fake, but if we all put an effort to do that, they might find a pattern in something. I know at least that the address is always from Lagos, Nigeria.

1) Go to the website and click on Consumer Complaint

2) Choose the option: Internet Services, Online Shopping and Computer

3) Choose "Online Shopping" or click on this link to go directly to this option

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/GettingStarted?NextQID=203&Url=%23%26panel1-6#crnt

4) I skipped number 3 (Company Details) and added my story with all the information (sender's email and fake name, Nigeria address, buyer's phone number). I wrote avery detail and added this forum o they see it's happening ALL the time!

Let's do it, guys!

They are criminals and have to be stopped!

[aristotle_]

I also received an email from a "buyer" on eBay saying they've paid the sum to purchase my laptop and I even received a confirmation email (most likely fake) from eBay and PayPal. They also said once i've shipped my laptop to the below address the money will then come into my PayPal account. 

JOHNSON  <removed>

<removed>

ABESAN IPAJA,

LAGOS STATE

23401

NIGERIA

This is really annoying and I was wondering if there's a way to reporting the "buyer" for fraud? 

Thanks. 

[carlaaaaar]

I have today had a man offer £100 more than my asking price on eBay then offered an extra £50 to ship it to <removed> Lagos state 23401 Nigeria He is claiming to have put the money in my PayPal account and it isn't there. Glad I googled the address and found this!!