Scam or not?

[Btovee]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if you could help me out? Here is my situation, I am selling a car on gumtree and the buyer said they would pay by paypal, however the recept that I received for the payment when straight into my spam folder of my gmail account. So, this made me suspicious, it seems like a scam.

Here is part of the email

"I have just completed your payment and I expected paypal to have notified you to this effect. Check your paypal email folders (Inbox,spam or junk mail) l sent £1,050.00 GBP in all. l added £400 but £300 will be sent to my courier agent Headquarter in China through western union online www.westernunion.com  or at local post office,the extra £100 is to cover the western union fees. Paypal will not release the funds until you email them the western union details for verification and also to enable my pick up agent come for pick up, Here's the courier agent's details where the money will be sent using western union"

Any help or advice would be greatly received.

Many Thanks.

[sgrmazz]

I have also been contacted from a few people about buying my car. 

Please look out for :

David Patrick 

and

Glenn Dawood 

and

Ken Willis

I have tried to include their email addresses on this forum but it won't allow me to

[kernowlass]

Don't put names etc on the board, the people emailing are often using hijacked accounts of innocent people.

Car Scam.

Be VERY careful selling cars/large items if the buyer is keen to use paypal and states they are working abroad or sending to a friend etc and need a shipping agent to pick it up..

You then get a FAKE paypal email saying you have been paid extra so you can pay the shipping agent for them via western union and the payment is released to you after you have done that.

It is a scam to get that western union payment, they don't want your car and the shipping agent is just a scam to get that payment.

They are nearly always in Nigeria and can't even own a paypal account.

[sgrmazz]

Ah thanks, I didin't think about them using an innocent person's name - apologies!

[Gbarny]

Hi, they are still at it, had an email today re car purchase wanting to pay through PayPal and then for me to send shipping costs through western union........again Malaysian, her name Lisa Robert and her son Paul. Made out she worked on a survey vessel at was at sea, hence could not view car or talk on phone. Disappointing!!

[FosterByDesign]

Happened to me today from an autotrader.com ad.

Maybe a little more sophisticated in that they initially asked real questions about the car, but the next response followed a similar pattern.

Thanks for answering the questions. I am satisfied but can you assure me that i will not be disappointed if i buy this Vehicle. I'm ready to pay your asking price but not cash in person because I'm currently in a conference and calls are restricted at the moment and my only quickest payment option is PayPal, its safe fast and secure and i will be responsible for the PayPal transaction charges so you can get your expected amount. If you don't have an account with PayPal, its pretty easy to open one,Just log onto www.paypal.com and sign up. I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible? As I am buying the vehicle for someone and I'm very sure he will love this vehicle, his a mechanic and a handy man, so if there is anything that need to be fixed in it just let me know he will handle it. I have a mover that will come for the pick up once payment clears in your account and he will handle the  title for me.I look forward to hear from you with the information below.

Your PayPal e-Mail Address :

Full name:

Firm Price:

Zip code for pickup:

[mthomas62]

I have had a similar stuation. Maybe foolishly I assumed that interest in my wife's car was genuine. I have sent my Paypal address and alarm bells only started to ring when Jennifer McCale (who apparently works on an oil rig and is buying car for her brother in law) accepted price for car and started talking about a £600 charge for her collection agent. At this point I searched Google for used car scams. Needless to say I haven't had a Paypal payment and would not pay anything until I had received and safely deposited cash in my own bank account. I had a phone call this afternoon from someone interested in car (he my be genuine) and let him know my real phone number (Autotrader.co.uk disguises numbers) and address as he had said he wanted to come to view vehicle this evening - I have heard nothing further. Has anyone come across a phone call being made as part of this scam?

I am not sure what they can do with the information I have given them. I have since had a similar email from Josh A Victor but I am now aware of scam. 

[Alken]

I got the exact same email today.  Just seemed odd.  Not saying anything specific about the vehicle is a red-flag to me.

--------

Thanks for answering the questions. I am satisfied but can you assure me that i will not be disappointed if i buy this Vehicle. I'm ready to pay your asking price but not cash in person because I'm currently in a conference and calls are restricted at the moment and my only quickest payment option is PayPal, .....

---------

[JFS32]

From a "Robert williams "

Scam!! "Thanks a lot for the email. Am buying it for my son who just graduated ontop of his class in National University in California, he studied Business Law and Professional Ethics Minor and am so proud of him . I want it as a surprise package to appreciate him towards his achievement and to be delivered before my arrival Wyoming as my family lives in Wyoming .

I work with Animal Planet (Call Of The Wild Man  and we are presently offshore in US. We do not have access to phone at the moment,its 15days off and 15days on,which is why I contacted you with internet messaging facility. Where is it located at the moment?Does it have any history I should be aware of? and why are you selling if you don't mind my asking.I am already in talks with the courier that will handle the pick-up and delivery it in Wyoming.

 As regards the payment, I can pay you through direct bank deposit,using ppal instant bank wire transfer service, I will need your bank details.If you are not comfortable with that, you can set up a paypal account proper at www.paypal.com and I will make the payment through paypal, this way, all I will need is your paypal email address.

Cheers!!"

[Delight]

Today I had a similar experience. With a man named Ben Oscar whose scam is the following: Hi, The response I have just received from my private courier was that they won't be able to come for the pick up unless a commission fee of $950 is paid first in order for them to be able to schedule a date and time for the pickup to be made. My private courier agent headquarters is in the CHINA and all commission payments made for pickup from anywhere in the world is sent to their head quarters in the China and the only form of payments they accept is Western Union Money Transfer. I will add the said $950 to the money I will send through PayPal Account to your bank account. As soon as i have made the payment, I will email you to inform you, please I will need you your help to send the money to my pick up agent Hq in China through western union money transfer. This can be done from any western union post office, as there is always western union money transfer section in most post office. I would have done it myself but there is no post office on the ship and i tried to pay online (<a href="http://www.westernunion.com)" target="_blank">www.westernunion.com)</a> but i will need a credit card which i didn't bring aboard the ship. So i have to ask you to help me with the pick up fees on trust, I'm a little incapacitated....I will be making the full payment as soon as possible. I will appreciate your help here.... Thanks for been nice and considerate about this. Ben

[Kprice181]

I have had someone try this scam on me just yesterday 3/09/13, put my old car for sale on ebay, within literally two minutes someone had messaged me and asked me to email them instead as they dont check their ebay, found this odd straight away. Went by the name "Jodie Williams" using a yahoo account. Supposedly sent me the money via a paypal transfer, that didnt show in my account due to it being on hold (yeahhh ok!!) until i paid the pick up agent the £200 pick up fee out of my own pocket and via my personal bank account. I would then apparently get this back as the paypal payment would be released. I was also given a "paypal" phone number in my email to ring if i had any more questions. I didnt get any of these oil rig stories just said he wanted to buy, was happy with the price and condition, when i asked if he didnt want to inspect first. (Odd). I emailed back saying how transparent this was, why wouldnt he just sort and pay his own shipment/pickup as stated on my ebay. And there is absolutely no chance i would be sorting out anyones shipment for them, nor would i be stupid enough to send any money anywhere via my own bank account. Needless to say, surprisingly enough i had no response after this, despite his very pronptness previously. I feel sorry for anyone who would fall for this, people like that - scamming people disgust me!!