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.

[T-J]

Funnily enough I recieved an email from 'Alexandra Williams' rather than 'Jodie Williams' yesterday too (03/09/13) regarding my used car but via Autotrader! Said she worked on a base as a marine engineer and couldn't leave to see it - I could sort of believe this story as I've had experience from people working on bases and worked as a waitress on one myself! Also I bought my car while abroad trusting other people to look at it for me!

She pretended to be interested in the car asking about damage and for more pictures, so I assmued it was fairly genuine. Also I wouldn't have a problem with PayPal payment. But when I got emails from 'PayPal' saying the money had transfered and I needed to send money to some shipper via Western Union, I realised there was something up! Especially as there was no actual money in my PayPal account, and apparently I wouldn't get it until I sent the £400 shipping fee! 

I kept emailing her saying I'd need an address for the V5C... eventually after asking a couple of times she said she lived in Corby! Why would you live in Corby if you work as a marine engineer!? Oh, and there aren't any US marine bases in the UK... Just ignoring any further emails now.

[jkstoodley]

I got one I haven't seen on here yet:

From Darren Moore:

just thinking you might have had some buyer's interested in buying your Vehicle and i think the best way to outbid them is by offering you  additional 700 to your asking price on the ad,  Well am actually purchasing it for my Brother at home to have something to move around with when am not available but i won't be available to come for the inspection my self due to where i am presently . I do have a pick-up agent that will be contacting you on where and when the pick-up will take place after have completed the payment my self .

If you don't mind can you please tell me a little bit more about the present mechanical condition,how often you do the servicing and the history ? I will be waiting for your response then if we come to an agreement i will proceed with the payment immediately.

Scam, scam, scammy scam scam. 

[Pippylongsock]

I received this email yesterday. Thanks to a friend I read your post and have now read the others. The wording is very similar. 

Hello,

Thanks for the reply.I am pleased with your price and i want you to get back to me with more pictures of the (interior,engine and the exterior) of this vehicle (if available) because i won't be able to come for the inspection due to the nature of my work.Am buying it for my holiday cos I'll be coming soon from our rig as am an engineer and am on a rig offshore.As for the payment..i can only pay via the fastest and secure way to pay online (PayPal) here,pls get back to me with your PayPal details and in case you don't have,you can also get back to me with your bank details so i can proceed with payment and contact the courier agent that will come to pick it up and deliver it in my place,and With the issue of my details,transferring the name of ownership and signing of all paperwork will be done by the courier services company agent so you don't have to worry about that.  I await to hear from you soon.

[Pippylongsock]

After reading the postings here I responded to the SCAM email again and this was the reply. Again saying the same thing to me as he did to others here. Satellite is down??? He was using a Yahoo email address which is also the same as previously mentioned.

Thanks for your mail. I can only pay through paypal into your paypal account or bank account. I would have also love to speak with you in person but our satellite server has been down here which restrict our calls,just using our base to send mails,please bear with me. kindly get back to me with the payment details,so that i can proceed with the payment immediately.   Waiting to hear from you soon.

Regards,

Jason.

[puiwhitelilly]

I have just similar scam problem, I put my car on sale on Ebay. got one woman contacting through my mobile and agree to buy a car but she is living in Irland and cannot come to collect the car herself so she has to arrange shipment company to collect the car for her.

Tthe complication is the shipment company do not take payment by paypal and she cannot pay by debit or credit card as she didn't bring it with her, she is on holiday off shore somewhere!!, she also cannot go any bank to transfer the money!! The only option is using westurn union to pay off her fee with the shipment company... it has to pay upfront before they can arrange the collection.

Therefore, she arrange to pay all cost including shipment fee through my paypal account and ask me to help her paying the shipment company for her by using westurn unioun facility...

I was nearly paying that off to westurn union for her BECAUSE I receive scam email from paypal notified me about this payment, said that paypal had hold this payment for me and I have to pay to westurn union to get the code to confirm the payment... then paypal will release the money to my account after receiving this payment... It looks so real and cannot tell that is not from Paypal itself

If not somethings that I have concern about, i.e. the agreement to buy was so easy and she didn't want to see the car before purchasing... !! Anyway I check with Paypal then this came out as it is a SCAM ....

PAYPAL will never send email to customer as a middle man to ask sender or receiver to send any money to anybody for anyone to complete their transaction

So just be careful and hope this help

[tomekrep]

-Is the Bike still for sale? I will like to know. . -yes it is -Hello, Thank you for getting back to me, Am Steve from Aberdeen, I’m really interested in buying your bike after viewing it on the ad. I will like you to consider the fact that I will not be able to view the bike because am not in the UK right now and will be away for about 9 weeks….. Meanwhile, I have decided to make a full PayPal Payment for the car and once your payment clears, I will arrange for a shipper to contact you, sign the paper work and pick it up from you. So therefore, the best way to pay for me would be through PayPal which is safer, i will also cover the PayPal transfer fees. Please kindly send me a PayPal invoice or create an account at <A href="http://www.PayPal.com" target="_blank">www.PayPal.com</A> if you don't have one. Have a nice day and please, I’d like to know certain things too; Are you the first owner? What is your reason for selling? I'm sorry; just want to be very sure about the sale before i proceed. Regards, please get back to me as soon as possible . -hello I am the second owner selling because i wants to buy a car -Thanks Mate for your quick response, Am buying this bike for myself, and would be so happy the bike is in a good and stable condition. Am assuring you there will be no problem in this deal, I know it might be strange to you because am buying a bike without viewing it, But am assuring you everything will be fine. I will like you to then send me a PayPal Invoice, as i am ready to make full Payment for the bike. After Payment has been made and all PayPal transaction security measures have been met, I will arrange for the courier for the shipping and signing of the Paperwork, and that will be no problem. So the bike will be with you for 24 hours so i can arrange that, And also the shipper will do the signing on my behalf so there will be no worries...... Am assuring you that bike will only be collected after you have receive the Notification of Payment from PayPal and Funds has been transferred into your account. I hope for a successful deal and sale and i will be glad. Regards. -nvoice send to paypal login cooksteve60(ad)gmail.com -I have not receive the Invoice.... Please try to send it to this same email address. Thanks.. Steve. . -???? -I have now made the Payment, And am glad to do that, I guess you must have been notified by PayPal, Please kindly check your PayPal email address and follow the Instructions if you've finally receive the Notification Payment from PayPal. I transferred the Funds to tomek****@*****com, Including the PayPal security measure fees that ensures a clear Payment. Please get back to me as soon as you have receive the Payment Notification... Thanks for selling the bike to me Regards.. later I found your description and cancel my invoice . Luckily for me I lost nothing but a little nerve

[Pauloakhouse]

I attach a copy of an email scam, beware.

After initial enquiry about car sale and some clarification of some details. I received an email telling me to transfer £400 to an Irish address to pay to transport the vehicle. Clearly I wouldnt do that until I received full payment.

Hello,

I just want to inform you that I have just completed the payment and I hope you must have been notified through email about the payment I made through PayPal, do check your mail inbox and let me know if you got the payment confirmation. I need you to email me your address so that the pick up can be arranged, the CAR would be picked up by the shipping agent. I made an extra payment of £400.00 as requested by PayPal while I was making the payment...i am sure you noticed that, you'll have to transfer the extra amount to the shipping company through Western Union right away, so that they can come ahead for the pick up and also you should send your address where they have to come for the pick up and also the necessary Western Union Payment Information. I will need you to send the excess fund to my pick up agent Headquarters where they normally confirm any commission payment to via Western Union money transfer. Here is my pick up agent Headquarter info needed to send the money through Western Union .

Name: Leonne Bridget,
Address: 17 the ashes, Ashbourne Co Meath,
Ireland, 00, Ireland.

You should send the money soon so that the Pick Up would be scheduled and you would know when the Pick Up would commence, make sure you're home.So just make sure you send the extra amount to the Shipping Company right away so that you can get your money immediately.

It's Nice Doing Business With You. Get to mail me back soon with your address.

I wait
David Wright

[kernowlass]

Many threads on the same subject.

https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Access-and-security/SELLING-CARS-ON-GUMTREE-SCAM-TO-WATCH-FOR/m-...

[Rhyso_1927]

Please be aware 'David Wright' is now operating under 'Bolley Smith'. The scammer has tried to use the same scam on me with the same email template under two different names. I received exactly the same email as the one above posted by Paul

[LetsavoidScamme]

Just watch out for David Wright and some body called Bolley - they have both tried my email account and aske for 850,00 GBP to be transferred via Western Union to a woman called :

Name: Leonne Bridget,
Address: 17 the ashes,
City: Ashbourne Co Meath,
State: Ireland,
Zip Code:00,
Country: Ireland.

It all looks legi through PayPal, but believe you me, it ain't!!!

I'm reporting them for fraud and I am going to chase them all the way to Ireland!