I just got scammed and I had a gut feeling it was happening, but didn't listen to it. Now I'm feeling so stupid. But here's this week's scam. I purchased some chairs via a website on Etsy using PayPal. The seller contacted me to say he was having a problem accessing the funds via PayPal and he would cancel my order and I could try again. I said, "sure," and that happened and I got my money refunded. I felt confident because of this, so I tried again, but he said it still wasn't working and could I send him the money via PayPal Friends and Family. Here's where the red flag started waving, but I foolishly continued. I sent him the money and lo and behold, his website on Etsy disappeared and he went incommunicado. He got my money and I got to feel really stupid. PayPal would not help me recover my funds and It was even really difficult reporting this scammer to them. To this day, I don't know if they did anything. But I did get my money back by calling my credit card company. The lesson here (besides not sending money to anyone you don't know) is to attach your credit card as a payment method to PayPal, rather than a bank card. There is a better chance of getting your money back via a credit card company. BTW, Etsy didn't do anything about this guy, either. So he really has a great thing going. Buyer beware. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Lesson learned.
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