Hi everyone, I have a situation which I am not sure how to handle. This is my first time using paypal. I am a Singaporean lady just trying to rent a room by posting an ad on our local website. Then I got an enquiry from a Vietnamese girl who claims to be a cruise doctor and intends to relocate to Singapore. She said she would like to send me 3 month rent plus deposit so She could show her employer and the immigration of Singapore. She suggested me to use paypal to send her an invoice. I figured nothing wrong with that. I did what she told me. Then she suddenly ask me for an urgent favor regarding her mover . She needed to transfer her mover money but she does not have time to do so.( ?) So she said she would like me to do it for her . All I have to do is go to my local post office to send the money through western union. she sent me an echeck include the rental money plus her mover fee. Then I realized that echeck take time to clear , I can only be sure it would be in my own account after 3-5 days. See below: Hello (my full name), You have just been sent a payment by eCheck. You will receive the money in about 3-5 business days (estimated: 12/25/2015-12/29/2015). We'll email you when this eCheck payment has been deposited into your PayPal account. You are to reply back to this payment notification for any further information regarding your transaction. eCheck details Amount: $4,036.00 SGD Transaction ID: 03B15247598221109 Payment details Sender: Thao Vu Subject: You've got money! She begged me to do it yesterday. I told her I can not help her because it would mean I would be using my own money. I dare not risk that. Now today I got this email, asking me do it ,so paypal would release the fund to my account. Your Fund is Now Available: Hello my full name, Your Funds has now been processed and it is now available and ready to be released into your PayPal account, but we were informed by Thao Vu that the amount paid including the additional payment is for her rent and the Mover Agent fee. Therefore, Our Security Department and our User Protection Policy suggested that you are to wire the additional payment ($726.00 SGD and $100.00 SGD for western union charges) to the Mover Agent and send us the proof (Scanned Copy of the transfer receipt) for Verification so that we can be sure that both you and Thao Vu are very safe. The total sum of $4,036.00 SGD will be released into your Account immediately after we verify that the fee has truly been transferred. I find it strange the email says "you've got money" and " Funds is now available "both went to my junk mail.I want to help her but I really do not want to fork out my own money first to help her - a stranger before I see the money is transfered to my own account for sure. But now she made it such a way ,if I do not help her to pay the mover using my own money, paypal won't release my fund. Can anyone advice me whether these emails are real.Are they scam? . Is there any simpler solution to this situation. If she is not scam, I still want to rent the room to her.But I need to protect myself first. Many many thanks in advance.
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