How to detect scammers using paypal selling electronics

Recently Ive trying to sell my Lenovo T60 laptop. I posted on NBR but after that, i posted on craigslist for more searches. It was a bad choice. I received couple responds in my email inbox soon from people who were interest in the laptop. These were the steps he/she took to make me totally fall for it:

STEP 1: I got a email from this person name "Mary Maye" according to my mail inbox. When i read the message:

"Hi, I am interested in your item, want to know if it's still for sale and can be ship to canda. (I think he/she meant Canada)

Thanks
Julia."

STEP 2: I told him/her that the laptop was still for sale and that shipping to Canada will be extra shipping.

STEP 3: Soon I got a response saying that he/she was interested and was willing to pay a crazy price for shipping. This is what he/she said:

"Thanks for the email,i wanna make an purchase,let me ask if you can
ship canada to my Staff which i ill include $300 for the shipment and
insurance.I will be waiting to read back from you and include the
email associate with your paypal for the payment cos paypal is secure
for online transaction.

Thanks and God Bless YOU"

(This person also seems to like including God..i guess this makes people little more insure and secured?)

STEP4: Did he/she just say $300USD shipping? Ok so far...i fell for it. So here is what i respond back with:

"Sounds like we have a deal. Just double checking, so the price would be $580USD for the product and $300USD for shipping/insurance and handling summing up to a grand total of $880USD.
Please confirm that this isn't a scam by providing the shipping address and a valid email address I can send the information through.
my email address is: [email protected]
heres my phone# i can be contacted after 4pm. (xxx)xxx-xxxx

Thank You
-Daniel"


STEP5: Heres the response from "Mary "Maye"

"Thanks for the reply i will make the payment pretty soon and here is the shipping info

Address : 76,Havelock Drive
City : Brampton
Province/State : Ontario
Postal code : 16w - 4c7
Country : Canada

so get the item shipped after you got the confirmation of my payment from paypal
Thanks"

**I checked the address and it was a legitimate existing location but from here, i was feeling little suspicious of a scam.

STEP6: I was expecting the person to be asking for the paypal bill...but i got something different. 2 fake recipe from paypal!

I acutally didnt realize it was fake until later btw






STEP7: Still, back at the moment i received this, i thought this was a real paypal email. I responded saying:

"Hey. Thank you for the payment. I have received it around 2am of 3-6-09. The paypal note said you wanted this shipped before 3-6-09 but apparently, that seems to impossible in this case. Ill ship it out on 3-6-09 or 3-7-09 if I happen to miss the USPS closing time. I well ship it with Global Express Mail but if the shipping cost happens to be higher then $300, ill send you another paypal bill for the exact amount.

Thank You"

Response:

Well i will be waiting to read back from you after the shipment is been made.....But make sure you ship the product out today cos i make the payment with trust and my account is been deducted
Await to read back from you
Thanks

I Respond back saying:

"Im sorry but you just sound more and more like a scam. The laptop will not be shipped out today 3-6-09 unless you have some proof that your staff in Canada is a existing person and your not just a dirty scammer trying to make money out of this. If you fail to do so by tonight (centeral U.S. time), your money will be refunded and the deal will be off.
please understand my worries; ive been scammed before and i do not want to experience it again.

thank you
-Daniel"

** By this point, i was thinking there is something strange.. i wonder what this person thought when he/she read that last sentence. lol

I got a response saying:

"i understand you but i am not here for that..i make the payment with an honest mind and you need to get back t paypal with the information they need from you before they fund your account.
I want you to get the item shipped and get back to me after they shipment
Thanks"

**By this point, I was thinking hmmm... this person doesnt really write like a woman(Julia or Mary Maye). & something about not giving me proof was fairly strange.

STEP 8: By this time, I knew this person was up to something and when I checked my paypal, there was no history of recieving this $880.
so i responded with some anger and convinced that this guy is a scam

"Its simple. You give me proof..ill send it. You dont give proof, you dont get it.If i dont get the proof by tonight (central US time), this transaction will be disregarded.

thank you
-Daniel"

After I sent that email, I noticed the fake paypal emails and the phone# and how this "paypal" got my wrong name.

After this, he/she was keep saying that he/she received the money and was going to report me if i didnt send the Laptop. You see, he made it up so once he gets the tracking number, the money will be added to my paypal. (all lies) I keep saying that your just a scam and since im not going to provide tracking number, no money is going to be added to my account.

this was his last response:
"Well I know that i truly make the payment and my money is been deducted.God knows the best"

What a bad aftertaste he/she just gave me.

So guys, im just telling you there are scammers out in this world...whole bunch of em. If you dont watch out, your gonna get attacked pretty hard. just be careful.



THE END

 

DAAAAAAHHGG

Scammers really get to me. When I first started selling on ebay I was offered $2800 for a $300 laptop. I was also told that it was for a grandson going to college in nigiria. And I also got a fake paypal email receipt.

I probably would have totally been taken if it were not for my brother who laughed his head off when I showed him

Now I know what scammers are like so I can avoid them.


Recently(2 months ago) I was scammed when Buying an item off ebay.
Buying scams are harder to spot than when your selling something.
I "bought" a studio xps 1640 off ebay for $1400. It turned out to be a scam and I had to file a dispute with paypal to get my $$$$ back

This makes me mad. Even if I get my money back. I just imagine the scammer. I imagine a fat or shrimpy little person who has no career and is probably still living with his/her mother.


If I ever get scammed again...whoever did it to me better pray that I don't very angry over it ...
I promise I won't kill you...but I will legally make, you, SUFFER .

 

I feel you, I have my desktop posted on craigslist (I travel for work now, replacing it with a laptop). Within a week, I got two e-mails like that. One wanted me to ship to Nigeria, one to South Africa. Both of them had names that didn't match the e-mail or the name of the person "signing" the e-mail. One of them actually tried to convince me they were a senior lecturer at Aberdine University, even though their e-mail contained no punctuation or capitalization.

Honestly, outside of someone that is established on NBR, I wouldn't ship out of the country unless you can get delivery confirmation. Also make sure their address is paypal verified, otherwise they will claim their account got hacked and you are SOL.

Remember, when selling big ticket items on craigslist - paranoia is your friend. Then again, I'm a cautious person with trust issues anyways, it makes me good at online business.

 

@Erwallie:I actually got scammed on ebay selling my DVDRW driver for T42 as well. lost $150. T.T the hell out of me.
I was actually imagining my scammer too. I was thinking some stupid ghetto wannabe with yankees flat bill on. lol

@Drezin: wow...i guess its not just me. Nigeria seems to be capital of scammers. them being so broke, $6~700 computer is huge.Ya now i know that i can be scammed too. It was so frighting because I would have sent it if it wasn't for class I had to attend in the morning. thank God!

 

^^^ that would be one of thoes things that haunts you to think about.
I have seen some " Nigerian scammers " i can tell scams apart i dont even respond to them.

 

ya but new sellers like me seems to be their #1 target. all confused and stuff you know. lol

 

tonyyyp on here tried scamming me and a fellow member on here, luckily I caught on in time to save myself, but the other member wasnt, once informing him and catching tonyyyp. me and the member found out we're in the same area LOL!

 

I had a scammer from craigslist actually call me! (i left my number, he called from a block number xD)

 

was this one a scam? http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=346059

Has there been people on here that got scam by other members? If so, I think we should have a SCAMMER LIST or something.

 

Yeah they called me once and used a voice changer too. I just told the guy he was a complete idiot if he thought I was going to fall for his routine. Good heads up though

 

Before fake emails isn't there a problem for $300 for shipping from US to Canada? Maybe its USPS Safeguard (package + a man with shotgun)?

 

I didnt think it will be this high either. Ithought he was just in extreme rush needing the laptop asap. he asked for global express and asked me for tracking number.

 

How did you not realize you didn't actually get any money in your paypal account until so late lol. The first thing I always do is log in directly to Paypal via paypal.com in the URL browser, not through any e-mails or links, and check if I have received payment. The fact that Paypal holds funds until the seller ships the item is a big reason to check too.

 

I have been robbed in ebay once. I lost 2400$ while buying a laptop. I never received ii even when I paid from paypal through ebay. They could do nothing to get my money back. I still feel sorry to lost that amount.

 

THIS IS EASY---

If you get an email from paypal or ebay it will have your correct name (example dear joseph brown) and if it has anything else it is a FAKE !!!

There are some very convincing looking emails done by PRO SCAMMERS !!!

Long story short: If you get an email from paypal or ebay that you are not expecting before you do anything else FORWARD IT TO EITHER [email protected] OR [email protected] !!!

Both these "spoof" addresses are watched by a team of trained pros that can advise you if these are FAKE EMAILS AND THEY RESPOND W/IN MINUTES...

If you know how to forward an email with the FULL HEADER it is better but not required !!!

THAT SIMPLE !!! End of story... Thanks...

NOTAGEEK

 

Given the paranoia already in this thread, how do we know we can trust these e-mails

 

I was robbed 2500$ for a XPS M1730. I paid for the item but never got it. The seller was cocoa1980 I guess. He sold the same laptop to many people like 10 I guess and didnt shipped. I paid him through ebay via paypal even though I lost it. Paypal decided on my favor but told that the seller account doesnot have enough fund to pay me. I still feel bad for it and I dont know to get it back.

 

I imagine some people who get scammed and are angry about it may just scam someone else to get their money back

 

Did you pay with a credit card or PayPal funds/e-Check?

 

I don't know about the paranoia level here but I do know everyone here should have every option to cover their own rumps...

If you don't feel you can trust forwarding questionable emails from paypal or ebay to teams dedicated to uncovering fraud at [email protected] or [email protected] then you likely shouldn't use the service...

NOTAGEEK

 

other then fake paypal reciepts. are there any other craig list scams folks should be aware of? I have never sold on craigs lists and knowing what to look out for would be helpful.

 

From my bank account which was linked with paypal.

 

Don't look for any kind of "buyer protection" like you get on ebay when you are a buyer on craigs... But do use paypal and have your paypal account backed by a MAJOR CREDIT CARD and not a major debit card... Even though your debit card might say Visa or Mastercard on the front of it you have zero buyer protection or recourse... A debit card is exactly that---a debit card which is the same as writing an electronic check or paying with cash !!!

Ebay only owns 1/4-1/3 of craigs but of course owns 100% of paypal !!!

As a seller on craigs do not accept any form of payment except paypal... Do not ship anything until you 1. Get a verification email from paypal telling you the funds have been deposited into your paypal account addressed to your FULL REAL NAME ONLY !!! 2. Forward the verification email (with full header if possible but not required) to [email protected] and wait for a few minutes till they respond verifying that the email in fact did come from them !!! 3. And of course most important---log into paypal and see with your own eyes that the funds have in fact been deposited into your account---then ship the item !!!

The reason to follow steps 1-3 in order is that in my 5 years dealing with ebay/paypal I can count on one hand how many times it took up to 2-3 hours before i saw the deposit hit my account but it does happen...

There are other forms of secure payment methods but I am not familiar with the mechanics of them... The last thing I would do is to "try" to talk about any other forms of secure payment methods w/out complete understanding as this is far too important of an issue... Propay, Surepay, Google pay/checkout, etc. etc come to mind as examples...

Hope this is helpfull... Thanks...

NOTAGEEK

 

now paypal is 100% safe but in past it was not. In past, before the item gets shipped, the money was transferred to their account(no hold like now).
Thats why I lost my money.

 

Hi,

I have read a lot about scamming recently because I'm shopping for a new laptop and I confess I am becoming quite paranoid to buy online.

I have been looking at ebay and I would like to know if there is a way to check if a seller is on a scammer list (if such list exists). For instance, I am looking at a seller named mg4ever79. This guy has 5 SONY VAIO VGN-Z620D for sale at incredible prices; member since 2007 but only 2 feedbacks; and he lives in Ontario . It sounds wayyyy too good to be thrue. Can Ebay check this guy if I report ?

Thanks for your input.
MrPipo

 

paypal doesnt hold transactions everytime, and if the acct your paying is over 3months old they dont hold transactions, i just got a $2500.00 payment and my acct is 5months old, they didnt hold it and i actually withdrew to my bank acct and made sure it cleared before i sent the item out so dont give false advice.

 

It looks like this only applies to some Ebay sales and not other sales of ebay.

I sold a WWAN card quite recently to a buyer in the UK that has got a confirmed address and the item sold for £35 and paypal did not release my money straight away.
This buyer did not have online access so i had to wait for about 15 days to get my money because that is when they left me positive feedback and my money was released. I have been with ebay for about a year and have 76 feedback and have sold 9 items and my rating is at 100%. No way would i sell a laptop on there now because i would never risk sending something out without the money being transferred into my account first.

In fact i have still got the email that they sent me on the 17th of Feb.

I sold a computer part to a buyer in Belguim for over £100 even more recently and that buyer did not have a confirmed address and my money was released immediately.

This is what Paypal state on their website. They have mentioned that they will release funds if you get tracking but going from my experiences i don't even know if that is true.

So it looks like if you sell in some categories you may be hit. Also, if you have under 100 feedback and you have sold less than 20 items in one year you may be hit also.

 

also on ebay, if you sell electronics/computer related parts or gift cards the money is more likely to be held as those are "high risk" this is why i no longer bother with ebay. there are many ways to expolit their system, example.

say you sell a laptop to someone thru ebay,

they get it, (mean while your funds are being held til feedback) they claim its a box of rocks and open a claim.

because its ebay the favor will more then likely be ruled in the buyers favor its ty but it happens

 

I posted one of my laptops on Craigslist and I received several of the emails the OP got. First off Craigslist warns all members to only deal with locals in your area who you can meet face to face and only accept cash, no checks.

Craigslist says you can avoid 99% of such so called scams. Every time I received one of those emails I responded with "I only deal with locals and only accept cash". I never got a response back after that. I told one individual to take a hike and I wasn't falling for that scam. Again they moved on.

 

I said I accept wire transfers from out of state people That sure got them to stop trying to email me paypal offers.
By the way, scammers are well known for their notoriously bad grammer, spelling, and also the use of religion... which doesn't really work when you have a different belief lol. They assume everyone in the us is x-tian.

 

People are idiots, so many scammers.

 

tell me about it I think there are even more scammers now b/c of this stupid bum**** economy.

 

well I just sold my Sony X1 cell phone but fund was release right away ..now I just need to ship it ...which I shall be doing right now instead of typing lol.

 

I hope you logged into your PayPal account to confirm the release, rather that just rely on (potentially faked) emails.

 

right,also,check the senders address-it should not be something like - "[email protected]"!

 

Anyone heard of the P P P Powerbook prank, thats histerical anti scammer comedy right there

 

yeap and it was awesome!!!

 

Ok So i was listing my other alienware on CL and this guy from Massachusetts emails me interested in my laptop. Now I got his full info as he wanted to pay an extra 100 for overnight then what I had listed. I gave him my phone # to call me so I can talk to him. He sounds somewhat legit, now I told him the only way I could do business is to list it on ebay and he could also get the live.com promo. He states he doesnt deal with ebay as he does not want to pay any hidden charges and fees. I stated to him that I would be the one incuring listing fee's and we can still do paypal that way. Anyhow after doing some thinking, he seems fishy so I told him unless we do this via ebay for my protection as well as his, that I would not sell him the laptop. He then states then nevermind he found one for 1000 anyhow. Can anyone tell me where they could get a M15X with a 8800gtx for that much??

 

He was blowing you off because you wouldn't do a straight PayPal transaction along with overnighting it so by the time it was in his hands, you would be shanked prison style.

You could always have him pay you with PayPal and check his rating on PayPal and if he's confirmed and verified, that helps.

You would think he'd WANT to use eBay, as that cash back and the fact eBay+PayPal is really in the buyer's court.

 

I agree, this is what worried me, that and the fact that when he called his number was blocked.

 

This is a great thread. Some new "scammer" techniques (although rare) include DNS cache poisoning. Even opening up a browser and going to paypal.com can lead you to the wrong site.

 

What happened to protected up to $2k from paypal? You should also report the user name to ripoffreport.com if ebay hasn't already killed the account.

 

Anything saying "Is this item still available?" on craigslist I completely ignore. Unless there are a few sentences of questions or contact info that make me believe I'm not just responding to a scammer.

Also, @spradhan01:

You just have to create a dispute for the item, raise it to a claim and say you never received the item. Since they didn't ship it, you should be able to get your money back.


However I have another question.

When in a dispute over an item not received... What if the seller ships you a box of bricks with a tracking number.. (paypal will ask for shipping info when a claim such as this is created) how does paypal know who is telling the truth? because the seller could say they sent you a laptop and you could say it wasn't in there. Where do they find the truth? or who's side would they take?

 

I totally agree with you elijahRW.
so many broke people and many of them with dirty ideas of making money.

they makes online shopping a danger zone.

but yo. i ask that all the times. "is this item still available?" lol guess I shouldnt any more.

 

Thank You for this great thread and nice job picking out the scam. Some things he/she did I might pick up on, but some of the other stuff is tricky. They are getting better and better at doing this stuff. Sad how people are heading towards the dark side

Does anyone know if these "Nigerian" scammers are actually from Nigeria or is that their favorite country to use at this time?

I love the part where the guy/gal wrote... "i make the payment with an honest mind" LOL what a scumbag.

 

A great site regarding scambaiting. I've literally lost hours just reading how these people bait the scammers along to prevent them from scamming others. They sometimes have the scammers do some crazy things like reading a book aloud and recording it. Fantastic site and they're doing us all a favor by keeping those scumbags occupied.

 

All people from Nigeria are scammers!

 

Well thats what I am asking. Are they actually from Nigeria or do they just say they are from there?

 

Sorry, I did not read the whole thread, I just know that when I see the word "Nigeria" from a deal, all is suspicious.

 

I feel bad for you guys that have been scammed $1000+.

I've always been extremely cautious. The only time I've been scammed was a $15 item on eBay that I bought that was complete garbage. I filed a claim and returned it to sender for a refund (because I was overseas at the time) there was no way to get a tracking #. So the seller simply claimed they never received it, and I lost out of my $.

If your selling or returning anything of value ALWAYS get a tracking number and if its worth more than about $100 ALWAYS get insurance.

If I'm selling a laptop I will always insure it, get a tracking #, and signature confirmation w/ return receipt. So there is no way they can BS about not getting it.

----------

It's kind of funny looking at the evolution of scam emails. I remember a while ago the two key words were Nigeria and Western Union, or some other type of 3rd party Escrow service.

It's funny that people are now using Paypal and sending spoof emails as a scam...