help me, i think im being scammed

brendan · 11-12-2007, 10:36 PM

ok, i have a sneaking well more than sneaking now suspicion somebody is trying to scam me, so first off i listed my carputer on my local Toronto craigslist for ill be the first to admit a little much but i did say OBO, (http://toronto.craigslist.ca/sys/472276600.html) anyway some 'Patricia James' from Nigeria emails me i think the following day with a rather robotic email (i had in the ad mentioned buyer had a choice of one of 2 pci cards and her email mentioned nothing of that) she also asked for my pay pal email, i was like ok i don't think you can scam with paypal so i gave it to her. then the day after i get this email: (well this is bits of it i cut her address)
-------------------------------------------------------------

You've got new funds!!! Payments by PayPal

Dear Brendan -mylastnamedeleted-,

Patricia James just sent you Money with PayPal.

Patricia James is a Potential Buyer .
...
his PayPal® payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has been "APPROVED"but will not be credited to your account until the shipment reference/tracking number is sent to us for shipment verification so as to secure both the buyer and the seller. Below are the necessary information requested before your account will be credited. Send tracking number to us or email us through this mail paypal paypalcomfirmation!@officeEmail.net and our customer service care will attend to you. As soon as you send us the shipment's tracking number to us for security purposes and the safety of the buyer and the seller,the money will be credited to your account.

**PLEASE NOTE**
Once shipment has been verified and the tracking number sent to us and the shipment tracking number is CONFIRMED, You will receive a " CONFIRMATION Email" from PayPal® informing you that the Money has been credited ,

Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team

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along with that i got a second email witch made me start more seriously considering fraud aside from her paying $150 for shipping.
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Dear Patricia James,

We are glad to get back to you regarding the payment that was made for your item which you recently sold to our client Patrcia James, we received a message from our client that you needed money for the shipment of the item. This is to inform you that in the time past we had released money to seller's and they do not turn up, as we believe you are aware of the fradulent activities that is all over the place. We are now taking out time to safe guide transactions on Craigslist, so we advice you ship out the item to the buyer and get back to us with the shipment tracking number so that we can credit the money into your account immediately we receive the shipment tracking number.
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after this i emailed paypal and said i was weary of a scammer and i included my ad and her first email in the message, i also mentioned i didn't think you could get scammed with paypal because i know thats how its otherwise down with escrow type crap. in between all this i sent her back an email from my non-paypal account saying i can't ship until tuesday/wednesday due to remembrance day/weekend (she also wanted it shipped via EMS) now today i get an email i don't really like from 'paypal' i have feeling she mite be on my computer somehow

here it is:
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Dear Brendan -mylastnameremoved-,
This message is originated from paypal company.We have received an order from our client"Patricia James",regarding the payment made to your paypal account.
The payment has been successfully made but due to security reason we have to receive the shipment tracking number before the next 48hour for the processing of your order.
This a new measure we are taking to protect both our sellers and buyers against fraudulent customers.
Once you have shipped the item send us the shipment tracking number for verification after the number has verify your account will be credited instantly.
This PayPal® payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has been "APPROVED"but will not be credited to your account until the shipment reference/tracking number is sent to us for shipment verification so as to secure both the buyer and the seller. Below are the necessary information requested before your account will be credited. Send tracking number to us or email us through this mail paypalcomfirmation@officeEmail.net
**PLEASE NOTE**
Once shipment has been verified and the tracking number sent to us, You will receive a "CONFIRMATION Email" from PayPal® informing you that the Money has been credited.
Note:craiglist and Paypal will be responsible for the item loss or damage once we receive the tracking number
Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team
------------------------------------------

here it mentioned craigslist will be held for item loss/damage and on the craigslist site it says they never do anything ever.

so all in all im probably pretty silly to still be thinking this is not a scam but i dont like the newest 'paypal' message help please

wizardPC · 11-12-2007, 10:54 PM

paypalcomfirmation@officeEmail.net

That would be NOT a paypal address. This is a scam, sir.

Quote:

This a new measure we are taking to protect both our sellers and buyers against fraudulent customers.

Go ahead and try to find this "new security measure" on Paypal's website.

Enforcer · 11-12-2007, 11:10 PM

SCAM ALERT!!!!!!!!

2k1Toaster · 11-13-2007, 12:25 AM

@"cant scam via paypal"

Well wake up and smell the coffee because I would say 50% of the spam I get is ebay/paypal fraud clone emails. They use the same layout but when you hover over a button, that will "log you in" or something it goes to their personal server where it will store your user name and password. I would immediately change your password to something strong with numbers letters, capitols and lower case right away. If you can, close the account and start a new one. If you have a bank account linked to it, you are in deep poo. I cant believe people actually fall for this.

Curiosity · 11-13-2007, 01:49 AM

"...from Nigeria"

Always a scam.

DarquePervert · 11-13-2007, 04:52 AM

Yet another variation of the 419 scam.

davidingermany · 11-13-2007, 09:13 AM

Log directly into your paypal and change the password, then look and see if there is any pending transaction.
David

greatwhite · 11-13-2007, 09:54 AM

one word:

Nigeria.

Scam. give them nothing, don't reply to anything, delete the email.

If you've already given them info, make sure you get on with changing passwords and stopping any payments, RIGHT NOW!

h3rk · 11-13-2007, 10:07 AM

Well, I guess it's COMFIRMED then; This must is a scam.

jjh221 · 11-13-2007, 11:11 AM

http://www.419eater.com/

bl3nd3r · 11-13-2007, 01:51 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by jjh221

http://www.419eater.com/

That site and the guy who runs it is awesome. I was reading one of his stories and he actually got a carved wooden image of himself sent to him by a scammer. Oh the fun.

brendan · 11-13-2007, 04:01 PM

ok so thats kinda what i figured, as of now i have changed all my passwords and nothing fishy has happened. Thank you for confirming my suspicions.

muldrick · 11-13-2007, 05:52 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by brendan

...
his PayPal® payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has been "APPROVED"but will not be credited to your account until the shipment reference/tracking number is sent to us for shipment verification

Oh Brendan, wake up sir....not to dog you, but that first email you got immediately told me it was a scam. Sure "send first, then I'll pay you" is way to obvious.
If it smells fishy...it is.
Any transaction that involves ANYTHING odd, weird, difficult, or unusual is a scam. (IMHO)

2k1Toaster · 11-13-2007, 06:02 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by lotto scam from a few days ago

Good Day,

This is to notify you that just won £1,500,000 (one million five
hundred thousand great British pounds sterling) in our 2007 new year

charity
bonanza for this Month winning Number 06-32-34-46-62-68.

We hereby urge you to claim the winning amount quickly as this is
amonthly bonanza. Failure to claim your win will result into the

reversion
of the fund

Official Email:jamesoffice101@yahoo.co.uk

Endeavour to email/fax him this following to your fiduciary agent to claiming your prize.

I found it in my spam folder. Gotta love it. They have moved from "Royal Nigerian Lottery" to some "bonanza" from the UK with the highly official yahoo UK email address.