Just To Share: Avoided A Potential Scam

[jonoyong]

Just thought i would share this experience with you guys in the forum, since a lot of us do buying/selling/trading online, and Paypal seems to be one of the better methods to deal with internationally.

background story: i listed a pair of slightly used STPL Holbrooks on my local eBay site (ebay.com.sg - Singapore). and this fella, "Richie Zonks", owonla2004@yahoo.com, who claims he's from the States, emails me directly stating he wants my item. here's a couple of extracts from the emails he sent me.


"Hello i am Mr Richie Zonks from United State Of America, how are you today and how are your families ? hope all is good ? well i am interested in buying the item for my daughter in USA, because it my daughter that need it and i hope she would like it , so kindly get to me with the total cost of the item including the shipping cost to her address below with post office, i pay through either Paypal or Bank transfer ok reply soon.


First Name :Benny
Last Name :Zonks
Address:7-005 kinoks creek way
City-Giles
State-Virginia
Zip-Code :24150
Country :USA"

so off i go sending him a paypal invoice to his paypal account. and a couple of days pass, and no notification that he paid. so i email him again, and he states he'll pay me Sunday (today). and here's the email i got from "Paypal" and him today, with regards to payment:

the email from "Paypal":

"Dear Valued Customer,

This message is originated from PayPal company. We have received an order from our client (owonla2004@yahoo.com) making a payment into your PayPal account (inkhead.jona@gmail.com)

Description:GOODS

Amount $150.00 SGD



Buyers Verified Shipping Address
First Name :Benny
Last Name :Zonks
Address:7-005 kinoks creek way
City-Giles
State-Virginia
Zip-Code :24150
Country :USA








The payment has been successfully made but due to security reason we have to receive the shipment tracking number before the next 72 hours 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 customerhelpdept@usa.com




**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: eBay 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"

it's worthwhile to note that this email had Paypal images, which linked to the legit Paypal website.

and this is the email the guy sent me:

"Hello am happy to tell you that I have made the payment into your paypal account,kindly check your email both inbox,spam and junk email for the payment confirmation from paypal what you have to do now is that you get the item shipped and send the Shipment receipt and Tracking Number to paypal for verification and after paypal verify the Shipment the money will be fully credit into your account thanks reply asap.."


what threw me off, was the bad english in the paypal email. and the suspicious email address listed in that same email. i checked my paypal account, and no funds had been transferred. not even a notice that funds were transferred but being held etc. so i googled the email listed, customerhelpdept@usa.com, and guess what i found. check these sites out.

www.scamwarners.com • View topic - customerhelpdept@usa.com

Yahoo! Answers - FRAUD BUYER ONLINE PLEASE BEWARE!!!?


just thought of sharing this with the community. and trust me, i'll be letting the fella know exactly what i think abt him right now.

 

[jk-27]

Thanks Jono, something to look out for.

I had something similar a few months ago. A guy who said he was from Spain wanted some Frogskins and we did a deal. I sent a PayPal invoice but rather than get a payment notice from PayPal I got an email supposedly direct from PayPal saying payment had been sent but would take 4 days to clear. Again, the English in the email wasn't quite right. I then got a phone call from someone claiming to be from PayPal to say they were confirming payment had been sent and that the buyer was legit. This threw me because you never get calls from PayPal, let alone a call to say the member is a legit buyer. I then contacted PayPal myself and passed on the email I was sent to ask them where it came from. They confirmed it was a scam. The guy had got my phone number as it was on the invoice I sent and he was phoning to try and complete the con.

Scammers are out there and trying loads of different ways to try and con people. My advice would be that if you don't feel 100% about doing a deal with anyone then just back away. eBay and PayPal are being manipulated quite regularly now to try and con people out of items and money.

 

[Oakley_Sight]

The trouble is that there will be a higher percentage of people that fall for it. I have never released anything I have sold until it shows funds in my paypal account & even then I transfer them out of there & into my bank account so no one can get their hands on the money.
Thanks for advising us all of this Jono.
What jk-27 says is so true & we need to check things out more thoroughly. If the buyer is legit they will understand & wait. If not they can go hang from a high branch.

 

[jiveSEVEN]

What an idiot. He is also trying way too hard to look legit. Who the hell says, "Hello I am jiveSEVEN from United State of America".

 

[qtrain23]

I transfer them out of there & into my bank account so no one can get their hands on the money.

Pointless. They'll just draw it directly from your account. And if it's not there, they'll overdraft it.

 

[jk-27]

Who the hell says, "Hello I am jiveSEVEN from United State of America".

But Jive I heard this was your go to line with the ladies? Followed by 'Get your coat' and 'How do you like your eggs, over easy or fertilised?!'.

 

[jiveSEVEN]

But Jive I heard this was your go to line with the ladies? Followed by 'Get your coat' and 'How do you like your eggs, over easy or fertilised?!'.

Haha then I pull the Ryan Gosling line after, "Wanna get outta here?"

 

[oakleyandi]

But Jive I heard this was your go to line with the ladies? Followed by 'Get your coat' and 'How do you like your eggs, over easy or fertilised?!'.

Hahahahaha hahahahaha fertilized Hahahahahahahahaha..!!!!!! That's a great like dude
And damn, ****kng scammers get a ****kng job..!!!!!!

 

[Oakley_Sight]

Pointless. They'll just draw it directly from your account. And if it's not there, they'll overdraft it.

Strange why they didn't do it when I was in dispute with the person I sold an item to. Paypal kept emailing me & asking me to pay them the money they had given back to the buyer. I argued with them, spoke to them on the phone & was able to prove that what I was saying was correct. I had all the communication in email & eventually they agreed I owed them nothing. I'm sorry qtrain but what you say isn't quite true. They cannot take money from your bank account without your permission.

 

[qBan]

wow thanks for sharing. definately will be on the look out from now on, even though i only deal with people her ein the forum who have a good amount of feedback