How to detect scammers using paypal selling electronics

[kdaniel6217]

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: xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com
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

[elijahRW]

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 .

[Dreznin]

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.

[kdaniel6217]

@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!

[Tippey764]

^^^ 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.

[kdaniel6217]

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

[86 5.0L]

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!

[aan310]

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

[vinceboiii]

was this one a scam? Fs: Hp Dv5, Amd Atlon64 X2 2.0ghz , 3g Ram ++ 350$ , Paid Almost 650$ 6 Months Ago!!

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

[rdff41]

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

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