Worried About Online Scammers? Read This!

How’dy folks!

Today I stumbled on a nice story regarding an online scamming attempt. The scammer tried to defraud a seller with fake PayPal messages but the seller was smart enough to see through the scam.


Here’s his whole account as posted in craigslist( I added some images I got from the Internet for illustration purposes):

TO CATCH AN ONLINE THIEF

My Experience with online fraud,

I recently put my lap top on sale on Craigslist. I had a buyer within one day. The buyer claimed to be legit and serious about their enquiry. The buyer was not local and wanted my item shipped to them after purchased.

We decided to use Paypal, which I had used many times through eBay. I told the buyer that I first wanted them to send the money to my Paypal account then I would ship the item to them immediately. We agreed upon this and I gave the buyer my personal cell number to insure that I would send the item. The buyer sent me an email stating they had sent the funds.

Moments later I received a confirmation email from Paypal (turns out it was a fake Paypal confirmation), and that in order for it to go into my account I would have to ship the item and give Paypal the tracking #.

I remembered in the past that Paypal had never done that to me before and I started to get a suspicion about the whole ordeal. I decided that I would rather be safe than sorry, so I called PayPal’s Costumer service line and spoke with a representative.

The representative told me that when money is sent it is directly put into your account and that there are no holds. From then on I knew that something was up. The representative told me to forward the fake confirmation to PayPal’s security center. (spoof@paypal.com) I did so, and minutes later PayPal’s security center sent me an email stating that the so called confirmation email was a phishing email.


Phishing emails usually try to steal your identity and or scam you in some way. I finally had my full confirmation that the buyer was a crook. Luckily, I did not ship my item and get ripped off.

The person was very enticing and even had a good story. Even when I emailed the buyer stating that no funds went into my account, but that I was being asked to ship it with a tracking #, they told me that, that was what Paypal needed to insert the funds into my account. According to the buyer it would benefit us both….I’m so sure.


Believe it or not I have a purpose for writing this and I want to do my part in helping others not get scammed over the internet.

Here are some guidelines to help keep your online purchases/sales safe:

Deal locally:

1. First most when using “Craigslist” try and only deal locally. There are warnings all over Craigslist to deal locally and those warnings shouldn’t be taken lightly.
2. If you do decide to ship, make sure you exchange enough information that both ends are accountable.
3. For those who are selling their items make sure you receive the funds before shipping the item out.

Warning signs: Suspicious things to notice about a buyer.

1. Scammers will usually immediately offer to pay shipping.
2. One line that has been commonly used… “I am doing a research project in Nigeria”. Scammers tell their sellers that they are away doing a research project out of States. Nigeria is commonly used.
3. Scammers are usually in a huge hurry. The less time you have to look into anything, the better for them. Less likely to get caught.
4. They won’t exchange a contact number. I find it amusing someone is willing to give an address, yet declines to give a number.

Warning signs #2: Suspicious things to notice in a “confirmation” email.

1. No confirmation email should ever ask you for your personal information such as; passwords, account numbers, etc.
2. You should not click a link to log in.

Things To Know About Paypal:

1. When someone sends funds to your Paypal account it should go directly into your account. If it says “pending” it means they have NOT sent the funds.
2. When someone sends you money you should never have to confirm it being sent nor have to give a tracking number for it to be sent.
3. eBay does function where they confirm things on both ends, but Paypal apart from eBay is a safe way to send and receive money through the internet. Therefore, it doesn’t require confirming to receive money or having to give a tracking number.
4. Although I do believe it can take up to a day for Paypal to transfer funds from your Paypal account to your bank account. Which is no big deal since the money is secure.

If you would like to contact me for help against online crime feel free to contact me at scamrepellant@yahoo.com. Let’s get the word out.

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Good move there, friend! I hope that your quick thinking will serve as good example to the rest of us who are new to conducting business transactions in the Internet.