Catherine Daniels Marine Biologist

I got a hit on some high quality couches, this is the list of communication.

What set me off to think this is a Scam?
Some odd English in the email. Wanting to do PayPal for Craigslist (always do cash). Name and occupation was odd. Text was easy to search and see similar text used in other scams.


Final Email:


I am putting this here so that it can be searched and found again.

Thank you for getting back to me.well i want to believe and trust what you said about it.I'm ready to pay the price, i want to buy this for my Dad as his birthday gift. I am a marine biologist I work mostly on the sea, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i managed to check this advert and send you an email regarding it so my only quickest payment option is PayPal as i can send money via PayPal anytime.Since I'm requesting this transaction to be done via PayPal, i will be responsible for all the PayPal fee/charges on this transaction and if you don't have an account with PayPal,its pretty easy, safe and secured to open one. Just log on to http://www.paypal.com. I hope we can make this business as fast as possible? I have a mover that will come for it once payment clears . i will like to see more pics if you have more.. write back with the total price and your papal email account so i can make payment asap.

Hoping for an eloquent business with you.

Welcome to Scamwarners JaxAntiScam,

Thank you for the posting the scammers details and sending me the email address.


[email protected]

Here are the warning signs.

Poor grammar and punctuation especially from a Marine Biologist.
Lower case I usage.
Weird explanation about boat, and working "on the sea".
The cap...and eloquent business with you...

We all know bad grammar and spelling in the US and the UK, but something does not fit. Sadly there is a Catherine Daniel who is a Marine Biologist. Poor lady must be very frustrated.

^^^What you have mentioned is the basics. We have to keep in mind that scammers often respond to ads that are not in the UK or US. People not in the US or UK would not recognize the errors. Nor do we want to post mistakes scammers makes in their scripts. This will only make them correct their errors and harder to detect.

The poor lady is actually a West African Male sitting in an Internet Cafe sending out 1000's of scripts daily.

The scammer wanted to send you a fake Paypal payment. He has a fake Paypal address from a free email provider. The payment would look real. Its a screen shot of a fake payment. Depending on what you were selling he would either try to steal your money or property. If it was a vehicle or large item, he would pretend to make an overpayment. He then will instruct you to pay a mover, shipper or agent. The fake Paypal email from the scammer would say that your Paypal funds will be released when you send the scammer (mover,agent or shipper) money via Western Union or Money Gram. In reality Paypal would never hold your funds.

Log into Paypal directly without any links to check for monies received or call Paypal directly from the number on their site.

If you are selling electronics, Cell phones, jewelry or computers then the scammer is trying to steal your "item". Your fake funds will be released when you send the scammer a scan copy of a receipt showing you mailed your item.

This same scam works with fake check and money orders. You and your bank will think they are real. After you cash the fake check. Days or weeks later your bank will inform you of the fraud. Your bank will have you repay the monies. Possibly close your account for fraud and report you to Law Enforcement.

The best thing to do is to sell in person face to face in a public place.

Just a heads up. I got an email from a supposed Catherine Daniels, marine biologist. I did a search and came across this site. She has a new email address, [email protected] and she responded with the same email she sent to others.

Thank you for the update.

[email protected]

Thank you for getting back to me.well i want to believe and trust what you said about it.I'm ready to pay the price, i want to buy this for my Dad as his birthday gift. I am a marine biologist I work mostly on the sea, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i managed to check this advert and send you an email regarding it so my only quickest payment option is PayPal as i can send money via PayPal anytime.Since I'm requesting this transaction to be done via PayPal, i will be responsible for all the PayPal fee/charges on this transaction and if you don't have an account with PayPal,its pretty easy, safe and secured to open one. Just log on to http://www.paypal.com/. I hope we can make this business as fast as possible? I have a mover that will come for it once payment clears . i will like to see more pics if you have more.. write back with the total price and your papal email account so i can make payment asap.

Hoping for an eloquent business with you.