please help me. is this a scam?

i'm selling my camcorder via gumtree australia and this man acts like he is interested to my camcorder. the problem is i feel this is a scam as i googled there's no "paypal merchandise payment service" etc.



This email confirms that you have received an Instant payment of $ 1,200.00 AUD from John Dodo ([email protected]) via PayPal MERCHANDISE Payment Service.


Reversals : This method of payment can not be reversed.

Status : Pending - Transport Company Awaiting Payment.

View the "NOTE" of this pending transaction below


Payment Details

Merchandise Amount: $ 600.00 AUD
Transport Charges:
Taxes and Insurance:

Total:
$ 600.00 AUD
-------

$ 1,200.00 AUD

Transaction ID: 4WR6072127779652U
Quantity:
MERCHANDISE Title: Gumtree Item Purchased

PayPal is translated and fully adapted to your country or region.

Make and receive payments in the currency you select. PayPal supports 24 currencies.



Name:
Address: Ojo Oluwasola.
Istanbul Turkey.



Address Status: Confirmed



Transport Company: " COURIER EXCHANGE "

NOTE: This is to confirm to you that the said amount has been successfully transferred by the Sender and been deducted from his Account which is ready to be credited into your account, been that this Payment has been subjected to be a Payment for an MERCHANDISE purchased from you, we reserve the right to make sure this transaction is safe and secured also to verify the legitimacy level on this transaction because of the high sum of funds involved.

The above sum has Included the transport charges and taxes as we and the Transport Company quoted for the buyer (as per PayPal MERCHANDISE PAYMENT POLICY). You will receive a Message from the PayPal Customer Verification Department Shortly informing you on how to send the Transport fares and taxes to the transport company with the above details as soon as possible.


You may contact PayPal customer service by Click Here or reply directly to this email by using the reply button in your Mail Box and Quote the Above Transaction ID for quick recognition of this transaction.
Sincerely,

The PayPal Team.

PayPal Email ID PP307



i asked him whether i can arrange the delivery on my own without using his as i'm so suspicious why must $550 just for courier. then, he replied...


Hello Mate, Thanks for getting back to me and i want you to know that by now i know you must have gotten an email from paypal confirming to you the payment which i made out to you from your inbox or junk or spam or bulk folder.. As per the e-mail PayPal sent to me which is also similar to yours, you will have to pay an upfront payment of $550 out of your pocket via western union office at your local post office to the address given to you, and you will be given the information requested which you will e-mail to paypal by replying to the confirmation mail sent from them regarding the details you have from western union...and you will receive the whole money in your account without any delay.. I want you to know that the Payment cannot be canceled neither can the payment be stopped so you have all security and guarantee about this transaction.. Kindly read the mail sent to you very well and it will surely give you knowledge of what to do.. All you have to do is to go to the nearest western union office, send the sum of 550 to my shipper's address given to you.. As soon as send the money, you will be give the money transfer receipt and that is what you will scan to paypal, as soon as you do that then paypal will transfer your funds immediately. The money will only reflect in your account until you reply back to the confirmation email you received from paypal by sending the mtcn number of the $550 that is to be send to my pick up agent so that they can come for the pick up..if you have gone through the email you received from paypal very well regarding the payment i made...you must have been notify about all this. Hope to read from you asap..
Thanks


please help me.

Hello and welcome to Scamwarners!

Yes this is 100% for sure a scam. The paypal emails may look very real but they are fake. Paypal does not hold payments awaiting tracking information or payment of shipping.

The scammer is trying to make off with the $600 he is asking you to send the "courier company" which I'm sure he told you to send the money via Western Union. You would eventually figure out the fake paypal transfer was never deposited but by then the $600 you sent would be gone.

Anyone attempting to buy your item on sites like gumtree and craigslist not willing to meet in person with cash is almost always a scammer.

Did he happen to give you a website for the shipping company?

Just stop communicating with the scammer and they will go away. I'm glad you found the site before loosing any money!

I'm perplexed myself fingerkontot. We have the John Dodo out of Texas asking you a payment for the courier. Because the package needs to be sent to Turkey? I presume he will collect the item in Turkey. Is that the story? Is he on holiday there?
If this John lives in the USA as Yahoo is telling me, why not send payment there?
The transport cost of over 5oo $ certainly seems rather excessive in my view.
Mind you, I don't do paypal or online selling. So I don't really know.
I'm also wondering why the courier costs need to be sent via western union To my way of thinking, it does not seem normal? When I have items transported, payment is settled before transportation or pay the company directly after the item arrives.
Yes, it all sounds highly sus I'm afraid.

Here is a warning on gumtree's website about this very scam. Most of the times these scammer is actualy trying to get you to ship the item with the fake paypal payment. The one you posted is just a slight variation of this common scam as he is actualy trying to get the money for shipping. This is more commonly done by the scammer sending you a fake check but I have seen it with paypal as in your case as well.

http://blog.gumtree.com/paypal-scam-alert/

This is a known and increasingly common scam. As Justin said, the scammer is after the so-called shipping fees. In most cases, the scammer is only after the cash, but in a few, he will try for the item and some cash by having you actually ship the item and send cash for "taxes" or "fees" instead.

This is also a dead giveaway:

Reversals : This method of payment can not be reversed.

Paypal payments can be reversed. There are buyer protection policies in place (none of which involve Paypal holding money). The scammer tells you that the "payment" can't be reversed, because many victims get suspicious at this point, but they aren't certain--so they tell the phony buyer to reverse the payment. The scammer hopes to corner the victim into proceeding by saying it can't be reversed.

Status : Pending - Transport Company Awaiting Payment.

As Justin also said, there is no such status. Paypal transfers are instant. As soon as the money comes out of the sender's account, it appears in the receiver's--no exceptions.

One more thing that should be pointed out:
Paypal is a money transfer service.
Western Union is a money transfer service that competes with Paypal.
Paypal gets fees from every transfer. Western Union gets fees from every transfer. If you take money out of Paypal, and then send it through Western Union to someone else, Paypal loses a chance to collect more fees. Sending you to Western Union, moneygram, or a bank-to-bank transfer outside of Paypal is taking money away from their own company. Paypal will NOT send you to the competition. Any time you get an email that is supposedly from Paypal, but it directs you to transfer money by any other means, it is FAKE.

In addition, Paypal is frequently targeted in phishing scams and fake payment scams, and they have an entire department dedicated to fighting these scams. If you receive any email from paypal that tells you your account is restricted/changed/needs some special verification, or a payment email that doesn't seem quite right, or an invoice that is suspicious, you can forward that email to [email protected] and they will check it out. Paypal will typically respond pretty quickly and confirm if it is fake. In addition, if there is a fake paypal website, they will work quickly to get it taken down.

from: Mrs Isabella HARRY <[email protected]>

NOTE::: ''SHE'' Lives in england and i live in sweden.

I hope you have gotten the payment confirmation mail from paypal ? (check your email inbox and spam folder because sometimes important email goes into spam) I have just completed the full payment for the furniture and also made an extra payment of 3,000.00 sek for pickup agent that will deliver it to London,right now the full payment of 6,500.00 sek is deducted from my paypal account and ready to credited on your paypal account but paypal said according to there security procedure you have to pay the amount for the delivery i added to the payment to the pickup agent through western union first and send them the western union information that shows that you have pay the pick up agent,as soon as paypal get the western union information from you they will put the full payment on your paypal account,Right now what you have to do is just make the payment of 3,000.00 sek to the pickup agent through western union,bellow is the pickup agent details you have to make western union payment to :

Name : Luke Bright
Address : 42 Newington Industrial Estate,
City: Crampton Street,London, SE17 3AZ
United Kingdom.

After you have make the payment for the pickup agent through western union and you send the details to paypal,paypal will put the full payment on your paypal account and the pickup agent will come to pickup from you.

Thanks and nice doing business with you.


Then i got this mail to,


Notification of A PayPal Instant Merchandise Payment Received from Isabella HARRY (Transaction ID: 4WR6072127779652U)
[email protected]. <[email protected]> 16 februari 2013 11:57
Till: [email protected]


Dear xxx.

This email confirms that you have received a PayPal Merchandise Payment of 6,500.00 SEK from Isabella HARRY ([email protected]) via PayPal Merchandise Payment Service.

Reversals : This method of payment can not be reversed.

Status : Pending - Transport Company Awaiting Payment.

View the "NOTE" of this pending transaction below


Payment Details

Merchandise Amount: 3,500.00 SEK
Transport Charges:
Taxes and Insurance:

Total:
3,000.00 SEK
-------

6,500.00 SEK
Transaction: 4WR6072127779652U <<<< NOTE THE Transaction Number is like Yours!
Quantity: 1
MERCHANDISE Title: FURNITURE


Transport Agent : LUKE BRIGHT

Address : 42 Newington Industrial Estate,
Crampton Street,
SE17 3AZ, London.
United Kingdom




Address Status: Confirmed





Copyright © 1999-2013 PayPal. All Rights Reserved.

Your monthly account statement is available any time; To correct any errors about this payment, please contact our Payment Help Centre at [email protected]
Please, If you need to ask a question or help, Reply to this email. This mailbox is monitored and you will receive a response. For assistance once we got your mail.
Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team.
Copyright © 1999-2013 PayPal.

All rights reserved. PayPal (Europe & World Wide) Limited is Authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom, United States, Europe and World Wide as An Electronic Instant Money Transfer Institution.

PayPal FSA Register Number: 226056

and when i confirmed that it was a scammer and told that person that.

They changed the mail from:
<[email protected]>
To:
<[email protected]>

Goodday.. somebody emailed me this kind of message

My name is Mrs Greace Sayo and am a single mother who works as an
engineer and work very hard until 6:30pm. Usually i will like to have
a loving nanny to take care of our 2 kids. Your duties will be feeding
the kids, ensuring that they eats their meals, have their clothes
cleaned, do some laundry, and typical basic cleaning activities at
home. My home is not that big so you won't spend more than a couple of
hours to do it all!!! My family is German live in the United Kingdom.
Family speaks English and Spanish fluently.Looking for male or female
Nanny. my nanny will not need to have a driver's license cause i am
planning to get you one and even send you to a driving school if you
are willing. Light housekeeping is required, and i will accept a
nanny that does not smoke in the house or in front of my kids.i would
love a reply whether or not your want the job.i need
Nanny/housekeeper/ outside the United Kingdom to come and work for me
in the U.K.I am willing to offer Eight Hundred and fifty pounds
sterling per week (850 pounds) provide monthly shopping allowances as
well as accommodation as a live-in AS Nanny/housekeeper/. No
Qualifications

Best Regards.....

Mrs Greace.

joyzkie05 It's a scam . The money suggested is way too much and no one real, or in their right mind would suggest 850 pounds a week. Simple as that,

The writing looks like that of a West African more than that of a German.