[email protected], [email protected]

[email protected] and [email protected] - this familiar scammer, previously targeting people on babybay.ie and craiglist, is now attempting to scam people selling hair at sellhairstore.com

As per his usual scams, he sends out a fake PayPal payment demanding that his "courier" be paid before the funds are released for the hair purchase. This time the fake mails are from: [email protected]

First you will receive a notification from sellhairstore.com's gmail address - it looks like any legitimate inquiry.

When you have replied the scammer sends:

[email protected] (Donald Lescot)/[email protected] (Carl Wise) - scammer's first script:

I am Donald Lescot, 42/from Alexandria,I am an oceanographer and am
currently on the sea at the moment, i am buying this hair as a gift
for my wife in
London,i want to make it a surprise gift for her,she won't know
anything about the hair until they get delivered to her.So i want you
to reassure me that the hair is in good
condition as you have described. I can only pay through PayPal. So
please kindly get back to me immediately so i can proceed with the payment
and after the payment has been done,i have a pick up agent that will
come around to pick the hair up immediately after payments.......Get
back to me with your Paypal email address so that i can made the payment asap.
Looking forward to hear from you soon.
Thanks

And there's a hitch, he wants you to pay the "pick-up-agent".

I'm about to make the payments when i had this little problem with the
picking up of
the hair, I think you remember what i said in my previous mail that I'm working
presently sea and i am buying the hair urgently so i tried to secure
booking with my
pick up agent, but they asked me to pay first before they can make the
booking, and
they only accept Western Union Money Transfer for payments and they
don't accept PayPal
or bank transfer. So I tried to send the money online but it's not
going through and I
am on the sea there is no way i can find a western union agent to make
the transfer to
my pick up agent, so i wanted to ask if it will be OK for me to
include my pick up
agent's fees together with your payments through PayPal,So you will
help me wire the
pick up fee to them via western Union Money Transfer immediately i pay
you.I don't mean
to bother you I'm sure you understand that I'm presently on the sea and there is
nothing i can do to that.The bottom line is after I have made the payments via
PayPal,you will help me wire my pick up agent fee to them through
western union money
transfer, I just wanted to seek your consent before going ahead with
the payments,I
will be very happy if my offer is given a favorable
consideration,Respond as soon as
possible so that i can send out your Payment.

Then there follows a faked PayPal mail from [email protected], claiming that your money is being held until you prove that you have paid the scammer's "agent".

Note: The email did NOT originate from PayPal.

PayPal is an online money transfer service and would never use a competing money transfer service to receive a payment.

PayPal does not have an escrow service and does not hold payments for buyer/seller protection.

Transaction ID: 6D694274EY338930K
[email protected] Excerpt:

Note:
This PayPal payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has been "APPROVED" but will remain PENDING until you send the extra money via western union to the shipping company once you get back to us with the control number and senders name is sent to our customer service for verification so as to secure both the buyer and the seller.

Below are the necessary information requested before your account will be credited.

1 : Make sure you send the remaining money to the shipping company so that they can come for the pick up at your home here is the address for the shipping company below .

2 : Make sure the (M T C N) number is been sent to our customer Service at([email protected])

Then from [email protected] or [email protected] he follows up with:

I have just made the payments and PayPal emailed me confirming this.
So please check your PayPal email address ([email protected])
in box,spam mail for the Pay Pal confirmation email. PayPal said that
they would be holding the money i sent because of the excess payments
that i made which was the money for pick up, i will need you to proceed
and Wire the excess which is $xxx.00 to my pick up agent to enable
them make a booking for the picked up of the hair.Remember that you
will wire the agent fee to them via Western Union Money transfer as
that is there method of payment.
So please do send the $xxxx.00 through western union money transfer
and use the remaining change of $100.00 as Western Union
charges.You can easily Walk to any western union agent or
supermarket,worn mart, or any western union outlet around you.After
you have sent the money please get back to me asap with the western
union details, the MTCN number which you will be given by western
union after you have sent the money as well as the sender's name and
address so i can forward it back to PayPal for your money to be put
through or you can email it to PayPal directly,that is alright as well.
Here is my pick up agent's info that you will need to send the money to
through western union money transfer:

CRAIG BERGSTROM
3757 N Blackstone Ave,
Fresno, CA
ZIP CODE: 93726

Craig Bergstrom is the scammer's mule (accomplice) in California, and is not a legitimate courier.

Excuse the double post, just to update on the scammer's method.

This scammer has just changed his game, it appears that he is no-longer using his fake PayPal address, perhaps it is getting too well known as a scam, so here is what he's doing now.

After the first script, instead of the above sequence involving fake PayPal mails, he is sending the following:

(and this is irrespective of anything you said or didn't say in your last mail - it's a scripted response.)

thanks for your mail. i can understand you very well also i have a
problem with my paypal account, but if you don't mind i can pay with
bid pay and i think that is very fast and easy as paypal also and once
you confirm the money in your account you will go on with the cutting
and the shipping.

i will be waiting to read from you so that we can finish this transaction
fast.

Regards.

"bid pay" - this site was once a goldmine for scammers, but currently doesn't exist. It appears that this scammer is resorting to old behavior, referring to a service that was around many years ago. It would seem to indicate that he is under pressure and panicking to cope with the loss of his fake PayPal email account.

thanks for your mail i will e-mail you back the details i need for the
bid pay so that you can have your money in your bank account direct
and once you confirm the money in your account then you can go ahead
with the cutting and the shipping stuff.

i will send you the details i need for the bid pay,

Regards.

Now he settles on a method of payment - bank transfer.

As he is asking for your bank details, he will attempt to "flash" the money in your account - this is essentially the same as presenting a fraudulent check to the bank ie. the money appears to be there, but the bank will "bounce" it before the funds clear. For more information on "flashing" see: http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=24

thanks for your mail am having problem with paypal account so please
bear with me i can only make the payment via bank to bank transfer;
here is the information needed in order to have the money in your
account and once you confirm the money in your account we can then
move on with the shipping.

Holder Full Name:
Bank Name:
Bank Address:
Account Number:
Routing Number:
Account Type:
Phone number:
Account Limit:

i will be waiting to have this details once i have the information i
will go ahead with the payment and i will let you know as soon as the
money get to your account.

Regards

[Mods, sorry about the triple post.]

Due to who knows what reasons, he is now wanting to pay by fake check, do not at this point give him your address details:

i can only made the payment by check and let me know if you are fine with that.

Regards.