ALMOST Scammed

So i was on craigslist the other day putting somethings i wanted to sell up, mostly industrial things. More specifically 2 Boring Mill, Electric Saw, Rotatory/Indexing Table, Compressor. So i get an Email from a "Daniel Combs" well 2 actually. I believe that was a mess up from him he basically copy and pasted both messages he might have thought it was 2 different people who were selling both items.

"Hi, Am Daniel and am interested or do you got buyer already ?
Do you have more pictures ?
please email me directly from your email to my email [email protected].
In order not to take your message to other folder in my email. Thanks"

"Hi, Am Daniel and am interested or do you got buyer already ?
Do you have more pictures ?
please email me directly from your email to my email [email protected].
In order not to take your message to other folder in my email. Thanks

Daniel."

So naturally, new me to paypal and craigslist, i reply happily telling him the info and all of that. I even made a paypal account just for that since this transaction would be a couple of thousands of dollars. So in the process of making the new account i called paypal because i was having problems making it, or well just reassurance that my account was well and set up. The paypal representative happily helped me, and got me through everything. I linked my bank account and debit card to it so everything would be "Fine". I asked him about scams and he happily replied and one thing caught my attention. Western Union scams, which is what he wanted me to do, to pay western union for the move an everything. Before that he was spilling this cr@p about him being a geophysical investigator at Ozark Mountain Region, Arkansas.

"Hi Again

Thanks for your reply, i'm serious buyer and i can only pay by paypal so kindly get back to me with your paypal email address so i can be able to process the payment,I am a geophysical investigator and am in Ozark Mountain Region in Arkansas until June 20 so i will arrange for the pick up and shipping to my new house.

Are you the first owner and why are you selling it ? paypal is easy and safe to use,in case you have no account, just go to http://www.paypal.com and sign up,Please do me a favor by considering the item sold to me and if possible withdraw the posting from Craigslist immediately so that I can be rest assured that it is all mine . I don't mind adding an extra $20.00 for you just to take down the posting


Best Regards
Daniel"

So then i send him my info, or well, email for paypal. Then he sends me this:

"I did receive your paypal info and I would have made the payment immediately but there is this problem i am having with my mover and i want to seek your consent regarding the situation before i make the payment, The shipping company only receive money by western union in order to be able to schedule a pick up time.

I prefer paying them via PayPal but they only use western union due to the shipping company rules.

I will need to work out things with you to have this problem fixed. I will be adding $900 to the payment I will send to you via paypal and after i have made the payments and it has been confirmed by PayPal, I will need you to help me send $800 to the shipping company by western union, The surplus $100 is to take care of the western union charges and your running around, I will also email paypal customer care for the safety of the transaction to assure you we are safe.

I believe I can count on you to have the excess funds sent to my mover if I include it in the payment that I will be making. If yes calculate everything and let me know the total amount i will be sending and i will move on with the payment as soon as i read back from you.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,
Daniel."

So i get a suspicion about what is going on. I decide to tell him to call me and give him my cell number, and he eventually calls me. So me being a suspicious, non trusting guy. I decide to backtrack his number on Google, and find various sites that helped me. He TOLD me he was in Arkansas for work, and when i traced his number it gave me a land line in Boston. Massachusetts Jamaica Plain. A Freaking LAND LINE. If it was a cellphone maybe i'd understand a little, but 3 different sites pointed out a land line. So at this point i'm just like "This dude just tried and scammed me, i knew it was too good to be true. Oh well at least i didn't get scammed." So after all that i realize he was BSing me. I also had told him about the saw and he happily agree to buy that as well. I mean i don't know how much a geophysical, or whatever makes, but i would at least think he would try to low ball me or give a "I'm already buying 2 of your items if you could please decrease the price, like a discount for buying this from you". maybe then i would have fell for it, but even these no life scammers don't believe the cr@p they spill. He still hasn't replied to my last email that i sent him, its been a few hours, but i'm just not gonna answer. I just thought i'd post this for any of you that would befall for this scam or scammer, or scammers. If it looks too good to be true, i bet IT IS.

Welcome to Scamwarners CharredHead,

Great to hear that a Paypal representative alerted you to the scam. Also you found information about it here.

In this scam the scammer does not want your merchandise. He wants to steal your money. He did not make a mistake writing you twice. He actually wrote to 100's maybe a 1,000 the same day with the same opening script.

As you know there is no shipper or mover. Just a scammer that wants you to send him money via Western Union or Money Gram. The Paypal payment would have been fake. The scammer will use another email address that looks like Paypal. He will send notice of payment made. You only have to send some money to the mover and your money will be released from Paypal. That is a lie. Paypal will not hold your funds. All ways log into your account directly or call Paypal to verify funds.

Scammers will often use this same scam sending fake checks or money orders. It make take days or weeks to notice the fake. When they do you will have to repay the money back. Possibly have your bank account closed and reported to Law Enforcement. In the end you will be out money and still have your merchandise.

I suggest that you sell your items face to face in a public place with cash.

I received a scam email about a sofa I had placed on Craigs list (appended below). Unfortunately I did not recognize it as such immediately, and sent my phone # and address.

The email mentions sending a check by courier, so I am wondering if the point of this scam is to find out when I will not be home? Good thing I didn't say anything about that!

----------------------------------------

From - Sat Jun 8 22:00:55 2013
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Sat, 08 Jun 2013 19:56:11 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2013 19:56:11 -0700
From: "Kimberly Thomas" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Message-ID: <CAH9jYXRSkqMSTxjzZr4DcbuZ1koO+sjM20GA82D0jWoqS4P1wQ@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Brown faux suede sofa
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<div dir=3D"ltr"><br><div>Thanks for the prompt response i want you to know=
that am okay with the&nbsp;</div><div>condition of the item and i will lov=
e to make an instant purchase. I will be mailing a certified check from my =
account to cover the cost, &nbsp;</div><div>while you hold item on my behal=
f, am willing to give an extra $40 for you &nbsp;to hold item till you rece=
ive payment. Once you have payment, I will have my handler come for pickup =
at your place as soon as check clears your bank. &nbsp;I will be needing th=
e following information to issue out the payment .&nbsp;</div><div><br></di=
v><div>1.Name to be on the check</div><div>2.Home Address</div><div>3.Telep=
hone</div><div>4.Final Asking Price</div><div><br></div><div>**Additional f=
unds for pick up charges as quoted by my movers will be sent along with you=
r funds on a single check, you are to pay the movers I will await bank clea=
rance before we proceed further once you received the payments Please note =
that the payment will be mailed via the courier to your address and its bou=
nd to delivered within 2 to 3 days. I have taken a closer look at the item =
and am very satisfied i really need this and would appreciates that you hel=
p hold this for me till the payment arrives. Furthermore do remove the</div=
><div>posting from CRAIGSLIST as am definitely buying it from you. Hope to =
hear from you ASAP</div><div><br></div><div>Sincerely</div></div>

Welcome to Scamwarners arjaytee,

The scammer does not want your sofa. No one will come to your home. He wants to steal your money.

He wants to send you a fake check or money order. He will tell you that he has a mover, shipper or agent that will come pick up the sofa.

The scammer will have you deposit a fake check. The fake check will be over the amount of the sofa. He will then instruct you to send the over payment to himself (mover,agent or shipper) via Western Union or Money Gram.

If you cash the fake check. Days or weeks later your bank will inform you of the fake check. You will have to repay the funds back to your bank. Your bank may close your account and report you to Law Enforcement for fraud.

This same scam works with fake Paypal Payments. The scammer will send you a realistic email from a fake Paypal email account stating payment was made. There are only two way to be sure you received money in your Paypal account. One is to log in directly without any links and check your balance. The other is to call Paypal directly with the number on their site (contact us) with code.

I just got same e mail. EXACTLY same e mail but I'm trying to sell a Curio Cabinet on Craigslist.

I received a scam email about a sofa I had placed on Craigs list (appended below). Unfortunately I did not recognize it as such immediately, and sent my phone # and address.

The email mentions sending a check by courier, so I am wondering if the point of this scam is to find out when I will not be home? Good thing I didn't say anything about that!

----------------------------------------

From - Sat Jun 8 22:00:55 2013
X-Account-Key: account1
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Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2013 19:56:11 -0700
From: "Kimberly Thomas" <[email protected]>
To: Removed
Message-ID: <CAH9jYXRSkqMSTxjzZr4DcbuZ1koO+sjM20GA82D0jWoqS4P1wQ@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Brown faux suede sofa
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<div dir=3D"ltr"><br><div>Thanks for the prompt response i want you to know=
that am okay with the&nbsp;</div><div>condition of the item and i will lov=
e to make an instant purchase. I will be mailing a certified check from my =
account to cover the cost, &nbsp;</div><div>while you hold item on my behal=
f, am willing to give an extra $40 for you &nbsp;to hold item till you rece=
ive payment. Once you have payment, I will have my handler come for pickup =
at your place as soon as check clears your bank. &nbsp;I will be needing th=
e following information to issue out the payment .&nbsp;</div><div><br></di=
v><div>1.Name to be on the check</div><div>2.Home Address</div><div>3.Telep=
hone</div><div>4.Final Asking Price</div><div><br></div><div>**Additional f=
unds for pick up charges as quoted by my movers will be sent along with you=
r funds on a single check, you are to pay the movers I will await bank clea=
rance before we proceed further once you received the payments Please note =
that the payment will be mailed via the courier to your address and its bou=
nd to delivered within 2 to 3 days. I have taken a closer look at the item =
and am very satisfied i really need this and would appreciates that you hel=
p hold this for me till the payment arrives. Furthermore do remove the</div=
><div>posting from CRAIGSLIST as am definitely buying it from you. Hope to =
hear from you ASAP</div><div><br></div><div>Sincerely</div></div>

This just happened to me for the past 24 hours, almost to the exact story. I gave him my paypal account name, but never spoke on the phone. Just contacted paypal and craigslist regards the scam. Emailed scammer back, gave him a few kind words via email and text phone number.

Did you have any other issues since? Would you recommend anything else to do?

Thanks