Craig's List / PayPal scam ?

Good afternoon everyone my name is Anthony and I am a new member to this site which I think is a great vehicle for preventing /helping individuals that may have been scammed.

This is my story: Yesterday I posted my custom built ejection seat on Craig's List.
It has also been listed on E-Bay for a few weeks under Buy it Now, not auction.

Anyway, I would say withing 2-3 hours after posting to Craig's List I get e text message on my phone as follows.

From the telephone number: (516) 630-3690
1of2, " Ejection Seat F-4 Phantom Executive's chair $6000 (Bayshore)
Hello I am meyer. . is the above listing still up for sale ?
. . get
2of 2 back to me at [email protected]
. . . . . . . . thank you "

I apologize for the bad typing but that is the exact way it came over the phone and for the sake of keeping the format the same just in case anyone else has/is noticing a similarity in the way the text is sent, I decided to leave it exactly as sent.

Now naturally I was excited Jeeezis, it has been on E-Bay about 2 weeks and has only got 2 offers and I put it on Craig's list and within hours I have a buyer ! ??
I was at work and had a lot going on so my mind wasn't really paying much attention to the text but I did send an Email back.

"Hello Meyer, I apologize for missing your message earlier, the ejection seat from the phantom with the red seat and backrest is still available, I had one in black that has been sold but the red is still available,"

Within minutes the person Email's me back:
Mary Myer
5:56 AM (11 hours ago)

to me
"Thanks I'm just asking about it to make sure its in good condition as im buying it for my Family as a surprise gift and they don't know about it, so can you assure me i will not be disappointed? also no shipment involved as i have movers that will come for it. Im okay with the price but will like to know how old is it and why you are selling it, I can only pay you via one of the fastest and secure way to pay online (PayPal).. Do you have a PayPal account? Let me know asap so i can arrange the payment through PayPal. my shipper will be coming to pick it up as soon as the payment clears into your account . So if you're ready to move forward, just fill out the info below so I can work everything out! PayPal Email: Full Name: Firm Price: Zip Code: Mobile Phone# .Thanks so much"

My first though was wow !! they didn't even try to chew me down ??
Everyone I have ever dealt with (I am in sales) has always asked if I could do better on the price but OK, they're buying it for a gift, maybe money is no object but Pay Pal? Ughhh that is the reason I listed it also on EBAY, I prefer Cash and not have to worry about shipping this heavy beast but OK, not that big of a deal they're willing to pick it up ! great so I send another email .

" to Mary
Hello Mary, Anthony here, I can absolutely assure you the ejection seat is in the exact same condition as you see in the images as a matter of fact the actual leather has never even been touched without being covered as I have always wanted to keep my seat in excellent condition.

The ejection seat is from a Vietnam era fighter jet flying in the 1960's but was completely stripped to bare aluminum and titanium then it was powder coated which is a very strong type of paint that withstands chipping very well, there is a removable pilots survival case under the red leather seat that is a great place to hide things and is only able to be opened once you pull on the right handle.

The reason I am selling is my wife has become very sick and to help pay for some of the medications she needs and her mounting bills that seem to come quicker than I can recover from

I do have pay pal though I was kind of hoping to get cash for it because sometimes pay pal holds funds for a while, I have delivered my other seat to a woman buying it for her husband for Father's Day and I am also willing to do the same for you if you like? Given it is not that far of a distance as I have the means to do so.

Right now I am at work and if it has to be by pay pal I would have to wait until I got home to change the way pay pal will deposit funds as right now it is only linked to my credit card.

Thank you for getting back so quickly Mary, if I have failed to cover any questions please let me know, my cell number is blah blah blah , it is fine to call me if you need any other info."

Figured this opens the door for us to get acquainted you know when you actually talk to a person on the other end there is a certain amount of re-assurance everything is on the up and up , they just send an email that says OK great I will wait for the PayPal info, the day goes on no telephone call , this had me very concerned as I know that if I were buying something for such an amount of money, I would want to talk to a human being just to make sure you know ??
SOOOOOO, I am thinking this is absolutely a scam and that is where you fine men and women come in? any suggestions for me? does anyone here feel this is not legit ? the first thing that worries me is , OK they send me the funds and they send someone to pick it up but how the heck do I prove the actual buyer gets their item? once it leaves my hands I don't know where it is going and anyone can say I never got it ?

Thank you all for reading this long drawn out post and I await suggestions .
Thanks ,
The New Guy

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 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.

I wonder if there is any way to catch this person through following the driver to the delivery spot to see who accepts the item?

stuff like this really burns me up and not just for me but for the other 15000 other people they do this to. I would really love to catch them this way the word is out there, you can get caught.

Thank you for getting back, i appreciate your insight and your time.

He can'r be caught because he's not located in the USA and everything he's told you is a fairytale. He's most likely located in Africa or he's an expat African in the Far East. The kicker is that he'll overpay you with the 'spoofed' Paypal message and then ask you to pay his fake delivery agent (him) the pick up fee by Western Union. Of course if he can pay you by Paypal he could pay the delivery agent but if he did that his scam doesn't work.

He'll have sent out hundreds of similar messages and he only needs a few take ups to make a nice living. He probably has no real clue what it is you're actually selling. You could ask if he wants the charge active as it isn't really operative without it and he'll just say yes.

For a moment I thought you were kidding but in the UK there is a someone who deals in similar items who appears on TV.

TerranceBoyce, there is someone in the UK who deals with selling Ejection seats on TV?
Is that what you meant?
I was a little unclear about your post especially when you said for a moment you thought I was kidding ?
I couldn't dream to make something like this up.
As far as my Craig's List sale, I did get a legitimate offer Yesterday but armed with a better understanding of what these scammers do, I was able to actually talk to the person and I was able to verify an actual address as well as phone numbers and the person will be stopping by to pick up the ejection seat all Greenbacks !!

So I thank you all, '
This site is extremely informative , nobody likes to get taken, some a lot less than others.
I must have spend 3 days trying to find out who tried to scam me with no luck but there has to be some kind of way to catch these people and I am certain they couldn't all possibly be in Africa, some have to be very close and those are the ones I want to get.

Thanks all for posting - I just got the exact same set of interactions, same text, same email text, same email address.I will politely decline the offer!!

Steph

I received the EXACT same email from Mary Myer. Thanks for the warning! This is obviously a scam. I emailed back saying "cash only".

Welcome to Scamwarners Keat455,

What was the email address used?

Welcome to Scamwarners Keat455,

What was the email address used?

The email was: [email protected]
I just emailed back saying cash only, and I never heard anything back - not a surprise.

Thank you.

It always best to do face to face with cash.

This same scam is used sending fake checks.

Thank you so much for posting this! I received the same messages and text word for word today after posting an ad yesterday. I am selling a collector car, and was extremely excited to see such a fast response. I am thankful that I was skeptical enough to at least research it before losing out a ton of money. I agree that the person doing this needs to be stopped. I just wish it were easier to turn someone in. Hopefully it catches up to them!

JUST AN UPDATE GUYS!! THIS PERSON IS STILL DOING THISS!!!
HES USING THE NUMBER 1 (704) 769-5918 NOW.
He may just be changing his numbers to relate to the location he is trying to scam but he is still using the email address [email protected] and he gave me this address to send money too. I reported him but just so everyone can be aware!!!
Name: Ojelabi Opeyemi
Address : 918 Alewife circle
City: South Yarmouth
State: MA
Zip code: 02664
Country: USA

IF THIS PERSON CONTACTS YOU RUN FAST!!!