Fake buyer scam

[Shablu]

Hey everyone, I am selling my motorbike at the moment and thought it was too good to be true when within an hour of posting my ad, so called Robert Lindsay wanted to buy it. We exchanged a few emails and the as it came time to pay I received an email explaining that the shipping co., called Haulage Exchange, would only accept western union and the nearest one to him was 8 hours away. Could I wire the $2,000 to them and he would send the extra with the purchase price. I received PayPal receipts confirming that he had paid the purchase price plus shipping costs, but a temporary hold was placed on the funds until I provided a scan of the western union receipt to PayPal. Kuala Lumur, Malaysia was the country they wanted the money sent. When I checked scam warners I knew I should have listened to my gut instincts, so I sent an email telling them to get jobs to support themselves because I wasn't going to. Just wish I could take this further.....

[Bubbles]

Welcome to ScamWarners Shablu. It is great you listened to your instinct and check to see if it was a scam. It is always a good day when a scammer doesn't take money from a potential victim.

Will you please post up the email addresses you received messages from? That will help others too.
Thank you.

[Shablu]

Thanks heaps, and I hope the following information can alert someone else. The email the scammer in my case used the email- [email protected]. The name he used during our communication was Robert Lindsay. The address in which he wanted me to send money was- Navin Kumar Goppu, 17Jalan 14/52BA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The shipping company he said was Haulage Exchange. I also wanted to add that the fake PayPal receipts and confirmations ARE REALISTIC LOOKING with the PayPal logo and ID numbers etc...so be careful everyone, I don't want to see this happen, I mean I have two children to support and $2,000 would have crippled my family...

[Tas98765]

Wow, thanks for this because we just listed a car for sale on the internet for $10,000. Also within an hour a guy called Robert Lindsay had written asking for a bit more information and then said he would pay the purchase price (with no bargaining at all). He then said that he wasn't in town right now and wanted to use paypal.

I thought it was too good to be true so i googled his name and found this warning. But now I can see that this could be the very same scam about to come up. If it wasn't for your warning we may never have known.

Thank you so much for taking to time to warn others.

We will not be dealing with this guy anymore and our money and car is safely with us still.

[Bubbles]

Welcome to ScamWarners Shablu and Tas98765. We are please that the information posted here helped keep you from falling for the scam.

Please post up the email address the scammer used especially if it is different from what is posted here.

[pebbles101]

Hey guys,
The same thing happened to me today! Instead the name the person used was Caroline Stevenson, just the name of the transport company is the same of the one that Robert Lindsey used, thankfully I googled the name Navin kumar goppu and this came up. I had a feeling it was a scam but thankfully I double checked on google. So just warning anyone else out there that gets contacted by Caroline that she is scammer, also the adress was also in Malaysia

[Emilyjo]

Same thing happened to me and my husband today. We should have known better considering the email address name was "Antonio Banderas" but we just wrote it off as the person had a fake email address for craigslist. This is the email we got.

Thanks For Getting back to me ..I am buying this item as a Gift and
i am at sea at the moment as i am a marinal engineer and due to the
nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are
restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert,so i would be
very glad iif you can be honest with me because this is my first time
making transaction online that is why i send you an email regarding
it. I really want it to be a surprise for my boss the new contract he
awarded for me, so i wont let him know anything about it until it gets
delivered to him, i am sure he will be more than happy with it. I
insisted on paypal because i don't have access to my bank account
online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my paypal
account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give
me your paypal email address and the price so i can make the payments
asap for it and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is very
easy to set up, go to www.paypal.com and get it set up, after you have
set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration
with paypal so as to put the money through. I have a pick up agent
that will come and pick it up after i have made the payments.. Thanks.

Note;my mover will not come for the pick up until you get your
payment,so i would be very glad if you can be honest with me about
this transaction.God bless you

Hope to read from you soon


Here is the funny part. We are selling a 1977 Chevy mud truck...that isnt even running at the moment. WHO buys this as a gift?!? After the initial excitement of selling the truck wore off, logic kicked in. To bad I had already sent our email address for paypal to him. I was just wondering what kind of damage he could do, just by having that email address. I deleted the email address, bank info, and our home address from Paypal. Anything else?

[Dotti]

You have nothing to worry about.

All the scammer intended to do was send you some fake emails from paypal stating that he sent money when he didn't. He cannot access your account or do anything to it.

Just delete anything further from him.

Emilyjo and Pebbles, can you post any additional emails used by these scammers?

[commodoreim]

After placing an ad on Hobart's Gumtree site on Sunday I was contacted after an extremely short time. Like others I, too, exchanged a numer of emails with a person called 'Jenny'. I had a 'funny feeling' that something was not quite right. I searched the net to find the supposed shipping company, whose details I had been provided with and who I was supposed to send money to (and upon receipt of the amount Paypayl would 'clear' payment due to me) and came across all your comments! Thanks for posting them! .

The shipping company is supposed to originate in Kuala Lunpur. The 'buyer', who contacted me, has provided an email address as: [email protected].

Mobile details (no doubt not a valid ones either) displayed, when I received the initial text on my mobile as:
+1 - 646 - 701 - 5423. I have also sent an email providing relevant details to www.scamwatch.gov.au and have let Gumtree know the same.

Another site I found very useful is: https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/scams/report-a-scam

Needless to say I have already cancelled the invoice I created in PayPal and advised 'Jenny' that I have sold the item.
Commodoreim

[Flibble]

Welcome commodoreim!

Firstly I'd like to thank you for posting this information. As you're well aware this really does help protect other people from these scammers. Also well done for just telling "her" that you sold it and you're done corresponding. The worse thing is to direct them to this site. They will know that their scheme is documented on scam websites so change their name, email address and so on.

[thedave]

I too was approached to provide shipping. Thanks Scamwarners! I searched the shipping company and came upon this post. The person wanting my van was Kathrina Latham ([email protected]) and the shipping agent is Navin Kumar Goppu, 69 Jalan ishmail Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, 50450, Malaysia. I am filing an online report with my local police service but I know nothing can be done. At least they didn't get me thanks to scamwarners.com

[Flibble]

Hey thedave,

Thanks for posting information about the scammer and I'm glad this criminal didn't get any money from you. Good luck selling your van to a legitimate buyer! These people can make the process so frustrating.

[Darkrider]

I just got a reply to my gumtree add via SMS, Asking me to email Morgan O'Connor, with the email address [email protected], Something didn't sound right, after a few emails he requested I transfer money to NavinKumar Goppu, After a Google search I found it to be a scam.

[Jack Smith]

Darkrider: Welcome, thanks for posting, and we're glad you didn't get scammed!

Could you post more details, including the text of the email you got requesting money? Others might find your posts here and get a warning that way. If you could include the full headers that would be even better, as we can track the scammer back to his lair.

[bob1234]

Hi, just posted an add on Gum tree and two "buyers" within a couple of hours, the are scammers, here are both e-mails I have with their e-mail addresses:

EMAIL ADDRESS:
Riley Crawford <[email protected]>

Great, thank you for getting back to me re my text message, I agree to buy at your price and i am keen on the buy myself. How I wish i could come for viewing and inspection soon but being in the military is not funny at all and we are away right now although I will be back in some couple of weeks precisely 9weeks. Due to my inability to make a bank deposit, I would be paying via PayPal which is safer for me and i will cover the paypal transfer fees. Kindly send me a paypal payment invoice or create an account at http://www.paypal.com.au if you dont have one. I know their are lots of dreamers and time wasters out there but this is real cos I will make a concrete pick up arrangement with my transport agent who will be coming over for pick up once you receive full payment into your PayPal account. Have a nice day. Few more photos will be appreciated as well.

Please be kind enough to resend me your land/mobile phone number and i will try as much as possible to give you a ring soon albeit schedule is very tight for me right now. thanks and get back soon.

I'd like to know certain things too;
Are you the first owner?
What is your reason for selling?
I'm sorry, just want to be sure about the sale before i proceed

Riley

and the second one, it's better if you compare it to the first one

EMAIL ADDRESSES:
Desmond O'Connor <[email protected]>
[email protected]

Alright Mate,

I am very keen. How i wish i could come for viewing and inspection as am currently overseas at the moment and i want it picked up before i get back. Due to my inability to make a bank deposit, I would be paying via PayPal which is safer for me. Kindly send me a paypal payment invoice or create an account at http://www.paypal.com.au if you dont have one. I will make a concrete pick up arrangement with my transport agent who will be coming over for pick up once you receive full payment into your PayPal account. Have a nice day.

Cheers.

so, hope this is useful