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Real stories from scam victims. Learn from their experiences to protect yourself. Share your story to help warn others about online fraud.
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  by Chantell
 
[email protected] - this fellow wanted to buy a car I listed on autotrader and said he could only pay using paypal, he said he was a forest biologist working in the USA and wanted the car for his wife for their first anniversary, he said he wished he could see the car and that he could only pay through paypal and told me how to set up an account, then once he made the payment his agent would come and pick it up, he would love to talk to me on the phone, but he can only receive calls when the service was good
  by vonpaso xlura
 
This sort of scam uses a fake PayPal email supposedly for the price of the car plus shipping, then he asks you to send money to the pickup agent via Western Union. The shipper never appears, nor does any money arrive in your PayPal account. Could you post the emails?
  by Jillian
 
Welcome, Chantell. Good job spotting the scam.
As Vonpaso Xlura stated, this sort of scam will use a faked paypal. The key to the scam is the supposed third party, the supposed "agent". The scammer will ask for payment to be made to this person who is simply the same scammer playing this role himself using another name.

Please do post the scam emails you received. Having the information here helps it to show up in searches for others, plus we ask for the full email evidence to be posted along with the email address/name. Let us know if you have questions.
  by keith gri
 
Name: Alex
Phone:
Email: [email protected]

Question
I want to buy your vehicle and will like to know the current state of it. get back to me with your final selling price if still available for sale. Thanks
Alexander Micheal ([email protected])Add to contacts03/02/2013 To: keith grif Thanks for the mail, I am buying this for my wife cause is our 1st yr anniversary and I am a forest biologist, unfortunately I'm currently in the U.S so I won't be around to celebrate with her. i real

From: Alexander Micheal ([email protected])
Sent: February-03-13 11:20:35 PM
To: keith grif Thanks for the mail, I am buying this for my wife cause is our 1st yr anniversary and I am a forest biologist, unfortunately I'm currently in the U.S so I won't be around to celebrate with her. i really want this to be a surprise gift for my wife so i wont let her know anything about this until it gets delivered to her , i am sure she will be more than happy with it.i can only pay with paypal here, i will need you to give me your paypal email address so i can make the payments asap and please if you don't have a 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 would have love to come and check it myself but is so unfortunate that i can't come.
PS:Pick up agent will come for the pick up as soon as i have made the payments and inspect and test it to see if everything is ok cause that is the only time the agent get involve, i would have loved to talk to you on phone but i am a forest biologist I work mainly in the forest for now, i can't make call from here in the forest for now due to call restriction but i can only receive calls when the service is good and communicate through email for now.
Cheers
  by keith gri
 
same guy id think .tryin to get my car
  by keith gri
 
i sent it to auto trader scam alert .they say that they will block him.but im shure he,ll be back with a differnt name.
  by sdavis0961
 
Here's my recent contribution. Same wording verbatim with some other 'oceanographers' scams I read on the site. Please flag this emailer as a scammer.
thanks



From:Lisa Lamb [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2013 12:08 PM
To: Steve Davis
Subject: RE: BMW engine photos

try to set up a paypal account and get back to me with the email linked to your paypal account so i can process the payment.


---


Subject: RE: BMW engine photos
To: "Lisa Lamb" <[email protected]>
Date: Tuesday, 5 February, 2013, 19:54
Lisa
Thanks for your reply. To be honest I’m just a bit skeptical. I know that the car won’t disappoint and it needs nothing. It only has 5700 miles on it after all; leased back in June. I appreciate your offer to pay asking price but need to know a bit more about how this might proceed. I hope you understand my reservations.
thanks

From: Lisa Lamb [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2013 11:31 AM
To:
Subject: Re: BMW engine photos

Thank you for getting back to me,can you assure me that i will not be disappointed if i buy this Vehicle as a Birthday gift for my Dad? as I'm ready to pay your asking price but not cash in person because I'm an Oceanographer and i am presently on a contract which will end in couple of months,the contract is strictly no call due to the lack of reception on the sea area,but I'm able to access my mail through my laptop and my only quickest payment option is PayPal,its safe fast and secure and i will be responsible for the pay pal transaction charges so you can get your expected amount.
If you don't have an account with paypal,its pretty easy to open one,Just log on to http://www.paypal.com and sign up.I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible? as my Dad's birthday is fast approaching,am sure he will love this vehicle,his a mechanic and a handy man,so if there is anything that need to be fixed in it just let me know he will handle it.
I have a mover that will come for the pick up once payment clears in your account and he will handle the title for me.I look forward to hear from you with the information below.

Your PayPal e-Mail Address :
Full name:
Firm Price:
Zip code for pickup:

Thanks.

Lisa.

  by snapper2472
 
Another one for you from [email protected]. Hopefully his email adress will come up on google searches if anybody else is scammed in the future

Hi,
Thanks for the prompt response and please do consider me as the buyer. I am ready to buy it now as a birthday gift for my brother in-law. Though, I am on the sea at the moment as I am a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone call making and visiting of website are restricted but I just have to squeezed out time to check this advert and decided to contact you regarding it. I really want the car to be a surprise package for brother in-law so I won't let him know anything about the car until it gets delivered to him, I am sure he will be more than happy with the car. I insisted on PayPal as my mode of payment because I don't have access to my bank account online and also, I don't have internet banking, but I can pay from my PayPal account. I have my bank account attached to my PayPal account, so I will need you to get back to me with your PayPal email address and your final price so I can make the payment asap for the car. Also, in your response, please include your phone number again in case I misplace the one I have so I can send you a text as soon as the payment is sent via PayPal.
Nevertheless, if you don't have a PayPal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to http://www.paypal.com and get it set up, after you have set it up I will only need the e-mail address you used for the registration with PayPal so as to put the money through. I have a pick up agent that will come and pick the car up after I have made the payments for the car.

My Regards.