Really need help, new to paypal and all that stuff !

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 14 Nov 2008 Posts: 6

Hello, so i have put a product for sale on craiglist montreal (Canada). This New York businessmen contacted me. He is what he said:

"Hello There,thank you for the prompt response to my inquiry,am very
much satisfied with the condition and price of the item and i would
like to make an outright purchase of it immediately
so i will advice that
you withdraw the advert from the web because I'm ready for it purchase
and my form of payment will be by pay pal i want you
o understand that i am a business man and very busy here in new york and i want to buy this item for my son who works in charity
organization and now in west Africa for an official assignment
so all what you have to do now is that you should send me your pay pal
address so that i can make the payment immediately
and i will pay additional $100 for shipping cost,so that you can help
me ship the item to him,
waiting for your reply
best regards"

Then i said i was new to paypal and everything and i needed a little info, here is what he said:
HI
> thanks for your swift response,pay pal is made to simplify payment of
> goods bought online,they will credit your account immediately you send
> the item bought to the buyer and send the tracking number to them.You
> dont have to worry about the shipping cost i did a mistake when
> mailing you last time i will give you $400 for that and in case is not
> up to that you will send back my change, am doing this coz your
> shipping cost over there may be different from ours and besides i dont
> have the time.Thanks once again.

Now I received a Paypal e-mail saying that i will receive payment when i will send them tracking number:

ear Gxxx Bxxx (xxx@hotmail.com)

This is to Notify you about the Payment made by "steven lewis "([email protected]) to your PayPal account.The payment has been successfully made but due to security reasons, not until you send us the shipment tracking number,your money will remain in our ESCROW.

This a new measure we are taking in order to protect both Seller and Buyers against fraudulent activities.Once you have ship the item,send the shipment tracking number to PayPal Customer Service Department :[email protected]

**PLEASE NOTE**
Once shipment has been verified and the tracking number sent to us,You will receive a "CONFIRMATION Email" from PayPal informing you that the Money has been credited.

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account.We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
PayPal Verification Department

then he send me another e-mail...

Hi
How are you doing?i have contacted paypal and they told me that there is no cause for alarm, that immediate you send the item and you give them the tracking number they will credit your account immediately.please kindly send the item today coz my son is in a hurry and will be going to other west Africa.thanks

Sorry for the really long post, but i really want to make sure i am not making a big mistake, for i would be loosing all my savings. Do you think it's a scam? Will i receive the money if I sent the item?

thank you once again Smile

Obscured your real name and email address for your own good. Very Happy

-luckey

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 4:15 pm

Yes, it's a scam. I'll be more specific shortly.

Edit:

OK, after reading your post more carefully, there are a few possibilities here.

Without a doubt, the paypal email is fake (spoofed).

Quote:

This is to Notify you about the Payment made by "steven lewis "([email protected]) to your PayPal account.The payment has been successfully made but due to security reasons, not until you send us the shipment tracking number,your money will remain in our ESCROW.

This a new measure we are taking in order to protect both Seller and Buyers against fraudulent activities.Once you have ship the item,send the shipment tracking number to PayPal Customer Service Department :[email protected] [free email address, certainly not used by paypal]

**PLEASE NOTE**
Once shipment has been verified and the tracking number sent to us,You will receive a "CONFIRMATION Email" from PayPal informing you that the Money has been credited.

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account.We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
PayPal Verification Department

Note the bad grammar, awkward phrasing, and typos. Very similar to the email your scammer sent you directly:

Quote:

Hi
How are you doing?i have contacted paypal and they told me that there is no cause for alarm, that immediate you send the item and you give them the tracking number they will credit your account immediately.please kindly send the item today coz my son is in a hurry and will be going to other west Africa.thanks

If you ship the item, you will lose it. I'm guessing it's something small and valuable like electronics or jewelry. If it's something like a car, he may cancel the transaction and ask you to refund his money via Western Union or Moneygram. Both are untraceable. If you send money to him you will never get it back.

Quote:

You
dont have to worry about the shipping cost i did a mistake when
mailing you last time i will give you $400 for that and in case is not
up to that you will send back my change, am doing this coz your
shipping cost over there may be different from ours and besides i dont
have the time.

He may be trying to get you to wire money to him before you realize you are being taken. Again, he will ask you to use Western Union or Moneygram to send that money.

Well done for being suspicious!

If you tell him you know he's a criminal, or just stop answering him, he will eventually leave you alone. Since he has your personal information, please don't try to play with him.

Edit 2: content and clarity

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 14 Nov 2008 Posts: 6

thank you really much for taking all that time for me, and you are right, it's an expensive processor. I think from now on ill only deal locally. Smile

thx once again

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 5:07 pm

Sad to say you can save a huge amount of stress by listing in your ebay ads as "if you're not in the US, we will have to discuss payment methods, all funds will have to be 100% cleared before item will be sent"

Ebay won't let you list without paypal, or with WU - which is the only surefire way of getting your cash! But then you can negotiate payment method with a *real* overseas buyer that they'll pay by WU or use the escrow service of *your* choosing.

Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 5:43 pm

To avoid getting scammed by a spoof e-mail, log in to your account and see if ANY payments were made.

If no payments were made, write back to them and say something like

"I logged on to my paypal account and did not see the payment, but I did get an email from Paypal saying I got some kind of payment. I believe that paypal lost the money. Please resend."

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