I was scammed but...

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 7

I was scammed last week when I advertised a Coach bag on Craigslist for $225 and a "Janet Simpson" ([email protected]) emailed me saying she wanted to buy it and send it to her sister. She told me she wanted to send it via PayPal so I set up an account and sent her an invoice. Then she told me to send the package to her sister in Washington DC (I'm from Canada) and she would pay $50 for shipping.

Then I got emails from PayPal saying the money was on hold until I emailed them the tracking number etc and although the email was sketchy I didn't pay much attention. It was only when "Janet" yelled at me saying I was trying to scam her because she overpaid me ($325) and wanted a refund that I realized that this was a huge scam. Of course by then I had sent off the package and lost $50 from shipping costs...

Anyway she continued to pester me and told me that she wanted me to refund her via a Western Union money transfer. After I realized it was a scam I thought maybe I could try and fish out some personal information to report her (though now I know to just drop it).

So this is all the information I got (after learning how to snoop around from 419eater!):

WESTERN UNION :

RECEIVER;S FULL NAME.:Solomon Adeagbo
RECEIVER'S COUNTRY : Nigeria
RECEIVER'S Address;no 17a abalamu apata
CITY ; IBADAN
STATE; OYO
NAME OF SENDER: .........................................
ADDRESS OF SENDER: ...............................
AMOUNT SENT: ..........................
MONEY TRANSFER CONTROL NUMBER (MTCN): .........................
TEST QUESTION...PET NAME
ANSWERS...DONKEY

Original IP address from the email: 74.125.82.47

Fake PayPal email: [email protected] on behalf of [email protected] ([email protected])

Since I was scammed using my personal real email account I don't want to continue, so I'm going to cut off all communication from now on. But if someone wants to do something about "Janet" I'd be really grateful.

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 3:20 pm

Sorry to hear you got done, glad to see you have cut of contact though.

Its not to late to get your own little bit of revenge though, doesnt take much effort to set up a email address and then start baiting, you could email 'janet' directly and get personal revenge, or simply just take revenge on the whole scamming community in general. Read the stickies around the place, stop by eater university, and apply for a mentor, and before you know it, you will have your very own lads complete with funny photos, tattoos, fake cheques and dodgy id's. Could even get a few safaris and show the lads the wonderful world.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 7

Hmm that's true. I think I will try from a fake email account. Though I don't think "she's" going to go very far.

How do I bait her without just out of the blue emailing her?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 3:48 pm

Simply send 'her' an email asking if she's still interested in your Dell notebook, as she seems to be the highest bidder at $ 2550. Smile

Don't send any links to real adverts, the above text will do.

And welcome to Eater. Just wished you found us a bit earlier. Sad

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 3:52 pm

just out of the blue email her, ask if she is still interested in the laptop, they send out mail to that many items for sale they dont know whats what. they wont even notice they never wrote to you.

Start simple and play it straight, act like a real victim, and dont try anything to outrageous just yet, something will always get in the way of payments though, western union asks you to have her fill in forms, or to use a secure modality. (all this stuff can be found in stickies) Once you get a feel for how the lads work and react you can start to go for bigger and better trophies. If you would like a steady stream of scammers mailing you, sign some guest books leaving your fake email addy, just make sure to say something nice on the site, as real people own these guestbooks. The lads will be mailing you within a couple of days this way.

Also try looking in the surplus forum for a whole list of emails with headers that you can readily reply to. Just remember, give em hell, and have fun.

And keep asking questions, the collective brainstrust here can talk you through anything.

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:46 pm

Welcome to Eater Very Happy

Grab a coffee or beer or whatever you like, pull up a comfy seat in front of the computer and have some safe-baiting fun. Oh, and don't forget to cancel any appointments you have, 'cos you'll probably be here for a while, this can get addictive! Wink

Anyways, I'm off. Someone just posted an ad for a laptop on Craigslist. Just what I've been looking for...

(hehe, just kidding)

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 7:11 pm

Hi sc4329

Welcome to 419eater
Visit Eater University. Read the Stickys. Sign up for the Cherrie Mentor Program. Bait Safe and most of all have Fun!!

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 7:15 pm

I'm sorry to hear about your being scammed. Did you also lose the bag or were you able to get it back? Were you given a legitimate shipping address?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 7

Thanks for all the tips everyone!! I'm definitely going to start off slowly to get a feel for this sort of thing. I'm in the middle of reading a safari bait story from Eater U.

I did end up losing the bag because I ran to the post office right after and Canada Post had already taken it to the sorting centre. And then they wouldn't let me cancel the shipment because it was "now government property".

Yes it was a legitimate shipping address to 1400 Independence Ave S.W., Washington DC, 20250, USA. I tracked it down and it is the Department of Agriculture building (??) but it seems there is a post office outlet there. So I suspect that "Janet" has an in at the post office.

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 7:44 pm

I hate craigslist scammers.

I often sell items on there (usually laptops) and wait for a scammer to want to buy them.

Then I make them jump through all sorts of hoops to get my money.
They always send you spoofed paypal emails that are supposed to fool you into sending the item before the money is in your account.

You can get your own back on them by selling 'fake' items and then baiting the scammer once he contacts you.
You can even 'send' the item to him using felchair.

I have done a few craigslist scams already (see my bait site in sig below).

Have fun.

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 10:40 pm

Hi sc sorry about your loss. eh it was only 50 or 100? that's not TOO bad
Probably more the principle of the thing. Slimeballs pulling a fast one.
Hey Technomancer, my computer chair is an overstuffed recliner.
(Tells you how much time I spend at the computer every day.)

Suggest you talk to MikeandLouise. I have no exp. with Craigslist scams

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 7

Thanks everyone.

Yes it was $50 for the shipping + the cost of the bag (originally $400). Oh well... an expensive lesson.

Ugh I'm just so disgusted by him/her. S/He sent me an email calling me a scammer. How dare s/he!

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:19 pm

Between selling the items they've stolen and the cost of the "overpayment" they expect you to send, they can probably net a tidy profit out of it if it works often enough.
Nothing annoys me more than the idea of a scammer getting paid. Might get into Craigslist baiting myself...

If you're posting a fake ad on there, is there any way you can warn legitimate buyers off without revealing to the lads that it's a trap?
Don't want to post an ad selling my custom-built laptop design and then end up with a load of people who think it's a real ad and want to buy it, lol.

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 5:59 am

Huntington wrote:

If you would like a steady stream of scammers mailing you, sign some guest books leaving your fake email addy, just make sure to say something nice on the site, as real people own these guestbooks. The lads will be mailing you within a couple of days this way.

Hi SC,

So easily done. Sorry that it happened to you.

Re: above quote. That is not quite accurate. The emails start coming in within hours. Some even in minutes. Just depends on when you post.
During the week or time of day.

I had 90 in two days. Started replies and the account closed up. I emailed the service and explained I'm scambaing. They reopened it. They support the activity.

Hi Technomancer, Smile

If you're posting a fake ad on there, is there any way you can warn legitimate buyers off without revealing to the lads that it's a trap?
Don't want to post an ad selling my custom-built laptop design and then end up with a load of people who think it's a real ad and want to buy it, lol.

How about overpricing the item?

Cheers

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 6:09 am

@ sc4329 I'm sorry that I minimized your loss. I didn't read it right or do the math correctly. $450 is a fair size loss. Entomologist, the offers come
in MINUTES?? That means that ALL who sign guest books are harvested by these slime-buckets. They're all targets. That's a bit discouraging to consider but as long as we have new baiters joining the fight here at this site and... all the other sites devoted to scambaiting world -wide.

There was a time it seems like scambaiting was only done by a handful of people like Gilbert Murray over at "whatsthebloodypoint.com"
That's the site I started reading the published scambaits. NOW it's the
21st century BLOOD-SPORT. Keep on keeping on.

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 7:34 am

Hi Brainiac, Smile

Yes, everyone gets them. I found some of the services like gmail do filter most as spam. To access the spam stuff: Type in, spam in the mail search block. You can get a shock at times. So do be sitting when you do it.

Hi again SC,
These members on this site really do like to help out. So keep on asking for help. I have been here only a short while and its been easy to reach that conclusion.

Hopefully the scummer that got you, his karma may lead to where revenge may make him pay oneday.
Its only a matter of when, not if, that they come undone somewhere.

Look at it this way: He has led you to a fantastic activity. You would never have come to this forum if he had not scammed you.

Cheers

Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:20 am

Technomancer wrote:

Might get into Craigslist baiting myself...

If you're posting a fake ad on there, is there any way you can warn legitimate buyers off without revealing to the lads that it's a trap?

Yeah go ahead and try it. It's a good way to get lads.

As for the advert, well I have never had a 'real' buyer contact me.
Lads trawl through craigslist all the time and tend to pick up new adverts almost as soon as they are placed.

If you think that a genuine person is contacting you then just ignore the email.
Most real lads will contact you with something like "is the item still available".

Any real buyer's first email to you would be a bit more in depth and he/she would probably ask a few more questions.

Once you do have a lad, then just delete the advert. This is just in case the lad see's that your advert is still on there.

You can then readvertise it once you are done with your lad.

Most times your lad will send you fake paypal or fake bank transfer emails, but sometimes you may be able to get some fake cheques from them too.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 7

Entomologist, Yes you're right! Now I'm very educated and way more cautious. No one is going to pull a fast one on me ever again. I hope.

I just got set up with my mentor so I'll be wasting time in no time. Smile

Thanks for the support everyone.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 1

Thank you so much for posting her/his scam information online, I am glad I google her/his contact and found your posting before I begin the paypal process. Below is a cut-and-paste from my original email. I replaced my personal information with xxx.

Hello xxx,

My name is Engr.Janet i am from st john's, NL.i wish to buy this item
for my daughter and the price is affordable to me .

Do you have PayPal account concerning the payment? if you have you can send money request to [email protected] for me to make the
payment today.i would like you to add $40 for the mailing cost via
Canada post.so let me know if that works for you.

Janet

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 Jul 2010 Posts: 1

I think I have the same guy, although he's going by Joe Simpson from St. Johns NL. The Western Union Money order email came from [email protected] too.

I'm not sure where to go with this next as this is my first time, so right now I'm just arguing about how western union works until I think of what he can send me.

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:32 pm

Welcome to Eater, fisherman!

Good job in finding out the guy was a fraud before sending the package

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:21 pm

Wow! Sorry about your loss, sc, but thanks for posting your story. Because of that post two other potential vics found out about this creep. Welcome to eater, sc, on-line-seller, and fisherman! Very Happy

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:23 pm

has this thread been semi-necro'ed ? eh, I guess it's not too old but I was reading some of my own posts from May till I realized this thread had some new life breathed into it.. give 'em hell on behalf of the OP