I think I have been scammed

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

Ok, well i was having a conversation with a guy on e-mail. He was offering me an amazing deal on a graphics card. So he send me his paypal account and i payed him the amount of 340$. We were having a conversation for about an hour or so, and he was always responding to my emails after less then 5 minutes or so. Since i sent him the money, he's not answering me anymore. I am really worried since this is my first time with paypal and i am not verry familiar with it. If i got screwed, how can i get my money back ? My paypal account is not verified, is that an issue ? Maybe im just paranoing, but this was all my economy and it was really a good deal, maybe to good to be true...

I should also say that he send an image of the item, wich was dark and i could not see the thing. But since i openned the file, is it possible that he included a keylogger or something in it ?

The guy was called rahul sami if that rings a bell for someone

So please help me get out of this situation

Thank you and sorry for the verry long post Smile

Not quite a Newb Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 62

A google search gave me 4200 hits on that name. Do a search and see if any of them might be your guy.

Contact Paypal, find out what their policies are. I once got ripped off by a guy on ebay, but since I had followed all the "standard practices" I got most of my money back.

How did you "meet" this guy on email?

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

I found him on craiglist. Rahul sami is a known guy in computer tech. I asked him if he new that guy and he said no, so he is not related to the guy on the internet

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:59 am

Hi gablain and welcome!

I am sorry this happened to you. PayPal has a Resolution Center to dispute a transaction. I have never had to use it, but I have heard good things about it. Maybe you could try that?

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:25 am

I may be wrong but I think you can put a hold on payment if you just made it, but dispute it and if you dont receive your product you should get your money back and paypal will go after the scammer hopefully.

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:43 am

Hi Gablain,
Did you check the file extension of the file that he sent you?

Even if it is a jpg (or a picture file) it is still *possible* that he has sent you a keylogger, but it is very difficult for most of them to get past your antivirus if it is up to date.

Also many email programs will not allow a suspicious file through to your inbox no matter what antivirus you have on your own pc.

Some keyloggers are bound to a jpg so that they look like a picture but they are really an exe file but it's unlikely *I think* that it would have got past both your antivirus, and the email antivirus policy *assuming you're using something fairly mainstream like Yahoo or Gmail?

I'd run a scan of your system just to be on the safe side though. Most keyloggers won't show up on the task manager, but if you select Ctrl Alt and H you might get one to show up if it is there.

And I've had good experience with Paypal when a buyer has not sent me goods that they've bought and if you contact them quickly they will hopefully be able to help you.

Good luck!

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:08 am

I used Paypal's dispute resolution center recently and it worked fine.

I bought something from an Ebay seller who never shipped the item to me.

It took about ten days for Paypal to investigate and credit my account
with the money I sent to the seller.

Smile

Master Baiter Joined: 12 Nov 2008 Posts: 104

you said you were not verified but do you know if he was? Also paypal is pretty good with there dispute resolution center I have heard several people say they took care of it Exclamation

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

helle, thank you for the answers, verry informative Smile

I made a claim using paypal. He recieved the claim and then suddely he seems interested in me again... He wants me to remove the claim, because he says he was about to send the item but know because of that he can not access his paypal somehow. But if i cancel the claim, paypal says that i can not re-open the case... So should I cancel it ? If i don't cancel it, he'll have to send a tracking number to paypal to proove his shipping, so i would be alright no?

What should i do ?

Thanx guys Rolling Eyes

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:47 am

Have him send teh item first and then, once it is in your hands, you can cancel the claim. If he doesn't agree then go ahead and cancel the clain anyway. there are plenty more graphics cards to buy elsewhere....

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:49 am

DO NOT STOP THE CLAIM with Pay Pal, PP recovery service is very good, I've used it a few times for stuff that hasn't arrived on E-bay. But I'm only claiming small amounts, But regardless of that a claim is a claim.. The last one took less then 24 hours as the seller developed a no send policy, and the complaints just snowballed.

But I take it you have sent the file [all the e-mails] to PP, They will access the situation and simply deduct the amount from the sellers account. With no "beg your pardons" and pay it into your account. They will also deduct there 3% handleing fee, from his account. You will in turn get an e-mail from PP informing you that should the item turn up, YOU must pay for it.

A verification simply means PP know your residential address, and will not have any effect on your claim. I've been dealing with E-bay and Pay Pal for years and my account still tells me the account is not verified, I've even spoken to there call back centre in Mumbai, And while the operator was most helpful, It's still showing a Not-verified notice.

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 7:11 am

I agree. Do not cancel the claim.

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:25 am

Same here. Don't cancel the claim. If you cancel, you lose every bit of leverage that you have. You'll take any official pull you have out of the loop and then you're on your own. You'll also give this guy the chance to just carry on scamming as basically you'll be saying he's not guilty.

That said, I can't believe the number of guys here who say that Paypal's Resolution service is any good.
I got ripped off by some jerk-off when buying a PC a couple of years back and got £80 back out of £250. Once I got the £80, Paypal simply didn't want to know any more and as far as they were concerned it was case closed.

Luckily, the little shit didn't live to far away from me. And after a few very threatening phone calls involving the words "visit", "arms", "legs", "kneecapped", and "broken" I got nearly all my cash back.

Thanks for fuck all, Paypal.

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

I won't cancell the claim thank you, he just sent me another e-mail saying that :

Me: ok i'll cancel it right now but be assured that i'll put it back if you don't send me the item, sorry i admit that i was quick on the claim, but i was just really insecure.

keep me updated

Him: Yes its ok, but you do not worry sir, everything will be A-OK
Thanx!

Me: Actually I can't cancell my claim, so just send tracking number and info to paypal and it will be alright

Him: Thats why I cannot, it says you could cancel it, I still need to buy things for your computer packaging, so nothing will happen till you cancel it.

Thanx!

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:35 pm

He's full of crap.

Just tell him you want your money back.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:43 am

I hate to agree with the crazy squirrel, but, Do NOT cancel the claim. I went through this crap with PP about 1 year ago for an item not received. It took over 3 months and tons of phone calls to resolve it. Sounds to me like he is trying to screw you. DO NOT CANCEL the claim.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:09 am

Quote:

That said, I can't believe the number of guys here who say that Paypal's Resolution service is any good.

As I said "Slightly" I have only ever had small claims of less then 100 dollars.. perhaps the higher the amount the harder it is to get a refund.

Quote:

I won't cancell the claim thank you, he just sent me another e-mail saying that :

Me: ok i'll cancel it right now but be assured that i'll put it back if you don't send me the item

I have my doubts, that once a claim is cancelled it can be reinstated.
BUT have nothing to do with this person. All your business is now directed to Pay-pal. they will sort it out. I would say the seller is now attempting to cover his arse. As he knows he's wrong. Something else to consider, If you intend to post negative feedback, Do it now, Once the pay-pal claim is completed, and they call it a cancelled sale. You loose the right to any sort of feedback.

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:04 am

In my opinion, you should cancel the payment (not the claim) and get your money back.

Even if he is not a scammer (which I think he is), he is not a serious seller, and I would not deal with him. There are plenty of places where you can buy another graphic card.

Cheers!

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