Almost got scammed

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Hey guys, I decided to sell my phone on eBay for the first time and almost got scammed by one of these nigerian scumbags.. was you guys could bait him.

Heres where I'm at with him. He offered me almost double what I paid for and sent me this email from [email protected] (Michael LaFever) :

"Hi,I just completed sending the payment into your PayPal account and i think you should have received the confirmation email from PayPal,Please check your PayPal email.Shipping will be through USPS Priority Mail International.Here is a copy of my shipping address.

Name: Musk Adenuga
No:8 Jimson Street Oke Fia,
City:Oshogbo.
State:Osun State
ZipCode: 230001.
Country: Nigeria.

Thanks"

I replied telling him I would ship the phone to him the next day:

He replies, "Thank you for your mail..i will be glad if the shipment can take place tomorrow morning.
Please shipping will be through USPS Priority Mail International.

I will be waiting to hear from you.

Happy Sunday."

I told him that I shipped the phone and it should arrive in soon but package is on hold until the money releases.

He replied:

"What do i do.but is there any problem in the money i sent you..tel me if there is another option if you want me to resend it by another means.

Get back to me ASAP"

Of course I didnt know he was scammer at first, so he has my real e-mail address.. any ideas or tips on what to do next.. maybe I can lead him to one of you pro baiters?

Thanks!

Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:36 pm

Welcome AlmostGotMe.

Glad to hear that you wised up to the scammer.

First thing to do is to cease all contact with the scammer. We are not professionals but always bait safe revealing no real life info whatsoever.

One of our members may very well pick up and bait this scammer, if one is perhaps not already, so that we can gain info on him to better warn others.

We have a sister site dedicated to this end, maybe you would drop in there and post all the info you have.

http://www.scamwarners.com/

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Thanks for the reply Kate, I almost wanted to tackle it myself.. just cause I find it interesting, but figured I better not. Hopefully one of the members picks it up and keeps me in the loop!!

I just wanted to add that this is a PayPal scam to buy electronics such as phones, iPods, etc..

You've got new funds!

Payments by PayPalDear XXXXXX,

Michael LaFever just sent you money with PayPal.

Michael LaFever is a Verified buyer.
Payment Details
Amount:

Recipient:

$4xx.00 USD

[email protected]

Transaction ID: 7NF4940756375971A
Subject: Please kindly get the item ship as soon as possible.

Note: You have been paid for one iPhone (XXXXXXXXXXXX).

Shipping Information:

Address:

Name: Musk Adenuga
No:8 Jimson Street Oke Fia,
City:Oshogbo.
State:Osun State
ZipCode: 230001.
Country: Nigeria.

Address Status: Confirmed

The email is spoofed to come from [email protected] but actually goes to [email protected]

That's what tipped me off right away (I'm an IT professional Razz

)

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 Mar 2006 Posts: 7101 Location: Yes

Welcome AGM -- you'll find these types of scammers are very prevalent and there are loads of examples of these here and on scamwarners. Good job figuring out the spoof. Thumbs up

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 2

"CONSULTANT.COM is a publication of World.com Media. Other leading publications include Asia.com for the Best Deals on Travel in Asia, Lawyer.com for Legal Advice and Services, Doctor.com for Consumer Medical Information, Calendar.com for Calendar Software and Scheduling Solutions, Email.com for Business Email Software and Services and Paris.com for Paris Travel, Hotel and Restaurant Information.
This site and domain are not affiliated with or owned by any government or municipal authority
© 2008 World Media Group LLC."

World.com Contact Information:

Email: [email protected]
Mailing Address: World Media Group, 25 Mountainview Blvd, Suite 204,Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
Email Abuse
The email services are not owned or provided by World Media Group, LLC. To report potential email abuse or related matters, please refer to Mail.com (www.mail.com). They own and operate the email services for the domain(s).

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 310-321- 5000 xt. 5092

call them up / e-mail them and report this douchetard, ask them if their company sponsers scamartists =p

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

IMHO, Don't bother.

mail.com offers a huge number of email domains, and there is no bar to entry. You or I could pick up a consultant.com address just as easily as a yahoo.com one. They are not reserved for one particular company.

The received wisdom is that mail.com are scammer-friendly. They terminate accounts of baiters at the drop of a hat, and refuse to terminate scammer's accounts. The user-interface is also painful.

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:34 am

The scam sounds similiar to one I was reading up on a little earlier

http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1937

In this case the scammer buys your Ebay goods then says that he will be paying by paypal, he will then slip into his paypal account, (which happens to be another @mail.com account and pretends to be Paypal suggesting that the money has been sent.
The scammer will slip back into his original buyer email address and tell you its all OK and to send the goods to him.

Some time later, after the victim realises they have not received any money, they will complain
The lads tells the vic that the problem must be with paypal so talk to them.
The vic contacts the fake Paypal person again and duly complains.
I dont remember exactly how this bit goes but the fake paypal person says there is a fee to be paid to receive the deposit which is fully refundable
The vic is then encouraged to send an amount of money.

According to the info posted at Scamwarners, there have been several people who have lost goods and or money to this scammer

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Well I sent an email to the domain administrators and received this reply:

" Hello

This is to inform you that action has been taken against the user
referenced in your complaint, in accordance with our zero tolerance
Acceptable Use Policy, which can be found at this URL -
http://anti-spam.outblaze.com/

Outblaze is one of the largest providers of webmail services in
the world. As a responsible ISP, we hate spam, and we do not
allow our network to be abused by spammers.

Thank you for reporting this incident. Please feel free to report
further incidents of abuse originating from our users to us at
[email protected]

We encourage you to use http://www.spamcop.net to send out automated
spam complaints, if you face difficulties complaining manually to each
spam you receive.

Thank You
Outblaze Abuse Desk"

Though I don't really know if it means much, but anyways.. I'd really like see this clown get baited

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:21 pm

@ Almost, we have a problem, if the host were to close the email address as you hope, how will will bait him. Wink

In 99.9% of cases it is best not to have their accounts closed, there are many pieces of information in the stickies that go into more detail than I have time for right now but suffice to so, you wont find too many people that have been here for any length of tiem agreeing with the concept of closing them down Wink

I must stop rushing my posts, edits made again

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

// No need to quote posts right above you Wink

- OD

Murry,
Excellent point, however the scammer is willing to try and get the money through other ways. Presumably, this only closes his PayPal option, that's not to say he can or cannot change the email address in the fake e-mail.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

So I emailed the guy and he writes back this (he went by the name Michael LaFever),

"Please we is Paul
who the hell is this.
please send money by WU to Paul Ranger c/o Temple Lay Bightning, Temple Lay OR use password slapshot

what is going on with you this people.
you got hacked by someone?"

This is kind of fun Smile

Edit: It appears [email protected] did get shutdown, so hopefully that saves some victims out there.. trying to get another address from him or see how he wants to pay.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

FYI, he changed the email lol

"Ok..i will..what is the Tracking Number.
What about the Scan Receipt you sent.
Could you please send a copy to me?
I still need to confirm it.
I also got an email from PayPal and it said they have change there customer care to this

[email protected]

Please try that one if there will be any respond.
they also they me that they are doing some maintainace"

If I'm doing this in the wrong forum, please let me know. Thanks

No need to triple post either, use 'edit' to add to your last post - RC

Master Baiter Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 139

I would mask all those e-mail addys simply by putting a number in the place of a letter. If he's smart (doubt it) the scammer may be able to find this topic through Google. Glad you saved yourself, friend Smile

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 9

Thanks for the tip! Google returned it as the first result lol

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:28 am

Almost,

If you are masking his address here, can you post a brief summary of his scam over on scamwarners, and include his active email address (but nothing that traces to you and no reference to the fact that you are baiting him)? If you are afraid he will know it is you, you can always post it third person, as in "I have a friend who is being scammed but won't acknowledge it..."

The problem with masking emails is that it may protect your bait, but it will also prevent any potential victims from googling his address and discovering he is a scammer, and as he is a bit more plausible than many, having that address out there is very important.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 2

Yeah I figured "closing his account" isn't the #1 scam around here, lol. Whatever, glad it worked, heh.