I just got done dealing with this scammer. I posted ads on Craigslist and Cars.com. I got a text asking if the car was still available. He also asked about the condition of the car and price. I thought it was werid to ask for the price since its posted on the car and in the ads. He reviewed the ad and said he'd like to buy it through PP and mentioned a shipper. I sent him my PP email yesterday but something didn't sit right with me when he asked for a physical address. Today I got this email.....
********************************************************************************************************************************
From:
[email protected]® <
[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2015 7:03 AM
To: my email
Subject: REMINDER***MONEY GRAM DETAILS IS NEEDED FOR INSTANT TRANSFER PURPOSE***
PayPal
Dear Valued Customer *my email was here*
[email protected]
(The 2nd email was posted next to my email which didn’t show up in my regular mail program.)
Be aware that you are 100% safe with PayPal and you do not need to worry about anything concerning this transaction as we are currently holding the money which is $1,400.00USD therefore you should make proper arrangements with the buyer and get the pickup fee $370.00USD sent to the address given to you via money gram so that we could be able to credit your account after you have sent us a copy of the receipt given to you at the money gram office where you sent the money. We will only credit your account as soon as the money has been sent to the bearer and you send the Money Gram receipt to PayPal for confirmation.
Here is the recent history of your Transfer Status...
Transfer On Pending...
Transfer Current Percentage Done: 98%
Transfer On Pending... Money Gram Details Is Needed.....
PAYPAL SERVICE CUSTOMER CARE ONLINE® ** Money Gram Details Is Needed For Instant Transfer Purpose
The two (2) information's needed from you are stated below
This is the shipper agent information,
Name: Brack Lee Ledford
City: Crab Orchard
State: Kentucky
Zip-Code: 40419
Country: USA
..............................................................................................................................................................
Senders Name:
City:
State:
Zip-code:
Telephone No:
Reference #:
Note: As this transaction was done via our e-mail payments service, any inquiries and necessary information should be sent to us by directly replying to this message, because of the status of this transaction, it has not been passed on to our customer care phone service section,and all inquiries should be directed to this e-mail address as it is the one monitored for your transaction..
Important Notice for your junk box filters may prevent you receiving our emails. If you do not receive our mail , please check your "Bulk" folder. The transaction has been screened and has proven to be 100% legal and real. You are hereby advised to go ahead with the transaction and send out the pickup fee of $370.00USD to the bearer before we are able to credit your account, For security reasons email the Money Gram payment receipt to PayPal only and wait till your account is being credited before emailing the receipt to the buyer.
We await your reply soonest.
Thank you for using PayPal online service,
PayPal Team
********************************************************************************************************************************
I was really confused by the email. I keep re-reading it because I wasn't sure if I was suppose to be sending money or receiving it. I actually went to a Money Gram store and started filling out the form but the process still didn't make any sense so I re-read the email again and decided to go back home because I was still so confused. I replied to the email asking them to explain exactly what I needed to do and they sent me this.....
********************************************************************************************************************************
From:
[email protected]® <
[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2015 4:13 PM
To: my email
Subject: ***We write in response to your e-mail message***
Dear *my email was here*<
[email protected]>
(Again the 2nd email address didn't show up in my regular mail program. Notice its not the same address as the one in the last email.)
We write to acknowledge the receipt of your e-mail message regarding your transaction between you and Steven Johnson. like we have stated to you on our previous email, your money ($1,400.00USD) is intact and available to be credited into your account as soon as we receive the excess of ($370.00USD) made available for the shipping company whom will be coming at your residence for pickup.
Mind you, we have Approved the payment and only awaiting final release of your pending funds upon the confirmation receipt of the money gram of the sum of $370.00USD made available for the pickup fee charges.
So therefore, all you have to do now is to proceed to send the $370.00USD at any nearest money gram outlet to the confirmed shipping agent address and make sure you contact us with the Necessary Money Gram details so that we can verify it and then credit your account with the full amount of $1,400.00USD as soon as possible.
You are required to send the Money Gram information as stated below.
(1) Sender's Name;
(2) Receiver's Name;
(3) Reference #;
(4) Amount Sent;
Thank you for using PayPal.
Thank you for using PayPal!!
The PayPal Customer Protection Service.
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------
Please do reply to this email. This mailbox is monitored and you will receive a response from our customer care.
PayPal Email ID: PP1525
********************************************************************************************************************************
I googled PP and Moneygram scams and came across similar stories but not exact one's. I looked at the email address
[email protected]® and noticed its actually
[email protected]. Mail2online.com is a free mailing service. I thought maybe PP used them or was affiliated them. So I went through old PP emails, I didn't see that domain name in any of the emails. I called PP and asked them if there were any pending transactions towards my account. They said there wasn't and if someone was sending me money it would've showed up in my account. I explained the situation to them and they said it sounded like someone was trying to trick me. I googled the number and it brought me here.
I went back and forth with "Steve" for a little bit....I brought up that I shouldn't have to send money in order to receive money and PP said that there was no transactions pending. He said it was an email transaction so it won't show up. I told him "If you sent the money to my Paypal address then Paypal would be able to see the transaction." I'm not the smartest person on the planet but that's common sense. He said "I'm not new to Paypal like you are and I really know how it works. Paypal are doing this to secure both of us, unfortunately you don't want to go along, you can reply back to the email Paypal sent to you to confirm the authenticity of the transaction." I told him "Whatever I googled your number and saw that you've tried this scam on quite a few people." He stopped replying.
SMH I can't believe I almost got scammed. I'm glad I went with my intuition.