Speaking of Scams and Scammers

[Jenn218]

I have been lucky and have never had a problem w/ this EVER! I have never had a problem w/ my PayPal/eBay account, selling online, etc...........
That is, until today.

I sell some of my daughters homeschool books, etc. through our homeschool site and through their recommended "used curriculum" site. I have done this several times, because it is a great way to meet other homeschoolers and to trade and sell our books amoung each other.

Today, I got this email - I was so upset! Right off, I knew it was a scam! It is so frustrating to deal w/ that kind of crap.

When I went to the site to report it, there was a note that said that there had been numerous reports on several different scams, listed some examples and stated to not send an email about it to them - to send it to the scammers email account (not to them) or to the FBI fraud dept - gave a site link, but it didn't work.

Anyway, for those who have never received a scam email....here is a copy of what was sent to me.

I was confused by it at first because the first email just asked the price and condition and for my name and address to send payment to. And it had their name on it "evan demers"

I responded back w/ the price + shipping and that I can send a picture if needed and that I would send my address if this book was the book they were looking for.

So here is what I got back...............(no name on this one, but the same name appeared in "from" on my email.

**Just wanted to vent and show what an email scam looked like for those who have been lucky enough to to mess w/ one**

Thank you so much for your prompt response.

This item will be sent directly to my girlfriend in London,United Kingdom and I will be using my UPS account to pick-up the item from your address to her here in London,United Kingdom.

I want to bring it to your notice that I am located in London,United Kingdom BUT I have a friend who lives in the United States.He owes me some money which he would like to return to me here in London but I want to request that he should send you the Money in form of Money Order since I cannot cash a US Money Order here in London, UK.Okay ?

SInce I already promised my girlfriend that I would like to send her some money this week via Western Union in order to pay for her Tuition at the London Metropolitan University.

I WANT to request from my DEBTOR to issue all the money he owes me inform of Money Order in YOUR NAME so that you can have the money order cashed , deduct funds for the sales of your ITEM and SEND the rest of the money to my girlfriend in London,United Kingdom.

I know this is kind of odd or weird BUT we have so much interest in this item and I cannot afford to miss the chance,moreso,I cannot send money to you directly from UK here since I do not have enough cash with me.Please understand my plight/predicament.
I would like to ask you few questions before we proceed :

*** Can I trust you with the extra money coming to your address ?

*** Do you have any Western Union location around you where you could have the extra money sent to my girlfriend after you might have deducted funds for the sales of your item ?

*** Will you be able to send her the money via Western Union and the purchased item using my UPS account same day you recieve the payment ?

If you wish to help us and willing to be faithful with me,kindly send me:
(1) YOUR NAME
(2) YOUR ADDRESS or MAILING ADDRESS
in order to have the info forwarded to my DEBTOR for immediate payment issuance TODAY.

Thanks so much and God bless you.

Regards,

[red98vett]

Wow - they're EVERYWHERE.... people are scamming for money via emails - people are using fake names on sites - and scammers are learning how to play on peoples emotions everywhere -

the net is full of good people but it's also full of KOOKS. The thing with scammers is they're very good at what they do....so just in general - a good thing to remember is...Be careful who we talk to - who we reply to ....and especially who we send our money too

[stephluvsangel6]

what dumb arse' and they make a living on this to, its sickening, then you have us who are working our butts off to try to make a living and still get behind on bills and get into debt while they people are living it up on our money uhhhh

[Nikki+2]

Oh Lord . If these people spent half the time they spend coming up with new scams in a productive manner they'd be legitimately rich. Honestly what is wrong with people?!! Are you ignoring it?

[Willow]

OH I hate those scammers!!

I have never had one like that but I HAVE had my ebay account hacked and some jerk posted a bunch of porn for sale and ran my ebay fees up to $175!!!!!!!!!!! I was thankfully online at the time and got email notification of the new listings INSTANTLY but ebay was ontop of it and they caught the hacked listings at the same time I did and thankfully credited the fees back to my account with no problems!

I also get lots of those fake paypal emails and I just send them on to paypal...but they are getting better at it! Sometimes it is hard to tell if they are fake or not! so always always always go into your paypal or ebay accounts via a new window! NEVER click the links in those emails!

[yorkieaddict]

This message is so impersonal. Looks like a generic message sent for any item. It is sad that we always have to "watch out" for new scams and be wary of anything. When I had an ad in the paper I got an email that was kind of like that and just ignored it and it went away.

[Jenn218]

It is horrible. And then, I felt like the site I was using, wants nothing to do w/ it because they already know about it - which, I guess, what else can they do?

It is upsetting, but thankfully, you can tell right away that this wasn't a "real" person. Well, I take that back, the first first email (below) seemed okay, so I sent my email (below) and got that crap posted above back. Thankfully, I didn't send my name or address before hand! It is just crazy!

After that last email, I sent one back saying that I would not do that and that he would need to find the book elsewhere. - that was it, short, sweet and simple. I haven't heard back from them.

1st email

Please,I would like to know if you still have this item available for sale.Kindly send me the final asking price of the item. I also need your name and address to send you the payment.Your prompt response to my message will be highly appreciated.Thanks so much and God bless you.... Evan

my response

I will take $10 for it w/ 3 for shipping.
The book has about 6 pages w/ more writing & highlighting.
The book is current edition which sells for $30.95, so $10 for the book and $3 for shipping seems a good price.
If interested in a picture, I can send one.
Let me know if this is what you want and I will send you my address.
Thank you! Jenn

[Jenn218]

Originally Posted by yorkieaddict

This message is so impersonal. Looks like a generic message sent for any item. It is sad that we always have to "watch out" for new scams and be wary of anything. When I had an ad in the paper I got an email that was kind of like that and just ignored it and it went away.

That is what I thought too. The subject line listed the Biology book I was selling - well, pretty much the subject of the ad I was selling.

I guess I have had the PayPal messages come up - those are scammers too, duh. For those, I just automatically send directly to the spoof address of eBay/PayPal. I know never to click on or send my information to those - EVER!

It is so sad and upsetting that we have to weed out the good from the bad. I just hope that more people are learning about these and do not fall for them. Course, the scammers will learn more and more tricks to get people to fall for these sort of emails and scams.

[JeanieK]

Wow that is a new twist I've never seen before.

Just imagine there are people that actually fall for that crap.

I'm glad you caught it.

[MyTrixie143]

Alright, I have heard of this scam before where the say they will send you extra money and want you to send the extra money back.
So how does the actual scam work?? I read once how they did it all but I forget.

[sassypup]

Thanks for the warning Jenn. I get tons of spoof e-mails from paypal etc.

[lisatodd]

ohhhh. i have had this happen to me so many times. my kirby is listed as a stud dog. people are always wanting to buy him for 2000.00 but give me 5000.00 so i can cash the ck and refund them the difference. this is a constant thing i get. such a scam scam scam. CAN'T THEY CATCH THESE CREEPS DOING THIS????? I AM GETTING SO SICK OF SCAMMERS!!!!!!! EVERYWHERE YOU TURN THERE IS SOMEONE TRYING TO TAKE YOUR MONEY.
I GET MAD EVERYTIME I THINK ABOUT IT. OHHHHHH YOU GOT ME GOING NOW. I NEED TO STOP

[lisatodd]

Originally Posted by MyTrixie143

Alright, I have heard of this scam before where the say they will send you extra money and want you to send the extra money back.
So how does the actual scam work?? I read once how they did it all but I forget.

they send you the money....check, cashier ck, money order for more than the amount you want. you send it to your bank and get the difference of the overage amount. you give this to them plus the item they are purchasing. in two weeks you will get a notice from your bank that the funds are no good. so now you are out of your money and the items they took off w.

[Jenn218]

The bad thing is.....I am now dreading all the emails I get regarding the school books we have for sale. I just got another email from another person and I am so afraid that they will respond and it will be the same thing!

Shame on these people for doing this and Shame on them for making us have to be paranoid over every email or phone call we get!!!!

[cj125]

Thanks for posting this Jenn.

Unfortunately, this is happening more and more often. I work at a very large credit card company and it never ceases to amaze me at the lengths and creativeness these people go to to do this. Imagine if they put their minds to good use??? They could probably solve some world problems! Sad...