I just got scammed...

Rick Meyer

Rick Meyer

Veteran
Okay, I started that thread yesterday about PayPal because I wanted to make sure I didn't get scammed. Well, I thought I was covered. I received an email from service@paypal.com telling me that payment had been made. I packaged everything and was going to check my account in a few. Then, I received another email from service@paypal.com that there is a new service (which works like an escrow) whereby PayPal will act as the middle man to protect both the buyer and shipper. They would deposit the money into my account immediately upon receipt of notice that the product had shipped via tracking number. I was hesitant but it seemed fair enough. I mean, these were authentic (looking) PayPal notifications.

So, I shipped the package. Overnight delivery no less. Express. Top dollar. Then, my spidey sense started tingling. Just to verify this "we need the tracking number" email, I wanted to poke around the website a little bit before I called foul. Well, what started out calm enough became a frantic mad dash to get to an Internet connection. I wanted something more substantial and quicker to use than my cell phone.

So, in the rain and on foot (my gf took my car to go to a doctors appt. not necessary for the story but if it adds the the dramee...) I went to one coffee shop. No Internet. The next place, its down. UGH. Meanwhile, the more strained this email search was becoming the more scammy this whole transaction was feeling in my gut and as a result the more frantic it became that I got to an email. I trek to the library. I find a quiet corner...wait for my slowassed laptop to boot...nothing. I cannot get on the Internet. UNABLE TO CONNECT.

At this point, I am POSITIVE the package is halfway to the airplane that is going to get it to the punkassed scam artist. So, the rush is ON! I reboot my computer thinking that might help me get connected to their wifi. No luck and more time wasted. I wrap it up and find a desktop computer in the library. I need a Library Card number. D'oh! I go to the librarian (Mind you, this is getting more and more frantic with each failed attempted to get connected to the World Wide Web) and they want my card. I don't have one!!! "Sorry, but we need a card!" "Please, I just need to check something quickly. I promise." They gave me a temporary ID number. I go on and the PayPal email is still looking pretty authentic but not the site that wants the tracking number. Just looks like a blank page or front to appear authentic.

So, I get PayPal's number and call them. Luckily, it only took 5 or 10 minutes to get a human being. They said that no transaction has been made at all today. So, the first email saying "Payment confirmation from PayPal" from service@paypal.com even, was a fake. AND as a result, the subsequent email requesting the tracking number was definitely a fake. Basically, the scammers line of thinking is, "you can't get the tracking number unless you ship it. So, if we get the tracking number, you definitely shipped it...SUCCCKKAAAA!!!"

Well, in the rain and on foot I ran to the Post Office and of course the package was gone. So, I told them the story and luckily they intercepted it. So, I waited around for about an hour and a half and the package was back in my possession again. Thank God. So, I only suffered the loss of an exorbitant Overnight Delivery fee and a bruised ego. Its a bit embarrassing to realize you've been scammed. But, I wanted to share this story to pass this along to prevent this from happening to anyone here. At least I still have my package and if this story saves anyone else from getting ripped off then it was worth it.

Hey, this package was supposed to be going to St. Louis. Where is MattinSTL? I don't want you to do a thing but perhaps if I send you the address in PM you will be familiar with it. Just for curiosity sakes.

B*stards!
Rick

On the flip side, you lucky people are the beneficiary of a nice situation and a sweeet deal on a DVX100a! It's still available!:grin:
 
I am not sure that real paypal sends a message about a payment being made. Anyway, don't trust emails, just go directly to the site. And I mean, do not click any links in the email, type the URL directly in your browser address field.
 
I received a similar email from paypal indicating the "hold" on funds until delivery in an ebay auction where I sold a DVC30. I checked my paypal account and the money was there with the hold. Funds were released about 2 hours after the UPS "tracking " showed that the package was delivered. Rick, did you check your paypal account prior to shipping? I want to be sure I understand what happened to you.
 
Paypal sends you a confirmation when a Payment is made but most folks I know wouldn't ship anything until they verified the money in their actual Paypal first. Even then scammers can try to reverse the charges but typically Paypal is pretty good about figuring out who's the scammer and won't take away money you rightfully are owed.

Noah
 
Paypal sends you an email on payments made and received. I use paypal regularly as a seller and buyer on Ebay. The largest ticket item I bought on Ebay was years and years ago when we bought my son's car.

We first had the owner agree to have Midas do a full inspection, which saved us a few hundred dollars on the passenger window not rolling down. We also put a call through to the mechanic who inspected the car and got his take on it. Then we did it transaction through escrow.com which is the best way to do large ticket items.

Paypal is safe to use, as safe as any other site. I recently got a call from my credit card company stating that a merchant that I bought a small item on Amazon had been red flagged and they had tried to use my credit card without my knowledge and I had to get a new credit card issued.

Your notifications on Paypal when you buy something on Ebay:

service@paypal.com (and in the subject line) Receipt for your PayPal payment to...

Your notification when you buy from another merchant might look like this:

service@paypal.com (and in the subject line) You have authorized a payment to...

Your notification when buying goods from another person:

service@paypal.com (and in the subject line) Your payment has been sent.

***

You may have just freaked out for nothing.
 
adolgin said:
You might have a chance to get your shipping fee back from the Post Office.
Click to expand...

No. I tried. They were pretty pricky about it. "Wellll, its not OUR fault you want the package back." My thinking was that it didn't go on a plane I should at least be reimbursed some of the shipping fee but they wouldn't budge.
 
Charli said:
Your notifications on Paypal when you buy something on Ebay:

service@paypal.com (and in the subject line) Receipt for your PayPal payment to...

Your notification when you buy from another merchant might look like this:

service@paypal.com (and in the subject line) You have authorized a payment to...

Your notification when buying goods from another person:

service@paypal.com (and in the subject line) Your payment has been sent.

***

You may have just freaked out for nothing.
Click to expand...

Charlie, this is why I am bringing this up. The email I got from PayPal was from Service@paypal.com. I don't know how a scammer could send me an email FROM PayPal but they did. I called PayPal TWICE to verify and they said that there had been NO transactions today.

And of coure, when I got home I had another PayPal email waiting for me. It said that they received the tracking number but please give us 48 hours to put the funds in my account. 48 hours? The first email said they would make the deposit immediately. 48 hours is just enough time for the scammer to get the camera and move on.
 
NoahK said:
Paypal sends you a confirmation when a Payment is made but most folks I know wouldn't ship anything until they verified the money in their actual Paypal first. Even then scammers can try to reverse the charges but typically Paypal is pretty good about figuring out who's the scammer and won't take away money you rightfully are owed.

Noah
Click to expand...

I did get a confirmation. That's what made this so authentic looking. I got a confirmation from service@paypal.com. Then I got a second email saying they would deposit the money when they received a tracking number. So, to be clear, I did get a confirmation number. That's why I started this thread. To prevent this from happening to anyone else.

I would actually like to show up to the address in St. Louis and tell the scammers what I think of them, personally. :evil:
 
Rick - one toher thing that could hold up a transaction is if a person paid you through an 'e-check' which takes about three to five days before it goes through, like a regular check from their bank account.

I would always check the actual Paypal web site for transactions just to be on the safe side.
 
Rick Meyer said:
Charlie, this is why I am bringing this up. The email I got from PayPal was from Service@paypal.com. I don't know how a scammer could send me an email FROM PayPal but they did. I called PayPal TWICE to verify and they said that there had been NO transactions today.
Click to expand...

It's a good chance the person in St. Louis was a shill for an overseas scammer. Chris "to catch a predator" Hanson did a special about this. Scammers have known how to fake Paypal sites and emails for quite some time now. Go back to your email and see does the email address you by name. Usually people don't use their real names on eBay and Paypal addresses you by your real name. Their emails almost always start with "Hello... (real name)" and then the message.

I got scammed too once. I didn't look to see if I was addressed by name. I went to a site that looked exactly like Paypal, (clicked on the link in the email) entered my name and password - they would've got me, but I kept getting an error message. I called Paypal and they told me that it was a predatory site and it had already been reported and shut down (that's why I was getting the message) but I should change my password anyway. But thank God because had they not caught that the ID thieves would've gotten all they needed.

Keep in mind this was at a time when Paypal spoofing was a daily thing on this end. Anytime I bought something on Paypal I'd get several spoof emails from people trying to get my name and password. This suddenly stopped when I changed my email, so when this new spoof email came I wasn't expecting it.

-Nate
 
Charli said:
Rick - one toher thing that could hold up a transaction is if a person paid you through an 'e-check' which takes about three to five days before it goes through, like a regular check from their bank account.

I would always check the actual Paypal web site for transactions just to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...

I checked and nadda. And, I called PayPal twice. So, its definitely a scam. I just wish there was a way I could get this turd in trouble.
 
Nathyn said:
I got scammed too once. I didn't look to see if I was addressed by name.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, my PayPal name is in my email address. Rick Meyer. It wouldn't be too hard for a scammer to address me by my name. In fact, this one did. Only he put my last name first. That should have been the tip off.
 
Rick - you trusted your gut and that was the important thing and you did something about it! Usually most purchases on Paypal are going to be entirely safe and legit, but every now and again something will slip through the cracks.

I was invoiced once on Amazon was considering buying a camera Nikon 200 and the merchant stated that they were on the East Coast but when I got be invoice they were from France so I wouldn't pay the invoice and he threatened me to report me to Amazon (i've sold there too and it would affect my rating) and I threaten him to report him to Amazon for fraudulent advertising.

Amazon is respected as is Paypal but there is always a scam going on somewhere. Like we said always check the WebSite itself before you ship anything out.

Charli
 
Rick Meyer said:
Okay, I started that thread yesterday about PayPal because I wanted to make sure I didn't get scammed. Well, I thought I was covered. I received an email from service@paypal.com telling me that payment had been made. I packaged everything and was going to check my account in a few. Then, I received another email from service@paypal.com that there is a new service (which works like an escrow) whereby PayPal will act as the middle man to protect both the buyer and shipper. They would deposit the money into my account immediately upon receipt of notice that the product had shipped via tracking number. I was hesitant but it seemed fair enough. I mean, these were authentic (looking) PayPal notifications.

So, I shipped the package. Overnight delivery no less. Express. Top dollar. Then, my spidey sense started tingling. Just to verify this "we need the tracking number" email, I wanted to poke around the website a little bit before I called foul. Well, what started out calm enough became a frantic mad dash to get to an Internet connection. I wanted something more substantial and quicker to use than my cell phone.

So, in the rain and on foot (my gf took my car to go to a doctors appt. not necessary for the story but if it adds the the dramee...) I went to one coffee shop. No Internet. The next place, its down. UGH. Meanwhile, the more strained this email search was becoming the more scammy this whole transaction was feeling in my gut and as a result the more frantic it became that I got to an email. I trek to the library. I find a quiet corner...wait for my slowassed laptop to boot...nothing. I cannot get on the Internet. UNABLE TO CONNECT.

At this point, I am POSITIVE the package is halfway to the airplane that is going to get it to the punkassed scam artist. So, the rush is ON! I reboot my computer thinking that might help me get connected to their wifi. No luck and more time wasted. I wrap it up and find a desktop computer in the library. I need a Library Card number. D'oh! I go to the librarian (Mind you, this is getting more and more frantic with each failed attempted to get connected to the World Wide Web) and they want my card. I don't have one!!! "Sorry, but we need a card!" "Please, I just need to check something quickly. I promise." They gave me a temporary ID number. I go on and the PayPal email is still looking pretty authentic but not the site that wants the tracking number. Just looks like a blank page or front to appear authentic.

So, I get PayPal's number and call them. Luckily, it only took 5 or 10 minutes to get a human being. They said that no transaction has been made at all today. So, the first email saying "Payment confirmation from PayPal" from service@paypal.com even, was a fake. AND as a result, the subsequent email requesting the tracking number was definitely a fake. Basically, the scammers line of thinking is, "you can't get the tracking number unless you ship it. So, if we get the tracking number, you definitely shipped it...SUCCCKKAAAA!!!"

Well, in the rain and on foot I ran to the Post Office and of course the package was gone. So, I told them the story and luckily they intercepted it. So, I waited around for about an hour and a half and the package was back in my possession again. Thank God. So, I only suffered the loss of an exorbitant Overnight Delivery fee and a bruised ego. Its a bit embarrassing to realize you've been scammed. But, I wanted to share this story to pass this along to prevent this from happening to anyone here. At least I still have my package and if this story saves anyone else from getting ripped off then it was worth it.

Hey, this package was supposed to be going to St. Louis. Where is MattinSTL? I don't want you to do a thing but perhaps if I send you the address in PM you will be familiar with it. Just for curiosity sakes.

B*stards!
Rick

On the flip side, you lucky people are the beneficiary of a nice situation and a sweeet deal on a DVX100a! It's still available!:grin:
Click to expand...

This would be a great short! What do you think?
If you dont mind I think I may make this my second or third short film.

Great storytelling by the way, you made it pretty dramatic. I pictured how frantic you were trying to intercept the package, hehe.

Good thing you caught it though!
 
Rick Meyer said:
I did get a confirmation. That's what made this so authentic looking. I got a confirmation from service@paypal.com. :evil:
Click to expand...
But -- no you didn't. You got an e-mail that SAID it was from service@paypal.com. But the actual address was unquestionably something different.

Never, ever, ever click on any link in any e-mail that claims to be from any password-protected account or entity. Always ignore those, and instead go directly to the site in question and verify the information for yourself.

The scammers are incredibly sophisticated now.
 
I just want to add some information here.

The email address displayed by your email reader is contained in the headers. The data in the headers includes from, subject, to, path, x-type, IP address and a few other things. If you send emails from a script or program that allows you to specify origin, you can set the 'from' field to absolutely anything. This way your actual email server is not necessary for sending. The IP address contains this information, but generally isn't read. If you turn on extended header view in your email you may be able to see resolved IP addresses. If they're resolved to DNS you should see the name 'paypal' somewhere in it.

More important than the 'from' address is the 'reply to' address, which is usually displayed even with short headers. If that's not at paypal.com you have a problem. It wouldn't matter in this case, since you didn't need to reply with anything.

As for the post office, USPS doesn't track packages. So they can't do anything about it. That's part of why they charge so little.

[edit] Paypal has begun withholding funds until positive feedback is left or after a certain number of days, but that's an Ebay only thing. Ebay also has buyer and seller protection systems for such events if the payment actually goes through Paypal.
 
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i have an item for sale right now on CL and KIjii and such... all i get it scammers with fake paypals. I've been using paypal since mid 90's. I have never heard of paypal holding funds till the shipment is deliverd. Paypal either transfers or withdraws funds. USualy a good way to check if its a scam even if its coming from @paypal.com is to look @ the page or email that u recerived. Most scams that i get have fake paypal pages with info@ hotmail.com or some other bizzare email. Paypal wouldnt send you any emails except, funds withdrawn or paid.

glad you caught it in time... i only got scammed one time via western union scam in the early 2000's, learned my lesson fast.

I wouldnt go as far as to say that they are sophisticated.. i mean..they are doing more stuff that looks legit..but most ppl that they are scammed are ppl who dont pay attention....and by the time they clue in its too late.
 
Barry_Green said:
But -- no you didn't. You got an e-mail that SAID it was from service@paypal.com. But the actual address was unquestionably something different.
Click to expand...

Yes. I just now realized that had I moved the mouse over the email address, the real fraudulent address would have revealed in the pop up. Very clever.

Barry_Green said:
Never, ever, ever click on any link in any e-mail that claims to be from any password-protected account or entity. Always ignore those, and instead go directly to the site in question and verify the information for yourself.

The scammers are incredibly sophisticated now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but unfortunately this whole ordeal has gotten me so paranoid that I don't even trust legitimate emails. For example, I received an email today requesting that I change my password. Inside the email were links for me to follow to change my password. I can wave my mouse over the email to see that it is, in fact, PayPal. But, I still don't trust it. Better paranoid and safe than sorry.
 
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