I posted items on Craigslist for sale. I was contacted by an individual who claimed to be a deaf woman by the name of Cara Dutta using the email address [email protected]. The individual inquired that "she" was interested in purchasing the items I had for sale and requested that "she" pay via PayPal. I usually prefer face to face transactions using certified bank checks or cash and had only used PayPal to purchase items online from legitimate businesses. However I was trying to get rid of the items I had for sale ASAP as they were taking up space so I agreed. The individual requested that I give my email user ID for PayPal so that "she" could transfer payment. The individual sent me an email stating that "she" was going to have a moving agency pick up the items and ship them to "her". However, "she" said that "she" was busy with work and requested that I transfer money to the moving agency and that "she" would transfer me the funds in order to pay the agency. I agreed and shortly after I received an transfer notification email (sent from address [email protected]) appearing to be from PayPal. The email itself looked extremely legitimate and professionally done at first glance.
The email listed the following (my names and email information is removed):
Hello
My Name
[email protected]
This email confirms that you have received an Instant payment of $730.00USD from Cara Dutta ([email protected]) via PayPal MERCHANDISE Payment Service.
View the "NOTE" of this pending transaction below
Payment Details:
Merchandise Amount: $450.00 USD
Agent Charges: $250.00 USD
Run Around Fee: $30.00 USD
Total: $730.00 USD
Transaction Id: 70X95508182011007
Quantity: 1
Title: Goods?
Transport Company:
Address:
Name: My Name
Office 404,
Albany House,
324/326 Regent Street,
London, W1B 3HH
Address Status: Confirmed
NOTE: This is to confirm to you that the said amount has been successfully transferred by the buyer and has been deducted from their PayPal account and it is ready to be credited into your account. However, been that this Payment is for a MERCHANDISE purchased from you, we reserve the right to make sure this transaction is safe and secure because of the high sum of funds involved.
The above sum has included the transport charges and taxes as we and the Transport Company quoted for the buyer (as per PayPal MERCHANDISE PAYMENT POLICY). You will receive a Message from the PayPal Customer Verification Department Shortly informing you on how to send the shipping charges and taxes to the transport company with the above details as soon as possible.
You may email [email protected] to contact the PayPal Customer Verification Department and Quote the Above Transaction ID for quick recognition of this transaction.
Sincerely,
PayPal
The email also contained the PayPal logo at the top and a VeriSign Identity Protection logo at the bottom.
After receiving this notification I was contacted via email again by the individual saying that the money had been transfered and requested that I transfer money to the moving agency using Western Union. Luckily I knew better and wasn't going to use my own money to pay and instead was working the issue to get the money credited first and use those funds to pay. The individual continued to email me asking if I was going to transfer the money and still insisted that I transfer it using Western Union. I still refused and said that I was waiting on the second notification mentioned in the email with instructions and was working on getting the money credited to me so that I could transfer the money. The individual continued on saying things like they were "worried" about their money because it was deducted from their account. I ended up trying to contact the email listed in order to correct the issue. I ended up getting no response and knowing the procedures with most Customer Service it didn't seem right. The individual contacted me again, still insisting that I transfer the money, and asking for an update. I told "her" that if I didn't get a response in 15 minutes that I was going to call customer services to resolve the issue. During that time I again checked my bank and PayPal accounts to see if any money had been credited and still nothing. So I then looked up the address to the moving agency online and found no such agency. After the time passed I called PayPal Customer Service, mentioned the email I got and the emails on it. They told me that both emails were fraudulent and not associated with PayPal and asked me to forward them the email so they could investigate. Afterwards I looked at the email and noticed numerous grammar and punctuation errors.in my case I had common sense on my side and there for didn't get cheated out of my money. I was fooled at first but I at least knew what the proper procedures were in this situation.
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