I was selling a bed on Craigslist and was sent an email from "John Powel" johnandjacob.com. His story was the following:
Hello,
Thanks for the mail, I'm seriously interested in buying this for my son and am okay with your selling price, I'm a Petroleum Engineer and currently offshore i really want this as a surprise gift for my son so i won't let him know anything about this until it get delivered to him. You can mail me back with your paypal email address so i can make the payment to you right now and if you don't have an account with paypal you can set up an account today as it's secured and reliable visit their website on www.paypal.com. Do not worry about shipping or picking up as my pick up agent will come and pick it up from you once have made the payment to you and your full address and phone number will be needed for the pickup arrangement I would love to speak with you through the phone but due to my work as a Petroleum Engineer i work mainly offshore, our phone is down on the rig right now due to bad weather, We can still communicate through the email exchange for now. I will be looking forward to read back from you real soon with the paypal email address and your full address including phone number for the pickup arrangement.
Next I received an official looking email (supposedly from PAYPAL) wanting me to send money from Western Union. The email was sent from: [email protected]
Here is that email:
Dear Christopher,
This email confirms that John Powell has sent you $1,200.50 USD
View the details of this transaction here:
Payment Details
Transaction ID: 0TR19308DU07076
Item #
Title
Quantity
Price
Subtotal
Craigslist
Queen Bed
$1,200.50 USD
Shipping & Handling
(includes any seller handling fees)
$0.00 USD
Shipping Insurance (optional):
Total:
$1,200.50 USD
This is to inform you that you are required to send a sum of $350.00 USD to the address below via western union money transfer and get back to us with the relevant information's which you will be provided with after the money has been sent. You are requested to give us the Mtcn (Money Transfer Control Number) and the sender's name and address used to make the transfer after which we will then credit the total sum of $1,200.50 USD into your PayPal account. Below is the address where the money is to be sent using western union money transfer.
Agent's Info:
Name: Kim Okeefe
C/o sherry tunstall
Sw tara ave topeka,
KS 66611,
United State..
Please note:
We wish to inform you that John Powell has made his intentions known to PayPal that he will like $350.00 USD to be sent to the recipient's address above via Western Union Money Transfer.
This payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has been " APPROVED" but will not be credited into your account until the MTCN # is sent to us for verification so as to secure both the buyer and the seller in this transaction. Below are the relevant information's required before your account will be credited:
All you have to do is to reply directly to this email with the MTCN and the sender's name and address used when sending the money. You will receive a "CONFIRMATION Email" from Pay Pal® Service informing you that your account has been credited with $1,200.50 USD as soon as the above information's have been received and verified by us.
Note: As this transaction was done via our e-mail payments service, all inquiries should be directed to us by replying to this e-mail as it is the one being monitored for your transaction which is because the status of this transaction has not been passed on to the phone service section of our customer care.
Please, understand that this is a security measure to help protect both the Buyer and the Seller. Therefore, we apologize for the inconvenience that we may have caused you.
Thank you for using PayPal!
PayPal Security
Please don't be scammed by these people. Hope this helps you and that you pass it on.
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