i got this one when i posted on craigslist a Samsung Galaxy Tab. it reeks of Scam. see below the message i received. i was asking $400.


"
I will not be able to meet you in person to buy this Galaxy Tab from you, I've been told at work that I'm among the team going to South Korea today to represent the company at a conference and I will not be back in the until after 8weeks. I'm actually interested in buying the Tablet for my son but he does not live in the country cos he's studying abroad, will you be able to help handle shipping to him and I need to be sure I can trust you?. I'll be offering you $598CAD for the total cost including shipping and insurance Via CANADA AIR MAIL and will be paying Via PayPal.
Do get back to me with your confirmed PayPal Email address so I can make the payment Immediately. Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards, "

I wrote a mail that said, what phone number can i reach you at to discuss in person. i never heard back needless to say

Another possibility is "Money Laundry"
They have money here is the US and want it in another country or Vice Versa

I got one of these scam messages today. Seems like I recall reading somewhere that someone followed through with the deal and gave the scammer some headaches. Anyone have a link to that post? I want to follow through and see what happens. I sent a response that the buyer's offer was acceptable and sent my PayPal address. Almost immediately I got the following, supposedly from PayPal.

"Inbox > Message Detail
Entire thread Print Previous Next

Subject: ***Calling PayPal***Please Read This And Follow Instructions***

From: "service@paypal.com." <verifiedbuyer@accountant.com> (Add as Preferred Sender)

Date: Sat, Oct 29, 2011 2:29 am
To: jack@jackalope.us


From Subject (Thread Messages) Date Size



Dear (jack@jackalope.us),

We just want you to understand that we have choose this customer care email address as to monitor the transaction between you and Luke Greg....We want you to know that we have many people on our desk that do pick calls from our customer's,and since this transaction was taken from our new measure it has not been spread and not all our representative on desk that has understand the new measure from Paypal.this is why we have choose to use our customer care email here verifiedbuyer@accountant.com to monitor some transaction...So we will greatly appreciate if you could get back to us here so that we can process and credit your account fully.

Be informed that this transaction is only available and can only be tracked and traced via our customer care email verifiedbuyer@accountant.com,so do reply back to us if you have any question about the transaction and not via phone call.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Questions? email us at: verifiedbuyer@accountant.com

Please do reply to this email. This mailbox is monitored and you will receive a response. For assistance, always reply to this email as is use to monitor this transaction between you and Luke Greg"

I would like to get some ideas as to how those that played the Craigslist buyer's game handled their "scam."

Thanks

cy

The GREATEST 1st time post in the history of 2p2!

How to teach a scammer a lesson.

Create a 2nd checking account.
Use it for PayPal.
When scammer sends money to PayPal. Transfer money to 2nd account. Take money out of checking account. When scammer does charge back, there won't be any money for them.

OK, I just got hit today with a scam similar to ones described above. My problem is that I can't figure out what they wanted and apparently got, so don't know how to protect myself.

Had a $600 item posted on Craigslist. Got a text message saying they wanted to buy it. Text messager's addy was a yahoo messaging service, so not a legit full phone number. This didn't right away clue me in (my bad). Person said she was on a ship for business, lived in Ohio, and wanted to pay via PayPal, would I please send her an invoice and she would make payment right away, and would make her own arrangements for shipping pickup. OK I admit, I still didn't catch on to a problem, because she didn't describe the shipping pickup arrangements (I was thinking FedEx, whatever).

So I sent the PayPal invoice, which gave the scammer my PayPal-verified email address and my full home address. Bad. THEN she sent me an email saying that she had just learned that her shipper would require payment in advance so she would send me the additional moneys for doing that, plus the Western Union wire transfer fee, totalling an additional $350. By now I'm realizing something is wrong (DOH). She sends an email saying "I'm right now about to send the PayPal payment" -- so I logged out of PayPal really fast, thinking what kind of HACK might this be!?

There was no payment sent, and I've made no further contact, and the scammer has made no further contact. ..... so I'm thinking they got what they wanted already, right? WHAT did they get? And how can I protect myself? Any advice would be appreciated. This is the first time I've been hit like this, so though I'm not completely naive, I didn't see this one coming until whatever-it-was had gotten as far as it got.

The scam is that she probably wanted you to wire the money to the "shipper", and her paypal payment will bounce.

I hear ya. Wonder why she aborted the attempt though and never even tried to send the money -- sadly I didn't do anything to let her (it, he, whatever) know that I had become suspicious. Do you think they got anything valuable by receiving my PayPal invoice with verified email address, home address?

But yes I agree, anything they could have done to have me lay out funds in advance of secured funds received sounds like the crux of the scam.

she didn't abort the attempt, you were probably the first to get to that stage, and he/she more than likely panicked. Not to worry, one of her confederates will be contacting you soon for a deal of the century. You as of now are a live one to them.

Yep and sure enough, here comes the notification that the PayPal funds have been sent, and an email from the "shipper" asking for a Western Union transfer and a pickup date. Wow.

And many sequential text messages saying "are you there?" "I have sent the money" "TALK TO ME". I sent a reply (against advice, I know, I'm supposed to not sustain contact) saying "I am not comfortable with this arrangement. Send FedEx for pickup instead."

It's OK to converse with them, as long as you understand it's a scam on their part. Some people at quatloos go into great elaborate email productions, with the prize being a picture of one of them holding a degrading sign.

Its a dead deal, send them no information, no money, no ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,just bait them if you wish. And then terminate the conversation.

As long as you have the money tied up in your paypal account it at least seems like you are delaying someone else from being scammed.

My experience with craigslist and paypal.

I recently put a nice Canon Lens up on Craigslist. I was asking 1100 for a 1500 dollar lens. I will paste all the emails and you can see how scammers work!!!

Scammer:
Gabler Sara
gabsall01@gmail.com

Email 1: (From Scammer)

"ARE YOU SERIOUS IN SELLING THIS" Scammer mass emails to anything on craiglist. Very generic question. Of course im selling it, I put it on craigslist.

Email 2: (Me)

"Yes, thats why I posted it on craigslist."

Email 3: (Scammer)
"I am very glad to hear back from you,i am located in lawrence city in Kansas but i will just like to know if the item is really in good condition?cos i wanna get this for my son who is schooling outside the state, I could have come over today and pick it up and pay you in cash but due to some circumstances i couldn't be able to make it, I will offer you $1150 so as to rap it up as soon as possible. Shipment will be handled by me through my personal FedEx account,so you don't have to pay for shipment....So get back to me with all details to proceed the payment .....and i will like to pay you via paypal email account...ok.....so do get back to me now with your paypal email personal account for instant payment..ok...."

This scammer waits for someone to take the bait then offers them more then they ask for. Also grammar is really poor. ok...? what is that? This paragraph is pre written and then small changes are made to make it seem like he/she actually wrote it to you. So I reply.

Email 4: (Me)
"I do appreciate your offer but i can't ship anything without cash in
my hand. I'm sure you understand. Craigslist scams 101."

Email 5: (Scammer)
"Thanks for getting back to me regarding that issue"

another pre fabricated message. Almost sent instantly after my previous one.

Email 6: (Scammer)
"HAVE HEARED THAT SO KINDLY SEND ME YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT SO AS TO MAKE THE PAYMENT"

In caps! The scammer knows that I know about how what he is trying to do so he tries to make it seem like hes a victim too. Bull ****!!

Email 7: (Me)
"Read this post.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/30/business-finance-investing/craigslist-paypal-payment-scam-176383/"

So lastly I google the words "craigslist paypal scams" and this forum comes up so I point him to this and that was the last of it. Word of the wise. If something seems to good to be true. It usually is! Haha I hope he visits the link and see's what I wrote about his/her dumb ass!

Cheers!
Nate

Wow, No ****, this sounds exactly like what just happened to me. I had my laptop up on craigslist and someone got a hold of me saying they would pay me 1200, i had it posted it 950, and yes, a similar story, where they said they were buying it for their son as a birthday gift, and I just got informed in the nick of time. I almost sent my computer to some foreign country believing I would get paid via PayPal. Ultimately, I feel stupid, but seeing as how it happened to others, I guess I'm not the only one.

Good advice.

Also tell them to send it as a gift and see what they say.

To protect yourself from scam, you can sign up with http://www.fetchflow.com/Signup/PayPal and use it for paying invoices and sending invoices.

someone check out that link before anyone clicks on it.
first time poster

just randomly clicked on this thread... wtf is up with ~every other post being from someone with only 1 post

It's either legit or the most elaborate scam ever: http://www.fetchflow.com/