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help! is it a scam?

mankar4

mankar4

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 23, 2007
624
0
USA
I posted my macbook pro on craigslist, and received this:

sorry for the late mail am out the state presently for a business trip in spain so you will help me to handle the shipping to my son to west africa{23402} who went there for a tour am adding extra $400 to your money to cover your shipping through ups or USPS {EMS} GLOBAL EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE so egt back to me with your paypal account id for the procceding payment
thanks

reads like a scam, but he wants to use paypal. is paypal scammable? can I receive money only to learn that it is fake?
 
mankar4 said:
I posted my macbook pro on craigslist, and received this:

sorry for the late mail am out the state presently for a business trip in spain so you will help me to handle the shipping to my son to west africa{23402} who went there for a tour am adding extra $400 to your money to cover your shipping through ups or USPS {EMS} GLOBAL EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE so egt back to me with your paypal account id for the procceding payment
thanks

reads like a scam, but he wants to use paypal. is paypal scammable? can I receive money only to learn that it is fake?
Click to expand...

Yes it is a scam. I got the exact same message when looking for a home for a dog. Only difference is that in my email they referred to the dog as my "item".

:) But business trip in spain, son in west africa. Yeah all the same. Unless this kid needs a dog and a mbp. :)
 
It's a phishing scam, intended to steal your PayPal account information. If it uses generic language like "your item" or talks about the sender being "out of town", it's almost 100% guaranteed to be a scam. Also look for gross misspelling and weird capitalization: "ups" instead of "UPS" or "paypal account id" instead of "PayPal account ID".
 
I think I might follow up on this and see where it goes. anyone got any ideas on how he'll get my account information?
 
mankar4 said:
I think I might follow up on this and see where it goes. anyone got any ideas on how he'll get my account information?
Click to expand...

Yes, you're about to give it to him! I wouldn't recommend it, but it's your call.
 
mankar4 said:
I posted my macbook pro on craigslist, and received this:

sorry for the late mail am out the state presently for a business trip in spain so you will help me to handle the shipping to my son to west africa{23402} who went there for a tour am adding extra $400 to your money to cover your shipping through ups or USPS {EMS} GLOBAL EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE so egt back to me with your paypal account id for the procceding payment
thanks

reads like a scam, but he wants to use paypal. is paypal scammable? can I receive money only to learn that it is fake?
Click to expand...

Definitely the skanky Nigerians at work they should spend as much effort at looking for work rather than trying to separate hard working Americans out of their money. Walk away ,FAST;) TRUST ME, it's a Scam!! He want's your PP account to hopefully loot any accounts associated with it.
 
Fake money order, with an amount over the purchase price at the last minute -- just send the cash in the box.

Postal Money Orders are the safest, but those have been coming in bogus in increasing number lately.
 
It seems I get a reply like this every time I post anything on craigslist. Either ignore it or, for chuckles, write them back saying, "Congratulations! You have just contacted a Federal agent. I'll be seeing you shortly". They never e-mail back after that. :)
Morod
 
Definetely a scam

I got following respond on my ad at www.craigslist.org:

On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 5:07 AM, DAMSEL LOVETH <lovethdamsel@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, thanks for the prompt mail,i will not be able to pickup the item
from your place because i am not in the states now i am currently in
spain for a business trip,so you will help me out by shipping the item
to my Child directly and i will add $20 to your money to cover the
shipping fee to my son place in West Africa (23402) through UPS or
USPS Global Express Mail Service (EMS) get back to me with your PayPal
email address for the instant payment waiting for your urgent reply.

I did not follow up with my paypal address, but tried to research postage to West Africa (23402) , there is no such place.

BEWARE AND NOTE EMAIL OF SCAMMER!!!
 
Clearly a scam I would advise not going through with it or even e-mailing them back.
 
The best advice is if you have to ask someone if it is a scam, that pretty much means that it is a scam. So trust your instincts, if it doesn't feel right then don't do it.
 
If you have to ask whether it is a scam......................................it is:D
 
I got a reply very similar once (oh and btw, it's a scam, don't even waste your time OP) and said, "Oh how lucky, I just landed in *insert country here* for a business trip/vacation. I have this entire week off before my meetings start, and I brought everything! Where should I meet you?".


You can guess that I never got a reply back haha.
 
Looks pretty legit. Make sure you start at least two more threads when you let us know how it goes.
 
pretend to go through with the transaction, get his address, and send him a box with a spring loaded boxing glove in it:p

btw i got offers like this all the time on ebay when i was trying to sell my 1st gen iphone
 
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