Wednesday, June 20, 2012

I've been SCAMMED!


Today I was scammed.  I am so angry with myself and even more so with the scammer.  How could I let this happen!  All the warning signs where there, but I chose to ignore them.
This is how it happened.  I had advertised an outdoor setting on a reputable website.  It had been advertised for three months and I was getting frustrated that it hadn’t sold.  I received an email from someone called Jacob Luis who asked if the item was still for sale.  I replied that it was.  He then emailed back that he would like to purchase it for his father and could he pay with PayPal.  As I had a PayPal account I emailed him an invoice for the agreed amount.  He then emailed me back to say that he had deposited the funds into my PayPal account plus an extra amount of $500.  He asked that I take $400 of this money and send via Western Union to a freight company that he was dealing with.  He couldn’t do this himself because he was at sea.  (I know……it’s starting to sound dodgy, but I really wanted to sell the furniture!)  He also said that he had advised PayPal of the Western Union deal and PayPal would release the funds when I sent them a copy of the Western Union receipt, which I did.
Now, through all of this I was receiving emails from PayPal confirming each and every step and when I sent the WU receipt PayPal notified me that the funds would now be released into my PayPal account.
It was not until I received another email from Jacob Luis telling me that he had deposited an additional $500 into my PayPal account and would I please also send this money to his freight company via WU to cover insurance that I started to smell a rat.  I rang PayPal and they asked me to send all the “PayPal” emails to them for verification.  My worst nightmare, they were all fakes.
So, I am out of pocket many $$$$$$’s with no way of tracking this man and his accomplice Lynn M Smits. 
I am posting this on my blog in the hope that I may save someone else the heartache that I am feeling.  Not only for the loss of the money but the loss of trust that I now have.  I will NEVER be fooled again and it will take me a long time to trust emails, PayPal and online sale sites.
PS
I did respond to the last request for money.  I gave him a phony WU receipt number and I gave him the local police station address for the supposed pick-up.  I also gave the police station phone number as my contact.

Just for everyone’s interest, here is a copy of the document I received from “PayPal”.



2 comments:

  1. How horrible for you Judi! They are so darned clever sometimes! You were pretty clever giving the police details in the end though lol. A hard lesson learned :( Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Oh bugger Judi. So sorry this happened to you. Both my hubby and I have received very similar emails when trying to sell items online. Luckily I have seen some before and smelled the rat early in the peace. They are getting more and more clever as those Pay Pal receipts look pretty legit. Sending happy thoughts your way.

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