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”.