I Almost Got Scammed! BEWARE of those SCAMMERS - Watch those PAYPAL ACCOUNTS!!!

I don't easily get upset
but when someone tries to take advantage of me, even if its not personal,
THAT PISSES ME OFF!!!

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, we recently made a big decision of relocating from Australia. Without having much time to prepare - doing it all in 1.5 months is not that simple.

While my partner is working I'm really trying to be on-top of everything- from general household business to finding new tenants, having an open house every now and then, making calls abroad, enrolling to new schools, looking for job openings oh, and not to mention taking care of the kids (with a new born as well!) ...

Most of my focus these days is selling almost everything we have! So I am glued to 'Gumtree' (Australias online advertisement website) which is going pretty well - I managed to get us already living only with a sofa, and 2 bedroom sets (we even hear an echo when we talk here!)

So the last thing I need now is a scam artist playing his number on me!!

We had our cars all nice and ready to be sold and last night I posted one of them on Gumtree. This morning I was so happy that I already got a reply for the car ad.
I wont burden you with all the emails but this was the first e-mail she wrote me after I said that the car is still available:

Thanks for the response,I would have loved to call you directly but due to the nature of my work we do not have access to phone at the moment,which is why I contact only contact you via email. I work with the Australian Naval Service.
I want it to be the perfect graduation gift for my son and am making it a surprise. Does it have any history I should be aware of? and why are you selling it if you don't mind my asking. I don't mind adding an extra $300.00 for you just to take down the posting..I am already in talks with freighters that will handle the pickup and delivery .I will really appreciate if you can email more info.
Due to the nature of my work i am a very busy woman working all day, we're presently on the sea, i don't have access to my bank account online as am not with my credit card details here but i have my ANZ bank account link up with my PayPal account so I will be paying you through PayPal to your nominated bank account or better still is if you have a PayPal account,please get back to me with your BSB and account details or PayPal account so i can proceed with the payment and contact the courier agent who will come to pick it up and deliver it in NT for my son.

To make a long story short - I gave her all the details she wanted to know about the car and our bank details for the initial transfer. She said she will transfer the money very soon and again mentioned that I take down the ad from Gumtree, as she was a serious buyer.

At this point I was a bit surprised that someone would want to buy a car like that- without actually coming to see it and inspecting but I saw she was really eager to close the deal fast so that her son will get the car ASAP.
I also didn't know why she was so eager for me to remove the ad .. seemed kind of strange, I mean- why pay 300 $ extra for that? why do you mind so much that its still there? But I didn't mind- as long as I see the money in my account - It wouldn't hurt to remove it.

So I told her that were taking her offer seriously but we will not remove the ad until its a done deal.

Her e-mail back:

I need to inform you about this,I just received an email from my pick up agent headquarter in here in Australia Am most sure i did not include that in my previous email, and they said they won't be coming to pick up unless i pay the agent commission fee first in order to be able to schedule a pick up time. As my position here,I am so busy and can not pay the agent fees from here as they Requested that i pay them with money gram or cash deposit So what i will do here is that i will send the payment in the total amount of $8,600.00 AUD. So once you receive the confirmation of the payment from PayPal,you will deduct the promised amount for the item which is $7,300.00 AUD and the remaining $1200.00 AUD will be send down to my agent By Money Gram transfer or through cash deposit .the extra $100 is main for the money gram charges.I will like to have your mobile number so i can text you as soon as the payment has been made.You have no worries as the payment will be confirmed by you before the agent will come to your address to inspect and pick the car. Also am sorry for any inconveniences that this might cause you, I just want to be a good mum for my son.

After this e-mail my partner said that he feels its all too good to be true:

Shes not negotiating on the price (until now - with every sell I made- there wasn't 1 person who did not negotiate on price!)
Shes willing to pay 300$ MORE than what were asking just to get the car off the market
She would buy it just like that, without even seeing it!

I know I have a tendency to over trust people. Even people I don't know. Its bad, I know! But I cant help it. Its hard for me to believe sometimes that a person would want to take advantage and have some selfish plot to harm others for their own benefit!

In response I told him that I think she simply wants her son to get the car asap, and as long as we receive the amount in our bank , there shouldn't be a problem, right?

WRONG!!!

That's exactly where people fall for these scams!!!!

As you see in her last email- she wanted to make the transaction through paypal.
My partners gut feeling that this is too fishy became stronger.
The urgency to close the deal and wanting to do it through Paypal was the final straw.
So we googled 'paypal scams' and guess what?.....

WE WERE BEING SCAMMED!

Its all over the net!!
and apparently something that's been going on for quite a while!!

According to ABC NEWS:

In 2014, there were more than 3,200 reports of classified scams that cost Australians almost $2,000,000
So far, as of April 2016, 544 people have fallen victim to classified scams and lost a combined $260,000.
The ABC has seen several emails purportedly from genuine buyers and sellers who are using a car retail website.

THE WAY of the EVIL SCAM

Here's how it goes:

(Source2), (Source 3)**

You post a high-value item, like a used car, for sale online. In no time at all, you get an email from a buyer willing to pay full price — or more! But he sets conditions; he is only willing to pay by PayPal or insists the sale must happen right away.
What’s really going on?
A ruse to steal your personal information, money or merchandise.
The overseas buyer asks all the normal questions, negotiates a lower price and, when the deal is done, asks the seller to open a PayPal account to receive the funds.
They give a number of reasons for urgency of the sale and why they can’t inspect or test drive the vehicle, such as: purchasing the vehicle as a surprise gift, a family member was in a car accident and needs a car urgently, they are currently working interstate or overseas and will be returning soon, or they work off-shore.
The victims then receive a bogus email, apparently from PayPal, confirming the funds have been deposited but can’t be released until they send money by wire transfer to a fictitious freight company.

These emails are fakes!!
There is no money being held in a secure account and any money they transfer will be lost.

Also, if you don't have a Paypal account, the buyer might send you a link in an e-mail an email with a link so you can set one up.
Don’t take the bait!
The link will send you to a website masquerading as PayPal. The information you enter will be collected by the buyer, and may be used to commit fraud.
If you need to set up an account simply go to PayPal.com directly. (source)

The scammers will use all those usual stories like the oil rig, some kind of remote location or pretend to be a soldier and usually they don't have access to the internet or the phone, they can use only email and text message.
The idea is usually to take you out of normal channels of communication.

Victims have reported losing between $500 and $3,000 each to this particular scam! (Source 3) People selling cars online should be suspicious of potential buyers who may be from overseas or interstate and offer to buy their vehicle without an inspection.

I was so relieved that we didn't end up falling for it, thanks to my partners awareness!
If it wasn't for him, I think I would have fallen for it ... or would I?

Their next step would be Having the money seem as if it was in my account but them getting a message from "paypal"asking me to transfer X amont of $ in order for it to be released....

I probably wouldn't have gone through with that stage... but then... Maybe I would??

Its so sad that there are so many victims of these kind of scams.

Don't be naive an think it wont happen to you. ALWAYS BE CAUTIOUS AND SUSPICIOUS and remember:

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

I really hope this will bring some awareness to people out there.

HOPE YOU HAVE A SCAM FREE WEEK

Lots of Love

@Cooknbake