Western Union/PayPal Scam

Hi everyone

First time had problems with a 'scammer' when selling an item.

Advertised a bike for sale in local newspaper, had a reply by TEXT from someone called Jim wanting more information - gave me a gmail.com email address - said he was working offshore and couldn't view bike, wanted assurances about condition, why I was selling it etc. Didn't think anything of it at first as I sold I bike before to someone from out of my area who couldn't view it with no problems.

Said "yes" he wanted bike, he said could he pay by PayPal (I didn't have a PayPal account, I do now, grrrr!) as he wanted to pay securely? So I actually went ahead an opened a PayPal account that I didn't really want.

Took a few days for PayPal to activate account and 'Jim' still wanted the bike, he said he would pay money into my PayPal account and arrange to collect bike. Then very shortly another email from 'Jim' to say he was having problems paying shipper and if he paid me the necessary £500 and could I pay shipper! I then get 3 x 'iffy' emails supposedly from PayPal to say that money had been transferred to my PayPal account but it was on hold until I paid Western Union (out of my own money!) the £500 so they can pay the shipping agent. Checked my PayPal account - no sign of anything!?! The emails were poorly worded so I forwarded them to spoof@paypal - who confirmed they were scams.

The next morning had an email from 'Jim' reminding me to pay Western Union the £500.

I did reply and told him that I didn't have £500 to spare and that I thought emails were fake and had reported them to PayPal and that the bike sale was "off".

I am a bit concerned because I did at an early stage reveal my home address. Am I likely to have some stranger on the doorstep demanding a motorbike?

Well done notconvinced and absolutely right way to go about it. I am pleased you didn't fall into the trap. The key matter is the mention of Western Union. Could we have the emails, email addresses used, and the phone number he sent text from so it will help warn others about this scammer. Remove your details and if you can also add mail headers we can see where the criminal is from.

Welcome here notconvinced.

Good job on spotting the scam! No, you don't have to be worried as the scammer is likely to be in West Africa or Malaysia and won't travel all the way to your address, or send anyone else. After the scammer realised he wouldn't get money from you he has moved on to find an other target.

Hello guys!
Unfortunately i was not clever enough to see the fraud and i paid 1550 euro for transactions that seem to be through paypal. Can anyone tell me what can i do now? If i can use paypal to get my money back and paypal goes after the fraud?

I wish I could give you a happier answer, but if you sent money by Western Union, and it was picked up, it cannot be retrieved. You cannot get your money back from PayPal, because in reality, they had nothing to do with this whole scam. The scammers simply send fake emails that are supposedly from PayPal--but in reality, those emails were written by the scammers, and sent using email providers that have no connection to paypal. Paypal was completely unaware of your "transaction."

It's no different than when a scammer sends a fake email, supposedly from microsoft, claiming that you won a sweepstakes, or one supposedly from yahoo account administration, stating that you have to provide your username and password or your account will be closed. The real companies aren't responsible for any losses as a result of these claims, as the real companies had nothing to do with the scams, and were powerless to prevent them.

So i can not do anything ? Paypal will not help me through this? But it gets slandered from all this !!!

Paypal had nothing to do with the transaction. Nothing went through them, and they didn't receive a penny from this scam. They have done the best they could, posting information all over the place like this:
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/suspicious-activity

But ultimately, they are in business for one reason--to make money. That means they are not going to give money away without a valid customer claim, as it would come directly from their profits--and millions of dollars are actually lost in scams like this one. Since nothing was transferred through them, there is no customer claim. Since the scammers never actually had an account with Paypal, they also have no information on the scammers that would help an investigation, and absolutely no reason to get involved.

Western Union did make money on this scam, in the form of transaction fees. But WU has posted warning signs all over the place, and has several warnings on its website, including this warning in the terms of service that you must accept to send money online:

CONSUMER FRAUD ALERT: PROTECT YOURSELF. BE CAREFUL WHEN A STRANGER ASKS YOU TO SEND MONEY, ESPECIALLY FOR INTERNET AUCTIONS, NEWSPAPER OR TELEPHONE OFFERS.

Because they have posted these warnings, they also are not responsible for money that was sent through them.

Hi

I was selling something on olx and a buyer is america contacted me and asked for my paypal email and name and adress i said dont u just need email but i gave him email. He said he transferred the money but it will be on hold until i payed 300usd via western union or moneygram. There is nothing in my transaction history. I told him no the deals off. Later i got a email from "paypal" which said legal action and i have 48 hours to pay the 300 via western union or moneygram is it legit or scam

Hello and welcome to scamwarners.
This is 100% scam. PayPal does not hold funds and will never ask for a payment from a competing money transfer service such as Western Union.
Just ignore him and do not respond in any manner. Please post the email that asked for the Western Union payment. Include all email addresses used in the scam.

He said that paypal was waiting for me to pay for shipping before funds will be in account btw he said payment was pending. He wanted me to pay shipping via western union

This is a scam. DO NOT send any money. Please post the full email that asked you to make a payment via Western Union, including the email address the scammer is using.

[AlanJones]

Hi this is the whatsapp he sent me

Yes i know you have not receive any money in your paypal account,paypal will not activate all the money into your account if you did not send the extra 300usd to the shipping company address given to you, so go ahead now and send the money to the shipping agent company so they can come for the pick up and paypal will activate the money into your account as soon they receive the moneygram information from you, so you are 100% secure about the transaction.

message over there are no funds in paypal and i got wmail threatening legal action and i scared ot that

[AlanJones]

No funds have been sent and he will not be taking legal action against you as he is just a common thief.

You may receive mails claiming to be from the FBI or some other authority, but these will be fake and sent by the scammer. Just delete all future mails relating to the transaction and do not respond to them. All the time that you are taking the scammer's lies and threats seriously, he will see you as a paying victim and keep threatening you. If you disappear, he will give up on you and look for his next victim.

No funds have been sent and he will not be taking legal action against you as he is just a common thief.

You may receive mails claiming to be from the FBI or some other authority, but these will be fake and sent by the scammer. Just delete all future mails relating to the transaction and do not respond to them. All the time that you are taking the scammer's lies and threats seriously, he will see you as a paying victim and keep threatening you. If you disappear, he will give up on you and look for his next victim.

Ok thx

I had not confirmed my paypal email at the time now i have confirmed the email still nothing in transaction history please read previous to get full story but are u 100% certain he is a scammer cause he threatened with legal action and im really scared