Diamond Jewelry Forums

Picture Gallery

Video Gallery

|

Search |

Posted Today |

Most Active |

Help

ť Home ť

ť Pricescope café ť

ť Hangout ť

ť I almost got scammed!

I almost got scammed!

P: 2/9/2009 3:59:08 PM
InLuv101 Ideal Rock Total Posts: 700 Last Post: 9/10/2009 Member Since: 8/19/2008	I was so upset over the weekend and can't imagine how upset I'd been if I was actually scammed. I tried to make this as short as possible without leaving out the important details. I was looking to purchase an item from someone on craigslist. I've purchased from craigslist before so I thought if I could save a few bucks on a new/almost item that I'd go for it. Well I found the item being sold for a good price. The poster said it was used for 1 week and after initiating contact we exchanged several emails about it including him sending me real life pics of it. I agreed to purchase it. He was in another city in my state so I agreed to send the money via paypal (I've used paypal many many times) and he would send the tracking number and FedEx the the item overnight. His paypal account email was different from the the one he was emailing me with but I didn't think anything of it since I have several personal email addresses as well. Well later that evening after coming home from dinner I checked my email for the tracking number and it wasn't there. I emailed both the email address he was communicating with me from & the paypal email address requesting the tracking number and stating that if I hadn't heard from him in the morning I would contact my bank & cancel the transaction. I got an email a little bit later from the paypal email address from a woman who was confused by my email asking if I was the person who purchased her $300 Best Buy Gift Card from Ebay. After a few more confused email exchanges she gave me her phone number and we talked. Here was the scam: He purchased a Best Buy Gift Card from Ebay and told the seller that his "sister" was going to send the money via paypal. He then instructed her to send the gift card via fedex and give him the tracking number as well as the gift card number & PIN in case he wanted to buy something online before it arrived. He had me (his fake sister) pay for the gift card & I would have received a fedex with a Best Buy Gift Card with a $0.00 balance because he would have spent the money before it reached me. The Ebay seller was very nice and did reverse the transaction on paypal & we both changed our passwords on paypal/email accounts. I just couldn't believe someone would do that! I must be incredibly naive, but I just didn't think for a second he might scam me. I'm very glad it didn't work. Lesson learned. I'm only ever buying things on craigslist where myself and DH can meet the seller in person together. Anyone have anything similar happen to them? If not, just passing my story along so others can be more cautious as I clearly was not. Thanks for reading!
Posted: 2/9/2009 3:59:08 PM

There are 17 replies to this message. There are 17 replies on this page.

P: 2/9/2009 4:10:49 PM
Italiahaircolor Ideal Rock Total Posts: 4,342 Last Post: 11/24/2009 Member Since: 12/17/2007	Wow, you really dodged a bullet there...good for you. I am also glad to hear that the original seller was so willing to work with you. Do you know if she ended up losing out on the gift card all together, or if she was able to save it? ____________________________ Remember to keep your words soft and sweet...you may have to eat them someday.
Posted: 2/9/2009 4:10:49 PM

P: 2/9/2009 4:21:33 PM
InLuv101 Ideal Rock Total Posts: 700 Last Post: 9/10/2009 Member Since: 8/19/2008	Date: 2/9/2009 4:10:49 PM Author: Italiahaircolor Wow, you really dodged a bullet there...good for you. I am also glad to hear that the original seller was so willing to work with you. Do you know if she ended up losing out on the gift card all together, or if she was able to save it? She actually never gave him the gift card # or PIN number. She said she was away from the computer most of the day and then when he did get in contact with her the way he was pressing her so hard for the info made her leery. Finally when she got my email inquiring about my totally different item, she was really tipped off that something was up.
Posted: 2/9/2009 4:21:33 PM

P: 2/9/2009 4:39:07 PM
Italiahaircolor Ideal Rock Total Posts: 4,342 Last Post: 11/24/2009 Member Since: 12/17/2007	Date: 2/9/2009 4:21:33 PM Author: InLuv101 Date: 2/9/2009 4:10:49 PM Author: Italiahaircolor Wow, you really dodged a bullet there...good for you. I am also glad to hear that the original seller was so willing to work with you. Do you know if she ended up losing out on the gift card all together, or if she was able to save it? She actually never gave him the gift card # or PIN number. She said she was away from the computer most of the day and then when he did get in contact with her the way he was pressing her so hard for the info made her leery. Finally when she got my email inquiring about my totally different item, she was really tipped off that something was up. You both got really lucky. ____________________________ Remember to keep your words soft and sweet...you may have to eat them someday.
Posted: 2/9/2009 4:39:07 PM

P: 2/9/2009 4:42:36 PM
k9muttlover Cut Rock Total Posts: 358 Last Post: 6/28/2009 Member Since: 7/7/2007	WOW! Good thing you were persistent with the "seller" at getting the tracking information - Nice catch!
Posted: 2/9/2009 4:42:36 PM

P: 2/9/2009 5:01:39 PM
Brown.Eyed.Girl Ideal Rock Total Posts: 3,768 Last Post: 11/24/2009 Member Since: 6/4/2008	Scary! Thank goodness you both noticed something was up! **********************
Posted: 2/9/2009 5:01:39 PM

P: 2/9/2009 5:21:27 PM
tlh Ideal Rock Total Posts: 4,065 Last Post: 11/24/2009 Member Since: 12/31/2008	wow, that IS scary! Glad it worked out fo ryou though! "I like smiling. Smiling's my favorite!" Will Ferrell ~ Elf
Posted: 2/9/2009 5:21:27 PM

P: 2/9/2009 5:32:11 PM
makemepretty Cut Rock Total Posts: 356 Last Post: 11/18/2009 Member Since: 2/26/2004	She lucked out that you contacted her. Otherwise, if you did a chargeback(when you didn't get your item) she would have been out the money AND her gift card. Scammers suck! I did sell something on ebay once that someone paid via paypal. I mailed it to the address they provided with signature confirmation but it turned out that was a false address that didn't go with the ebay users name. The person who owned the ebay/paypal account did a chargeback and closed their account, then Paypal wanted the money back from me-even though I mailed out my item with signature confirmation, it was a $2,000 item! Lucky for me I had already transfered the money to my bank account and had to fight Paypal saying that I shipped it to the address THEY provided me with signature confirmation. It was a big big headache and many sleepless nights and that is the reason I no longer even accept paypal if I sell on ebay anymore. Scammers are just too good at what they do. Paypal is not safe like people think.
Posted: 2/9/2009 5:32:11 PM

P: 2/9/2009 5:51:06 PM
InLuv101 Ideal Rock Total Posts: 700 Last Post: 9/10/2009 Member Since: 8/19/2008	Date: 2/9/2009 5:32:11 PM Author: makemepretty She lucked out that you contacted her. Otherwise, if you did a chargeback(when you didn't get your item) she would have been out the money AND her gift card. Scammers suck! I did sell something on ebay once that someone paid via paypal. I mailed it to the address they provided with signature confirmation but it turned out that was a false address that didn't go with the ebay users name. The person who owned the ebay/paypal account did a chargeback and closed their account, then Paypal wanted the money back from me-even though I mailed out my item with signature confirmation, it was a $2,000 item! Lucky for me I had already transfered the money to my bank account and had to fight Paypal saying that I shipped it to the address THEY provided me with signature confirmation. It was a big big headache and many sleepless nights and that is the reason I no longer even accept paypal if I sell on ebay anymore. Scammers are just too good at what they do. Paypal is not safe like people think. Wow! I'm bet that was a hassle for you! So glad it worked out for you and you are right, scammers are too good at what they do.
Posted: 2/9/2009 5:51:06 PM

P: 2/9/2009 7:55:24 PM
*DiamondDana** Ideal Rock Total Posts: 6,172 Last Post: 11/23/2009 Member Since: 7/21/2006	What a close call for both of you! Thank God you emailed the ebay seller! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you judge people, you have no time to love them ~Mother Teresa
Posted: 2/9/2009 7:55:24 PM

P: 2/9/2009 8:03:35 PM
Definitely, Maybe Ideal Rock Total Posts: 581 Last Post: 5/6/2009 Member Since: 1/12/2009	Wow. You are both really lucky that you didn't get scammed. What a close call! Jeeze. I am in shock. I have always been a little weery about buy off ebay or craigslist because of that. I am glad nothing happened to you. When I was in Paris I found a puppy on craigslist, so, so cute. The contact said he was in Paris, so I figured I would get the dog in person and fly him home with me. When I went to contact him he said he was in some city in Africa on a mission trip and that he was really worried about the puppy. He said it would only cost me to fly the puppy from Africa to any airport and I had to wire him the money. Big red flag or me so I reported him. I had looked up the scam online first. It made me mad to think that so many people probably fall for that worrying about a little animal.
Posted: 2/9/2009 8:03:35 PM

P: 2/9/2009 8:18:53 PM
lovegem Cut Rock Total Posts: 387 Last Post: 11/23/2009 Member Since: 12/26/2007	wow, that's a new scam method I heard from you InLOVE101. Thanks for sharing the story. It would be very hard to catch this kind of scam. Imagining that he actually spent few dollars mailing you an empty package. You probably wouldn't find out until is too late.
Posted: 2/9/2009 8:18:53 PM

P: 2/9/2009 8:22:52 PM
Miranda Ideal Rock Total Posts: 4,042 Last Post: 9/24/2009 Member Since: 2/18/2006	Whoa! I'm glad you caught it. Some people are just jerks, aren't they?!
Posted: 2/9/2009 8:22:52 PM

P: 2/9/2009 11:02:12 PM
AmberGretchen Ideal Rock Total Posts: 7,046 Last Post: 11/11/2009 Member Since: 1/6/2005	Thank you for sharing your story - so glad you and the original seller dodged the bullet like that, and its always good to know about how scammers operate so we all know what to watch out for.
Posted: 2/9/2009 11:02:12 PM

P: 2/9/2009 11:15:19 PM
disney777 Rough Rock Total Posts: 30 Last Post: 8/15/2009 Member Since: 3/26/2008	Date: 2/9/2009 5:32:11 PM Author: makemepretty ...... Paypal is not safe like people think. True. I had someone scam my paypal account for over $2000. They managed to get into my account, add a fake credit card (which must have been good at one time, but not when they went to get payment, thus it defaulted to MY valid credit card.) I never received any notice that anything was changed on my account. And PayPal always sends an email when you change any little thing. I feel that it was an inside job, because I should have gotten several notices from PayPal - confirmation notice for purchases, for the changes I made, etc.. PayPal responded very quickly and took care of it. I was very impressed how well they handled it. They credited me immediately, then started their investigation. But I was still stressed out for about a day. I was lucky.
Posted: 2/9/2009 11:15:19 PM

P: 2/9/2009 11:30:38 PM
cnspotts Cut Rock Total Posts: 400 Last Post: 11/23/2009 Member Since: 1/11/2003	Wow, I am so glad that I saw your post. Never thought about something like that either. So glad that it turned out alright for you and the seller of the card. Some people are just horrible! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When was the last time you had a massage?
Posted: 2/9/2009 11:30:38 PM

P: 2/10/2009 9:52:20 AM
InLuv101 Ideal Rock Total Posts: 700 Last Post: 9/10/2009 Member Since: 8/19/2008	Thanks everyone! I am so glad that both the gift card seller & myself were able to come out unscathed.
Posted: 2/10/2009 9:52:20 AM

P: 2/10/2009 2:06:48 PM
Steel Ideal Rock Total Posts: 2,982 Last Post: 11/21/2009 Member Since: 7/8/2006	I tried to post earlier but my connection was so slow it just timmed out . I am so pleased you posted this scam. I hope other reading it will have such a fortunate escape. Well done InLuv101, for smelling a rat and acting on it. Good for you.
Posted: 2/10/2009 2:06:48 PM

Previous Page

Next Page

Ť I'm surprised that I've... Ť

ť Please pray for me :-( ť

Jump to:

Contact Us \| Back Home \| Privacy Statement \| Forum Agreement \| Forum Policies
Ideal BB Version: 0.1.5.4.beta1	Message forum software powered by the Ideal BB

Pricescope - Knowledge - Diamond Prices - Tools - Resources - About

Š 2000-2009 Pricescope. Terms of Use Privacy Policy Disclaimer
forum archives