ScamBusters New Zealand

I had a car listed for sale on Trademe.

Not long after listing I received a SMS from +60 1 47316134 saying "I want to know if your car is still availablefor sale, plz email me on kellyrose0135@yahoo.com

I emailed and received back from Kelly Rose kellyrose0135@yahoo.com "Thanks for the swift reply,I will be pleased to know the lowest price,i want you to get back to me with more picture and the present condition of the honda because i am presently on a business trip and i could not come over to check it out,but no worries as i am willing to handle the pick up of this merchandise through my legitimate agent in malaysia,it will be picked up after payment, so i really need to know the mode of payment.
Hope to read from you asap."

After a couple of email exchanges we agreed on a price for the car and I got " i am really interested in buying it and i want to go ahead with the purchase,i am please with the price but i can only conclude the transaction through paypal for our own protection,they act as a neutral third party. it is safe,secure and reliable.and also due to the fact that i am on a business trip,that is what safe and convenient for me.thanks"

I sent a Paypal request for the agreed price and got back "I have sent the payment through paypal and i hope by now you should have received the confirmation emails from paypal because the funds has been removed from my account immediately i sent it.
Get back to me as soon as you could so i can know how everything is going and also i have added $3,050 for the shipment as that is the shipper's fee and i have added it while sending the payment. I had to do that because you are the one to pay the shipping agent since you are the seller and they are going to pick the merchandise up from you.
Thanks for doing business with you." I queried this and Kelly suggested that the car was going to be shipped to Malaysia!

And here's the scam: I then received two emails (which funnily enough landed in the Spam folder) from customerdept@consultant.com, but renamed to look like they came from service@paypal.com: One was a statement and the second was further instructions on how to send $3,050 to a "shipper" so that then I could get my $7,000 released!!!! Not going to happen.

This scam definitely appears to be running from Malaysia: A couple of references to Malaysia in my exchange; +60 is the Malaysian country code; The original email and the bogus Paypal mail both come from IP address 203.82.94.20 which tracks to Malaysia.

It appears that this same scam is also running in Australia http://forums.tradingpost.com.au/Topic3070-64-2.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear <my name removed> ,
You have an Instant Payment of $10,296.00 NZD from Rose Kelly
Payment Details

Purchased From: <my email removed>
Transaction ID: 62S8492898335130L

Item Number Item Title Quantity Price Subtotal
N/A
Honda CRV
1
$7,246.00 NZD
$7,246.00 NZD
Shipping & Handling Handled by PayPal:
(includes any seller packing fees)
$3,050.00 NZD
Postal Insurance: $0.00
NZD

Total:
$10,296.00 NZD
Shipping Agent's Information

Agent's Info:
Name:Manica
Last Name:Dass Supaiah
City: kuala lumpur
Postal code-53000
Country-Malaysia

Address Status: Confirmed

For security purposes,
This PayPal payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has been " APPROVED" but will not be credited to your account until we confirm that the shipping fees has been sent to the above address via Western Union Money Transfer. The above amount has been fully deducted from the buyer's account and the money is now in escrow with PayPal but we want you to send out $3,050.00 NZD which will be used by the shipping service agent for the pick-up of the Merchandise.

All you have to do is to reply directly to this mail with the Money Transfer Control Number( MTCN),Secret Questions and Answers used when sending the money. Once it has been verified and the details above sent to us, you will receive a "CONFIRMATION E-mail" from PayPal® Service informing you that your account has been credited with $10,296.00 NZD. Contact us directly at our customer Department Service at:customerdept@consultant.com and our customer service care will attend to you. Please be aware that due to the thousands of transactions processed daily by PayPal, It is strictly requested that you contact us only through the customer care email provided above for faster response from us as we will not respond to phone calls unless otherwise advised by us.

**PLEASE NOTE**
Once the transfer information has been verified and the MTCN 10 Digit Code has been sent to us, You will receive a "CONFIRMATION Email" from PayPal informing you that the Money has been credited to your PayPal account.
Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team
Copyright 1999-2010 PayPal. All rights reserved. PayPal (Europe) Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United States as an electronic money institution. PayPal FSA Register Number: 226056.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear <my name removed> ,

This message is Originated from PayPal and we are here to inform you that $10,296.00 NZD has just been transferred to your account by Mrs Rose Kelly who happens to be a verified PayPal user.
A sum of $3,050.00 NZD was added for the shipping of the merchandise and it has also been deducted from the buyer's account but we will not CREDIT your account directly until you send out $3,050.00 NZD to the Drop Shipper's information we provided in our previous mail. This is to ensure safety between both parties as a very huge amount is about to be CREDITED into your account and we want to make sure the buyer is also safe in this transaction.
We want you to go ahead and send the money to the shipper's information in Malaysia through Western Union Money Transfer and get back to us with the 10 Digit MTCN code with the Secret Question and Answer and once this is confirmed, then your account will be fully CREDITED because the funds has already been deducted from the payer's account.


This action is not a request from our client but a security measure we are taking to ensure and protect both parties involved in this transaction. We hope you send any complain to us at out customer Department Service at: customerdept@consultant.com

PayPal is sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused you.

PayPal International
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

See here on a search of email address.

A search on "presently on a business trip and i could not come over to check it out,but" is also very informative. This phrase has been used in a number of emails (surprise, surprise).

These lowlifes are just trying to rip off hard working Kiwis.

This same scam has just happened to me while trying to sell my car. Only I got this email after a couple of days of hearing nothing:

service@paypal.com[image: PayPal] Dear , We really want this transaction to work out...
8 May (6 days ago)

service@paypal.comLoading...8 May (6 days ago)


Dear ,

We really want this transaction to work out but since you are not ready to show your understanding and cooperation, we will have to take things up through the proper authorities. By not responding to our email notifications and acting according to our instructions, You have violated our security policy and we will have your information with us passed to the Federal Bureau Of Investigation and the Internet Fraud Crime Commission and the Australian Interpol for the proper justice. As your payment company, we have our rules and regulations, and by using our services simply means you have to obey our instructions and follow our security steps in order to ensure a safe transaction. According to our safety precautions and this transaction involving a huge sum, we cannot fail to protect both our buyers and sellers and since we have instructed you on the necessary requirements, and you have fail to comply, we shall not fail to proceed into our legal actions. We are giving you the next 24 hours grace to get back to us with the requested details. If by the end of the given period, we have not received the requested details from you, we reserve the right to forward your contact information with us to all governmental agencies backing us and we shall as well close your account with us.

This message is not a threat by PayPal, but a legal step that we take in order to ensure a safer environment for all our users.

We request for the Scanned Receipt and the western union details to prove sending of the shipper's fee for the pick up of the item paid for in less than 24hours and once we receive these details, we will fund the money into your account or face the consequences of LEGAL ACTION.
This is done in other to protect both the seller and buyer.

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------------

Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team

And same email address even:
rosekelly0135@yahoo.com

Hi - I have had 4 .txt from the people, one from dear old rosewoods01, one from kellyoods7755, one from drinnice from a new number 502 and one from a shirleytercar on the same number.

I have been promised payment from paypal and I am just waiting to get their bogus 'paypal' confirmation so I can send it to the genuine Paypal' who will do something about it.

I have contacted everybody in NZ - but nobody wants to know.

Cant do much else - it is a bugger getting .txt at 3.40 and 4 am

Great site - well done

Peter

Hi Peter and Mandy and a very warm welcome to ScamBusters. This type of scam is becoming more prevalent, not just on TradeMe but on other NZ auction sites as well.

While logic says, "Why would PayPal insist on you using a competing payment service (Western Union), unfortunately greed is a wonderful motivator and people do fall for it. I'm delighted to ee that you saw through the scam from the start.

There's really very little that can be done to stop these people. We believe that TradeMe should be blocking ALL international IP addresses as nobody from outside NZ or AU is allowed to trade n the site. However TM in their wisdom don't do this which allows scammers to view auctions, guess email addresses and perpetrate this type of scam.

The consultant dot com domain is registered to the impressive sounding "World Media Group, LLC" but a quick Google search on that entity and "scam" shows 56,300 results. The same people own a number of generic but credible-sounding domains such as royal dot net, engineer dot com and so forth. Another search of their registered address at "90 Washington Valley Rd., Bedminster" produces 78,900 results. It's obviously a mailing address beloved of scammers.

If you were so inclined you could string these people on for a while, insisting that you'd made payment with a silly back story. Otherwise it's best to just write it off to experience.

You can be reassured that posting your experience here will help others. Google has already spidered your post and a search on the email address used will bring people to these forums.

Widespread use of the internet is a wonderful, democratic thing. It also allows these lowlifes easy access to an endless supply of victims. I'm glad that you're not one of them.

Hi

I now have the bogus paypal (2) statements and I have sent them off to Paypal for their perusal and I have a series of emails from HER? but I responded this morning asking if she wanted a cheaper car and she responded within 30 mins. I do therefore suspect that she is based in NZ. I have checked all the various IP's and find that she is using a computer 3 a/d away from the bogus Paypal - funny eh?

Also her sending address is not found on the net using 3 whois so it is a private server - maybe linking to commerce.com which have 833 domains hosted.

It has the usual a/d in China to send the WU payment to - things must be getting tough - they are only asking for $2000

I would love to catch them out - who can I speak to in NZ? I have tried the obvious but no interest

Cheers

Peter

I'm sorry but there's nobody in NZ who'll be interested. If you went to the Police you'd be met with blank faces.

Yes - I know - I thought as much

Interesting - The person who to send the money via WU to (in China) one Shaka Yahaya (not a very chinese name) is on facebook and netlog as a Nigerian.

Who would guess???

I am having fun!! Keeping her going - wasting her time but running out of things to say.

Cheers

Peter

Here's a little inspiration.

http://419eater.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Further info

I said the PO would not accept Shaka Yahaya as a recipient without a ID Card of a copy of his passport - within 5 mins I got a very bad copy of a NSW driving license.

Only a few things wrong with it:
1. Wrong font for a very obvious name change
2. Definitely not an Asian or a Nigerian (looks like a typical ocka)
3. No expiry date
4. Wrong layout for a genuine licence (found a genuine one)
5. Signature very blurred.
Excellent suggestion to go to 419eater.com

Still have the feeling they are based in NZ........how do they know to go to the PO to do WU - most other countries you go to a specialist WU Agency

Cheers

Peter

Why not post it here?

The easiest way is to upload it to photobucket.com (free hosting of photos). Photobucket supply a link code.

Other things you may use to keep the farce going.

1. Repairs to the car for a noticed defect
2. Family crisis (grandparents die surprisingly often)
3. Sports accident necessitating contact by a spouse (make the spouse very dippy, needing help at every step)
4. Export papers needed
5. Paypal not confirming paperwork, can they resend
6. Paypal still not confirming. Can they use another avenue
7. Floods making things difficult
8. Other news headlines that cause delays (send legitimate links)

You get the idea. These crims have an almost endless supply of reasons, excuses, ploys. Just let your imagination run, you'll come up with others.

Your ideas should cause delay, difficulty. If they involve activity from the crims end, all the better. Your chances of getting anything worthwhile are slim, but you never know. I received a document recently prepared on Microsoft Word. This includes author name, all sorts of stuff if you know where to look (and if the crim forgets to cleanse). Unfortunately they did cleanse in my case, but you never know.

Gidday all

Yep - we are going through the exact same thing. We listed my Mercedes for sale a week ago and within two days these jerks were onto us. "Shirley Carter" was our "buyer"!!!!! Fortunately we were not born yesterday - and checked everything they had to say. They do a REALLY good job of "grooming" you !!!! We noticed that we appeared to be getting emails - supposedly from the same person - from TWO different people. One speaking impeccable, well educated English, and the other one speaking very poor English !! Then we noticed that they didn't "haggle" the price! Or want to know our address so shipping arrangements could be made. How could they know that shipping would cost $3,000 if they didn't know where the car was being shipped from???

The BIG one was when they asked for money to pay for the shipping!!!! Then they wanted to use ONLY Paypal - but then wanted us to pay for the shipping out of our own poickets first - using another payment method - Western Union !!! If they could pay us via Paypal, then obviously they could also pay the shipper via Paypal!!!!

Then the "Paypal" notifications turning up - you guessed it - in our spam folder!!! Paypal is white listed in our address book !!

So we did the obvious - put in a phone call to Paypal. We gave a nice man named Mike the "transaction" number and read both emails out to him - including the sender email address. He said the transaction number nowhere near remotely resembles any of their transaction numbers, and said that the "buyer" could have sent our money to us via Paypal, and the "shippers" money to them via Paypal. He said they had received other inquiries about this scam and warned us not to comply with the instructions> We thanked him HEAPS - then sent an email to "Shirley" telling "her" to "f-------- off"!!!!

Haven't heard any more from them as yet !!

Cheers
Lynda

Hi Lynda and welcome to ScamBusters. It's always good to hear about people who see through this type of scam. Of course the scammers wouldn't be doing this if they didn't pull in victims every now and then, though we have no way of knowing their success rate.

Hi

Just had the same scam attempt happen to me as what is written in the first post.
Same phone number used (+60147316134) with the first txt stating:

"I want to know if your vehicle is still available for sale. email me on keishabright29@yahoo.com"

I txt them a few times to find out what details they want me to email them about, as my Trademe add has pretty much all the information anyone would need... Ended up emailing them with a few photos etc as they requested, and they seemed very keen. They wanted to know the best method for payment and I said bank deposit or paypal.

Here are some of the correspondence.

1st Email:
Hello,
Thanks for the swift reply, I am pleased with your price but I want you to get back to me with more pictures of it because i am presently in Malaysia on business trip and could not come over to check it out,but no worries as i am willing to handle the pick up of this vehicle through a legitimate shipping agent based in Malaysia, it will be picked up after payment, so i really need to know the mode of payment because i need this vehicle urgently. Hope to read from you asap.

2nd Email:
It is the shipping agent that will be picking the car up from you after i send the payment to you and it will be ship to china and also I can only conclude this transaction only via paypal,i have been burnt via cheque and bank transfer before,that is why i selected paypal(http://www.paypal.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.) as a mode of payment because paypal is the best online payment,so both of us could be on the safer side,i am a woman of integrity.i am honest and don`t cheat people out of their money,i own my company that have a 25 number of people working for me,awaiting your decision because i really need to pursue this buy sincerely.
Thanks

4th Email:
Thanks for the pictures and i am really interested in buying it and i want to go ahead with the purchase so give me the final price for the Toyota Caldina and your paypal email address with the full name on the paypal account,so that i can transfer the funds now

5th Email:
It is the shipping agent that will be picking it up after i send the payment to you and the vehicle need to be de-registered because it will be ship to Malaysia and it is the shipping agent that will sign the all the document of the vehicle when he gets there to pick the vehicle from you.


It all just seemed weird how someone in Malaysia would want a car from me in Invercargill. But I went along with it but was a bit cautious. After the 5th email I went to bed for the night and forwarded the details to myself at work. I then did a search on google as someone at work said they heard of a Malaysia Trademe/Paypal scam recently. Google search found this website and low and behold, same phone number!

I promptly replied back to them with some colourful language and left it at that.

Loosers.

Thank you very much for this site! I doubt I would have been scammed as I never click links from email anyway, and logging into my own paypal would have found out the truth im sure, but still - am very greatful for the information here.

Cheers
James