YES,
Simple way to see if you are being targeted is to copy a section of the email, 10 - 15 words, and paste it into google and see what comes up
here is how it works.
from http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/60122457622
I am selling my car through online classifieds and yesterday I got the following emails
From: Chloe Bauer
Date: 22/01/2011 5:05:16 PM
To: marcellina.perrin@bigpond.com
Subject: Re: tarago
Hello,
Thanks for the swift reply, What is your last asking price so that we
Will cut short the negotiation process. I have read details about the
Vehicle on the ad and I am genuinely interested but I need to let you
Know that I am not available at the moment, I am in Malaysia and I
Will be using the vehicle for private purposes here in Malaysia. I
Will be handling the pick up/delivery of the vehicle to me here in
Malaysia through a legal government approved private shipping company
That has their headquarter situated in Malaysia but be rest assured
That shipment or pickup will not take place until after I have paid
All cost of the vehicle and your funds has been confirmed cleared into
Your hands . Please note that I will not be needing the rego because
It will be invalid over here so please remove the registration. I need
To know your terms/conditions regarding payment as I need the vehicle
Here as soon as possible and I intend to pay right away if we can come
To a conclusion soon so kindly let me know your mode of payment. Hope
To read from you ASAP.
Chloe
From: Chloe Bauer
Date: 22/01/2011 6:55:37 PM
To: marcellina.perrin@bigpond.com
Subject: Re: tarago
Thanks a lot. I have made my research and read the vital information
About the vehicle on the website and everything is okay by me. I have
Actually tried to get a kind of this vehicle from here earlier but
Most of the ones I got either have one huge mechanical fault or the
Other and some have even had terrible accidents in the past while some
Are extremely exorbitant.
As to your final price, My offer will be 3,300aud so if you deem the transaction
Good enough, I will be very glad to make the payment right away
Through my PayPal account as I am currently working offshore and I
Won't definitely be able to make it to my bank to make bank wires
Across to you. As to shipping and change of ownership processes, you
Need not worry yourself about how the vehicle will get to me here in
Malaysia as I will contact the shipping company here who will handle
That. Do get back to me right away with your PayPal Email address and
Full name so that I can remit the payment ASAP and all other pickup
Processes can follow immediately your funds clears into your account.
Chloe
From: service@paypal.com
Date: 22/01/2011 9:26:37 PM
To: wiccan_mother@hotmail.com
Subject: Notification Of An Instant Payment Received From Chloe Bauer For An Auction Merchandise
Dear Marcellina Perrin,
You have an Instant Payment of $4,850.00 AUD from Chloe Bauer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment Details
Purchased From: wiccan_mother@hotmail.com
Transaction ID: 62S8492898335130L
Item Number Item Title Quantity Price Subtotal
N/A Tarago
1 $3,300.00 AUD $3,300.00 AUD
Shipping & Handling Handled by PayPal :
(includes any seller packing fees) $1,550.00 AUD
PayPal VAT (Deducted separately from buyer's account) : $103.00
AUD
Total: $4,850.00 AUD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shipping Agent's Information
Agent's Info: Name: Bavani
Last Name: Shamugam
Address: 10 Damansara Avenue,Setapak
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 $1,550.00 AUD 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 $4,850.00 AUD. Contact us directly at our customer Department Service at:inquirysection@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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Be aware that this payment will NOT appear on your PayPal account "HISTORY" until we have received and verified the MTCN for the shipper's fees as instructed above due to strict security measures.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
PayPal Email ID PP753
From: service@paypal.com
Date: 22/01/2011 9:29:09 PM
To: wiccan_mother@hotmail.com
Subject: ***PayPal Payment Notification For Merchandise Purchased***
Dear Marcellina Perrin,
This message is Originated from PayPal and we are here to inform you that $4,850.00 AUD has just been transferred to your account by Chloe Bauer who happens to be a verified PayPal user.
A sum of $1,550.00 AUD 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 $1,550.00 AUD 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: inquirysection@consultant.com
PLEASE NOTE:
For a speedy service, this transaction has been immediately processed via our email payment service therefore any inquiries and all necessary information requested should be sent to us by directly replying to this payment notification message only. We strongly recommend this because the status of this transaction has not been passed on to our telephone customer service section so therefore all inquiries should be directed to this email address as it is the ONLY customer service department set for monitoring your transaction.
PayPal is sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused you.
PayPal International
Now when I sent this so called paypal company an email querying this they sent me the following email
From: service@paypal.com
Date: 22/01/2011 10:50:34 PM
To: wiccan_mother@hotmail.com
Subject: ** About Your Transaction With Us **
Dear Marcellina Perrin,
Thank you for contacting the PayPal customer care department. This message is in response to your message and in regards to the PayPal payment made to your account by Chloe Bauer. My name is Sitou and I have been assigned to help you through with the transaction.
According to the confirmation of payment message issued out to you by PayPal, we'd like to confirm that your funds have been successfully charged from the buyer's account and the funds are presently being held invisible on your account as we are taking security measures to ensure a safe transaction. We are using this medium to get you informed that you have to send the shipping bills upfront (out of your pocket) due to PayPal's security measures and also if you go through the confirmation email we sent to you, a total sum of $4,850.00 AUD has been fully deducted from the buyer's account and as you can see, it is a huge amount and we are trying to protect both you and the buyer because the money paid by the buyer cannot be retracted as we will not refund any money into the buyer's account and this is due to security reasons. This were the reasons we requested that you have to send the $1,550.00 AUD upfront. You are to go to any Western Union Outlet or Post Office around you with the fees and send it out to the shipping agent's information via Western Union Money Transfer. The information you will send the fees to is the address included in the payment confirmation.
In order to send the funds as requested by PayPal, you have to go to any western union location with the cash in hand (out if your pocket) and send it to the shipper's details which has already been sent to you in the payment notification receipt issued to you. For your convenience, A western union location can best be located at your nearest local post office. You have to go to the post office and ask for their western union office, then you will be directed.
You also have to go to the western union office with a valid identity card (either your driver's license or your traveling passport) as it will be requested for by the western union agent just to prove your legitimacy. Once the funds has been sent, a receipt of transfer will be given to you, you have to check on the western union receipt for the MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number) which you have to email directly to us. Once we receive the MTCN from you, we will verify the details with western union and once we have confirmed that you have truly sent the funds, we will immediately deposit your funds into your account.
Your quick response will be very much appreciated once the money has been sent and our response to your messages will be timely as PayPal deals with time. We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience this might have bestowed on you and we want you to be aware that PayPal will be responsible for any additional charges incurred during the course of sending the shipper's funds at the western union office.
Please note that you have less than 24hours to complete this request so that we can complete the process of the transaction and have your funds in escrow with us credited into your account immediately.
Thank you for using PayPal!
Kind Regards,
The PayPal Team.
I then told her I didn't have $1550.00 and she sent me this
From: Chloe Bauer
Date: 22/01/2011 10:55:21 PM
To: marcellina.perrin@bigpond.com
Subject: Re: tarago
Hi back, I want to make somethings clear, It was no intention of mine
That you should prepay the shippers and that was why I paid everything
According to paypal's instructions, if you checked the payment
Confirmation from paypal, you ll see that I was even charged a
Transfer fee. Presently, paypal emailed me saying they are taking
Security measures, therefore my account has to be frozen temporarily
Until yourI then repor
Funds are cleared into your account. I had to agree to this
Terms since I am not dubious and what I want is for your funds to
Clear into your account so that we can move on with the transaction.
They stated the transfer cannot be retracted and the transaction
Cannot be cancelled. I am stucked in the middle at present so I
Implore you to get back to them with their requested details so that
We can finish this transaction once and for all.
Chloe
I then reported to the ACCC and sent her an email telling her I was suspicious and was getting the Australian Federal Police to check it out and this is what she sent me
From: Chloe Bauer
Date: 22/01/2011 11:29:42 PM
To: marcellina.perrin@bigpond.com
Subject: Re: tarago
Do whatever as long as I have paid and I have the proof, then I am
Covered. I am also reporting this stress to paypal right away
Chloe
Now I did sent the emails through to paypal and this is what they said
From: spoof@paypal.com
Date: 22/01/2011 11:20:32 PM
To: marcellina.perrin@bigpond.com
Subject: RE: Fw: Notification Of An Instant Payment Received From Chloe Bauer For An Auction Merchandise (KMM2064851V98782L0KM)
Hello marcellina.perrin@bigpond.com,
Thanks for forwarding that suspicious-looking email. You're right - it
Was a phishing attempt, and we're working on stopping the fraud. By
Reporting the problem, you've made a difference!
Identity thieves try to trick you into revealing your password or other
Personal information through phishing emails and fake websites. To learn
More about online safety, click "Security Center" on any PayPal webpage.
Every email counts. When you forward suspicious-looking emails to
spoof@paypal.com, you help keep yourself and others safe from identity
Theft.
Your account security is very important to us, so we appreciate your
Extra effort.
Thanks,
PayPal
This email is sent to you by the contracting entity to your User
Agreement, either PayPal Ince, PayPal Pte. Ltd or PayPal (Europe) S.à
R.l. & Cie, S.C.A. Société en Commandite par Actions, Registered Office:
5th Floor 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg RCS Luxembourg B 118
349.
I have reported her to the ACCC, paypal and the Malaysian Police
Is there anything else I can do?
Thanks Marcellina