Not quite so exciting as the Jamaica topic, I was a victim of internet fraud a few weeks ago.
My sister asked me to sell a phone for her on Ebay so I put it up and waited to see what feedback I got about it. A few days later I received an email from a man named Nathan asking if he could buy the phone and send the money through Paypal.
I tried to look for a way of changing it so that I could put a Buy It Now option on the listing but for some reason I couldnt, so I ended the auction and asked him to pay the money he offered through Paypal.
That evening I got an email from Paypal telling me that Nathan had put the money in my account and that because it was such a high amount, they would hold this until I sent them a tracking number for the parcel.
At the time I had never had such a high amount going through Paypal as most things I sell are for a few pounds so I though this could be legit as, afterall, it was for the buyer and seller protection?!
I sent the package the next day to an address which was to Nigeria. It sounds so stupid now but I had never heard that Nigeria was meant to be such an untrustworthy place so had no suspicions at all.
I sent the tracking number to Paypal and let Nathan know I had sent the phone and waited for the Paypal funds to clear.
How I found out that this was fraud was this:
When Paypal sent me the reply to my tracking number email, it was 21:45.
At 21:55 I had an email from Nathan asking me if I had another phone to sell!
This is the only time he had slipped up to silly little me!
I told him I had a new phone just to see what would happen while I waited until I could phone Paypal. Took a photo of another phone I had and sent him the picture to which he offered me a good sum of money and asked me to send it to the same place!
I then had another email from Paypal saying that he had made another payment, but this time, because the first set of funds hadnt cleared they had decided to hold back the total of the two funds until I sent them the receipt of the second package.
I phoned Paypal the next morning when the lady told me there were no funds into my account from the first transaction which I had already gathered, but she wasnt interested in taking any information from me about the buyer.
I thought she would have noted something down maybe in a database of theirs to carry a report on fraud? But apparently not.
I also phoned the Royal Mail to see if I could get the package stopped before it left the country, the answer was no
bye bye sisters phone.
I also sent Ebay an email to let them know what went on (just incase they had a database) So while I waited for a reply I told Nathan that I would have to hold on sending the package until I had time to contact Paypal to ask them why they were holding both funds.
He replied to me saying tha he had contacted them himself... and that they had told him that it was because the funds hadnt cleared from the first one.
His last words on the email were "I suggest you do as PayPal have asked and send the second package then your payment will come though your account within 48 hours"
That was the last email.
Last week I had an email from the "Nigerian Customs" this is what it said:
The Comptroller General of Nigeria Custom
Nigeria Custom Authority,
Nigeria Custom and Excise.
FROM THE DESK OF: Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha
Attention: Sarah *******,
We at the Nigeria Custom's Office will like to notify you that we got your contact information from the buyer of your item when the buyer was held and detained for committing fraud, the item that you sent is being kept on hold in our custody . The item you sent to Nigeria is listed among the contra-band goods import by individual by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The buyer of the item is currently detained at one of the local police stations here in Nigeria. You are to get back to us with the complete Name and Address where you want this item returned to since it will not be allowed inside the country, include your phone number for direct contacts.
Currently, the buyer of your item is in one of the local police station, they do not have any evidence or what so ever to sentence him, we request that you send to us a copy of all the email you received from the buyer, so we can pass it on to the Nigerian police so they could arrange him in front of a Federal High Court, if he is found guilty, you will be compensated by the Nigerian Government.
If you have any problem,do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours Sincerely,
Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha.
Comptroller General of Nigeria Custom.
I put the email into Google and found a few scams "nig_custom@execs.com"
so emailed them backing saying I wont say anything because I do not believe them to be who they say they are.
A couple of days later I received another email which said:
The Comptroller General of Nigeria Custom
Nigeria Custom Authority,
Nigeria Custom and Excise.
Dear Sarah ********,
We will like to inform you that your package as went through custom checking with the information you provided to us and has been approved to be legal and to be dispatch back to you but during our investigation and findings on the suspected criminal, the total sum of £1.2 Million GBP was recovered from him, this was forwarded to the Nigeria Custom Agency.
The President of the agent has approved that the subjected sum should be refunded back to the victim of fraud by the criminal and we only have a list of 4 victims in which you tend to be one of them, so we hereby congratulate you to as you will have your refund of £300,000 GBP as the percentage of the total sum per number of four.
We will like to let you know that this sum will be given to you in cash with your item. We will like you to get back to us if you will be able to come down to our office here in Nigeria to sign and pick up your fund and your package or you will hire our registered Diplomatic Courier Company to monitor the delivery of both your package and the cash to you in your country in the maximum of three days.
We will await your response on this as soon as possible so both your cash and your package can be processed for delivery via Diplomatic Courier Company and deliver to you in your country.
As soon as you get back to us, the contact to the Diplomatic Courier Company will be sent to you with immediate effect.
Congratulation once again and we assure you that you will not lose any of your wealth to the Nigeria Masses as we are here to recover them for you.
Yours Sincerely,
Alhaji Ahmed Mustapha.
Comptroller General of Nigeria Custom.
Its mad to thing how much they are willing to try before they give up.
I would not be suprised it that wasn't the last email either!
But on the other hand...
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