Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Paypal Money Request

Here's a new angle...

I got a legitimate Paypal Money Request from Cris Carriaga (cris_carriaga2006@yahoo.com) today. It was for $5 and the "details" said "Book Donation."

I have no idea who this person is.

I wrote back:

Huh?

Why do you want my money?

I received a response today, as well:

It is only for donation

our library needs new books

hope you donate

thanks you

God Bless


I guess he thought I would just pay it out without asking. I wonder how well that one is working...

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13 comments:

  1. "I wonder how well that one is working..."

    The sad thing is, he's probably piling up the $5 (minus the paypal fees...) in his account pretty fast. People are probably not thinking for more than 2 seconds before taking out their credit cards saying "can't be a scam, it's only $5!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like fraud to me. The FBI wants to know about this stuff. You can tell them at their website if you haven't already.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Got the exact same email and response. You know it has to be legitimate with flawless grammar like that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just got two paypal requests from this guy for US$10 . . . I guess inflation has brought the donations up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I got this too - sad thing is I googled Crisanto and it's a real person somewhere in the Phillipines! She scored really well on her computer exams...

    ReplyDelete
  6. just got a request from this person as well today... wtf?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Apparently, it worked before, and he/she is trying again. I just received another one yesterday myself. The post above is from 6 months ago.

    I just ignored it, and today I got a Paypal notice that it was canceled, without me doing a thing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi, well be sensible, well-all described

    ReplyDelete
  9. Can you get fraud in paypal by sending a money request? and/or invoice?

    ReplyDelete
  10. No. Asking for money is not wrong. Deceiving to get money is. Sending an invoice with minimal description is not fraudulent, but it does deceptively capitalize on the naivety and fear of the recipient. Since the amount was so small, I can imagine many people would shrug their shoulders and pay it.

    Buyer beware.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm trying to sell my old cell phone online, and now the BUYER is asking me to send a Money Request through PayPal so he can pay me. I called Paypal to be sure and they said none of my info will be sent to them. what alarms me is that he's in Oregon and wants me to ship the item overseas. how can i be sure this isnt a scam before i send the money request? his email is markrod001@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Get the ship to address from him. Find out how much it will cost to ship a sealed package to that location. Use your own shipping service, do not use his (that is part of a scam).

    Add it all up, including the price to be paid for the cell phone. Log into Paypal and send a money request to his email address for "Goods."

    If he pays you, and the payment is confirmed by Paypal, you are protected. (Not so if it is on Hold for some reason) If you want, wait until the money is in your bank account before shipping.

    Once you have the money, ship it to wherever he requested. Keep copies of the shipping info in case he raises a fraud alert.

    There are legitimate reasons to buy from Oregon but have the product shipped overseas.

    ReplyDelete
  13. the only problem in cancelling the request is that paypal then let the person know you have cancelled it. This then shows that your email is a legitimate paypal account and your details can be sold to scammers

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to post a helpful comment.

But, please do not post the full content of similar e-mails you have received. It is appreciated, however, if you post a comment with the name, e-mail and company/address of similar spammers. Thank you!

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