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Slightly OT, attempted fraud....

rainbowsrus Jan 31, 2007 12:12 PM

Just slightly off topic but still relevant:

Yesterday I was contacted by a person interested in a striped male BCI I have for sale in the KS ads. After discussion and admittedly, this individual is a herper, he agreed to place a down payment and make payments for the next couple of months. Not an expensive snake, only a few hundred bucks. I had him e-mail me so we could start the paper trail and more readily communicate things like addresses etc. The plan was for him to paypal the deposit then send future payments by mail. Couldn't ship the snake for a couple of months since he's in Minnesota.

He tells me he does not have a paypal account but if I send him a paypal request for payment he can pay that way. Was new to me but there is a tab on paypal to request payment. After I requested payment a reply comes in that I have received the payment but from a different e-mail address than the one I sent the request to. I was thinking that's odd but the subject and note areas were definitely about the request I had sent.

Late last night I received a call from a nice lady who's e-mail address was used. She was very polite and asked me if I knew "-----" which was the person I had been dealing with. Seems they were roommates in the past and somehow my buyer had gotten hold of her account info and had charged it to her account.

Pretty lame since it was only a down payment and of course paypal always sends a note to the e-mail address about each and every transaction.

By the time I logged into my paypal account there was a disputed hold on that transaction. I was able to click through there investigation process and refund her money. Police are involved and everything. I've volunteered to help the investigation in any way. As I understand it, charges are being pressed and this idiot is in trouble....all for $30.

So, beware of any paypal transactions that are not from the same e-mail address your dealing with.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.24 BRB
12.14 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Replies (2)

Jeff Clark Jan 31, 2007 02:51 PM

Dave,
...It totally amazes me that someone would do that just to steal $30. I could walk along my street and pick out a couple yards that need raking and have $30 in my pocket in an hour or two. This guy decides he would rather steal than work an hour or two. You know what the problem is??????? People are no damned good!
Jeff

>>Just slightly off topic but still relevant:
>>
>>Yesterday I was contacted by a person interested in a striped male BCI I have for sale in the KS ads. After discussion and admittedly, this individual is a herper, he agreed to place a down payment and make payments for the next couple of months. Not an expensive snake, only a few hundred bucks. I had him e-mail me so we could start the paper trail and more readily communicate things like addresses etc. The plan was for him to paypal the deposit then send future payments by mail. Couldn't ship the snake for a couple of months since he's in Minnesota.
>>
>>He tells me he does not have a paypal account but if I send him a paypal request for payment he can pay that way. Was new to me but there is a tab on paypal to request payment. After I requested payment a reply comes in that I have received the payment but from a different e-mail address than the one I sent the request to. I was thinking that's odd but the subject and note areas were definitely about the request I had sent.
>>
>>Late last night I received a call from a nice lady who's e-mail address was used. She was very polite and asked me if I knew "-----" which was the person I had been dealing with. Seems they were roommates in the past and somehow my buyer had gotten hold of her account info and had charged it to her account.
>>
>>Pretty lame since it was only a down payment and of course paypal always sends a note to the e-mail address about each and every transaction.
>>
>>By the time I logged into my paypal account there was a disputed hold on that transaction. I was able to click through there investigation process and refund her money. Police are involved and everything. I've volunteered to help the investigation in any way. As I understand it, charges are being pressed and this idiot is in trouble....all for $30.
>>
>>So, beware of any paypal transactions that are not from the same e-mail address your dealing with.
>>-----
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Dave Colling
>>
>>www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com
>>
>>0.1 Wife (WC)
>>0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)
>>
>>LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
>>13.24 BRB
>>12.14 BCI
>>And those are only the breeders
>>
>>lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

rainbowsrus Jan 31, 2007 03:26 PM

Was just called by the buyer and he says this was a oomputer mistake since they all lived together at one time, some userid/password data was stored in the PC he was using. Could be an honest mistake, will have to wait and see how this pans out!

I for one would prefer it to be a dopey error vs a dishonest intentional action.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.24 BRB
12.14 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

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