paying shipping / MTCN

[barny67]

hi i was selling 2nd hand items locally online ,someone expressed an intrest in one of my items , but said because of his work status he would arrange a shipping company to pick up item, i then recieved a email supposedly from paypal saying full payment for the item including the shipping costs had been recieved  and said it would be released when i had paid the shipping company, i logged into my paypal but no money had been paid into my account. then i was told it was temporary suspended and being held until i paid the shipping agent via Western Union Transfer and gave the MTCN / MONEY TRANSFER CONTROL NUMBER, upon then my full payment would become available in my paypal account. My question is has anyone else encountered something like this before, im not very comfortable sending £85 shipping costs to NIGERIA before i see anything back. Is this sound like a scam to anyone, all comments appreciated, Thanks

[minty1 · Accepted solution]

Hi barny67

Its a typical SCAM

Never accept a ppal payment for an item that needs collecting, cash on collection only

The emails are from your scammer not ppal

They arent interested in your item just the western union payment

People in Nigeria cant have a ppal account

Never send an item until you see cleared payment in your account

Remember you never have to pay anyone any money when selling an item

Google nigerian scams for similar scam stories

[Linzip1000]

Hi iv just got the same scam from seemingly a guy working on a rig off shore wanting me send £650 via western union to turkey! Then he said £4,250 would be released into my paypal account as he was supposedly buying my car and a courier was picking it up, so pleased i read this first, thank you. Lindsay

[viva53]

This has happened to me they asked me to send £200 to Western Union at a London address before my funds were released, it was for a car advertised on eBay,! They werent very bright the amount they deposited which was for a car £750 & then £200 shipping adds up to £950 & they said they had put £1050 into the account!!

[minty1]

Hi viva53

Report the buyer to ebay and block them on your block bidders list

They do offer over the odds to entice you into doing it if you dont know its a scam

[jmidg009]

I want to first thank everyone for their post on this board.  It is still going on today and by reading your messages prevented me from making a mistake.  I posted on Craigslist that I am selling my car, 4 hours later Ronald Willard text me to email him. I went ahead and emailed him thinking he was interested in the car.

Next the buyer stated a private company was going to inspect and pick up vehicle. He said he was on a military base and did not have phone access. I believed him because military people that move back from international countries are just trying to get everything in order and communication is limited so I understood. 

He then asked for my PayPal email, name, address, and phone number. I gave him this info since I figured it's not private info and was the way to deposit into my PayPal account. The following message he said there was a issue with the shipping company and need to pay them in advance and he was going to give me $1,900 for the company and $200 for PayPal process charges. He told me to go to Walmart and get the cashier check.

He then started to text me and said he downloaded the app on his computer to do so. He gave me instruction on to stand by and that he was making the deposit into my account.  He then said to check my SPAM folder and follow email instructions.  I got 3 emails asking for MCTN number.  I did not find the number and google searched what this was, which brought me here.

The email had errors in it.  The date on the stamp was wrong and a Nigeria name appeared above Western Credit Union. I called PayPal and no activity was on my account, which means this was obviously a SCAM to get me to send a CASHIER CHECK TO THE SCAMMER!!!

I have blocked the phone number and email from my account.