Scammed by a Funds Recovery Company overseas

[AMB791]

Hi there,

I was a victim of cyber fraud and lost quite a substantial amount of money. I was contacted by a company overseas that supposedly works with clients worldwide in recovering money stolen/lost by cryptocurrency. Needless to say, I paid them a large amount once I had explained by situation and they stated the have many clients they’ve recovered money for that were in my situation. After paying I did some research of my own and discovered that money is virtually untraceable. My bank cannot recover it and the websites that were used to buy and sell the crypto currency cannot determine where the currency was sent to so they cannot recover it either. This prompted me to research this recovery company and what do I find out? They are a scam too. As I paid them via PayPal, I lodged a dispute because of course I haven’t received the service I paid for as they are no longer returning my calls or messages. My dispute was closed in favour of this fraudulent company without me being able to provide any documentation support my claim. Has anyone else been a victim of this?

[rolandverebi]

Currently fighting against a dude who whacked me with -60k.

Just like this.

I wanted to sell my old camera on FB, (Canon EOS 1200D) and a Romanian guy named Marcut [removed] told me, that because he is in another country, he has to make sure that the package will arrive to him safely, so he picked a 'courier service' .

Then I received a mail, which said that I have some money in my paypal, but I have to go on another site, and pay the courier service in BTC, to claim this money.

I wasn't paying attention enough, I was a fool, and I already sent the payment to the requested BTC Wallet address.

It cost me 170$, 60.000 in HUF.

Then I received another mail, to pay more 150.000HUF for insurance.

That was the point when I thought something is not right, and the dude keeps telling me that everything is safe.

The mail looked legit though.

It was a foolish thing from me, BTC is untraceable, so I can't really found out who messes with me.

But.

This **bleep** pinged me on Viber, and I got his number, its starts with Virginia state code (804) so I contacted Virginia Police Department about the fraud.

And I just wanted to sell my camera lol.

[PayPal_Tricia]

Hi @rolandverebi, 

Welcome to the PayPal Community. I'm sorry to hear that happened. 

This is a common scam. If they claim that you need to send money using a different payment processor, to receive a PayPal payment, there's usually something fishy going on. In a situation like this, we recommend reporting this to your local authorities and calling the shipping company to see what options there are to have the package returned if it hasn't been delivered. 

I hope this information helps!

Thanks, 
Tricia

[Gaborsky]

Hi there, I almost fell in this tramp but I sent my identity cards alredy to him just to give him more security to buy something from another country "my fault". He want to buy a Bike that I'm selling in Market place of facebook / Hungary / in Forints, he want me to pay the shipping fee because he sent me a supposed money that I never received. He told me he is in Slovakia but his email says he is in Romania. He want to buy a Motorcycle for 550.000 ft but he transfer me a supposed money for 700.000 with the shipping fees, so once I give him from my own money 150.000ft to pay the courier company his 700.000 will release it to my bank account. Thing that is totaly false. His name is Marcut Ciprian. The email I received from him is [removed] the only sender's infornation is Marcut [removed] Bucharest Romania. People be careful! This is the code he give me to buy cryptos: [removed] And this is the email content: "The above fund was successfully charged from the sender’s account and has been posted to your account. Please note that this transaction is currently placed on hold due to the pickup charges involved. Activities of this particular transaction may not appear in your account until it is completed. How to complete this transaction and get the funds available in your account. Go to buy.moonpay.io you are required to first forward the 150,000.00 HUF transport charges involved, To the transport agent via BTC wallet address [removed] transfer and send us the confirmation for verification. Please reply to this email to get in touch with us. Copyright © 1999-2022 PayPal. All rights reserved. PayPal Pte. Ltd. ("3PL") has applied for a license under the Singapore Payment Services Act ("PS Act") with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. During this statutory transitional period, 3PL is operating under an exemption from holding a license and is allowed to continue to provide specific payment services." In the other email I receive from him says: "Dear XXX My name is Seth Bartel. For any question Click Here xxxx I'm a PayPal representative in charge of your transaction with Marcut [removed].You have received 700,000.00 HUF but right now the money is on hold with us for some security reasons so kindly reply to this message for the completion of this transaction and I will be happy to help you. We thank you for being an asset to PayPal and we hope to serve you better in the near future. We do not appreciate any calls due to attending too many customers, We advise you to get back to us via this email to get full details of this transaction. Be informed that this transaction is only available and can only be tracked and traced via email, So do reply back to us if you have any questions about the transaction and not via phone call.. To get in touch with us, click "Help Center" Help center | Copyright © 2022 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Consumer advisory: PayPal Pte Ltd, the Holder of the PayPal payment service stored value facility, does not require the approval."

[Gaborsky]

Also I needed to download Viber app, He threatened to sue me with interpol because according to him I have stolen his money. I told him if I receive such money I will send it back to him, but there is no way to contact him just for this chat. PayPal Transaction ID: U-R0D83758C463245M Please if somebody can stop him do it before something bad happens. It reminds me The Tinder Swindler, it's a similar way to cheat and rob people.

[PayPal_RebeccaN]

Hello @Gaborsky, 

Thank you for posting in the PayPal Community. 

I am very sorry to hear this has happened, thank you for sharing your story! 

We have a helpful article on our website on how to spot and report spoof, see: How do I spot and report a fake, fraudulent, or phishing PayPal email or website? I would always suggest checking this article if you are ever unsure about a transaction, sale or email. 

I hope this helps! 

Rebecca 

If this post or any other was helpful, please enrich the community by giving kudos or accepting it as a solution.

[ginaresto]

That's exactly what I do not understand of paypal. I will not use it ever again. They do not protect the customer or even try to give us the money back