Christmas Online Scammers at Work

26/11/2007

Fraudsters are busy at work this Christmas party and holiday season. People buying and selling items online must take extra care to avoid getting ripped off.

A popular scam now is being run using Paypal.com look-alike emails to request money and items.

One seller trying to earn money for Christmas party items listed an item on online sales sight www.craigslist.com in London. The buyer contacted the seller through email asking to buy the item.

This is how the scam works: the seller sent the buyer a secure invoice from Paypal.com. The buyer did not pay through the secure site but worked with a third party to get the item without paying for it. The seller was asked to ship the item and then provide confirmation of shipping. At that point Paypal was going to deposit the money. She shipped the item but never got the payment.

After checking with Paypal.com the buyer learned the emails she was getting were not real. They were created by fraudsters but resembled the real thing. She was asked to contact her local police department for file a crime report.

Christmas shoppers and sellers should deal with buyers through secure payment sites. Police say not to agree on transactions through personal email. Fraud experts remind online shoppers and sellers to never ship an item before receiving payment. Buyers should only pay for items using a secure online payment site.