We have just received another report from a user (Thereza) who has avoided being a victim of a scam. She saw the story about false payment scams that I published yesterday and notified our Customer Care Department. This is her story in her own words:
“I advertised a brand new pearl necklace and immediately got an e-mail from a man saying he desperately wanted it. He asked how much and I said R5000. He did not even try and negotiate. He “paid” the money into my Paypal account and I got an email from Paypal that a deposit has been made.
He gave me an address in Johannesburg where I must courier it to, but he informed me that he would release the “hold” on the money he paid in once I can give him a tracking number of the goods. At this stage I knew I was dealing with a scammer.
There is no way anybody would send goods without having received the money first. So I contacted Paypal. They confirmed that it was indeed a scam. The scammer even emailed me after this and accused me of being a thief!
Then a few days after that incident, someone else contacted me for the same pearl necklace. Of course at this stage I was on my toes about dealing with anyone. He also “paid” the money into my account and then I got an email from his bank (which was from a Hotmail e-mail account) that the money was deposited into my account, but that they will release the money once I send the buyer the courier details.
I do not know if anyone would actually fall for this, but I want to warn people to be extra careful. If everyone can stop a scammer from successfully scamming then eventually there would be no reason for them to continue trying to scam people and they would just give up.”
The scammers’ details are as follows:
- Mr Water Thomas, using thomasmark@she.com – Delivery details: Bruce Brown, 28 Ogungbesan Street, Coker-Village, Orile, Lagos, Nigeria.
- Mr Harry Perry: using harrperry@gmail.com and 074 3661177 – Delivery details: Isreal, 19 Park Street, Kempton Park, Johannesburg, Gauteng.
There you have it, out of the horse’s mouth. If you encounter any fraudulent activity on the Junk Mail website, please report it to our Customer Care Department. You can reach them via ccc@junkmail.co.za or telephonically on 012-3423840 x2295.
Spread the word about Thereza’s story by sharing this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Remember: Sharing is Caring.
Check out the Junk Mail Safety and Security page for posts about scams and useful tips.
