Scammer texted me using the phone number ********** saying his name was Mat and to send an email to thomasjoseph084@gmail.com because he was the one interested in the item asap. So I sent them an email. Another text came in and said that the payment was going to be sent to me by PayPal and someone else is going to come and pick up the item. Fishy already but it gets better.

They responded by email saying exactly this:

"Thanks for your response, I am sorry I am not available to view due to the nature of my job, I am in the United States Army and serve as a CBRN Specialist (74D).  I want to buy this for future use. I am currently deployed wont be back till June. We are not allowed to make or receive calls frequently for security reasons but we have internet access and that is our major means of communication to the outside world. I am OK with your asking price and if you don't mind, I can only pay through PayPal at the moment because its the most secure way to make or receive payment online this is why I'll prefer using PayPal to pay you, all I need is your PayPal email to make the payment and if you don't have a PayPal account, its pretty easy to set up at www.paypal.com. I also have a few questions for you.
 
Whats its condition, any damages? Are you the original owner and what is your reason for selling?and last asking price?

I hope you consider my offer. I am ready to buy, so you can take the add off Craigslist. I'll have a courier person come for pick up and storage after I make payment and money is in your hand. Thanks for understanding, hope to read from you soon."

LOL so that means that that person was in such a secure environment that they could use their phones and gmail but not craigslist? cmon... any way I went with it and sent them my PayPal address in the case they were telling the truth and not trying to scam me.

They responded by text saying exactly this:

"Money has been sent but its been placed on hold for some reasons you need to follow some instructions before the money will be credited into your account. So please kindly check both SPAM/JUNK FOLDER and INBOX of (myemailaccount) to check the transfer emails from PayPal and what you need to do for the money to be released into your acount and keep me posted about the process asap."

Knowing this was a scam already I still checked my spam folder and even though the header reads <[email protected] // > making it look legit, it's actually a phone email that wasn't sent by paypal, but was sent from <[email protected] // >. A domain that's registered in russia.

In the spam email it says this:

 

      You have received a PayPal Payment of $1,000.00 USD from Thomas Joseph ([email protected] // ) 

 

We've placed a temporary hold on the funds of this transaction
 

As mentioned in the receipt of Payment and as per New PayPal Payment policy, we have fully debited the total amount (above) from the buyer's account which included the Transport/Delivery Charges . 

 

In order to complete this transaction and get the funds approved in your account. We advice you go to nearest Grocery Store or Walmart Store and ask of Money Gram Office, and send the excess sum of ($900.00 USD) to the Transport Agent and send us a Scanned Copy/Photograph of the Money Gram Transaction Receipt (in .JPG Format). 

Name : Peter Louis,

City: Houston, 

State: Texas. 

Zip-Code: 77077, 

Country: USA

 

Address Status:		Confirmed

Your Account will be credited accordingly upon the receipt of details requested. Should either be sent in JPG format or send type details as:

(1) Sender's Name; 
(2) Receiver's Name; 

(3) Reference Number; 

(4) Amount Sent;
(5) Money Gram Receipt

 

 

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You may contact PayPal customer service [email protected] //  or reply to this message directly using the reply button in your email to submit the required information and include either transaction ID or reference number (PP1557) quick recognition of this transaction.

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Sincerely,

The PayPal Team

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PayPal Email ID PP1557

 

Sent another email saying his name was Richard Wilson a fake PayPal representative.