Leap Year Scam: What I Fell For
My momentary loss of due diligence
Many famous events have taken place during a Leap Year:
The Titanic sank in 1912
Gold was discovered in 1848
And I was duped in 2020.
Yes, I fell for a scam. Something I never thought would happen and I don’t plan on it ever happening again.
The facts:
My grandson listed a vintage camera for sale on an App. He then called me saying a buyer had contacted him and wanted to buy the camera for $700 and was offering an extra $100 for shipping.
The first clue it was a scam:
The buyer was offering more than my grandson was asking and wanted to deal with him directly.
The Facts:
PayPal sent an email saying the money had been debited from the buyer and would be sent to me as soon I provided shipment.
The second clue:
The email said I was getting 2% of the funds immediately, but I didn’t see that money.
The Facts:
I shipped the camera via Fedex to the tune of $89.00: 4 manicures, 18 lattes, 4 books.
The third clue it was a scam:
The fed ex clerk recognized the address as an empty warehouse in Florida. But after several Google searches, decided it probably was okay. I mean, there was one car parked in the lot!
The Facts:
I sent the shipping information to the buyer
The Fourth Clue:
The money still wasn’t showing up in my PayPal account.
The facts:
The guy was a fraud. 100% scammer.
The final clue:
Still no money. And then a weird email from PayPal saying they couldn’t send me the money because I didn’t have a business account. And if the buyer would send more money, my credit would be extended. Huh? That made no sense at all.
What happened next:
I called PayPal. It was all a scam. The emails I was receiving were never from PayPal. They don’t ever withhold money. And I was given a website to report the incident.
Of course, the guy will never be found. The email he sent me is no longer valid. The camera is somewhere in Florida. I’m out the shipping expense and my grandson no longer has the camera and is left with hurt feelings.
I convinced him he wasn’t a bad person for believing the buyer.
Karma will come around. Maybe the buyer will be filming and discover his wife in bed with another man. Or trip over a cord and hurt himself (but not too badly).
What comes around, goes around.
The next time around, I’ll be way more diligent when buying/selling on the internet.
I’ll blame this momentary loss of due diligence on Mercury in Retrograde.
Happy Leap Day!
