Scammer sent fake PayPal letter

ALPINE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - It started with a simple task.

"We had some jewelry," Jim Brotherton of Alpine Township told 24 Hour News 8. "We were going to get rid of it on 'craigslist.' "

Short on the cash in the tough economy, Brotherton was hoping to a collect a few hundred dollars by selling it on the popular online classifieds site. Use of the sites, including craigslist, has more than doubled since 2005, according to a Pew Research Center study.

Brotherton's craigslist posting was about to expire. Then finally, a bite.

"We got the e-mail asking if we still had it," he explained. "We said, 'Yes,' they said, 'Open a paypal account and we'll buy it from you.' "

After that, another e-mail came, saying funds approved: $550 plus $100 for shipping. It looked like it came from the online money transfer site PayPal. The site's logos appeared all over the page.

Showing 24 Hour News 8 the e-mail, Brotherton said, "it looks legit."

But it wasn't.

One obvious way he was tipped off: the supposed buyers wanted proof that the jewelry was shipped before they would actually transfer the money.

"That's why we called PayPal," the Alpine Township man said. "It didn't seem right and that's a lot of money and jewelry to just lose."

When he did call PayPal, representatives confirmed the e-mail is a fake.

"They told me to forward that e-mail to them and they'll try to track it down," Brotherton said. (Paypal asks that fake e-mails be sent here.)

As more and more people turn to online classifieds, scammers follow.

The PayPal email includes another clue expertise advise consumers to watch for: the supposed buyers wanted the jewelry shipped out of the country to Nigeria. Craigslist advises customers first-and-foremost to deal locally so the customers can meet would-be buyers in person.

The FBI tracks online crimes. Its 2008 'Internet Crime Report' does not include a specific categroy for classified ad fraud, but auction fraud makes up a quarter of cases. That's second only to non-delivery. The average loss in a classified ad fraud is more than $600.

Click here for more craigslist tips. PayPal offers its tips here.