Stupid, Trusting, Fool

I'm extremely embarrassed to admit this, but I've got to tell somebody and I cannot tell my wife, who would rightfully kill me if she found out. I fell victim to a scam selling on Gunbroker. I buy/sell items on there a lot (bad habit ), and every one has until now been a good transaction. I was selling an item on there for $2400 recently.

The winning bidder contacted me after the auction claiming she was getting it for her boyfriend for his birthday. She asked a series of questions about it over email, relating to if he would like it, why was I selling it, how it would help his hunting. I had a conversation with her over the phone as well. Basically, she was building my trust in her. She was going to send a certified check, but then decided to Paypal me the sum and wanted me to overnight it once I got it, she wanted it for his birthday the next day. I didn't get it and told her. She then told me there was a problem where Paypal wasn't accepting the payment. I knew Paypal could make problems with it sometimes, so that wasn't a surprise.

The deadline was approaching for an overnight drop, I decided to trust her, and sent the item without waiting for the payment. She hadn't even asked for that. My Spidey senses were going off that it could be bad, but I decided to ignore them.

Now, I've sent several emails and called from 2 different numbers to her phone (at least the one she called from), with no return contact for weeks.

I am a stupid, overtrusting, ignorant fool. I let my guard down and got burned bad for it this time. I will probably file a police report, but I know probably nothing will come of it and the money is gone.

Don't trust anybody. Not like me.

Sorry to hear that. Could you post the emails, including addresses? Then the next person who might fall victim can find the email and recognize it as a scam.

Listen up and pay attention.
No you are not stupid - scammers are good at what they do. Do not wish to say this but you need to put it down to one of lifes experiences, I'm sad to say. I am unfamiliar with paypal but imagine it's similar to wu whereby once payment is collected, any recovery of the funds is impossible.
If you look at the header of the email, it will likely give you an indication of the origin.

No it's not like WU, there are ways of disputing transactions and getting your money back, but scammers send fake PayPal transfers, and this sounds like one of those. The email looks like a real PayPal email, but if you look at the headers (please post them here, we know how to read them), you'll see it's not from PayPal.

I'm not going to post the information I have about the buyer; I have a name, address, and phone number but it's probably stolen and I wouldn't want to drag an actual person into the problem. It might be construed as slander.

I did not get an email from Paypal, but I got a phone call and the following emails. I've cut my replies. The series made me think she was a real buyer.

My address us [deleted]. I will send you a certified check for the item. Is the item brand new in a box with all the warranty information in it?

I would like to pay you by pay pal and standing by to do so, I would like to know what delivery methods are available in order to receive the product by [deleted, but next day].

Sent from my iPhone

Sent the rates for overnight.

Ok thanks! The item is a gift for my boyfriend and I hope he enjoys it for hunting... out of curiosity... Why are you selling it?

Sent from my iPhone

Will u please check and see if u received the payment!

Of course not.

What's your number! Paypal is telling me I can't complete it cause they can't verify the account!

I shipped the item, there was a phone call, her along with her "boyfriend" who talked about hunting and how much he liked the products my company made (I am in a related business), and the next was the last communication.

Paypal now tells me that if you send me a invoice I can pay it thru pay pal.

Sent the invoice, she got the item, and that was the last I heard from her. I called and emailed several times, even from a different area code.

I also agree this was just an expensive mistake that I will learn from. Fortunately, it wasn't a life changing amount of money, I'll get over it.

Part of me still wonders if she just got into an accident, went out of the country or something, and can't contact me. But what is the probability of that happening *right* after she got it? Nah, I got screwed.

Yes, the scammer won this time. The money is gone, sadly. Thank you for posting your experience so others can learn from it. I am sorry you got scammed.

Part of me still wonders if she just got into an accident, went out of the country or something, and can't contact me. But what is the probability of that happening *right* after she got it? Nah, I got screwed.

Be careful, this is how scammers exploit peoples better nature and win. They may now try to get back in contact and send you a check, that is another way these types of scam work. The check will be for more than the price of the item, they will then ask you to wait for the check to 'clear' and then send them the surplus back by Western Union/Moneygram.

These bad checks usually get cleared at the first hurdle and the money appears in the victims account. Convinced the check is good the victim then wires the surplus back to the scammer. At some point someone discovers the check is worthless and the bank then demands the money back from the victim. There is no way of recovering Western Union/Moneygram transfers back once picked up by the receiver who collected with fake ID or no ID at all.

You're right, I tend to see the best in people, and overtrust. I had 3 good transactions on Gunbroker, where all were kind and able to work out the transaction properly. I had too much trust in this woman(?), and probably my nature built up from my wife and 3 kids. Expensive lesson; trust no one. I'd rather offend than get this screwed again.