Posted on by Mitch

Evil is Lurking Out There- the Rest of the Story

IMG_2213Post Script: This cyber criminal is now using the name Kimberly Locke.  

In my previous post I told the story of how a cybercriminal posed as a handicapped person in an attempt to either steal money from me or commit identity theft, or both, while I was trying to sell the used wheelchair depicted on the right. Now I have the rest of the story.

The last email I told you about was this one:

Image representing PayPal as depicted in Crunc...Dear Mitchell Sturgeon,
My name is Richard Wilson. I’m a PayPal representative in charge of your transaction with Tracy Grubbs.
Kindly reply to this message if you have any question regarding this transaction and I will be happy to help you.
We thank you for being an asset to PayPal and we hope to serve you better in the nearest future.
Sincerely,
Scott Thompson
President
PayPal Inc.

Soon after I received this email:

Image representing PayPal as depicted in Crunc...Image via CrunchBase

Dear Mitchell Sturgeon,
You have an Instant Payment of $2,230.00 USD from Tracy Grubbs (quitmincy001@gmail.com).
Payment Details
Purchased From:Mitchell Sturgeon
Transaction ID:8S380593UR606674N
Item #Item TitleQuantityPriceSubtotal
Not Available
Power Wheelchair- Invacare
1$1,730.00USD  $1,730.00USD
Shipping & Handling via World Wide Speed Post to 03276
(includes any seller handling fees)$500.00USD
Shipping Insurance (not offered):–
Sales Tax :$00.00 USD
Total:$2,230.00USD
Additional note:
I have made the payment, so I have forwarded your details to the Shipping Company who will pick up the item, please send the pick up cost to them as we discussed and arrange with them  the pick up date and time. Thanks.
Shipping Information
Address:Tracy Grubbs
20 Dearborn Rd. Apt. 1.
Northfield,
NH
03276.
USA
Shipping Method:The item will be picked up from the seller’s Location by World Wide Speed Post Agent.
Address Status:Confirmed
If you have any question regarding the pick up, please contact the Delivery Company speeddelivery@deliveryman.com or your buyer.
Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team.
PayPal Email ID PP1268.

And then this one:

email_newUser_hdrtxt_600w161h

PayPal Safety Measures Against Online Fraud!
Dear Mitchell Sturgeon,
We have received an order from one of our customer to make an instant payment of $2,230.00USD to your PayPal account. The payment has been made successfully and the money has been credited to your PayPal account but you will not have access to it. However, since this money is meant for a purchase or a service that involve a Shipping Company.We have to receive a confirmation that you have sent the pick up cost to World Wide Speed Post before the money will be available for spending. This is due to the large increase in the rate of the online scams recorded last year (2009). We have changed some of our rules and regulation to make sure our clients, are safe from scam, PayPal in conjunction with The FBI and The IFCC has invented certain preventive measure to ensure the safety of our customers.
Such measure are:
1. Once a payment is made,A confirmation Email will be sent to the seller that the payment has been made to state the transaction details which has been sent to you. Also a confirmation is sent to the buyer that the money has been deducted from his or her account. So once you get this mail,You should take necessary action and get back to us with the confirmation that you have sent the pick up cost to the shipping company. Once we have confirmed the information provided with the shipping company, the money will be available instantly.
2. Once a payment is made and it has been approved by PayPal, such transaction is Sealed (because both seller and buyer must have come to a conclusion before payment is made by the buyer) so therefore neither the buyer or seller can cancel this transaction or ask for the returned to the buyer’s account. Also, this is where we generate our income, because the more transaction made through PayPal, the more we generate our Income.
3. Failure to abide by these laid down safety measures by PayPal may leads to suspension from PayPal and further more invitation to an interrogation with the F.B.I
So can you see we are very considerate about the safety of both buyer and seller.
Note: that the pick up cost has been included in the payment.
Thank you for using PayPal

Isn’t it ironic that the cybercriminals were using fear of fraud as a tool to attempt to commit fraud.  So if you see these types of sham PayPal emails, know that they are fraud.

I also, supposedly, received direct emails from Tracy, like this one:

Hi,
I wondered why I have not heard from you regarding the pick up cost. I will like you to update me if you have sent the pick up cost to the shipping company and schedule pick up date and time? and if you have not I need to understand what is still delaying you. Get back to me ASAP. Thanks.

I was tempted to respond with either a scathing email, trying to shame them, or some email that would string them along just for fun.  However, I decided instead to just ignore their emails…they’ll figure it out soon enough.

The good news is that today I sold the wheelchair to a live human being who was clearly disabled and will make great use of the chair.  She paid in cash.  End of story.

Be careful out there.

Enhanced by Zemanta

29 Replies to “Evil is Lurking Out There- the Rest of the Story”

  1. Ugh. Just reading those emails is intimidating to me even though I know they are false. Thanks so much for sharing this with the rest of us.

    Is there any point in forwarding these other emails to PayPal fraud?

    I'm glad a good person, got a good chair, and paid with good hard cash.

  2. Mitch,
    I ran into similar such scams during my search for my iBOT, but nothing so diabolical. If it wasn't for all of the gramatical errors I think I might have fallen for this one. Thanks for opening my eyes. I will certainly be more cautious in the future.
    I'm also happy that everything worked out well for you and your buyer.

    Charlie

  4. Real sad that there are so many scammers out there– you've done a service in posting your experience here and maybe preventing someone who sees this from getting taken in by a similar scam. There is so much identity theft out there– thanks for sharing this and giving people a reminder to be wary.
    prairiegirl

  6. I've been trying to sell furniture on craigslist and got an email from tracygrubbs101@gmail.com that I thought could be a scam. He stated that he wanted the item I had posted and wanted my address phone number so he could send me the payment. He said in 1 business day I will receive payment via postal service and that he would send someone to pick up the item. After searching the internet and used tracy grubbs as the search I found your post. Thanks for sharing and I hope that people see this post about craigslist and it makes them more aware of scams like this. Thank you!

  8. Mitch, we also have a power chair for sale on Craigs List and got the same email story from "Tracy" as you. We decided to check and came across your posting. Thank you for the warning and thus saving us tons of hassle.

    Bob

  9. I'm so pleased with this post. I can tell how it is that people arrive at this blog, and so many people have come here by googling different aspects of this scam email, and I can only assume they have benefitted, like Bob (above comment).

  10. I'm disgusted that some piece of garbage would prey on someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one. There has to be a special place in Hades for them.

  11. Got an email from this guy and decided to google search his name. Thanks to you for saving me a lot of heartache and trouble. I was also selling a motorized wheelchair on craig's list. My God have mercy on Tracy Grubb's pitiful soul.

  12. I just got an email from Tracy (Tracy Grubbs [mm060936@gmail.com]) about my handicap van for sale. It didn't "smell" right so I Googled the name. Thanks for your posting!
    Jerry

  13. I googled Tracy Grubbs and Here I am too!! Obviously another scammer. I think I am going to add a comment to my post that I will not ship out of my state.

  14. Yes – thanks kindly for your posting. I was selling my dad's powerchair and had a couple of emails from this scammer. My dad passed away recently from end stage Parkinson's Disease so I guess that made me an even more attractive target. I was asked for my physical address (for shipping) which made me a bit suspicious – googled and read some postings including this one – so Thanks! (You'd think the idiot would use a different name lol)

  16. SAME TRACEY GRUBBS out of newhamshire, AND ECARGOEXPRESS out of Maryland, and paypal notices out of the UK . attempted to scam me last week for a wheel chair van in COLORADO, thank god I did'nt have STUPID STAMPED ON MY FOREHEAD

  17. I was trying to sell a power wheelchair when I cyber-met Tracy:

    Hi,

    I'm interested in buying this item, and I'd like to know if its still available for sale?I will like to ask you some questions about it, like how long you have been using it? Did you bought it new?(are you the first owner, did you get it from someone trustworthy) Is it still in good condition? what's your reason for selling it?Not trying to be rude here, but there are tons of crappy items out there and don't want to be stuck with something in bad condition. Can you provide me more pictures of it? Finally what's your last price? Get back ASAP.

    Thankx.

    I replied with the answers. And Tracy Grubbs (jlknsscty2@gmail.com)said:

    Hi,

    Thank you very much for the details. So Sad im buying this for myself(im an handicapped and I need this to make my life more better again), for this reason, I will not be able to come and see it, but I will take your word that its in good condition. Just to let you know that you will not be responsible for shipping and handling. I have made an arrangement with a shipping company who will come to your location for pick up. Kindly provide me your full address, so i can forward it to the shipping company to calculate the cost of pick up for me. Please get back to me as soon as possible.

    I'm offering to deliver the chair myself as soon as I have cash IN MY HAND. Let's see how far this goes…(Yeah, I need a diversion.)

    Thanks so much for these postings. Tracy's first email felt a little suspicious, but the second one sent me to the internet looking for scma warnings. Good looking out guys!

  18. APRIL 13 2011 TRACY GRUBBS ,EMAIL ME ABOUT MY NEW POWER CHAIR SO THANKS FOR LETING ME KNOW.I KEPT ASKING FOR HER OR HIM TOO CALL ME KNOW ONE WOULD ,SOOO THAT IS A SCAMMER THAIR ,THEN THEY WANTED TOO DEP THE MONEY IN MY PAYPAL. I TOLD HIM OR HER I DONT HAVE ONE.THEN THIS MORING A LISA XAVIER FROM ECARGOXPRESS@POST.COM WANTED TOO SEND SOMEONE TO PICK IT UP I TOLD HER IT WAS ON HOLD ,SO HEY TRACY WHY DONT YOU PICK YOUR BIBLE UP AND READ JOHN 3;16 AND STOP SCAMMING PEOPLE .I WOULD HATE TOO BE IN YOUR SHOES ON JUDGEMENT DAY PS. YOU ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE ,THEN YOU MAY BE IN A WHELLCHAIR GOD BLESS YOU. ]

  20. I just recieved an e-mail from this Traci Grubbs regarding an Invacare electric wheelchair and a wheelchair lift equiped van I have on Craig's list. It was the same e-mails verbatim that you guys have recieved. Thank you for posting this information, as now I will not waste my time with this scammer! And the e-mail address was jlknsscty2@gmail.com.

Comments are closed.