Craig's List - PayPal Scam Hits Area Resident

An area resident was recently the victim of a Craig's List - PayPal scam.

According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, a McCracken County citizen listed a vehicle and trailer for sale on Craig’s List. Within a short time he was contacted by an out of state number requesting to purchase the vehicle. 

The agreed purchase amount was to be sent to the victim via PayPal online. The victim received an email that appeared to be from PayPal stating the agreed amount was sent along with an extra $900. The extra $900 was to be wired via Western Union to a third party to pay for transport fees.

Deputies say the victim contacted PayPal only to discover no money was ever deposited into their account. The email that was sent to them was not a real email from PayPal. 

There continues to be increasing cases pertaining to online scams. If you are using PayPal, the sheriff's department is recommending that you log into your account and make sure the money was deposited into your account prior to shipping merchandise. Don't rely on just an email.

If anyone sends you extra money and asks you to send it to someone else, it is often times a scam or at minimum should pose as a red flag to the seller and warrant additional investigation prior to forwarding any money or merchandise.