How SCREWED AM I?

[lostboy254]

so heres the deal. i recently applied for a job at Home for the assistant maganger position and im undergoing training for 4 weeks. they sent me an email for a test transaction. i had to update my account to premier for this. in my paypal account i recieved 950. and paypal subtracted 27 dollars and some change. now in the test transaction i had to deposit 900 dollars into my bank account, withdraw it and use western union to send money to another country. so i completed the this task dec. 31, 2008. now today i get an email from paypal saying"Recently, PayPal received a notification from a user regarding unauthorized access to his PayPal account. As a result, one of the payments credited to your PayPal account has been placed in a temporary hold while we investigate the claim. PayPal constantly monitors transactions for unauthorized use of accounts in order to maintain the safety of our users.". what should i do? i don't owe anyone money. there was no product being sold or anyone buying anything. paypal is saying i owe 900 dollars. how screwed up am i? this is making me worried. when i received the money in my paypal account in the details section there was nothing there. please advise!

 

[Antigone*]

so heres the deal. i recently applied for a job at Home for the assistant maganger position and im undergoing training for 4 weeks. they sent me an email for a test transaction. i had to update my account to premier for this. in my paypal account i recieved 950. and paypal subtracted 27 dollars and some change. now in the test transaction i had to deposit 900 dollars into my bank account, withdraw it and use western union to send money to another country. so i completed the this task dec. 31, 2008. now today i get an email from paypal saying"Recently, PayPal received a notification from a user regarding unauthorized access to his PayPal account. As a result, one of the payments credited to your PayPal account has been placed in a temporary hold while we investigate the claim. PayPal constantly monitors transactions for unauthorized use of accounts in order to maintain the safety of our users.". what should i do? i don't owe anyone money. there was no product being sold or anyone buying anything. paypal is saying i owe 900 dollars. how screwed up am i? this is making me worried. when i received the money in my paypal account in the details section there was nothing there. please advise!

I'm sorry but it really looks like you've involved yourself in some kind of fraudulent transaction.

 

[>Charlotte<]

I'd give this a 99% probability that you've been scammed. It's a pretty common one, and it's often under the guise of being "hired" for some non-existent "manager" position. The victim receives money (usually a counterfeit money order) and is instructed to, in turn, send money from his bank account to the overseas scammer. Eventually the original deposit is discovered to be fraudulent and taken from the victim's (your) account, leaving him (you) with a negative balance. By that time, the scammer has your money and good luck finding him, let alone prosecuting him.

This sounds like a twist on that, with the money that was sent to you having been stolen from someone's Paypal account. Yes, you're a victim too--but you're still a participant in a fraudulent scheme, albeit an unwilling/unknowing one. Paypal will retrieve the money that should have never been put into your account in the first place.

 

[>Charlotte<]

Also, two of the most common origins for scams like this are Nigeria and Russia. The WHOIS information for the redsuntravel domain indicates the owner is in Russia.

 

[Nativity]

If you're asked to send money anywhere that is out of your country, run from it. Report it to the Internet Crimes section of Fbi.gov and run from it.

These scams really stink though, no bank anywhere wants to cash a Money Order. Even if you have an account they get all nervous because of this.

End of my rant, but spending 2 days trying to find a place willing to cash a legit MO was really annoying.

 

[Dougthegreat]

Also, two of the most common origins for scams like this are Nigeria and Russia. The WHOIS information for the redsuntravel domain indicates the owner is in Russia.

Then your answer is "pretty darn screwed." You're almost certainly out that money, but once Paypal realizes you were just a victim of a fairly obvious fraud, they'll drop the investigation.

 

[Alex23]

I suspect that the OP is only sixteen and hasn't had much experience with these types of scams. Google internet scams and read up on them so you can save some money the next time.

 

[racer72]

The tool department at your local Sears has just what you want.

 

[Antigone*]

Then your answer is "pretty darn screwed." You're almost certainly out that money, but once Paypal realizes you were just a victim of a fairly obvious fraud, they'll drop the investigation.

Actually, I don't think your assumption that Paypal will drop everything is correct. You seem to have missed that $950.00 came into the Paypal account and then went out. That $950.00 that came into his Paypal account needs to be paid back to Paypal, and Paypal will demand it back. They will also probably suspend or terminate his account.

Even thought he OP participated in this fraud and even became a victim, Paypal does have the right and most surely will take action.

 

[FlyingRon]

NEVER EVER EVER Western Union money except to people you are personally aquainted with.
It is an untraceable way to throw your money into the crooks hands otherwise. Despite the address on the transfer, it can be picked up in cash anywhere in the world and you are screwed. Even WU warns you about this. It's great to send money to a relative (especially overseas), but that's about it.

 

[Dougthegreat]

Even thought he OP participated in this fraud and even became a victim, Paypal does have the right and most surely will take action.

They do have a right, but not necessarily much action can be taken against OP. I had to pursue remediation many years ago with PayPal, and when the guy who had sent me the money skipped the country, they unfortunately had to eat pretty much all of it, except for an additional fee incurred for dispute resolution. They did not close down my account, but they did limit me for quite some time afterward.

Among the lessons learned from this were to never, ever, EVER allow a payment processor who isn't FDIC-insured have direct access to your bank account. I promptly changed my information and became Unverified, but it's a small price to pay for the peace of mind.