(GODERICH, ON) – A Goderich resident has recently fallen victim to an internet based scam and is now left without two rings valued at $2400. The scam started when the victim advertised her engagement ring and a wedding band on a popular online classified site. She was promptly contacted by an eager buyer willing to pay full price. The buyer and seller settled on the price and then the buyer instructed the victim to use PayPal to complete the transaction. The scammer advised her that it would be an easy, safe and secure method to complete the transaction.
The scammer then sent the victim a link to a spoofed PayPal website. The unsuspecting victim followed the link and was promptly given instructions on how to set up an account. After setting up the account she was told to await the deposit of funds from the buyer into her account.
Shortly thereafter the victim received notification that the funds had been deposited into her fake PayPal account. She then followed through and sent the two rings to an address located in Irving, Texas.
After sending the rings she received a follow-up email from the fake PayPal site advising her that there was a 48 hour hold put on the deposited funds due to an overpayment of $550 into her account. The next email she received instructed her to wire the excess $550 through a money transfer service to a recipient based in Beijing, China. She was reminded in the email that her money then would be released to her once she wired the money.
The victim became suspicious of the entire transaction and called the actual PayPal customer service department whereupon she was informed that she had been scammed.
The victim attempted to have the parcel stopped in transit however it was too late and the parcel was delivered.