Hello, I'm Kayla a senior in High School. I would like to tell the story of how I got scammed 100$.

I'm sure you've heard of eBay? The site where you can sell easily and get quick money in return for your products. Sounds great, right? Well, it was, until I got a message from a "customer" asking about a pair of tan high heels I was selling.

The first conversation went like so:

"What quality are they in?" the customer messages. "Pretty good quality!" I reply.

A normal interaction, then events start to take an odd turn.

They ask for my number to "discuss further details”. Later on, he claims that the tan high heels were purchased and he would like 2 gift cards included in the package.

I began to ignore his texts, this didn't seem right. I should have listened to my instincts. He would spam me with texts and calls to answer. When I refused, since I saw clear warning signs, he brought "PayPal" into the mix.

PayPal is typically used for money transactions over EBay. He claimed that if I don't send what he "paid” for, I would be reported to PayPal and EBay.

I then got an email from someone posing as a PayPal associate addressing the issue. The set up was very convincing.

I found out later that the only way to tell it was fraud is to right click on who is sending the message.

The fake PayPal user tricked me into spending and sending 100$, so that I could get my 300$ transaction to go through. I did and immediately afterwards they both dropped out from my messages, calls and emails.

They got what they wanted, and I lost 100$ of my money and my time.

The moral of the story is to always listen to your instinct or double check many times with others that your actions are accordingly.

Thank you for listening to my story, stay safe out there.
Kayla