[Question] Shutting down Gmail accounts from scammers

I’ve recently taken a hiatus from tech support scammers and have switched over to the eBay gift card scammers, specifically those on OfferUp, Craigslist, LetGo, etc. Essentially, if they are trying to ‘sell’ a car or phone or boat, I’m going to investigate them.

I've found the following by chatting with nearly 50 of these scammers.

  • 1. Almost everyone (98%) will use a Gmail account to start the initial conversation.
  • 2. The fake eBay invoice is sent by a domain that has been registered with NameCheap or GoDaddy.
  • 3. The MX Record (email server) for the fake eBay invoice is almost always Google's servers.
  • 4. The country of origin for the scammers is Romania
  • 5. The number of scammer email addresses posted on the websites are only a dozen or so, most are used for different items (different cars, boats, etc.)
  • I've forwarded the emails that the scammers sent me, with headers to abuse at gmail/google, and I've sent the fake eBay invoices to Google and eBay. For what ever reason, Google is not taking down the email addresses, nor are the domains being suspended. Only a few have been actually taken down, and those were from smaller registrars.

    I'm looking for either a contact point or someone to help in getting the scammers initial email address taken down, and the email address that the fake eBay invoice is being sent from.

    Chain of Attack
    Scammer posts fake ad on OfferUp and includes an email address
    Victim emails scammer's Gmail.com address
    Scammer replies back requesting victim's name, address, and phone number
    Victim replies with requested information
    Scammer sends victim a fake eBay invoice (usually a PDF)
    Victim sends scammer eBay gift cards to pay for the item
    Scammer profits

    List of known aliases used by scammers:

    Amanda Perry
    Ashley Olanguju
    Brenda Watson
    Elizabeth Hall
    Emma Lopez
    Eva Foster
    Kylie Alsop
    Molly Alsop
    Natalie Wilson
    Sara McNeill
    Shania Fox

    Here is a list of Gmail email addresses used by scammers

    adostter74
    annacorlew79
    brendawat74
    deen1meli
    eliz22hall
    evafstr52
    lopez47e
    martha64d
    natalie10wils
    olangujuashley1
    saramc482

    @reportingscammers007#131409 Thank you for work. I wish I could help, but I have no contacts that might be of help, either. Too bad law enforcement is not doing much.

    Thanks - I can only hope that the more exposure this scam gets the more people will not only be educated on it, but maybe, just maybe, Google will investigate and help put an end to it.