The PayPal airport scam I encountered was more than just a scam. It was a con.
Soon I will publish more about my recent trip to Panama. But first, I feel it is more important to share with you this experience as I have not found any reference to it online.
As I tell you what happened you'll be inclined to quickly identify it as a scam. But, as I say, it was more than a scam. A confidence game was involved. While the bait was not taken, it took many hours after the event to conclude that it was, indeed a con.
The Perfect Mark for this PayPal Scam is Rolling a Carry-on
At the end of my Panama trip I was not solo. I was with my friend Elizabeth for a couple of days in a cottage at Playa El Uverito where she had spent a month, mostly solo, working on her latest book. I booked my return flight home to coincide with Elizabeth's.
The 7 hours to get to the airport was both boring and eventful. We arrived at the bus station to buy our ticket to Panama City (for less than US$7 each) to find that another passenger on the bus would be a rooster that could be quite noisy. It seems that cockfighting is still legal in Panama. About three quarters of the way to Panama City we were almost in an accident, with the bus skidding to a stop just inches from the car ahead. Then, to our shame, we almost left our luggage with the bus when we arrived at Albrook station in Panama City. Yes, we both walked away without our bags, realized about five minutes later, and then ran full tilt back to retrieve them. We probably broke the record for the 100-meter dash in the 65+ category. The very amused faces on the other passengers as they saw us arriving told the story.
From Albrook bus station we crossed to the metro, carry-on bags in tow. We bought tickets, took Line 1 to Corredor Sur where we transferred to Line 2 for Tocumen International Airport. We got on the subway car, took seats beside a very helpful local woman we communicated with thanks to Google Translate, and settled in. We were two women with gray or white hair with suitcases, obviously going to the airport.
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Establishing Trust Is Essential for this Paypal Airport Scam
Standing beside the seated local woman was a man on his phone. He was tall, handsome, perhaps about 45, neatly dressed in casual clothes, well-spoken and, judging by his accent, probably from the northern United States. From what we could overhear, he was clearly having a difficult day and Elizabeth opened the conversation with a compassionate comment. “It sounds like an urgent situation.” Given that we were the only travelers on the train, it was a normal thing to do.
His response was a simple yes. I then asked where he was from and he replied America, but he was stationed in Frankfurt as he was a pilot in the US Airforce.
His sad story was that he had left the airport the day before in a yellow cab (all official cabs in Panama are yellow) and that, when the cab stopped to get gas, he went to the restroom, and returned to find the cab gone along with all his belongings, including wallet, passport, and suitcase.
Of course, we responded with concern but he almost waved it off, saying his captain was helping him by sending him $800 to buy a ticket to Honduras so that he could get everything in order.
He was on his way to Costa Rica to surprise his parents whom he had not seen for two years. Then we got into what it was like in Frankfurt, why his parents were in Costa Rica, and various other topics. Somehow, it got back to the fact that his captain had sent $800 for him to buy a ticket but he couldn't access the money without identification.
He started checking out the Metro route again as he had to get off one stop before the airport to go to a mall where he was going to pawn his wedding ring. And then the conversation kept going.
From Metro Line 2 there is one more short rail trip to get to the airport. We got off Line 2 and stood on the platform for a second to sort out our next move. He helped by pointing us to the next line and then stood back. I whispered to Elizabeth that it could be a con. Neither of us was sure as he hadn't asked us for anything and he was standing back.
Then he approached us, in a meandering sort of way, and asked if the water in Panama is safe to drink. Conversation open. Then it dropped. “No one in Panama uses PayPal.” Again, neither of us responded in a big way and, of course, both of us have PayPal accounts. He was hoping that we would step in and offer to use our accounts to help him.
Getting on the short train to the airport, we were 50/50 on whether it was a con.
Solo Travel Safety: Always Know Where to Draw the Line
Essentially, whether we knew this was a Paypal airport scam or not, we were both in agreement that this man was an adult and could sort himself out. Elizabeth did give him $20 for a meal in case his story was true and things didn't get fixed quickly.
Most importantly, we both drew the line at helping him in a significant way. The ask, $800, was way too much to get involved. There was no need to save a capable man.
How We Absolutely Concluded that It Was a PayPal Con
Reflecting on the situation over the course of our flight, we finally concluded it was 100% a con. Here are a few details that surfaced that didn't ring bells at the time.
- He tried to pull at our heart strings with the idea of pawning his wedding ring but didn't mention his wife, not even to say that he didn't want to worry her.
- When he said he was posted in Frankfurt I asked what he thought would happen if Trump pulled out of NATO. He didn't seem to have any insight or thoughts about that nor about the situation in Ukraine.
- We realized that he never mentioned the embassy. That's your go-to if you lose a passport.
- Why wouldn't his captain send him a ticket rather than money via Western Union?
- Cabs don't typically gas up when they have a fare.
- Surely, by that time, he would know that the water was safe to drink.
- Men always carry their wallets everywhere.
- And many other tiny details.
We think he knew he lost us when he said he was going to pawn his wedding ring and we didn't respond emotionally.
How Would the PayPal Airport Scam Work Technically?
Essentially, he wanted to send money to a PayPal account and then have one of us take money from a cash machine and give it to him. This would only work if the mark, one of us, would likely already have cash in an account and not need to transfer his money from PayPal before withdrawing cash. The process would have to go as follows:
- He sends money to my PayPal account.
- I receive a PayPal email notification that I have received money from him. This is standard. HOWEVER, this would be a phishing email that looks legitimate. There are lots of PayPal phishing scams going on.
- Due to time pressure of his making, I wouldn't check my account but withdraw funds from my regular bank account via an ATM.
- He would have the cash and I would go into my account and discover that there was no money.
He spent about an hour with us. He wouldn't have to complete many of these cons to live very well in Panama.
I sure wish I had taken a selfie with him!
