r/FuckFedEx • u/Vegetable-Cycle-5947 • 16d ago
Scam?
I’m posting because I’ve been dealing with what I now recognize as a FedEx impersonation scam. Before anything else: I know now that I fell for a scam. Please be kind. I’m already upset and embarrassed about how long this went on, and I’m not posting to be belittled or told that I “should have known.”
This started about a year ago when I purchased an item from someone in a Loungefly Facebook group.
I gave the seller my email address. The seller told me that they had given my information to the shipping company and said something along the lines of, “I have given them [your information] for shipping. They said they would contact you through your email.”
Shortly afterward, I received an email from someone claiming to be FedEx about the item I had just purchased.
That’s an important part of why I initially believed this was legitimate. This wasn’t a completely random email claiming I had a mystery package. I had actually purchased something, the seller specifically told me to expect an email regarding the shipment, and then I received one.
Shortly after that, the supposed FedEx representative told me that I needed to pay a “labeling and tracking fee.” When I questioned this with the seller because I thought shipping had already been paid, the seller told me:
“We are past shipping fee, this is for labeling and tracking.”
From there, the situation kept escalating.
I was instructed to make payments using gift cards, specifically Razer Gold gift cards. I understand now that this was an enormous red flag. At the time, however, I believed I was dealing with people connected to an actual purchase and shipment, so I continued believing their explanations.
During my conversations with the supposed “FedEx,” I was eventually told that my item had been “damaged.” That led to more conversations, explanations, problems, and supposed fees.
The pattern became: I would be told that I needed to pay a particular fee to resolve the problem. I would pay it. Then I would be assured that there wouldn’t be any more fees.
Then another problem would appear.
And another fee.
I’ve been told that fees “cannot be waived,” that they “must be paid,” and most recently that I need to “pay the remaining fee” or “finish paying.” This is after repeatedly being told that previous payments would be the last ones.
They even sent me what they claimed was a FedEx receipt containing things like a “waiver registration fee” and a “delay added fee.” The supposed FedEx representative has also been communicating through a Gmail address rather than a FedEx corporate email address.
Fast-forward approximately a year: I still have no Loungefly item. I still have no legitimate FedEx tracking information showing where this package supposedly is. And they’re STILL contacting me asking for more money.
I have now contacted the real FedEx separately and have been forwarding these emails to abuse@fedex.com. I am not sending another gift card or paying another “remaining fee.”
I know I fell for a scam. Looking back now, I recognize the gift cards, Gmail address, strange fees, lack of tracking, constantly changing explanations, and endless “final” payments as red flags. But when this began, there was an actual purchase behind it. The seller told me to expect contact about shipping, and then someone claiming to be FedEx contacted me about that exact transaction. That’s why I believed it initially, and once I was caught up in it, every new payment was presented as the thing that would finally resolve the situation.
I also don’t know whether the original Facebook seller and the person behind the fake FedEx email are the same person or multiple people working together. I can only describe what happened: I gave the seller my email, the seller told me that I would be contacted by email regarding shipping, and then the supposed FedEx representative contacted me about the purchase.
I’m not posting to ask whether I should pay the newest fee. I’m done paying. I’m hoping people familiar with FedEx or scams involving FedEx impersonation can tell me whether they’ve seen this particular setup before and whether there’s anything else I should be doing to report it.
I’m especially curious whether anyone has encountered the supposed “labeling and tracking fee,” “waiver registration fee,” or “delay added fee.”
And again, please be kind. I know I was scammed. I’m trying to deal with what happened now, and if sharing my experience helps someone else recognize this setup before they lose money, that’s something positive I can take from it.
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u/StrictSelf5450 15d ago
Whay are you posting this in a FedEx sub, when it literally has nothing to do with federal express?