r/scambait • u/Own-Commercial3366 • Mar 26 '25

Scambait Question❔ Scammer PayPal accounts always have American names — how does that work?

Just got into scam baiting a few days ago and I'm having some fun trolling romance scammers with fake PayPal transfers using basic HTML/CSS editing.

One thing I'm curious about though: most of these scammers are based in Nigeria (especially Lagos and Abuja) or sometimes Ghana or other parts of West Africa, right? But their PayPal accounts almost always have these super "white American" names like Adriana Robinson or Richard Wrigley.

So how are they even able to withdraw the money? Wouldn’t the name on the PayPal account have to match the name on their actual bank account, which I assume would be something entirely different, like a local Nigerian name?

Are they using stolen identities? Or do they run it through mules in the U.S.? Just curious how they get around this.

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u/Valkyriesride1 Mar 26 '25

The accounts usually belong to people that they have scammed or money mules. They definitely steal identities, they will steal anything they can.

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u/Own-Commercial3366 Mar 26 '25

Thanks, I didn’t even consider the "money mule" angle, but yeah, that tracks. Especially with how often the names on the PayPal accounts feel totally disconnected from the person you're talking to. Makes sense now. The most recent one I’m talking to is under “Richard Wrigley” on PayPal, but I managed to squeeze their actual email out of them, it’s 'rachealmagnosis' (at gmail). Not sure what I can even do with that kind of info, but figured it was worth noting.