Being paid via PayPal - can this be a scam?

MickM
Contributor
Contributor

I'm selling a previous generation brand new 32GB iPod for $250 on the Boston Craigs List. A new current generation one from Apple costs $300. So I get an email from a guy in Africa claiming he'd pay me $250 plus an extra $100 shipping and that he'd pay me via PayPal (provided I forward him the PayPal email address).

 

This has scam written all over it (and I'm certainly not proceeding with the transaction), but if he's paying in advance via PayPal then I'm scratching my head as to how this guy can scam me. Any ideas?

 

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Jesg1985
Contributor
Contributor

I think I just got scamed. I was selling something for 1,200USD on craigslist the same day I got an email from a person who was interested in buying it. He provided me with a gmail address so we could chat on yahoo messenger. Long story short he agreed to pay 2,000USD and sent the money to my paypal account. I'm new to paypal and was not aware of the scams going around. The money shows up in my paypal account and today I transfered all the money to my bank account. I called paypal because it shows that the tranfer was made but I dont see the money in my bank account. I was told to wait 3-5 days. The paypal agent said "I grarantee that the money will be in your bank account in less than 5 days" Hey, those calls are monitored and recorded right? and he guaranteed my money would be there. What would happen if they request a charge back and the money is already in my account? OR if the money never gets to my bank account? Would I be charged If i spend the 2,000USD? will paypal or the CC company hold me responsible? ( i didnt mail anything anywhere. what i sold didnt require it)

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surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

 


@Jesg1985 wrote:

I think I just got scamed. I was selling something for 1,200USD on craigslist the same day I got an email from a person who was interested in buying it. He provided me with a gmail address so we could chat on yahoo messenger. Long story short he agreed to pay 2,000USD and sent the money to my paypal account. I'm new to paypal and was not aware of the scams going around. The money shows up in my paypal account and today I transfered all the money to my bank account. I called paypal because it shows that the tranfer was made but I dont see the money in my bank account. I was told to wait 3-5 days. The paypal agent said "I grarantee that the money will be in your bank account in less than 5 days" Hey, those calls are monitored and recorded right? and he guaranteed my money would be there. What would happen if they request a charge back and the money is already in my account? OR if the money never gets to my bank account? Would I be charged If i spend the 2,000USD? will paypal or the CC company hold me responsible? ( i didnt mail anything anywhere. what i sold didnt require it)


 

 

The money may have been paid using a stolen credit card.  A chargeback may be coming.

 

Neither the buyer nor the seller are covered if you've sold a "virtual item" and it sounds as if you have.  If there's a chargeback, you'll lose because you can't prove that you shipped an item to the address in the paypal payment advice using online verification.

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robertswww
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

You are correct, that has scam written all over it.

First off, always wait the 3-5 days until the funds are actually in your bank account.  Then, login to your bank account directly to verify the funds are there (do not rely on what the PayPal status shows).  The PayPal agent cannot guarantee the funds will be there, as they could be put into a Transaction Held status if PayPal suspects a fraud payment.  The PayPal Terms of Service that you agreed to when signing up for an account will override anything a PayPal agent says.  So, do not spend a single penny of the $2,000 USD until everything is officially completed, and wait a while longer just to be safe.

When dealing with large amounts like that, make sure you are in email and phone communication with the buyer to make sure you have all of their personal contact information and that everything checks out as legit.  If it is out of the country it is most likely fraud.

Intangible (i.e. non-physical) goods are not covered by PayPal's Seller Protection, so those are easily and often targeted by scammers, as there is not proof of shipping or delivery in those cases.

From what I've heard and read regarding a negative balance:


Your PayPal account will be suspended or frozen and they will send you weekly email reminders to pay the negative balance. I believe they can also suspend any eBay accounts you may have. You will not be able to send payments, but you can still receive payments but will not have access to them until you get back to a positive balance.  And you will not be able to open a new PayPal account in the same name.

They could possibly take money from your backup funding source (i.e. bank or credit card)... this depends on the PayPal Terms of Service. If you do not pay, eventually you will be sent a collection's notice and of course all of this can affect your credit score.

PayPal Info on Negative Balances:
https://www.paypal.com/helpcenter/main.jsp;jsessionid=xdKZKhYH7ZyyP01d8J8NvYxNPvQJWrpkydBXbHJZ6JJ8lC...!-6901660?locale=en_GB&_dyncharset=UTF-8&countrycode=GB&cmd=_help&serverInstance=9010&t=browseTab&sidetopic=2500056&opentopic=2500056

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bsorensen07
New Community Member

I am selling a first gen. ipod touch on ebay, and i got an email from some woman stating she would give me $200 for it provided I cancel the auction and send her my paypal account. Well I figured she was crazy (the older ipods cost $200 new and this one is almost 3 years old!), so I said something witty like, "Once I see the money in my paypal I'll consider canceling the auction." Later I got an email from "paypal" notifying me of funds in my account...$250 plus an extra $100 for shipping. I thought that was weird, and the email looked very official like it was indeed from paypal. I noticed that no where in the email can you click on the blue link to take you to your paypal account, it's a fake link. Definitely a scam. In a new window, I went to my paypal, and there are no new funds for $350 in my account at all. So what do I do? Obviously I'm not going to send the ipod, but can I report this person? Or do I just delete the email and forget about it?

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surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

 


@bsorensen07 wrote:

I am selling a first gen. ipod touch on ebay, and i got an email from some woman stating she would give me $200 for it provided I cancel the auction and send her my paypal account. Well I figured she was crazy (the older ipods cost $200 new and this one is almost 3 years old!), so I said something witty like, "Once I see the money in my paypal I'll consider canceling the auction." Later I got an email from "paypal" notifying me of funds in my account...$250 plus an extra $100 for shipping. I thought that was weird, and the email looked very official like it was indeed from paypal. I noticed that no where in the email can you click on the blue link to take you to your paypal account, it's a fake link. Definitely a scam. In a new window, I went to my paypal, and there are no new funds for $350 in my account at all. So what do I do? Obviously I'm not going to send the ipod, but can I report this person? Or do I just delete the email and forget about it?


 

 

Forward the email to spoof@paypal.com.

 

The buyer will contact you and start thratening all sorts of dire consequences if you don't send their item.

 

They'll threaten to call the Department of Justice and the FBI.

 

Ignore them.

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robertswww
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

Good job not falling for the scam, and also good job on verifying your PayPal funds directly (never click on a link in a bank account or PayPal email as they may be bogus).

Send the fake email to: spoof@paypal.com

Forward Fake Spoof Emails:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/securitycenter/antiphishing/PPPhishingReport...

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Jesg1985
Contributor
Contributor

So i called paypal reguarding the scam i described above.  I told the agent about my situation and he adviced me to no spend any of the 2,000USD that was deposited into my bank account. He agreed that this could be a scam. I should have known it was to good to be true. 😞 Im a new Paypal user and never before have i sold anything online. What a wake up call!!

Now I'll just have to wait untill I get a notice stating that they will take the money away. I'm sure its coming.

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Prospector
Contributor
Contributor

According to FBI agents who have been assigned to the legats office in the various African countries, there are huge internet cafes where hundreds of scammers sit hour after hour, day after day... All devoted to stealing your money/and/or stuff.

When nothing else is going on, I play with them, creating whole - false - funding banks and the like.

After a while, I get them to call me (Inter'ls call from Nigeria are super expensive for them, and I only use a el cheapo Trac Phone to boot)

 

After I get them good and secure feeling I tell them to go to the nearest US Embassy where the son of my best friend works ;^) They then get sent to their capitol city where someone will give them all my bank information:

 

They are told to meet the US Air Force air attaché ... stand at attention - Salute in the proper British Manner - and yell: Colorado Springs - Steers and Queens! - 

 

Or I'll direct them to the Army Attaché with the directions to again, Salute in the Proper British Manner, and Yell: High School on the Hudson....

(I know God will forgive me)

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The-Grasshopper
New Community Member

Hello, I have recently been the target of a scam, and need assistance. So I am selling an Xbox 360 on Ebay and on my post I put my email account which at the time was my email account for paypal, but I have changed it recently. This guy offers me $750 dollars for my item and then with out my permission just sent it to my paypal. I don't actually have the money that he supposable sent and I am not going to send my item to him because its very obvious that he is a scammer. I told him that if he wants it than he should make a bid on ebay and is now threatening me to accuse me as a scammer to paypal for not sending the item to him, but I haven't received any money yet. If he really did send money to me, can't he just take it back? 

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robertswww
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

Hello Grasshopper,

Yes, he is just a scammer trying to trick you into shipping the item. Offers to Buy or Sell Outside of eBay are not permitted. Tell him that since eBay now owns PayPal, that he is in violation and you will in fact report him.

You can back it up with these references:

Reporting inappropriate trading - eBay:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/report-trading.html

Offers to Buy or Sell Outside of eBay:
http://pages.ebay.com.my/help/policies/rfe-spam-non-ebay-sale.html

Most likely he sent you a fake PayPal payment.  If it is real, and since it is an unclaimed payment, he can Cancel it via the transaction Action column in his transaction History.

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