Can a buyer to fraud/scam the seller using paypal? Selling something on Craigslist

[larany]

Hello.

I have used paypal before with no problem.

I am selling an expensive item on Craigslist. A person emailed me and said they are out of the country but want to purchase the item and will pick it up when they return.

I was scammed on Craigslist once. The person sent a fake money order. Then took the item. By the time the bank realized that money order was fake it was too late.

Is there anyway someone could scam you on paypal?

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi stupidkangaroo, welcome to the forums!

Well, the customer is willing to pay you first and wait for the payment to clear before you ship, but wants you to use their FedEx account. The risk there is that they can re-route the package anywhere, and then you would not be eligible for protection. If you decide to ship to this person, check the Seller Protection eligibility of the transaction in the details, ship using your own account, ship only to the address in the transaction details, and get signature confirmation of delivery. If the customer wants you to use a different shipment address, refund the payment, and have them add the address to their account and then re-send the payment. Re-verify the Seller Protection eligibility of the new payment. Remember that if you feel that it is too risky, you can always walk away from the deal!

I hope this helps!

Olivia

[fmk509]

From the response you got from Olivia, I would venture to say that she is just "following orders" from her "superiors" or she is just straight up crazy and out of touch with reality!!! LOL I would say at this point, after what I have been through as a seller and what I am reading ALL OVER these message boards, that it is now a FREE FOR ALL on sellers. It's OPEN SEASON on sellers. Get your merchandise organized and get out while you can, before Pay pal and it's criminal clients rob us all blind!!

[wc]

Sad thing is Paypal no longer supports the well being of sellers. They alway rule in favor of the buyer. There have been situations where a buyer files a dispute, seller escalates it, paypal rules in favor of the seller, but tells the buyer to ship the item back if they want the refund. The buyer ships a different broken item, or one time even a brick. Paypal immediately tells you it is a civil matter and they can't get involved.

Well here's the thing, the dispute is a civil matter from the very beginning. Paypal is a payment service just like Amscot. However, they give themselves the right to be the legal decision maker, even though they are not lawyers. And now that Ebay does not allow Cashiers checks, money orders, personal checks, business checks, the honest seller is hung out to dry. Basically Ebay and Paypal lumped all us good honest sellers into the same pot as the bad sellers, never thinking a buyer is bad as well. So a lot of people resort to other methods of selling.

Funny thing is, a buyer that  pays with a US postal money order and mails the money order, using a US mail service that requires signature, is safer than using Paypal. It makes the seller risk criminal prosecution, if they do not ship, falsely ship or ship damaged, broken, etc items. It becomes a Federal offense, because the US Postal system was used to receive the payment.

And if it is across State lines, it is worse.

So what do we do. I feel it's time Paypal and Ebay start remembering who made them so big in the first place.

Just my 2 cents

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi folks,

PayPal mediates the portion of a dispute that is within our control, based on the terms laid out in the User Agreement. For issues that are outside of those terms, PayPal's ability to pursue the issue is limited. If you feel that the counterparty in a transaction has committed fraud against you, you have some options to pursue the issue outside of PayPal.

Here are some helpful links for learning more about fraud, how to prevent it, how to fight it, and how to report it.

• PayPal Security Center - http://www.paypal.com/securitycenter
• Internet Crime Complaint Center - http://www.ic3.gov
• National Fraud Information Center - http://www.fraud.org
• Department of Justice - http://www.onguardonline.gov

I hope this helps.

Olivia

[T3Q]

I am currently in contact with one such likely scammer right now. He claims to be a oceanographer that is at sea, can only pay through paypal since he cannot access his bank account online, will send a shipping agent to pick up vehicle for sale, etc...

He has been pressing for my paypal email address in just about every message. He has provided his paypal email address which appears to be registered member with paypal. I have given him no personal info, including my email address to paypal. 

[T3Q]

Just tonight, he sent this:

Ok thats good i have look into the reply you sent to me and i have only one option all i can do is to make the pay ment to you via certified check, but mind you, the pick up agent fees will be added to the payment that will be send to you, all you need to do when you receieved the payment is to get it cash and wire the left over amount to the pick up agent via western union, western union charges will be added to the payment that will be send to you, can you be trusted with this money? Will you be able to wire the pick up agent charges when you received the payment? i will want you to get back to me with your full contact address which the payment can be mail to.

I have bee  trying to keep him "alive" so I can contact proper authorities; maybe catch a transmission or something.

One thing's clear is I am not giving this guy any info. 

[jcbhunsicker]

I saw this e-mail and was freaked out.  I am selling a gaming system on Craigslist and received the following e-mail.  This guy has used 3 different addresses and I just know he's trying to scam me.  How did this purchase turn out?

 Feb-15-2011 06:36 AM

This is for a craigslist listing i have right now.

Think this ones a fraud? We'll find out

Thanks for your reply,i am located in Chastworth city

in GEORGIA ,i really need to buy this and send to my

son schooling outside the state as a New year gift .I have

been trying to buy this on eBay but its so very stressful

buying on eBay.I will offer you $630 so as to close the

deal as soon as possible.I will be paying through PAYPAL

account.Once payment clears,shipment will be handled by me through my

personal FedEx account,so you don't have to pay for

shipment.Get back to me if my approval is granted.I would like to see

the pictures please.

Thanks.

This was his second e-mail after the initial interest e-mail.  It's almost Identical to

Stupidkangaroo's

Thanks for you reply,i am located in ARKANSAS in LITTLE ROCK,i really
> need to buy this and send to my son schooling outside the state, have
> been trying to  buy this on eBay but is very stressful buying on eBay
> and i will not want to miss out on this opportunity so am making you
> an offer $200 to rap the sale off.I will  be paying through PAYPAL
> because i have a verified account with PayPal.So kindly get back with
> your PayPal email address so i can make payment into your PayPal
> account.Once payment clears,shipment will be handled by me through my
> personal FedEx account,so you don't have to pay for shipment.Get back
> to me if my approval is granted.I would like to see the pictures
> please.
> Thanks

[brenjean1]

yes but in the situation you described the seller receives the item back first before the options take place. paypal gave back the money and I never received my item back. where elses do you see this happen .

[divaz0108]

I have used Paypal for a long time; only back in February I had a buyer from outside US, that added a US address to buy from me because I don't ship outside US and paid using Paypal. Over two weeks after item was delivered (I offered 7 day money back) she opens a dispute saying the package I sent was "empty" . I escalated the dispute to Paypal knowing I did send the item. I provided shipping information along with copy of USPS receipt that included the weight of the package (to prove it was not empty) The Paypal solution? She can ship the "item" back for a full refund. So the buyer send me back an envelope (did not bother with box/package) shipped from her country (I did not send it outside US) with nothing inside so she can be reimbursed and she can keep both the item and the money! 

[froicp1]

I am trying to sell a vehicle on craigslist and I jsut received the same email from a gentleman who is " out to sea" as a marine contractor

Hi there, Thank you for getting back to me.Can you assure me that the vehicle is in good state and that i will not be disappointed with it and I'm ready to pay your asking price.To be honest, i wanted to buy this for my father as a surprise birthday gift,he has being there for me and doesn,t deserve something less but the issue is I'm a marine contractor and i just got a contract which i am doing presently and The contract is strictly no call, due to the lack of reception on the sea area,,But I'm able to access email anytime as we will make use of laptop so my only quickest payment option is PayPal as i can send money via PayPal anytime.Moreso i choose paypal for this transaction cause i want to avoid the scams going down on the internet this days,and want the both party to be on a safe side cause paypal security measure is unbeatable.Since I'm requesting this transaction to be done via PayPal, i will be responsible for all the pay pal fee/charges on this transaction and if you don't have an account with paypal, its pretty easy, safe and secured to open one. Just log on to www.paypal.com. I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible? I have a mover that will come for it once payment clears and they will be handling the title for me.So i look forward to hear from you soon.

Many thanks.