Need advice soon! Craigslist and PayPal

[Throckmork]

I'm looking to sell my 96 mustang with a tranny slip problem. I said that if you were wanting it, a trailer is needed cuz it only goes in reverse right now. This guy messaged me a couple times. HELP. Is this safe? He asked if I still had it and I said yes but he'd need a trailer and I told him what was wrong. Here's what he said,

Buyer: Dear Seller,

      Thanks for the mail, I'm seriously interested in buying this
for my first Son and am okay with your selling price, I'm an (Crude
Engineering) and currently offshore i really want this as a surprise
gift for my Son so i won't let him know anything about this until it
get delivered to him and I will like to know why you are selling this
item and i will like to know the condition of the item. You can mail
me back with your PayPal email address so i can make the payment to
you right now and if you don't have an account with PayPal you can set
up an account today as it's secured and reliable visit their website
on www.paypal.com... i will be responsible for the payment
fees/charges on this transaction. Do not worry about shipping or
picking up as my pick up agent will come and pick it up from you once
have made the payment to you and i will also need your full
Name,address and phone number looking forward to here back from you.

Regards Surest..

Then I said I would prefer cash. He said,

Buyer: I wish i could  come to view it but there is no way i could do that
cos, am currently offshore and as you
should know that due to the nature of my work phone calls are not
allowed offshore but i just try to squeezed out a time to view the
advert while it's really lovely and that' s why i will like to
purchase it for my son before his birthday so kindly get back to me
along with ya PayPal email so i can make the payment then the pick up
agent can come to view it for me before picking it up to get it
delivered to my son.
I will be looking forward to read back from you sooner.

[SupSvc]

This is a SCAM.  Your first red flag is the fact that he wants to send someone to pick it up, and says he'll cover the shipping charges and the Paypal charged.  The second red flag is that he gives you a link to Paypal - no "average Joe" on Craigslist is going to do that. 

Don't do it.  You'll lose your money - trust me.  

[ranger2001]

Put a ring up for sale on Craigslist. This an expensive piece of jewelry and I have had many emails stating to give them my paypal account and they will put the money into my account. Several people have offered to pay more than I asked for, and all are willing to buy this sight unseen. One even placed a paypal link for me to click on. The only response from has been that this transaction would be face to face at my jeweler or at my bank.

I would never make a large purchase sight unseen nor do I think any honest person would spend thousands of dollars sight unseen. It is also stranger that none of the mailers wanted to speak on the phone. I feel that these request are just out of the norm

[vulcan03]

LOL I had pretty much the same message for my item on craigslist, only he used his father and he was in the navy. Im glad I read your post b4 replying to him. Have a good day!

[bossmustang]

i just had a guy that was trying to buy my car and he wanted me to transfer him 1500 dollars to wester union to ship it to united kingdom and sends me all of these fake emails about paypal and they were going to give my money back and the money for the car when i send the money for the shipping and then the guy desides to add me on facebook i want something done about this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DocLoch]

I have recieved almost the Identical response to a classified ad at a newspaper.  I goes as follows:

Hello, Thanks for mailing back,i really appreciate it, am really
 interested in it and i will appreciate it if you can keep this item
 for me. Due to the nature of my job,phone calls making and visiting of
 website are restricted but I squeezed out time to check this advert. I
 cant be able to come and view it and. pay in cash but i have contact,
 pick up company they will be coming to pick it after i have paid for
 it,i can only pay through Paypal as i don't have access to my bank
 account online as i don't have Internet banking,but i have my bank
 account attached to my PayPal account and this is why I insisted on
 paying you through PayPal,so kindly get back to me with your full name
 and paypal email address so i can proceed with the payment now,but if
 you don't have an account with them you can set up a paypal account
 via {link to paypal} it very easy and fast, it wont take you than 3
 minute to do that,I will proceed with the payment as soon as you send
 me your paypal email address and contact the pick up agent to arrange
 a convenient pickup time with you,once payment has been transferred
 and cashed. I believe i can trust you on this transaction. I hope to
 read back from you soon. Thanks Oliver

-So, my question is, how are they going to get money or merchandise out of me?  How does this scam work?  Is there someway they can take money from me by my giving them my e-mail and name?  Please let me know!!

[dscline]

"So, my question is, how are they going to get money or merchandise out of me?  How does this scam work?  Is there someway they can take money from me by my giving them my e-mail and name?"

I would also like to know.  I just received a suspicous offer for something I have for sale on Craigslist.  Claims to be out of town, wants me to ship it to him, and offers to pay extra for my trouble.  Says he wants to pay through Paypal.  I've generally considered Paypal to be a fairly safe form of payment, so what is the risk?  How do we we differentiate between a scam and valid offer, if they claim to be willing to send money via Paypal?

[ranger2001]

I received several replies all being worded very similar. They were all out of my area, they were all wanting a rushed deal, and they offered more than I requested. I believe pay pal is a safe payment method but you have to wait and let payment clear your account. Tou must make sure the payment has cleared and posted in your account. These folks will rush you and say payment has been sent ans is in the process of being posted. They will then push you to send your article theough USPS, Fed Ex or what ever all along knowing they must get you to get your article in shipment out od your control.

For myself, I am not in such a financial situation that I am desperate to sell. They prey on the hope that the seller is overly eager to sell. There was just something just not right about someone going to pay $4250 for a ring I ask $4000 for. Their main objective was to push me into moving very quickly even offering to set up a paypal account for me. This just reaffirms to me if something sounds to good to be true it probably is.

So in answer to your question I turned them down and forwarded all emails to the authorities and copied them all in on it. Surprisingly enough have not heard anything back from any of the scammers. Be careful and do not let them rush you into any hasty transaction. If they are legitimate they should have no problem in a phone conversation or a face to face meeting.

Good luck on your sale and have a Merry Christmas 

[dkimble]

I've had this happen to me on a few occasions.  I'll send money ASAP....will have shipper pick up item.  This part of the scam I understand.  It's the payment through Paypal that I can't figure out.  My most recent potential scammer was regarding a motorhome on craigslist.  He wanted to pay through Paypal and have shipper pick up motorhome.  I presume since you don't allow something like this to leave without seeing payment in Paypal, there must be a timeframe for buyer to rescind payment after picking up merchandise?  Does anyone know more about how long buyer than get their payment back through Paypal?  Thanks for all the good info posted.

[ranger2001]

I know after reciept of goods there is a time from where they can request through Paypal a reversal of the transaction. I have been told that it is a week from date of recipt of goods, not sure on the time frame though. I am starting think that maybe the old way (face to face) is the best way. There are risk doing business across the Internet.

Good luck