Payment withheld until item shipped?

[Abbyroza]

I just received a -so-called I think - email fro PayPal, saying that I "have new funds in my account". However, when I do login, I find no funds, not even 'pending'. The buyer of the item now asks me to send the item, and as soon as I give him the tracking number of TNT, he claims the payment will be 'released'. I suspect this is a scam, or am I mistaken and is this legitimate?

[Strat47]

This is definitely a scam.  I've just been had for an amount of money that sickens me.  It was my first international sale on ebay, so I believed that the protocol would be different.  Now my package is being sent to Malaysia, and I may not be able to recall it before it leaves the country. Please do not buy into this!

[Busa2005]

I to have received a so called email from paypal recently.The buyer told me, the funds have already been deducted from their accout, and demanded that I shipped the item immediately. Buyer claimed that they were buying this as a gift. After them demand was made , I got suspicious.I told the so called buyer when I see the money In my account ill ship the item.Until then its not going anywhere.

[terri2215]

I too recieved suspicious emails from paypal and ebay. I was also contacted via email directly from the buyer which as far as I know is against ebay rules. I will be calling paypal and ebay in the morning to discuss this matter with them. If  it wasn't for all this agravation I could have had my item sold to a serious buyer who would actually pay.

Also when i listed my item on ebay I selected shipping to united states only yet they were still able to make a bid on my item which after I recieved notice that they made a bid on my item I then noticed that on there account it said they were from the united states. They told me they were in spain on business but wanted to purchase my item as a gift to there son in nigeria, which like i stated above i said I would only ship to the united states so how were they able to put that they wanted it shipped to nigeria when I stated I would only ship to the united states? I will not ship anything until I receive a cleared payment which as far as I know is ebays policy anyways and that is also what I told the buyer.  Also i think if I did actualy receive a payment and needed to ship the item, like I would if I had recieved a cleared payment then wouldn't I recieve an email or message on my ebay or paypal account stating that the item was payed for and needed to be shipped like I normally do when something sells and needs to be shipped. Neither of my accounts stated that the item was payed for so that made me even more suspicious. This is very frustrating to deal with.

I wanted to include the email addresses that were fradulent so people would know but its not allowed so I can't.  Anyways just be aware!!