Selling my PS3 to Nigeria via craigslist (or not)

[GWMonkeyKing]

I posted a PS3 for sale in the Los Angeles craigslist, and someone responded offering to pay my asking price plus shipping to send it to Nigeria, to be paid up-front via PayPal. The scenario is bizarre, but if it is a scam, I don't understand the angle. Even if they manage to pay with false information, what do they stand to gain besides a PS3? Further evidence of scamminess: each question of mine, asking for an explanation of how they came to choose a PS3 in Los Angeles, is met with a vague half-answer with briefer and poorer English than the last. By now I'm intrigued. Not wanting to discredit all of Nigeria, I want to know where I'm compromised by the scenario. It occurs to me now that maybe they can use my name and return address for some nefarious purpose. So what do you think: is there even the possibility that this is genuine?

[PayPal_Adrian]

GWMonkeyKing,

Well, you've got some of the angles right - they do stand to gain a PS3, and they do stand to gain some of your personal information.  Scammers then use that personal information in other scam emails, letters, phone calls, and communications that they send out.  It's partially why we edit out information from example scam emails that are posted in the forums - because it might just be another victims information.

If this is a scam, they likely won't be paying you with their own money in any event, so it's a win-win for the scammer.  That's if they actually do send you a payment... and if it is a scam, you can rest assured you'll receive either fake emails pretending that a payment was sent or asking for tracking information before the payment will magically appear.

In most of these instances, they're willing to pay shipping - often at an unusual cost - or even add in extra.  Or they'll have you pay the shipping agent and then give you the money... supposedly. 

The fact that their replies are trailing off into vagueness alone concerns me, and while I don't like to discredit entire regions either, the fact remains that Nigeria is, unfortunately, synonymous with varioius types of fraud and scam emails in the public eye, most notably Advanced Fee Fraud (of which this will fall under if it is a scam).

I would recommend this article for a long - but comprehensive - overview of the various types of Advanced Fee Fraud:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_fraud

We also have quite a bit of information on staying safe online in our security center:  www.paypal.com//securitycenter

Hope this helps,

Adrian

[GWMonkeyKing]

Thanks for the information, Adrian. I hadn't considered the possibility of them posing as me in the future, or that they could just channel another victims money to me. That's ingenious.

[powhammer]

To tell you the truth, Nigeria is suspected as scammers, I wouldn't respond to any e-mails, delete them right away and it is also unwise to sell anything on Craigslist nowadays because Craigslist is not safe at all. I got scammed once there trying to sell off my car rims. They sent a me a phony check for over a thousand dollars more than my asking price. I took it to my bank to try to cash it and my bank found it to be a fraud. It got sent to their Security Center for investigation. As I said about Craigslist as UNSAFE and it is not protected like Pay Pal or Ebay. You might want to sell your PS3 on Ebay or iOffer Auction sites. At least they are more safer and you will get your money's worth, that is, real money that's safe! One more thing, do not do any transactions with any scammers through Pay Pal as they have ways to hack into your Pay Pal account to rob your money. What scammers do is implant BOTS in e-mails to track your keystrokes when you log into your Pay Pal account! So be aware and avoid any scammers from Nigeria!

[csatyavolu]

For one, I am very cautious when it comes to deals that look too good to be true. Secondly, if I do like a big ticket item on craigslist, I do my due deligence and research, maybe even send an independent agent to check the item out in person, if its across the country. Services like wegolook.com can send someone over locally and take photos etc. I think it costs under $50, for anywhere in the country. In fact I bought my 06 Acura TSX 3 states away, had them inspect and ship it for me.

[valgal5]

How do you find if someone has implanted BOTS in your email? I have been trying to sell a ring on Craigslist and keep getting responses from "different" people all with g-mail accounts. Two that I have responded to want me to send it to Nigeria. The first one I just dismissed. The second one, I let them know that I only wanted to deal in the US. He said that he was in New Jersey. I sent the money request and asked for the mailing address. It is in Nigeria. I then requested a US address.

Now I am very nervous!

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi valgal5, and welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest you take a look at this post:

https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Fraud-phishing-and-spoof/is-this-real-paypal-or-fake/m-p/250558#...

It may shed some light on what you're seeing.

Olivia

[valgal5]

Thank you for your reply. When I responded to the potential buyer to send me a US address, I hadn't heard a thing from him since. I was sure it was a scam and the same person was pretending to be multiple people under different emails (all g-mail accounts.)  The link that you sent me to read convinced me that I was right. It also informed me what else to look out for.

Thank you again!

[JCpetlady]

Yes, BE WARNED.  I too am selling a BlackBerry on Craigslist and all emails were from GMAIL.  Also, they are creative enough to send FAKE EMAILS from service at paypal stating you have received an instant payment but the funds would not be released to me until I provided a tracking number.  THIS IS NOT PAYPALS policy, meaning this person never made a payment to me.  It even provided a transaction ID # and when I called PayPal they could not find it in the system anywhere.

The ladies excuse was that she paid me through PayPal UK.  DONT FALL FOR IT.....PayPal has the same policies in all of their divisions no matter where in the world.  I have been using PayPal for years, and as soon as I saw that her payment was not there instantly I knew it was FRAUD.

Avoid anyone on Craigslist that is not willing to come directly to you with cash in hand....if they want to do the transaction ANY OTHER WAY....they are trying to scam you.

[JCpetlady]

Craigslist is safe if you ONLY deal with people that are willing to come to you with CASH.  I would never sell anything on Christmas that the buyer was asking for any other type of transaction.  There are local people out there that are real and will come to where you are with cash in hand.....I've had great success....the ones you have to avoid are the western union requests, checks, money orders (they are usually fake) and FAKE PAYPAL USERS.

Craigslist should be CASH ONLY.

Hope that helps you in the future.