Someone wants to purchase my Craiglist item...scam?

tgelston
Contributor
Contributor

Like others on this forum, I have an item on craigslist and have received a suspicious inquiry.  Suspicious because:

1. The guy claims to be an oceanographer at sea

2. Wants to buy "the item" (a dining room set) based only on the pictures and surprize his Dad who lives in CA

3. Wants to pay using PayPal and requests my PayPal account e-mail

4. Has very bad grammar for an oceanographer

 

I've looked at other posts to this board and I'm not sure I understand the scam.  If he sends the money to my account and I hold the dining room set, what is the risk?

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surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

When someone pays to a PayPal account, does PayPal confirm the funds?  Am I right in understanding that all I need to do to receive money via PayPal is to provide my PayPal account email?

 

You won't be dealing with Paypal on this - you'll be dealing with fake paypal emails.  Paypal doesn't even come into the picture, really.

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11 REPLIES 11

BigKahuna97
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

The scam will take place when he wants you to either ship it to Nigeria or he has someone come to your home and pick the item up while using PayPal to pay you.  If you don't have a delivery confirmation or tracking number for the package you will have zero protection when he files a dispute for an item not received.  PayPal and craigslist go together like ham and motor oil.  

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tgelston
Contributor
Contributor

Big Kahuna,

Thanks for the response, and it does indeed seem fishy.  But we're talking about a full dining room set, eight chairs, table, sideboard.  Lots to ship.  When someone pays to a PayPal account, does PayPal confirm the funds?  Am I right in understanding that all I need to do to receive money via PayPal is to provide my PayPal account email? 

 

I guess I'm still not understanding the scam.  I won't ship until the money is confirmed and in my account.  When does the scammer get either my money or my goods?

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surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

There are several ways;

 

You ship the item and find out too late that it's a scam - scammer gets the goods.

 

Scammer sends "extra" money that he wants you to send by Western Union to a "shipping agent" for shipping costs - scammer gets the money.

 

Scammer sends a fake email, you ship, then scammer sends a second fake email telling you that the account was overpaid and you have to refund the extra to an address by Western Union - scammer gets the goods and the money.

 

Then, for the REALLY stupid seller, scammer claims to be a Nigerian Police officer investigating this scam and offers to recover your funds for a fee.  Scammer gets more of your money.

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Solved

surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

When someone pays to a PayPal account, does PayPal confirm the funds?  Am I right in understanding that all I need to do to receive money via PayPal is to provide my PayPal account email?

 

You won't be dealing with Paypal on this - you'll be dealing with fake paypal emails.  Paypal doesn't even come into the picture, really.

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artnerd
New Community Member

I just received a couple emails supposedly from paypal in bad english saying funds were deposited and pending in my account and to ship the products to nigeria and enter tracking number in another email to have funds cleared and deposited from paypal. I immediately looked at my account and looked at forum, I have forwarded the emails to paypal. They were just too suspicious.

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surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

They're scams.

 

Paypal knows how to speak English.

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slmr55
New Community Member

Hey!   My daughter had a ring just posted on craiglist and was contacted by someone who wanted to buy it.   She sent a money request which continued to say pending.     We received an Email that looked exactlly like those from Paypal saying the funds had been deposited to she could go ahead and ship the ring.    So  she did.   A call to Paypal  revealed that the email was a phishing scam and there was no payment.   Fortunately we were able to locate the package and stop delivery and her ring will be returned to her.    Some one should stop these guys.

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surplusdealdude
Advisor
Advisor

It's pretty much impossible to stop them - there are huindreds of thousands of these guys operating all over the world.

 

Their ID's change every few minutes - impossible to keep up with them.

 

The best defence is an informed population - if they don't fall for the scams, they can't work.

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nursietr
New Community Member

I have received over 30 emails from scammers from Nigeria for some Diamond Jewlery I posted on craigslist, all saying almost the exact same thing. Its sometimes hard to tell expecially when you get an email from a fake paypal email saying that the funds have been deposited to your account. Well I opened my paypal in another window and needless to say there have not been any funds whatsoever added to my account. I did however buy a $10 Visa card that funds could be added to and did not put any of my credit cards/debit cards/ or bank account numbers on my paypal so that they had no access to my personal accounts. Please be very careful, if they cant meet you in person or talk to you in English on the telephone they are scammers. Everything from Nigeria requarding buying your goods are a scam, they will either say they are paying by certified bank check, paypal,western union or alertpay. They always add up to $100 to $1000 more to the asking price for so called shipping. Please be aware.

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