Spotting fraudulent transactions

[MichaelKirby]

Hello,

I am selling an item on gumtree and using PayPal as the medium for receiving payment. I am suspicious of the buyer and have received 3 emails allegedly from PayPal. 

email 1 - shows the payment plus an added amount for transport (we didn't agree adding on transport and I believed she was organising that)

email 2 - shows 

A temporary hold has been placed on this transaction!

As mentioned in the receipt of Payment and as per New PayPal Payment policy, we have fully debited the total amount (above) from the buyer's account which includes the buyer's shipper's pick up fees.
 

Transfer On Pending...

In order to complete this transaction and get the funds approved in your account. We advise you to transfer the sum of £260.00 GBP to the Agent and send us a Scanned Copy/Screenshot of your Fund Transfer Receipt.

NOTE: This is important as a security measure to ensure safety of this transaction. 


Please, find below the name and address of the Transport Agent where the Funds would be sent via Bank Transfer.

Email 3 is from a PayPal agent saying he is in charge of my transaction and I can only respond to him by replying to the email.

They are wanting me to transfer £260 to transport company before the funds are released (ill be out of pocket for the £260). 

Ive never sold via gumtree before and think this is all a bit dodgy. 

Can anyone advise

Thanks 

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@MichaelKirby 

SCAM.

They encourage you to accept a 'direct' Paypal payment.
No funds or activity of the transaction shows in your Paypal account and any emails 'may' go into your junk or spam folders.

They don't quibble on cost and may also say they can't view the item as they are disabled or working abroad etc etc but they will arrange a shipping agent to collect it.

You will get/got a "fake" email that looks as though it is from paypal.....it isn't because they don't actually have a Paypal account and have no intention of paying you.
It will say the buyer has paid ...you won't have been paid.

The 'fake' paypal email will tell you that the buyer has paid for the item + shipping costs but you must send those shipping costs to the courier/ shipping agent via western union, moneygram or walmart, bank transfer etc BEFORE the funds are released to you.
They are not interested in the item, they just want the western union / bank transfer etc funds and you will never see money in your paypal balance.

They also 'sometimes' threaten legal action...have a laugh at that one and ignore it as its rubbish.

Paypal NEVER tell you to send an item before the payment is showing in your paypal account.
Paypal NEVER expect you to use a rival money transfer service eg Moneygram or Western Union etc.
Also their is no seller protection on paypal for any item that is collected by the buyer.
Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.

[MichaelKirby]

Thank you

This is exactly the situation I am in. I have searched every corner of my PayPal account and can see no evidence of any pending payment. They did not ??? the cost of my item for sale and when I asked them to view the item they said they were out the country and the item was being shipped to Ireland. The emails are not perfect grammar either. 

Thanks for your help. Very much appreciated.