I'm a bit suspicious

[Jaydee5]

Does anybody know if I give my paypal email address out can it be hacked or scammed from a potential buyer ? I got an unusual email from someone asking to buy an item from me but the wording of the email doesn't sit right with me, it was telling me not to sell my item to anyone else and that they would send a courier to collect said item and even going as far as not just buying my item for the full price but also offering an extra $50 to buy it, that seems strange to me all of it does. So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kernowlass]

@Jaydee5 

SCAM.

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

They don't quibble on cost and may also say they can't view the item but don't sell to anyone else and 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 anther payment processor than Paypal OR via providing some vouchers or tokens before the funds are released to you.
They are not interested in the item, they just want that couriers/shipping funds and you will never see money in your paypal balance.

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 type of item that is collected by the buyer.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.

[Jaydee5]

Hi Kernowlass

Thanks for your reply. The stuff you mentioned was correct, she claimed she couldn't call me as she was away for work yet she was able to text me, she asked me to go out and buy a VOUCHER for $350 so the courier could come and collect the item, when I told her I had never heard of the voucher she was requesting so she got agro with me saying that her PayPal payment to me was irreversible, so I said to her, if thats the case then what happens if your unhappy with the item, she never replied, she sent me an email saying she had paid me but when I checked their was nothing not even anything (on hold) so I queried that with her, and again she got agro. I told her to let me organise the courier form my end and 3 days later she's gone all quiet, my concern was that I had already given her my paypal email and my home address, I just hope I am safe.

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Jaydee5 

As long as you didn't give her your password you are fine 😁

I've been helping on here for about 10 years and post that information for folks about 6 times per day.

The scammers want your MONEY and if you ignore them then they just move on to the next potential victim.

[Jaydee5]

Hi Kernowlass

Definitely did NOT give her my password, i'm not that silly, I would never give my password to anyone that would basically just hand them the keys to your life. It was just that she was so pushy and agro when things weren't working out and the wording in her email to buy the item just sent a red flag up to me but I am not always sure, it's thanks to people like you who know the in's and out's of how we get scammed and tricked online, that makes us feel better, and after reading your initial reply, I am confident I did the right thing in refusing to buy that stupid voucher she was asking for, even the place that sells the voucher said not to buy it because the people who use these vouchers are usually caught up in drug activity, plus I had never even heard of voucher purchase needed to organise a courier. Thanks again and have a good day.