I think I am being scammed and PayPal isn't helping with it!

[alexpitt]

I will try and make this as easy to understand as possible, but please help me out with any suggestions if you can.

So, I bought a new phone the other day and decided to sell my old phone on Ebay. I set the starting price as £500 and literally within 30 seconds I had a woman email me and offer £859 in total for it. I accepted, of course, and she sent me the money via PayPal. It all seems straight-forward so far.

PayPal emailed me to say they would be withholding the funds until I sent them proof of postage, and so I did that yesterday morning. Within a couple of hours, I had a reply saying that the money was being transferred from the PayPal escrow account to my account, and it would take up to an absolute maximum of twelve hours for me to have access to my funds. That was almost twenty-four hours ago, and so I emailed PayPal again to ask what was going on. In response, they said that they had over-credited my buyer by £200 and that it was my responsibility to refund the £200 to the buyer before I was able to access my money.

This all seems extremely fishy to me, and I am reluctant to part with another £200 when I am already strapped for cash. If I don't get this money, it is going to make the next few months tough and I only bought a new phone with the understanding that I would be getting a fair amount for my old phone.

This is not what I expect from a company with the amount of prestige as PayPal has and I don't know what I can do. Very disappointed and frustrated. 

[kernowlass]

@alexpitt

SCAM.

They may buy on Ebay but they use an anonymous or hijacked Ebay account and DO NOT have a Paypal account so they can't use Ebay checkout.

They encourage you to accept a 'direct' Paypal payment and may ask you to send the item internationally.
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 tempt you with a high offer but honestly who would pay more than a seller was asking for an item?

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.
They will tell you that the payment is released when you provide paypal with a tracking/shipping number......this won't happen.

Or once you have sent and they know you have become a victim they may again send you 'fake' Paypal emails stating they sent too much and you have to refund BEFORE the funds are released to your balance or you have to send a western union payment to pay customs fees etc.

Paypal NEVER tell you to send an item before the payment is showing in your paypal account.
Paypal do not tell you to send trackable, they advise it for selling protection but it is not compulsory.
Paypal NEVER expect you to use a rival money transfer service eg Moneygram or Western Union etc.

[nevadasmith]

when in doubt,forward the email to spoof@paypal.com,it will tell you if it is from PAYPAL.

scammers prey on new sellers,sellers with low feedback,and highly desirable items which they can resell,LIKE iphones!