Pending funds

[Margaretp]

Hi can anyone help

I posted an item on gumtree and a person wishes to buy it.

I received an email from “paypal”

stating that the monies have been taken from their account and is requesting I send a money gram to a “courier” before the monies will be cleared

Th e item is a sofa the amount I was selling it for was£100

It look like the courier is costing £150 plus £20 for the moneygram

The amount in the pending payment is £270

Is this a usual way to do things,or is this a scam

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Margaretp

This is a typical scam ..................

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 etc BEFORE the funds are released to you.
They are not interested in the item, they just want the western union 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 funds show in your Paypal account balance.
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.