Red flags??

[gvjac1]

So, I am a seller and a buyer has agreed to the asking price. The buyer has stated that he had the monies transferred to paypal, (which is not in my account), with an additional  amount over and above the selling price that I was asking,  for an agency to come pick up the item, has the buyer is working off-shore.  He stated that he needed me to take out the additional amount, from my own pocket to purchase bitcoins for this so called agency. Once I have receipt of this transaction, I needed to provide this to Paypal and only then will the funds be transferred to my account.

My thoughts are " ya right"... Is this right, or am I correct in assuming this is a scam? 

How can I get help from Paypal in regards to the emails that I've been getting from this buyer, to get help in checking for accuracy regarding this transaction? To see if this is actually legit or fake?

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@gvjac1 

I post the below information about 6 times per day for about 10 years, its all over this forum.

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/spam folders.

They don't quibble on cost and may offer you more to tempt you into being scammed and 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 anther payment processor than Paypal (bank transfer or bitcoins) 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 money upfront for any reason as a seller.
Paypal NEVER expect you to use a rival money transfer service eg Moneygram or Western Union, Bitcoins 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.