missing payment

[annetteau]

I sold an item on ebay for $200, however I recieved notifications saying that buyers are offering prices above the set amount. At first I thought that maybe I accidentally put it as a bid. So me being dumb I accepted the highest offer, which was somebody named Ark <removed> offering $330. Interesting name right? One thing is I am new to paypal since I was only planning to sell one item on ebay. However when I accepted the offer he asked for my email for the payment on paypal, and of course, I texted him about it. About an hour later I get an email from an account that kinda looked fishy saying that "Ark <removed> sent you $430 USD.  It said the extra $100 was for shipping and handling fee via USPS EXPRESS MAIL. One odd thing that was raising red flags was that the price didn't include the shipping fee which was just $9 and that it was usps express mail even though the shipping option was only usps priority mail. Also the confirmed address was somewhere from Nigeria even though on Ark <removed> account on ebay states that his address is from Michigan. Again, I proceeded with the process getting the package ready however I checked my paypal AND ebay account and both said that either the buyer hasn't payed or that there was no activity on paypal whatsoever. I thought to myself that it could possibly be a scam or that I'm really stupid on how this works because afterall I did give my paypal email at the same time as the email stating that funds won't be in my account until a shipping verification has been sent. I really need some help!

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@annetteau 

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.

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.

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.
Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.

[Chapoandy]

So what can a person do if this happens and this has happened to me and the person owes me 3k what do I do am I covered or not

[kernowlass]

@Chapoandy 

How can you be covered if none of the transaction was done using paypals site?

The above scam relies on you responding to FAKE paypal emails and sending items BEFORE being paid.

You should never send anything until the funds are showing in your paypal balance.

The fake emails are normally sent using anonymous or throwaway email addresses working out of an internet cafe somewhere in Africa.