Instant payment via PayPal MERCHANDISE

[Marya0016]

Hello, i had posted a Playstation 5 ad on Dubbizle a very famous website to buy and sell stuff in Dubai. A person contacted me and agreed to the sum i was after and told me send him my paypal. I have him my paypal QR code thinking that it will be easy as he will scan the qr code and enter amount and will send it to me. But things got interesting when i received email saying in order to get this payment you need to make sure you complete the steps we tell you as "You've received an instant payment " via PayPal MERCHANDISE Payment Service. Then it had the amount written he paid me and some transport charges of 1898AED. Then told me that In order complete this transaction and get the funds credited into your account, you have to go to your closest Al Ansari Exchange Office and transfer the excess sum of 1,898.00 AED to the Transport Agent and send us a Scanned Copy/Photograph of your Al Ansari Exchange Transaction Receipt (in .JPG Format). This is my first time using paypal. Please advise me does anything like this is legit from paypal or is this a scam? Why would i send 1989AED first to unknown person and then paypal will release the payment. Please advise me. Is it original or fake? Does paypal work like this?

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Marya0016 

SCAM.

They encourage you to accept a direct Paypal payment and may ask you to send the item internationally.

They ask for your email address so that they can send you fake scam paypal emails.
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 as they are disabled or working abroad or sending as a gift to a family member but they will arrange a shipping agent or courier 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 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 another payment processor than Paypal or by 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, Western Union, Bank Transfer or any sort of gift token or voucher.
There is no seller protection on paypal for any type of item that is collected by the buyer.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.

[Marya0016]

Thank you very much for the prompt reply and useful information. I have understood all informataion that you shared. Thats a lot. That was a great help.