Scam?/Do PayPal payments go through to me before funds are verified?

[brivington]

I posted something for sale online and I've got a response from someone who wants to pay via PayPal and have someone pick up the goods. It seems fishy, but in the interest of giving her the benefit of the doubt, do payments go through before funds are verified, only to be retracted later because the lack of sufficient funds? Or is there another way that this may be a scam?

[kernowlass]

@brivington

Before you start selling items and using paypal you should really read up on seller protection so you can risk assess your transactions otherwise at some point you will lose either money or item.

However your sale 'may' be this scam, read it so you are aware...................

This is a typical 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 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 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.
Also their is no seller protection on paypal for any item that is collected by the buyer.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.

[brivington]

Thanks! I responded to them asking if they wanted to pay cash or wait until the PayPal payment had completely gone through and I haven't received any more emails from them so I guess that's our answer!