Scam: PENDING transaction - ship the package and supply the Shipment Reference to receive payment

[amac3716]

Story goes

I posted a sell add on Gumtree to sell my drone

A interested byer Anita wrote to me expressing interest, asked a few questions then asked for my paypal email

I send her a payment request via paypal from with in the gumtree website

Anita said "I didn't link mine here, so it better you send the paypal email"

so I send her my email 

Anita then said "Kindly check the email, my husband emailed you"

the husband; Joel <removed>, emailed me a few times with some standers questions about my drone, I also made a short video of the drome showing it was in working order and emailed it to him

Joel then emailed me and said the will buy it and will make a paypal payment 

I then received a email from <removed> saying that "Joel <removed>has sent you $1250" 

The email also said "Shipping address" Please contact me about the address for delivery, Thanks"

the email also said Don't see the money in your account?
Don't worry -- Information on how to complete your recent transaction will be received shortly."

A second email came into my inbox 

This second emails said 

Information On How To Complete Your Recent Transaction    Dear AL#####

         Reports from database records shows that you have received a payment of $1,250.00 AUD, Verification of shipment tracking number is required to complete the PENDING transaction.

          Therefore, you are mandated to ship the package as soon as possible and supply the Shipment Reference (Tracking Number/Bar Code, as appears on the shipment receipt). Your account is being monitored and the funds will be accessible in your account when the reference(s) are received.

What you need to do:

• Go to any Postal Office or Courier Service close to your home.
• Fill the form with the shipment details provided by the buyer
• After the shipment is done, email to PayPal a scanned copy of the receipt by replying to this message and wait for the verification process according to PayPal security policy..

Transaction Not Displayed?

          You might not be able to view the current status of the transaction in your PayPal account recent activities or access the funds in your account until the transaction is complete. All you have to do is to send the shipment tracking number/copy of scan receipt, and get back to us with the details.

Yours sincerely,
PayPal 

So I think this is a scam.... what do you think? And what should I do about it? How do we catch these Scammers?

Thanks for any help

[PayPal_JonK]

Hello @amac3716,

What you've described above does not sounds like a legitimate email. Even if the funds are on hold, you should see the transaction in your PayPal Activity. I'd recommend reviewing the following resources before shipping any product out: 

What are common scams and how do I spot them?

How to spot fake, fraudulent, spoof, or phishing emails.

Cheers!

 - Jon K

[amac3716]

Thanks for your reply

It does sound super scam like

I did look at my PP account and the activity and there is nothing new in there, nothing from the buyer, no pending transaction, no notifcations and no prompt for me to do anyhting to complete the transaction etc.

Question is: I don't want these scammers to continue so how do we catch them? Send a empty package and get the police to go bust down the door at the shipping address? Even better, put a tracking GPS in the box and hunt them down? They need to be caught.

[DaniWoodard]

See I was wondering the same thing. There is no notification of payment on PayPal. There is nothing to update shipping and I dont feel I should pay shipping out of my pocket ? The buyer is saying to give him the shipping tracking and send it via email but theres no are in MY paypal for that so how am I benefitting from this at all? I feel its a scam. PayPal is too sketchy.