Advice about selling a car, recieving payment via paypal.

[hasey]

I'm selling my car (not on ebay) and have had someone offering to buy via paypal and send someone for collection. I know all about these scams where buyers say I'll pay with a bankers draft and add shipping fees and the seller has to sort it out with the shippers. I've always disregarded these and said cash on collection only but this one says he'll pay in full via paypal and arrange for someone to collect. I just want to know where I stand on the security of the payment. Do I have to wait any particular time for it to clear? Can he cancel payment once cleared or request a refund?

You hear so many scams going on I just want to be sure, I'm already dubious due to the fact he's saying he'll send someone else to collect. Or am I just best sticking to my guns and demanding cash on collection? Please help.

[GSF]

I too have received a text followed by email. The content is word for word. I have tried the mobile number which will not connect and paypal do not have an account for their email address.

Their initial texted concerned me as who would buy a car without viewing. Thanks to all the threads for confirming my suspicions and when it looks too good its probably a scam.

[Hlzp]

On no! I am to selling my car on ebay and had a text message from LINDA <removed> asking me to email her if I still had he car etc. so stupidly I did and didn't get any quick response so then I started to suspect! Then I found this post!!!!! This person has my email address name and phone no- I have since changed my email address to both PayPal and ebay and the passwords. Is there anything else I need to do except report her-him-it!!!! Argggg frustrating people! Thanks acebrodie though!!

[jlgh49]

"Linda Clarke" texted me asking me to email, and has followed up with this:

"Thank you for the swift reply. Below are my questions:

1. What is the present condition?
2. What is your lowest selling price?

I will await your urgent response and do also send me more pictures if available.

I will however be needing your city and post code so that I can forward it to my shipping agent here in Ireland who will be coming over for the inspection and the pick up as soon as we finalize the sale."

[Joey87]

Thank god I jus read this I've just nearly bin done by this one but the name was Linda Hillman I've been emailing them direct before I was suspicious can they get anything from that??

[PayPal_david]

Hey everyone,

It's great to see everyone engaging through this thread to ensure that you don't become a victim of this common scam that people try commit to unsuspecting PayPal users. 

For any of you that are not fully aware of how this works, I will provide a bit more information on what exactly happens in these cases.

If you are selling a car online, you might be contacted by someone who wants to pay for the car. At this point they may seem very legitimate and ask you genuine questions about the vehicle. Then they will advise that there is some reason that they will be unable to pick the car up in person. These 'excuses' range from working on an oil rig to be on charity missions abroad, the lists are endless!

Then they advise that they will send you a payment via PayPal. The next process varies also. Sometimes, they advise that they will send you more so that you can have the car shipped to them directly. Others advise that they will have a friend pick the car up from you on their behalf.

Then you receive an email that seems like a genuine PayPal email advising you that the funds have been sent but are currently on hold until the item has been picked up from you or until you provide proof to show the car is on the way. This is something that PayPal will NEVER do and we would never advise an item to be sent before we would credit the money to your account. Even if there was a hold on your funds, you would see the money being received on your history page and then being placed on hold.

Another thing you should all be aware of is that vehicles are not covered under our Seller Protection Policy. This means that if a chargeback or fraudulent claim was to be filed on a payment after it was received into your account, you wouldn't be covered under our Seller Protection Policy if the transaction was refunded. Any time a person is selling a car or other vehicle, I would always advise to consider cash on collection. This may not be applicable for large transactions so you may wish to look into other payment methods that would provide some sort of coverage on the transaction.

If any of you encounter this and receive emails that aren't genuine PayPal emails, could you forward them to spoof@paypal.com and then delete the emails from your inbox. 

If this happens to any of you and you have any further concerns, please contact us directly and we can assist you further with any questions that you may have.

I hope this provides some further assistance with queries regarding selling vehicles through your PayPal accounts.

David.

[JodyArt]

I just put my car on cars.com and I received a text message saying to respond to an email. When I did this is what I got from them.

   Great reading from you. I am interested in the immediate purchase. I will take it for the price you've mentioned and I will gladly cover PayPal charges from my end. 

I can only make the payment via paypal because it's very safe and secure for both of us. In case you don't have a paypal account I'll advice you to register for one at paypal.com. I have a private pick-up agent that will contact you in-order to handle the pick-up at any location of your choice once the payment is completed. 

Question: I'll like you to tell me more about the present mechanical condition, how often do you service it, mechanical history, have you ever experience any mechanical problem with it before and why are you selling it?

Look forward to reading from you at your earliest convenience.

Best Regards,

Alex.

I suspected a scam, also I'm very familar with pay pal I have used it at work alot. I also found this thread and confirmed my concerns. Thank you David and others  from Pay Pal for explaining who these scams work.

[noeliaW]

Oh my word! Thank goodness for this post ! I'm trying to sell my car before I deploy and I had the following conversation with a "Randy <removed>" from an area code (803).

Randy texted: (1/2): My name is randy,am from TX,am ready to purchase if it's condition suit my desire,but am not coming to inspect it,due to nature of my job,can you give me (2/2)more detail about it

I  texted: Are you in the area? What specific details do you need other than what i put on autotrader?Please, email is better or talk on the phone.

Randy: (1/2) Why are you selling it,and how much is your final price,and are you the first owner,Did you bought it new,i mean no insult,but there are tons of crappy (2/2)items out there and don't want to be stuck with something in bad condition.thanks.

Me: Please send an email address so I can write it succinctly for you.

Randy:  <removed>

So I email him every stinkin detail I can think of with the car and explain I'm deploying and that's why I'm selling.  He emails:

"Am okay with the condition,i can now proceed with the payment now,but my mode of payment will be via PayPal,so get back to me with your name and your paypal email address,to proceed with the payment, I have make arrangement with the shipping company they will take care of everything after the payment has been made"

Before I got sucked into the cauldron of scam soup I found this topic forum and nixed the whole thing and told Mr. Sten shame on himself! Thank you again- I pray this will prevent someone else for falling for it too! Now my day is sunshine.

[pkm]

Hi noeliaW,

This "Randy <removed>" or "Randy <removed>" has upgraded his means of scamming people to UPS. As of friday, he has used the company I work fors name and address to send hot checks to people for payment of things they are selling on the internet. I have sent all the information I have on this guy to my local police department. Apparently, this guy is a big time scammer. If you have any more information on this guy, email address, phone number, any other names he might be going by, could you please forward them to me. We want this guy caught! Thank you for your help.

[clivenick58]

Hi

Here is another name: Henrick <removed>.

I had this twice, i am to cleaver for this type of idiot.

I told him both time to go and f himself and got no reply.

Thanks for the email, do let me know how much you are willing to sell to me and you need to assure that it is in perfect condition and i would love to see more pictures if you have. I will be paying with my paypal account which is the safest online payment mode. So please do reply me asap with your paypal account or send me a payment request from your paypal account so i can effect payment to you rightaway. You can easily open an account with paypal if you don't have one at paypal its safe, simple and reliable also do get back to me so we can arrange for pick up as i will like it to be picked by my pick up agent, so no shipping included. I await your reply. Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks.

[sykkboy]

Capt. Rosanna <removed>

5:37 PM (1 hour ago)

   

to me

Thank for your mail. Am satisfied with your advert price, as am
requesting this transaction should be done via PayPal so the Pay Pal
charges is on me. If my offer is accepted, Get back to me with your
PayPal email and your name or send me PayPal invoice so i can pay you
right away as soon as i conclude with my shipper. I am always busy at
work and do not have much time around me to make or answer calls. Make
sure you get back to me so that we can arrange for pick up as i will
like the item to be picked at your residence location. Confirm the
sales to me by removing it from the CL post.

Regards