Does paypal hold money until i have made a deposit to someone's bank when i have sold something?

[JoC73]

I have sold a car on gumtree. The buyer has emailed me a report from 'paypal' saying that $7500 is on hold until I pay a shipping fee to a bank account for $1000. $6500 is for the car and $1000 shipping fee. This seems suspicious to me as it says to pay the $1000 before they release the money for the car

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@JoC73 

SCAM.

They encourage you to accept a direct Paypal payment.
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 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/car, they just want that couriers/shipping 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 do anything until 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 motor vehicle or item that is collected by the buyer.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.