Buyer Requested Paypal Info for Payment - Fraud???

[pigsinspace]

Hi. I consider myself a fairly Paypal savvie person and haven't been turned over yet.....BUT, I'm always careful so I'm puttng my hands up for a bit of advice in the hope someone here might give me a little help. 

I have a Macbook for sale at the moment - Fairly common item used for scamming by buyers and sellers due to their reatively high unit value. 

I had an email on Saturday morning making an offer for it that I'm happy with. The price offered is the upper end of what it's worth but not a figure so unrealisticly high that it causes concern. 

The buyer wants me to send them a payment request via Paypal for the full amount. Then they say they will pay immediately. 

If the buyer pays, and presuming they pay using funds in their Paypal account or by instant bank transfer/credit card/debit card and NOT by e-cheque, is there any way that my account can end up being subject to a chargeback if it's found later that the buyer's transaction is somehow fraudulent?

Can the buyer somehow cancel the transaction and take back their payment after they've sent the money?

In other words, what protection do I really have?

Naturally, the item will only be sent to the buyer's validated Paypal address. 

Thank you in advance for you help.

[kernowlass]

@pigsinspace

READ THIS FIRST SO YOU ARE AWARE OF IT>>>

A typical scam >>

They encourage you to use paypal and often ask you to send the item as a gift to a relative somewhere often Nigeria.

You will get/got a "fake" email that looks as though it is from paypal.....it isn't.

It will say the buyer has paid ...you won't have been paid.

They will tell you that the payment is released when you provide paypal with a tracking/shipping number......this won't happen.

If the item requires shipping they will tell you that they will pay you extra and you must pay the agent via western union / moneygram 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 threaten legal action...have a laugh at that one and ignore it as its rubbish.

Paypal NEVER tell you to send trackable, they advise it for seller protection etc but it is not compulsory.

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.



OK if it does NOT turn out to be one of those 2 scams then as long as you meet ALL the requirements of seller protection then even if you do get a chargeback paypal will reimburse you.

BUT you need to go read up on seller protection to make sure that you qualify you can go via help top of page or via legal agreements bottom of any paypal page.

Remember also that you are not supposed to be selling on a personal account, you should have a business account (select individual if you are not a registered business) or again you may lose that protection.

Personally for high cost items, I often sell them locally for cash on collection only.........that way although you may not get so much the money you do get is cash in hand.

Good luck.

[pigsinspace]

The next steps the "buyer" made were crucial - If they simply sent payment to my Paypal account, the item showed in the account as being OK to send and I sent it in line with the Seller Protection Agreement rules, then payment ought to arrive. 

It'll come as no suprise that that's not quite how things worked out:

• Sent payment request from Paypal account
• Received ebay email from buyer confirming receipt and stating they'd send payment immediately from a different Paypal account
• Sent another payment request to that Paypal account
• Received an eBay email confirming payment sent, and please provide tracking details once item sent
• Obviously nothing's arrived into my Paypal account, but I have had two quite obviously spoof emails using for the main part Paypal logos and fonts, but poorly. They're from the email address  
• They request goods be sent to:  (Removed by Moderator)
• All communications forwarded to eBay and Paypal

Me: 1 - Scammers: 0

As always, Buyer beware! Have a nice day. 😉 

[PayPal_david]

Hi there Pigsinspace,

Thanks for the update.

Thankfully and with the helpful advice provided by Kernowlass, you were able to determine that this was not a genuine sales opportunity.

If there is anything else that we can help you with in future, please let us know.

David.