Hi everyone!
Your gut instincts are serving you well. When the circumstances of a transaction set off that tingle of apprehension, it's definitely worth a second look to evaluate your risks. Could the buyer be paying in fraudulent funds? Is there a risk that when the real owner of those funds discovers the theft, the transaction could be reversed?
PayPal has a lot of ways to protect you, one of which is Seller Protection. The criteria for Seller Protection even help prevent fraud in the first place. For instance, a policy of shipping only to the address in the transaction details and using online tracking (with signature if over $250) will help eliminate a lot of potential fraud because a fraudster will lose interest once they realize you won't fall for their ploys. Even if they proceed, following all the guidelines of Seller Protection will keep you protected if the funds turn out to be unauthorized.
There's also the concern that wilkanomics brought up. Is the buyer going to bait you into giving even more information? Then there's the scenario Naomi_WTF presented - are there out-of-pocket expenses that will result from this transaction?
There certainly may legitimately be a reason for shipping a heavy and expensive item abroad. I know of one person who'd been looking all over for a specific and rare kind of furniture and was perfectly happy to pay the shipping costs to have it delivered across an ocean. Still, caution is definitely recommended in situations like the ones described here.
Here are some links you might find helpful in learning more about scams online:
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Scams and Fraud (great overview of various issues to watch for online)
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (more great information on both online and offline scams)
There's also a thread here with examples of suspected fraud.
Please come back and let us know if you found this helpful!
Olivia
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