I think I’ve been scammed

[Caitlin18]

Someone’s brought my laptop for $3,00 so I posted it than it was saying PayPal accidentally put 3,700 into my account and I can’t get that money till I pay them $700 but I haven’t recieved any money. I’m thinking it’s a scam coz the emails don’t seem legit. Someone help

[Anonymous_User]

Sure sounds like a scam - if you shipped the item, you may be out of luck.

The email you received was probably a spoof as PayPal does not accidentally deposit a large amount of money in one's account and then you have to give some back to the sender.   To find out:

* Forward the entire email to:    spoof@paypal.com.
* Do not alter the subject line or forward the message as an attachment.
* Delete the suspicious email from your inbox.
* Never click on any links within the email or open any attachments.

Look at the email address domain and wording in the email, grammar, salutation, spelling, etc.  If any of these are questionable, it's most likely a spoof.

Normally this type of scam works with paper checks and it's quite common - the receiver of the check deposits the check into their bank account thinking it's good, they then send the difference back to the sender only to find out a few days later the check bounced as it was a fake.

If you want Seller Protection, then the better way is to send the buyer an invoice with the item description, the buyer pays, you wait until the money is in your PayPal Account Balance, you then purchase and print your shipping label, annotate the tracking number in the transaction details and then ship the item.   The User Agreement outlines what is covered and what is not.

[kernowlass]

@Caitlin18

Yes of course its a SCAM, you would NEVER have to refund BEFORE the funds were showing in your paypal balance.

Thats a typical scammers trick.

Seller protection would not help you as NONE of the transaction would have been done using Paypal site.  

Paypal NEVER tell you to send an item before the payment is showing in your paypal account.
Paypal do not tell you to send trackable, they advise it for selling protection but it is not compulsory.

Paypal never tell you to refund funds that you have not received.