I received a similar email today after posting something for sale on craigslist, buyer wants to pay by paypal and have me ship the item directly to her daughter who is studying overseas.

It seemed like it might be a scam (now I'm sure after reading this thread), but I thought, how can i go wrong if they pay by paypal? So I just finished a little research on google. If the buyer pays by credit card, they can request a chargeback (reversal) from the credit card company, and paypal will take the money back out of your account, no questions asked. No protection for the seller at all.

Just watched a video on youtube from a guy who is being harassed by a collection agency because paypal did this to him.

So, to the original poster here... tell your friend to stay away, don't accept any payment except cash.

In $ trading threads I've read that trading paypal for FTP$ or PS$ is not allowed because sender on paypal can revoke payment and leave you SOL or force you into a long dispute process. Maybe it's different with poker because you can't show that you physically shipped an item (as OP can with the laptop), but still reason enough not to sell to someone who's offering you 20% markup on the item without your request.

It is reasonable to charge a markup on sales through PayPal because as the seller they hit you with some unreasonably high fees (the reason I only use it 3-5 times a year, if the fees were reasonable I would probably use it 50-100 times a year).

To protect myself from suspect or unknown buyers, I just remove the money from my PayPal account and confirm it is out, before I ship.

Ebay scammer on Judge Judy

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZJDK6ctRjqw

keep the money...dont send the laptop...when she tries contacting you say lol scame

10000% scam. I have 2 items for sale on Craigslist: a diamond engagement ring and a modded Xbox. I received two seperate emails and will paste them below:
Hi am interested in buying your ring if its still available.Am willing
to pay $2700 for it if you assure me of its good condition.Email me as
soon as possible If you consider my offer so
that we can proceed.Hope to hear from you
real soon.Thanks


Many thanks for the quick response, Am not around to complete
this transaction with item in person.
but am currently off for a business trip in Australia. and I will like to
purchase this item for my niece located oversea. so, I will be adding an extra more money to cover the shipment cost.which is 100.00USD
Payment will be made Via my PayPal Account cos its secure and safe.
Get back to me with the PayPal ID or you send me a pay pal
payment request for the payment.
Hope to hear from you soon.


*For the ring, I am asking $2500, yet he offered $2700 and wants it shipped to his hubby who works for a consulate in Nigeria. The prior poster is correct and this was my response to the guy wanting the ring:
Here is the problem William: 1. scammer has stolen credit card
2. sends you money on paypal using stolen credit card
3. you ship to his NON CONFIRMED address
4. 3 months later, CC company contacts paypal and requests a chargeback on the fraudulent charges
5. you are out one ring I am not saying you are a scammer, but typically emails from people from Nigeria are 100% scams. It has been my experience that there are two things in Nigeria: oil and poor people. With that being said, this ring costs more than most people make there in 3-5 years. Is your address confirmed with Paypal? Do you have a phone number that I can call you in Waco RIGHT NOW?

Regards...Nathan McDaniel"Ad astra per aspera...I am convinced."

--- On Mon, 10/13/08, Goodluck johnson <johnson.goodluck4@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Goodluck johnson <johnson.goodluck4@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Getting engaged? Want to trade? - $2500
To: equipmentandstuff@yahoo.com
Date: Monday, October 13, 2008, 9:04 PM


I would want it shipped to my hubbys address in West Africa.Kindly
send me your email address so that i would forward it to paypal for
payment.

William Johnson
No 9b ajabga street umungasi
Aba
Abia State
Zip Code: 23401
Nigeria
West Africa

On 10/14/08, Nathan McDaniel <equipmentandstuff@yahoo.com> wrote:
> What address would you like the ring shipped to?
>
>
>
> Regards...Nathan McDaniel
> "Ad astra per aspera...I am convinced."
>
> --- On Mon, 10/13/08, Goodluck johnson <johnson.goodluck4@gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> From: Goodluck johnson <johnson.goodluck4@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: Getting engaged? Want to trade? - $2500
> To: equipmentandstuff@yahoo.com
> Date: Monday, October 13, 2008, 8:02 AM
>
> Am located in Waco,TX but i would be leaving town before the weekend
> for some business trip.We could go this through paypal cos we are both
> protected.If its ok with you send me the email address you want paypal
> to contact you with when i make payment so that i would forward it to
> them.Hear from you soon.
>
> On 10/13/08, Nathan McDaniel <equipmentandstuff@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> I am travelling to Texas next week...perhaps we could meet. What city
are
>> you in?
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards...Nathan McDaniel
>> "Ad astra per aspera...I am convinced."
>>
>> --- On Mon, 10/13/08, Goodluck johnson
<johnson.goodluck4@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> From: Goodluck johnson <johnson.goodluck4@gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: Getting engaged? Want to trade? - $2500
>> To: equipmentandstuff@yahoo.com
>> Date: Monday, October 13, 2008, 7:42 AM
>>
>> Hello there,I live in Texas and am actually
>> buying the ring for my Fiance who is presently in West Africa where
>> she works for US consulate.Like i said earlier I would be paying $2700
>> for the ring and
>> its shipping expenses to her.I would be paying through my paypal
account
>> cos its safe for me to make business online cos of too
>> many scam.if you are ok with it send me the email
>> address you want paypal to use to contact you when the payment is been
>> made.Let me hear from you soon.
>> Thanks,
>> Goodluck

As of yet, he has not contacted me with a Waco phone number to talk to him, because he is 100% full of sh*t. PLEASE do not sell to ANYONE, but local buyers. Paypal does NOT function like a bank and the normal rules of the game do not apply. They can AND will pull the funds from your Paypal account and if the balance is $0 then they will sue you.

scam

LOL William's fiancee is at first a woman, and then she wants it shipped to her niece, and then all of a sudden wants it shipped to her hubby

WTF

This is 100% a scam unless she has undergone a sex change operation!

btw have a look at this site: www.619eater.com set up by a bunch of "scam baiters" to counter-scam the scammers.

Hilarious

Yeah, I just had someone try to scam me on craigslist. It was for tutoring a guy's son. We agreed on $280 for one month, and he sends me a check for $2800 (from a completely different name). Asks me to cash it, send the difference to his guardian in missouri via western union, so she can arrange his plane ticket.

A typical red flag is that the person will try to complete the transaction without having met or talked to you. For craigslist, I'd only accept cash, period.

SO you accept the paypal. Send him a box with sand in it (about same wieght as item). Get a confirmation of shipping reciept. Request a check from your paypal account. Sit back and relax you just scammed the scammer.

you only should use pay pal with people or businesses you kn ow and trust to follow through. not with strangers. then your transaction is about the same as a check.
dont use it with strangers as you are not protected.
and if you are stupid enough to do it at least get all addresses and verify that the people with those names live there and call them in person first.

10-14-2008

A similar PayPal scam was once attempted against me. PayPal tried to get the money back from me but I didn't ship the item until I had moved funds out of PayPal and into my checking account. PayPal seized the $40 or whatever I had left in the account after withdrawing the $800 from the transaction, and attempted to get my bank to send them the $800 back, which my bank refused. I sent them back a nasty email saying how could they come after me when I was the one being scammed, the emailed back that I am responsible for the integrity of the txn not them (!?) but after a few weeks they sent me some form email saying their investigation... blah blah... and gave me back the $40

Never, ever leave money in a paypal account.

Never, ever give paypal access to your checking account (or at the very least, use a totally separate account with no link to your main account).

So long as you move all the money out of the account immediately on payment, you should be okay.

I once sold a character from an MMO game via paypal for about a grand to someone from out of state. It actually worked out well, but I saw a TON of people trying to scam me.

Here is what I did:

I asked the person for the address.
I also asked for a phone number.
I verified the phone number and address were linked (on google) then I talked to the guy for about 20 mins until I was sure he seemed legit (asked him random crap about the weather etc, while looking it up online).

I then had him xfer me the money and I moved it out of paypal to an account that paypal has zero access to.

THEN I sent the item.

Note that in all this time, I had a LOT of scams that people tried, such as "does it work with escrow service X?" (plus a link). then they ask me to sign up for the service (it's just a website that logs your credit card information)

I came here after searching for "craigslist paypal scam" following almost the exact same scenario listed here.

I listed a laptop on CL for $200. I got two odd emails on it that I just passed over.... the third set off the scam sirens.

First Questionable Buyer:
"I will like to buy your item as a wedding gift to my Pastor. Please consider it sold to me.
Regards
Mrs Emily Cox"
This one I replied to because this is obviously not an item you would give as a gift.
My reply at the time was "You did notice in the add the following issues with this laptop...." (they are minor issues but still enough that you would not give it as a gift.
"Thanks for getting back to me,am seriously interested in buying your item.

I will be pleased to make the purchase today to you, I will be paying you through money
order,please provide me your Full Name and Home Address or if you wish to
receive the money PayPal please send me your paypal account or the
invoice so that the payment will be send there immediately, I hope your item is in a very good condition.
Waiting to hear from you soon."

This one I just passed over as some idiot that can't read.

Then the second questionable email:
"Hi,
I was introduced to this site by a friend at work and i will like immediate purchase of this item for my Niece 'Bella' who is out of the state and has been requesting for this item...i will offer you $320 including the shipping charges to her.. there because she is in need of it as a matter of urgency and due to my work i don't have time to handle the shipping..i will want you to help me handle the shipping very well to her..Get back to me with your confirmed PayPal email address so that i can send the payment..
Get back to me asap...
Doyle."

This one sounded like a scam but I just passed on by and continued reading other replies.

Then the last one that set off the sirens (mainly because it sounded so much like the prior one).
"Nice hearing back from you.Am Mack i will like to buy your item for my
son.i suppose to come and pickup the item in your house.so i cant able
to come because am out of the state and am very busy due to my work.
so am going to pay you $350 for the item including the shipping fees
and am going to pay you via pay pal so get back to me with your pay
pal email address so i can pay you on time.and you will be shipping
the item through USPS INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL EXPRESS MAIL (EMS)...Hope
to here forward from you soon...... "

And based on another initial reply I got,I'd say I have at least one more of these on the way....

Craigslist is Local, Cash only, and usually in a public place.

+1

Has ever in the history of the internet a thread with a title like this not been a scam?

How can anyone smart enough to use a keyboard be dumb enough to fall for this? I don't get it.

I can't believe someone was arguing that not all cases where someone offers to pay more than the asking price is a scam.

Any time someone does this it is 100% guaranteed to be fishy. They do it as to get the seller to rush and act irrationally. No legitimate buyer is going to overpay for something that has a listed asking price, not how people work.

So besides on some good and bad advice about how to protect yourself from paypal it is all irrelevant. Do not do this transaction.

Very simple formula: Payment with something other than cash + offer of overpayment = scam 99.999999999999999% of the time. I think we need to print this up on fliers and carpet bomb all the areas where stupid people live. Then again stupid people just might be helping to keep Nigeria solvent. So the benefits to humanity may outweigh the harm.

Paypal's discount rate is 2.9% not 5%. They do not guarantee funds and any transaction can be subject to a chargeback.

This is a typical internet scam. Pay more than the seller wants, have the seller send the "excess" to their "shipper" and the check bounces or the credit card is stolen and will be charged back. So the seller is oout the amount he sent the "shipper" and sometimes even the goods.

Okay, here's the deal:

I put a laptop up for sale on CL and got a few questionable responses which brought me to this forum. After reading all of your posts, I figured since no one seemed clear how the scam worked I would give it a shot in order to give a full report here. I thought at worst I would have $1,500+ in my PayPal to play around with for a while until their fake money orders or stolen credit cards on their end were uncovered. (I receivied more than one email, and encouraged all to send there cash to my PayPal.)

and of course the big reveal....

THERE IS NO CASH SENT TO PAYPAL!! Instead, you receive a bogus counterfeit email which appears to be from PayPal - but is really from their ass! The email states that the funds will magically appear into your paypal account after confirmation of shipping (to Nigeria) is received. Of course, when you log into your PayPal - no such transaction is pending.

(ps. I'm surprised they don't include a link to log into your account from their fake email, like the ole phishin' scams...hmmmmmm)

There is something in the TOS that gives them the right to go after the difference from your account. It's been done before by them.

Yeah if paypal has a credit card or bank account they will debit you for the loss.

If they don't get it that way they will pursue other means of collections, which will potentially foul up your credit report.

There are very few cases where Paypal is going to down alone on a fraudulent transaction.

havent read any of the posts above, but this is a scam 100%....im sellin somethin and the guy that wants to buy it, once i gave him my email for him to pay me thru paypal , sends me and email sayin the money had been transfer and to ship the item to NIGERIA>. stupid idiot... But thats not all... On the email he attaches snapshot of the transfer he "has made" to my account.. sayin , the transfer has been made. blah blah blah, heres ur confirmation number...
I go back to make sure the money is actually in my paypal account, and obv thres nothin ther....
I just sent him an email sayin, "you dumass, the confirmation email from paypal that i was supposed to receive when the money gets into my account, was sent to an email that isnt even linked to my paypal account.....oh, but pretty good fa kin job with the editin of the screen shots"
So now on any of the things i post, i write " ONLY PICK UP, SO IF YOU WANT ME TO SHIP IT TO NIGERIA OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY, DONT EVEN BOTHER TO INQUIRY"