OffTopic- PayPal Question

[Stuart49]

Not Spyder related, but I did have a nice brief ride today.

I've listed a Motion (PC) Tablet on Craigslist and had a response from a buyer in South Africa. I was asking $500 for the unit and he offered to pay me, via PayPal $700, to include ship charges via USPS Express Int'l Mail to Jo-Berg. Just opened my e-mail, and he already made the payment thru Pay Pal with his full address and phone number. The funds are held until I sent shipment details to PayPal, and then they will release the funds to my Pay Pal account.

What am I missing here. How could he fake the PayPal message to me? Of course once I ship it, and send the details to PayPal . . . . . then I might get the 'bad news'? The message from PayPal looks very ligit.

Stuart

 

[Roaddog2]

:yikes:some ting wong nojoke

 

[sleepman]

I'd have to agree, something is out of place there. If you've got to ship it before you get the money I wouldn't trust it.

 

[LDFIREWORKS]

DONT DO IT ALOT OF FRUAD ON CRAIGS LIST I KNOW 1ST HAND, :chill:

 

[SpyderGirl]

Trust me, it's a scam. I make a living working for a bank tracking down guys like this trying to rip people off and such. Don't go for it.

 

[NancysToy]

Old scam...don't bite!!!
-Scotty

 

[bone crusher]

I do a ton of ebaying and use paypal now and nothing else...simple fix...

Contact paypal and talk with them...their customer service is great. Generally speaking, you should have access to the money before you send anything...

Paypal is not an escrow service...

 

[johnboyjohn.pretious]

DONT DO IT. DONT DO IT.

Pal of mine had similar experience through Pay Pal. Checked the money in his account through Pal Pal and all seemed fine. Two days after mailing the goods the money dissappeared from his account. Pay Pal did not honour the payment stating that the funds had been withdrawn by the buyer !! How does that work???
He is still arguing with Pay Pal who do not look like paying up.
So no goods and no money.

You have been warned by many, your decision.

 

[M2Wild]

Always remember one thing .... "No Free Lunch". No one will ever give you anything free unless they are getting something else from ya. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.:chill:

 

[jodeg1945]

IT'S A SCAM!!!!
​

I use PayPal all the time for eBay. I will occasionally get scam e-mails that look EXACTLY like they came from PayPal -- they DIDN'T! You should report them to PayPal. When someone offers you more for the item than you're asking, that's a dead giveaway that it's a scam! Do NOT ever respond to this type of e-mail! Once they have you on the hook, they'll hound you like crazy! There have been stories about this kind of thing on t.v. and in the AARP magazine.

PLEASE DON'T RESPOND!

 

[trikester]

Doesn't pass the smell test!

 

[Smylinacha]

It's a scam like the others said - don't ship it.

 

[jeuchler]

How tender would you like your dead horse beaten?

It's a scam like the others said - don't ship it.

Since you've heard quite a few folks advise the same thing--don't--I'll add a buyer's perspective.

Last ryding season, I paid for a set of panels for the Spyder so I could paint 'em, and swap 'em out with the silver ones.

I purchased them and paid via PayPal, then I waited for weeks with no response. Even Lamont tried to help out, but I received no reply from the "seller" long after I had paid in full.

I contacted PayPal and filed a formal complaint (they have a standard procedure for when items received are not as advertised, or if items are never received). The matter was resolved within a few days (I imagine they threatened to charge the seller's credit card to reimburse me) and I received the panels.

My point being, PayPal seems to do a decent job protecting both the seller and the buyer...trust the process and don't short circuit it.

Good luck.

 

[Roaddog2]

It's a scam like the others said - don't ship it.

 

[COSpyder]

Since you've heard quite a few folks advise the same thing--don't--I'll add a buyer's perspective.

Last ryding season, I paid for a set of panels for the Spyder so I could paint 'em, and swap 'em out with the silver ones.

I purchased them and paid via PayPal, then I waited for weeks with no response. Even Lamont tried to help out, but I received no reply from the "seller" long after I had paid in full.

I contacted PayPal and filed a formal complaint (they have a standard procedure for when items received are not as advertised, or if items are never received). The matter was resolved within a few days (I imagine they threatened to charge the seller's credit card to reimburse me) and I received the panels.

My point being, PayPal seems to do a decent job protecting both the seller and the buyer...trust the process and don't short circuit it.

Good luck.

You are totally right about Paypal but this is not a legitimate paypal transaction. I do nothing but investigate identity theft and fraud for a local PD and I get about two new cases a week like this one. Craigslist is a buy local website and if Stuart pays attention to his email, it will show that he is being paid "via ebay using paypal." It's a scam. Africa is always the first clue anyway. And the second clue is you never ever ship to a starnger until your money is in hand. He will be out the money period. If he goes to paypal throught the link provided, it will show money. If he goes to the real paypal site, it will not show the transaction as it is not real.

 

[jeuchler]

You are totally right about Paypal but this is not a legitimate paypal transaction. I do nothing but investigate identity theft and fraud for a local PD and I get about two new cases a week like this one. Craigslist is a buy local website and if Stuart pays attention to his email, it will show that he is being paid "via ebay using paypal." It's a scam. Africa is always the first clue anyway. And the second clue is you never ever ship to a starnger until your money is in hand. He will be out the money period. If he goes to paypal throught the link provided, it will show money. If he goes to the real paypal site, it will not show the transaction as it is not real.

Yup. I absolutely agree, COSpyder.

Sorry if I confused matters with the story...