Scammers moving on to PayPal?
Scammers moving on to PayPal?
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Discussion

hidetheelephants

Original Poster:

35,929 posts

223 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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Just got this in response to a gumtree ad for my old man's car. I'm satisfied it's a scam, but is it possible to do that through PP, or would the miscreant just ask to change the payment method to a rubber bankdraft at the last minute? It's all rather confusing given that I was asking a few hundred quid for a spares car.

blatant scammer said:
Hi,
Thanks for the prompt response.. I am ready to buying it now as a for birthday
gift for brother in-law. I am at sea at the moment as I am a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone call making and visiting of website are restricted but I just have to squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I really want the car to be a surprise package for brother in-law so I wont let him know anything about the car until it gets delivered to him, I am sure he will be more than happy with the car. I insisted on PayPal as my mode of payment because I don't have access to my bank account online and also, I don't have internet banking, but I can pay from my PayPal account. I have my bank account attached to my PayPal account, so I will need you to give me your PayPal email address and your final price so I can make the payments asap for the car and please if you don't have a PayPal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to www.paypal.co.uk and get it set up, after you have set it up I will only need the e-mail address you use for the registration with PayPal so as to put the money through. I have a pick up agent that will come and pick the car up after I have made the payments for the car...

My Regards.

sc4589

1,960 posts

195 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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blatant scammer said:
squeezed out time to check this advert
hehe

parapaul

2,828 posts

228 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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Tell him he can arrange collection once the funds have cleared in your bank account.

Or can he lodge a dispute with Paypal and have the money withdrawn?

Mroad

829 posts

245 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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Scam.
Avoid.
As with most scams it's just a generic email in poor English that doesn't ask anything about what you are selling. They will just send loads of these emails out to car sellers and wait for some mug to take it seriously. Unless you really think someone wouldn't ask a thing about a spares car and buy it as a birthday present for someone?
No doubt they will pay with a phished or bogus paypal account and leave you high and dry when paypal reclaim the money off you later on or try and hijack your own paypal account buy sending a phishing email asking to confirm your password for the transaction.


MondeoMan1981

2,458 posts

213 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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Scam, usually with a disguised link to a fake pp site.

ymwoods

2,194 posts

207 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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Outside of EBay your payments will NOT be protected in the same way. If he pays his money and it is from a dodgy bank account then PayPal will want the money back from you.

If you go and clear it in your account all they will do is request it right back again and, if you close the PayPal account so that they can not do this, then the next thing will be a letter from them demanding payment before they send the baliffs round.

Don't trust PayPal anyway, but outside of EBay, its even worse.

ctdctd

499 posts

228 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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ymwoods said:
Outside of EBay your payments will NOT be protected in the same way. If he pays his money and it is from a dodgy bank account then PayPal will want the money back from you.

If you go and clear it in your account all they will do is request it right back again and, if you close the PayPal account so that they can not do this, then the next thing will be a letter from them demanding payment before they send the baliffs round.

Don't trust PayPal anyway, but outside of EBay, its even worse.
I thought the only way to get eBay protection was to use PayPal as PayPal is owned by eBay?

Still a scam though!

ymwoods

2,194 posts

207 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
quotequote all
ctdctd said:
ymwoods said:
Outside of EBay your payments will NOT be protected in the same way. If he pays his money and it is from a dodgy bank account then PayPal will want the money back from you.

If you go and clear it in your account all they will do is request it right back again and, if you close the PayPal account so that they can not do this, then the next thing will be a letter from them demanding payment before they send the baliffs round.

Don't trust PayPal anyway, but outside of EBay, its even worse.
I thought the only way to get eBay protection was to use PayPal as PayPal is owned by eBay?

Still a scam though!
yes you are right which was kind of the point I was making.

But a lot of people think that it is because PayPal is safe from fraud because they used EBay and saw this guarentee and money protection if they use PayPal. So they then use it outside of EBay where they get none of the same protection.

Vee

3,109 posts

264 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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Had the same word for word.
Told him I didn't trust paypal and sould only do Western Union or Cash.

Dr.Doofenshmirtz

16,952 posts

230 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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You are only protected if you deliver goods by recorded, signed for, on-line trackable delivery.
So, in theory - if you sent the car to the buyer by recoreded delivery you could possibly be protected - and the scammer scammed.


jonno990

420 posts

208 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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Even within Ebay you are not covered.I sold a raymond weil watch for a mate a few years ago.£2500 was transferred to my paypal account and my mate went to meet the lad and drop off the watch.Luckily the lad never turned up,and the next day my paypal account was frozen.Turned out it was a stolen paypal account from somebody in america.It took months to sort out with very unhelpful ebay/paypal staff.But if the watch had been handed over I wouldnt have been able to get the money back.If you do ever sell anything by paypal do not release it until the funds have cleared into your own bank account not just your paypal account.

ShadownINja

80,074 posts

312 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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Dr.Doofenshmirtz said:
You are only protected if you deliver goods by recorded, signed for, on-line trackable delivery.
So, in theory - if you sent the car to the buyer by recoreded delivery you could possibly be protected - and the scammer scammed.
But I bought the iPad from you, signed for it and when I opened the parcel it was an old potato. I'm complaining to Paypal. wink

ShadownINja

80,074 posts

312 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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jonno990 said:
Don't ever use paypal/ebay.
EFA.

EDLT

15,421 posts

236 months

Sunday 25th July 2010
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This is nothing new, Paypal has always been a scam.