Paypal scams

[ZOMBIE DAWN]

I am selling some things and the buyer wants to pay by pay pal full price unseen....any possible scams, I will have the money cleared before collection

[JQ]

Yep - no proof of postage. he claims he's not received the item and gets his money back and you have no proof otherwise. If the person is collecting the only payment I accept is cash.

[curlie467]

This really falls into a trust category, i pay for lots of things via paypal and people pay me, i have never had a problem, even when a couple of things got lost.
It depends on how much money really.

[steveo3002]

yeah if he collects in person then ask for cash , as they can say you never sent it otherwise

or

ask for payment as a gift thats more secure , unless its from a hacked paypal

surley any decent normal person wont have a problem paying cash , and it saves you the paypal fee

[AdvanceRoadcraft]

Note that there's a difference between being paid INTO your Paypal account and being paid VIA paypal. I learned this the hard way!

In the former case a "Buyer" can make a payment from his/her bank or credit card into your Paypal account which shows up fine at first, but which can "bounce" or later be retracted. And there's nothing Paypal can/will do to help the Seller.

At least if it's a direct Paypal to Paypal transaction they will query ("investigate") any attempt to retract.

Surely this lack of proof of posting thing is a red herring in the case of "Buyer Collects"? A signed receipt for the item is good enough, isn't it?

Best, B

[ZOMBIE DAWN]

Its a boat he is collecting, and wants to transfer from his account to mine

Edited by ZOMBIE DAWN on Friday 18th February 14:13

[Scraggles]

use a camera to take a photo of the guy and his trailer ? get him to sign a receipt that the boat is in good order and get his licence details >?

[TTwiggy]

Currently 'working as a marine biologist' and 'buying it as a gift for his father' by any chance?

It's amazing the number of marine biologists, who want to treat their old dads, who have contacted me about the car I'm selling on PH.

[steveo3002]

ZOMBIE DAWN said:

Its a boat he is collecting, and wants to transfer from his account to mine

Edited by ZOMBIE DAWN on Friday 18th February 14:13

say you want cash as the fees are too high

[AdvanceRoadcraft]

steveo3002 said:

yeah if he collects in person then ask for cash , as they can say you never sent it otherwise

or

ask for payment as a gift thats more secure , unless its from a hacked paypal

surley any decent normal person wont have a problem paying cash , and it saves you the paypal fee

If you go down the "gift" route, Paypal don't get their transaction fee; so if you later try to start a claim for something related to a commercial transaction they are very miffed!

You have broken their rules, they won't help and both Buyer & Seller may get their accounts frozen or closed!

Best, B

[steveo3002]

paypal charge the buyer thier fee . the seller gets the whole amount

no come back on items that dont arrive as its a gift

and the seller could be using a hacked account in which case theyd claw the money back

[ZOMBIE DAWN]

Twiggy....whats the scam, that was about what I was sent.

[TTwiggy]

ZOMBIE DAWN said:

Twiggy....whats the scam, that was about what I was sent.

You have mail...

[Manks]

Of course it might just be the case that the buyer wants to put the boat on his credit card and Paypal is the easiest way of doing it. Presumably the seller doesn't have a chip and pin machine in his lounge.

[TTwiggy]

I've emailed the OP, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a scam.

When I challenged the 'marine biologist' with the poor command of the English language (despite his very British-sounding gmail name) as to his integrity, he went rather quiet...

[JQ]

Manks said:

Of course it might just be the case that the buyer wants to put the boat on his credit card and Paypal is the easiest way of doing it. Presumably the seller doesn't have a chip and pin machine in his lounge.

Then the buyer should get it from a shop.

[daemon]

TTwiggy said:

I've emailed the OP, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a scam.

When I challenged the 'marine biologist' with the poor command of the English language (despite his very British-sounding gmail name) as to his integrity, he went rather quiet...

its a scam.

If you give him your paypal details you will get a very poorly worded email from 'paypal' saying they are holding the funds for you until you ship the item and tell you you are at 'no risk'

The guy then arranged for a courier to collect the boat and its at that point you find out there is no paypal money being held for you.

[Manks]

JQ said:

Then the buyer should get it from a shop.

Why?

Why should a buyer not have the benefit of a second user discount, and use his or her credit card to finance it if the mechanism is there to do it.

[Manks]

daemon said:

its a scam.

If you give him your paypal details you will get a very poorly worded email from 'paypal' saying they are holding the funds for you until you ship the item and tell you you are at 'no risk'

The guy then arranged for a courier to collect the boat and its at that point you find out there is no paypal money being held for you.

Why would the seller not log into his Paypal account and check that the funds are physically in place before releasing the item and getting a receipt signed?

Surely if the seller explains explicitly to the buyer that this is what he is going to do, the buyer will vanish if he is a scammer.

I am not saying that it is not a scam, but there are perfectly legitimate reasons why the buyer may wish to pay by PP and collect in person.

[daemon]

Manks said:

Why would the seller not log into his Paypal account and check that the funds are physically in place before releasing the item and getting a receipt signed?

Surely if the seller explains explicitly to the buyer that this is what he is going to do, the buyer will vanish if he is a scammer.

I am not saying that it is not a scam, but there are perfectly legitimate reasons why the buyer may wish to pay by PP and collect in person.

"because thats how the scam works"

They send you an email that purports to be coming from paypal saying the funds are being held for you - "to protect both you and the buyer"

The supposed buyer will say he will have the item picked up on his behalf.

Would you EVER buy a significant item like a BOAT via paypal, from someone you've never met, and a boat you've never seen for full asking price?