General question about PayPal (and possible scams)

James Carpenter

James Carpenter

Well-known member
I listed a Canon lens for sale on kijiji, sale price of $750.

I received a text from a potential buyer in NYC (item was posted for sale in Toronto) and he's offering me $900 through paypal if i ship the lens to his son in Nigeria.

Seems very fishy to me, so I was wondering what ya'll thought. He is asking for my paypal email so he can send me the money, then I'll ship it off. Can I be scammed by giving him my PayPal email?

Thanks and happy Friday!


James
 
He wouldn't be able to take your money or anything. I'm trying to think of a way someone can scam you by sending you money on PayPal. Nothing immediately comes to mind; he either has to use a credit card or a bank account to send you money, so the money will be legit. Though -- I'm not sure what PayPal's credit card chargeback policy is; if he uses a stolen credit card and the company wants its money back, maybe PayPal would pull the amount from you, but I'm not sure about that.

More likely, if he's trying to scam, he'll file a dispute for never having received the item, or the wrong item, or the item was broken, or something like that. If he does that and succeeds, then you'll be out your lens and PayPal will take the money back from your account to refund him. PayPal has some measure of seller protection, so I'd call them and ask them how you can best cover yourself. They may tell you not to proceed if you have those kinds of doubts.
 
I sell (and buy) almost all my gear through the Fred Miranda marketplace…

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/10

There's feedback so you can be comfortable buying and selling, and I've never been burned in over 300 transactions.

As for your friend in Nigeria, if you're shipping ANYWHERE other than the verified PayPal address, you will get scammed. Period. And like David says, even if you ship it to a verified Paypal address, they may still claim it never arrived and demand a refund. I wouldn't take my chances.
 
I'm sure this happens or can happen anywhere, but FWIW, I've received those kind of e-mails (here in NY) before when selling locally.

The best ones are when I'm selling an expensive technical item that any professional would have questions about, but the "potential buyer" has no questions and only wants to send the money. lol
 
It will get "lost" in the mail and I bet there is no tracking somewhere along the way. If a guy in NY wants it, then he can receive it and forward it on to Nigeria. I doubt that Canada Post is significantly cheaper to Africa than USPS. Paypal won't be of much help from you, especially if it is from a hijacked account because the money will never clear and the item will be gone.
 
One scam is where the scammer sends you MORE money than you asked for. They will then apologize and say that they made a mistake but if you could please just wire the balance to their “shipping agent” through Western Union they will arrange a pickup.

You do this, then the scammer files a charge-back with Pay Pal saying their account has been hacked, and that they never intended to send you any money. Pay Pal then turns around and debits the money from your account. You just sent the merchandise PLUS your own money to the scammer using another fake name through Western Union.
 
I always enjoy messing with scammers, good way to find out quick if you are going to decline is suggest the item is broken and if it is still ok to send. Or suggest you had the item wrong and it is a different, worthless one but the price is the same. If they agree, it will settle in your mind quickly if buyer was scammer all along!

My favorite was receiving an inquiry on a posted iPhone for sale with a buyer in Nigeria. I told them sure, and then said but I just dropped the iPhone and the screen shattered and now it is making funny noises and flickering, and asked if they still wanted it. They said sure no problem. I then said I just realized it wasn't an iPhone 6, it was a 2010 motoralla phone but price is same. They said no problem. I said this one is broken too and won't turn on anymore, and they said "yes yes no problem please send very quickly I need it". I then asked if it was ok if they paid me in goats instead of cash and said they could ship them here to which they finally stopped replying.
 
I am picturing a situation where you just keep it going with realistic replies and the buyer/scammer starts getting really frustrated with you. haha

...

"Okay, cool. So I also have two extra batteries. Would you like both?"

...

"No problem; I will include both. Hey, by the way, would you like me to clean the phone for you before I send it? I know a really good place down the block..."

...

"I don't know how to say this; the phone is from 2009."

lol
 
The main give-away for me was that I'm sure the lens could be found cheaper in the NYC, why buy from Toronto in the first place?!

And yes to the prolonged dialogue with the scammer.....!
:)
 
filmguy123;1986681148. I then asked if it was ok if they paid me in goats instead of cash and said they could ship them here to which they finally stopped replying.[/QUOTE said:
Maybe you had to specify male or female goats :grin:

and thanks for making me wet myself
Click to expand...
 
Wasn't one of the writers/creators from Seinfeld famous for F'ing with these clowns? You know, the "Nigerian Princes" who emailed you and wanted to send you a million dollars... He'd keep replying and it would get to the point where they'd ask HIM to stop.
 
Sounds very scammy to me, the other option they have is to declare the lens never arrived or the box it arrived in only contained a brick or something. Hence they claim a full refund from Paypal.
 
In PayPal another scam is for the shipping costs...they include the money for you to ship item to an exotic location and provide you with the "shipping agents " transfer info...usually a high cost for shipping sensitive expensive equipment...often a scam buying paintings for example that has to be wrapped properly, but lenses will certainly qualify...the payment is of course made by credit card and appears in your account, but once you've paid the shipper, the item is never "picked up"....and the charges are disputed and the money disappears from your account...the scam itself is that you "have" the money and that imparts a certain sense of security....I was once selling a HVX 200 and I lost count of how many "military personal serving their country in a Iraq" wanted to buy the camera THAT day to ship to their daughter in London...I started asking before they mentioned it whether they had a daughter in London?...internet commerce is rich with opportunity!
 
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