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Paypal scamproof?

S

SirJ

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
80
0
Hey

I'm trying to sell an old Powerbook G3 on craigslist for ~$100. I've heard a lot on this site as well as others about all the scams on that website and have been worried about that from square one.

Soooooo

I got an email from a guy (name = hancook.crooks ... hmmm) offering me $300 plus shipping & insurance to ship it to a friend in Africa. Obviously, this sounds wwaaaayyyy too fishy. Anyway, he said send a paypal request for the money and he'll get it to me and the address too.

Is there anyway I can lose money from this? I've told him that I'll ship the laptop after I get the money in my bank account. What do I need to do to protect myself?

Thanks guys
 
SirJ said:
Hey

I'm trying to sell an old Powerbook G3 on craigslist for ~$100. I've heard a lot on this site as well as others about all the scams on that website and have been worried about that from square one.

Soooooo

I got an email from a guy (name = hancook.crooks ... hmmm) offering me $300 plus shipping & insurance to ship it to a friend in Africa. Obviously, this sounds wwaaaayyyy too fishy. Anyway, he said send a paypal request for the money and he'll get it to me and the address too.

Is there anyway I can lose money from this? I've told him that I'll ship the laptop after I get the money in my bank account. What do I need to do to protect myself?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Ignore him, it's a scam. He probably stole an account so by the time they find out and reverse the charge they will have the item.
 
Definitely a scam, the owner of the account will say they didn't charge their account and they will challenge the payment, you'll end up empty handed.
 
The nice thing about craigslist is that you can find buyers in your own city. Meet at the coffee shop, they give you cash, you give them the product. End of story. Unless it's a particularly rare item with no interested local buyers, don't bother dealing with PayPal or shipping to out-of-town buyers.
 
Do not use PayPal.

Use a credit card or other form of secure payment that has a clear record of the transaction.

Make sure that you photograph everything that you are selling and make a legitimate advertisement for the product, something that you would put in a newspaper instead of eBay. You want this documentation so that if there is a dispute, you can show that you definitely shipped what was advertised and purchased.
 
arogge said:
Do not use PayPal.

Use a credit card or other form of secure payment that has a clear record of the transaction.

Make sure that you photograph everything that you are selling and make a legitimate advertisement for the product, something that you would put in a newspaper instead of eBay. You want this documentation so that if there is a dispute, you can show that you definitely shipped what was advertised and purchased.
Click to expand...

But actually you should just delete the email and walk away.
 
arogge said:
Do not use PayPal.

Use a credit card or other form of secure payment that has a clear record of the transaction.

Make sure that you photograph everything that you are selling and make a legitimate advertisement for the product, something that you would put in a newspaper instead of eBay. You want this documentation so that if there is a dispute, you can show that you definitely shipped what was advertised and purchased.
Click to expand...

Why would you do this with someone who is more certain to be a scammer than Bernard Madoff?
 
Tumbleweed666 said:
Why would you do this with someone who is more certain to be a scammer than Bernard Madoff?
Click to expand...

It's because if the transaction is legitimate on the seller's end, and payment is received, the buyer can be a scammer but can't do anything to scam to the seller. The seller has more opportunity to scam the buyer, which is also why I avoid eBay, because it's hard to dispute a purchase once the buyer has paid for an item.
 
paypal is safe guys... cause i do have one... the only way the buyer can cheat you is by not paying you... if you have the money in your account then there is no way you are gonna be cheated... the only thing you have to be sure of is that the buyer is not sending a cheque which will take almost two weeks to clear and in the meantime he can also cancel the payment.. only accept direct payment...
 
I'd just sell within the US. Then paypal is fine. I also always send via
USPS. Why, then any fraud is a federal offense and postal inspectors
come into play. Scammers know this and avoid the postal service.
 
raclotz said:
paypal is safe guys... cause i do have one... the only way the buyer can cheat you is by not paying you...
Click to expand...

http://www.paypalwarning.com/

PayPal is the scammer. I have also had several very bad experiences with PayPal. I don't understand why so many people use it, and pay extra for it. PayPal tries to make itself look like a bank, but it is definitely not a bank. When PayPal does go bad, it's like Mr. Madoff making off with the money, except that PayPal can simply make your money disappear electronically.

There are no protections offered by PayPal as are required to be offered by legitimate banks. My money was held up for two weeks when I last used PayPal. I've also been "threatened" by PayPal with account closure if they received any complaints about me complaining about them. So, I refuse to pay PayPal any more money. If you want me to buy something, I suggest that you avoid mentioning "PayPal", because that will stop the sale immediately.
 
Even if the buyer pays you and the money is in your bank account, it is still possible for them to file a dispute. If PayPal sides with them, then the money is YOINK'd back out of your bank account, just like that.

I had a guy try to do that to me a few years ago after I sold him some stuff in an eBay auction. He left positive feedback ("Works great! Thanks!") and I thought everyone was happy... A month later, he filed a dispute with PayPal claiming the item arrived broken and I had misrepresented it. Luckily for me, he had passed PayPal's deadline for such claims, so they automatically dismissed it. But I've heard many horror stories that didn't end so happily...
 
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