Possible scam? Craigslist. Seems safe...

[Vadoff]

Hey guys, I'm selling a Sony Cyber-shot on Craigslist, I listed it with an asking price of $320... soon after I get the following response:

Dear Seller,
I will like to offer your $400 for the cost of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1 and i also pay $50 for the shipping cost via USPS service. i will like to buy it as a birthday gift for my step-son who is in Weast African now for studys. as i want to build a mother to son relationship between us, and i will like to pay for this via Paypal as soon as i have your paypal account Id and i will like you to please end the auction, So please reply me soon so i can give you the shipp address .
thanks very much,

Why it could be a scam:
1. An offer that's OVER the asking price?
2. Horrible grammar/spelling.
3. Weast (West) Africa... wtf!?

Why it could be safe:
1. PayPal... I used to believe it was scam-proof, now I'm not so sure...

 

[lexus]

Hey guys, I'm selling a Sony Cyber-shot on Craigslist, I listed it with an asking price of $320... soon after I get the following response:

Dear Seller,
I will like to offer your $400 for the cost of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1 and i also pay $50 for the shipping cost via USPS service. i will like to buy it as a birthday gift for my step-son who is in Weast African now for studys. as i want to build a mother to son relationship between us, and i will like to pay for this via Paypal as soon as i have your paypal account Id and i will like you to please end the auction, So please reply me soon so i can give you the shipp address .
thanks very much,

Why it could be a scam:
1. An offer that's OVER the asking price?
2. Horrible grammar/spelling.
3. Weast (West) Africa... wtf!?

Why it could be safe:
1. PayPal... I used to believe it was scam-proof, now I'm not so sure...

100% Scam

May be you could have some fun and scam them back a la PPPowerbook.

 

[Kwyjibo]

Why it could be safe:
1. PayPal... I used to believe it was scam-proof, now I'm not so sure...

Theres no such thing as scam proof. There are things that decrease how likely you are to get scammed i.e. (dealing with him in person). But in the end just because you haven't figured out how he's going to scam you it doesn't mean they can't.

 

[mkrishnan]

There is nothing about this that does not sound like a scam. The trick with paypal is that they make an instant transfer from a fake bank source to you, and then by the time the system catches up, they've disappeared, so that the only one PayPal can go to for the sale is you.... Look carefully at the circumstances under which PayPal protects you and those under which it doesn't.

 

[BoyBach]

Hey guys, I'm selling a Sony Cyber-shot on Craigslist, I listed it with an asking price of $320... soon after I get the following response...

This is deifinitely a scam, is there a way of reporting it with Craigslist?

I got a similar email when I was selling my PSP on eBay last year. It took three relists before I got a geniune sale

 

[spicyapple]

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist.

When I posted my Powerbook for sale, within minutes I had 3 questionable email offers from Sally, Cheryl and Tom. When I looked up their originating IP addresses from their yahoo email accounts, they all resolved to Africa.

Sometimes CL rules are not clear enough, you need to put "LOCAL SALES ONLY" in the body of your ad, but that doesn't guarantee the scammers still wouldn't reply to your ad.