Posted on 06/15/2016 2:35:29 PM PDT by dennisw
There are scams aplenty out there on the internet, and I’ve already had fun investigating some.
Today I’m going to tell you about a unique one involving PayPal that a reader recently told me about.
Robert, a New York guy, tried to sell a very expensive Breitling Swiss watch. Because he wanted someone to buy it locally for cash, Robert listed it on Craigslist.
Yes, I know, there’s a lot of nonsense that happens on that site. But that’s not where Robert encountered his problem.
“You’d have thought I’d thrown bloody chum into the shark-infested waters,” Robert said. Even though he purposely posted the watch at a price that was much too high, he got a lot of interest.
“As soon as I put it out, I was getting … out-of-state area codes. I was wondering, what is this all about?” Robert told me by phone.
But the buyers were all far away. So they suggested using PayPal, which is a common way for buyers and sellers of goods to arrange payment. One wanted the watch shipped to Florida. Another said it was for a friend overseas.
Robert says he’s used PayPal before but never on the seller side of the transaction. He was always buying something.
Someone offered to pay Robert $2,700 even though he was asking for only $2,500 — but the money would be sent to his PayPal account. “He said, ‘I’ll put the money in your account and, when you see the money, you send (the watch) to me,’ ” Robert said.
The buyer asked for Robert’s email address and said that once he got a confirmation from PayPal that the money was in his account, he could ship the watch. “Boom, I got a confirmation from PayPal,” said Robert.
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It looked totally legit. So Robert prepared to ship the watch.
“Just before my wife took the package to the post office, she insisted that I call PayPal to confirm this transaction,” he said. “No funds were transferred to my account — just the bogus email and fake logo.”
“This was not the only bite I had on my watch,” Robert said. “At least five other out-of-state texts came to me looking to transfer funds in the same manner as the first one that almost caught me,” he said.
PayPal warns against scams like this. And thank goodness for suspicious wives. Now you know
“It looked totally legit”
Duh ...
You have to be careful. I have bought and sold out of area using paypal. You just have to be as sure as possible,and if anything seems out of place, or your gut says something is funny, don’t do the deal.
BUMP
always choose the credit card option when paying for a legit PayPal transaction. of course PayPal would prefer that you not do so - they can’t screw you as easily if you do.
All kinds of PayPal scams are out there. I tried to find a home for a dog that someone tossed into my yard. People were offering to send me thousands (of scsm bucks)to ship the poor dog somewhere. I ended up taking him to a no kill shelter.
It seems to me all you would have to do is to log on to your PayPal account and see if the funds were transfered there. That should be quicker than calling them.
I always use my PP debit card and remove the cash from my account before shipping.
another one is people selling used camrys and accords;
they say they’ll use some Ebay “assured buyer” thing, and it’s all ok, buyer and seller don’t meet face-to-face, but this is now done alllll the time...”
Nope, it NEVER happens, and you won’t get any “great deal” on the car or ANY car, but they DO get your money.
They’re doing this on craigslist CONSTANTLY.
If the used car deal is too good 2b true?
Yeah, it’s TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
Any PayPal user should know this.
CASE STUDY:
Wow, gleaming 2007 camry, no dents or ANYTHING..! For $2,000...?
Oh wow, I wanna be FIRST..!!!
http://monterey.craigslist.org/cto/5591584728.html
Write to them from a fake email account you just made up.
Yeah, it’s scamming Nigerians, and they’ll say “I’m about to deploy overseas from my military base...”
And they might drop something about “my husband died last month, I no longer need this car but need to get rid of it quick..”
Something like that.
And they’ll say Ebay or Amazon is this trusted third party between buyer and seller. You pay, get then try out for 1 month, and if you don’t like then return shipping is paid for by the US military, etc. etc
It’s all lies; you’ll get NO car. There is NO deal.
They like to use camrys and accords, for some reason.
No, I did not fall for it.
They are pulling this EVERY SINGLE DAY.
the “car” is 9 years old but has just 83 miles on it..??!?
ahahhahah!! That’s a good one..!
The really infuriating part is they pose as US military, and the big about the “recently died husband”.
That one made me really pissed.
I ran into that one myself recently when I was looking to buy a vehicle.
Ultimately decided it sounded too complicated, passed on it.
Anything on craigslist draws out scammers. I’m selling some machinery and I get dozens of emails saying the same thing “I’m in the military, I want to buy this, I will send my ‘brother’ to get. I don’t have access to a phone or email (but he’s emailing). I will send you a check, cash the check, send me the extra, and the machine, then keep a little extra for your troubles.”
That’s why on big sales, I check my PayPal account online just to make sure.
The part that gets me is that they went by the e-mail, then called Paypal...
The dashboard on paypal would have clearly shown the available balance and recent transactions and would have been the primary clue that they were being ripped off.
Also why wouldn’t someone use the paypal shipping to do the postage for the box? It’s much cheaper than the post office, and easier - you print it at home, tape it to the box, and drop off at the post office.
No worries. I cancelled with them when they spat upon the right to privacy in North Carolina.
A realtor friend told me that scammers copy and post otherwise legit apartment ads on Craigslist, in order to intercept potential renters and capture identity info and security deposits.
Caveat Emptor
Another scam is renting vacant homes that are for sale.
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