Scam using paypal to pay?

[Cornelius]

I sell lots of stuff on Craigslist, and so pretty regularly get people trying to pull a scam. It has always been on PS2s in the past. Today I got an odd one about an SNES. I'll just quote it below. The question is, how are they pulling off a scam if using paypal? E-check that won't clear?

Thanks for the quick response but am afraid to tell you that i will not be
able to pay cash because am not local at the moment , though am a US
resident but am on a business trip oversea.However am buying this on behalf
of my colleague whose nintendo crashed . i would appreciate if you allow me
to pay through paypal and i will add 100usd as shipping cost..However if you
dont have paypal account just go to paypal.com and set up an account it is
free easy and secure to pay and receive
money through paypal..ITS GUARANTEES TRANSACTION SAFETY.

oh, and their email account name is marc anthony.

[Buyatari]

I sell lots of stuff on Craigslist, and so pretty regularly get people trying to pull a scam. It has always been on PS2s in the past. Today I got an odd one about an SNES. I'll just quote it below. The question is, how are they pulling off a scam if using paypal? E-check that won't clear?



oh, and their email account name is marc anthony.

Many ways.

They could sent you a fake you have cash email, use a stolen account, use a stolen credit card.....

[Bibliophile]

There are many other ways, too. Even if the payment is legit (which it is not), they could receive the items and then either claim that they didn't received them (if no tracking number is available), or that the items are not described.

A likely scenario would be receiving the item, opening a paypal dispute on the basis of "item not as described." Paypal will tell them to return the item and provide tracking info for a refund. The problem is that the buyer could return an item of lesser value, provide tracking info for it, and still receive a refund from paypal.

However, this guy's email to you has scam written all over it.

[Cornelius]

There are many other ways, too. Even if the payment is legit (which it is not), they could receive the items and then either claim that they didn't received them (if no tracking number is available), or that the items are not described.

A likely scenario would be receiving the item, opening a paypal dispute on the basis of "item not as described." Paypal will tell them to return the item and provide tracking info for a refund. The problem is that the buyer could return an item of lesser value, provide tracking info for it, and still receive a refund from paypal.

However, this guy's email to you has scam written all over it.

I thought these protections only applied to eBay sales.

The fake 'you've got cash' email is something I hadn't considered, but I print all my labels through paypal, so even if I didn't recognize it as a fake I'd be okay. Clearly this is a scam, I just like to know how. Stolen CC or account... would I be liable?

Seems very odd that someone would pull a scam like this for 40 bucks.

[Bibliophile]

I thought these protections only applied to eBay sales.

The fake 'you've got cash' email is something I hadn't considered, but I print all my labels through paypal, so even if I didn't recognize it as a fake I'd be okay. Clearly this is a scam, I just like to know how. Stolen CC or account... would I be liable?

Seems very odd that someone would pull a scam like this for 40 bucks.

"Item not received" and "Item significantly not as described" disputes apply to all paypal transactions, not just those originating on ebay. So that possibility always exists when accepting paypal.

What this guy's MO is, we really can't say. However, his email looks highly suspicious. I would just require him to pay by cash in person or money order via mail. If he can't do either, I would suggest you pass on him.

[carlcarlson]

The seller is still liable if someone uses a stolen credit card. I know this from personal experience having had my PSP "stolen" in this way. My guess is he would just send you a fake email. I've gotten those before but they are easy to spot. Most of the time the body is just a screenshot of a real email, but sometimes they actually try to fake it with fonts and such. Those never look even close, and I'm actually kind of disappointed when I get them because it means the scammer just didn't try very hard. I mean, if you are trying to scam somebody you can't be a lazy ass about it. Come on!

[Buyatari]

The seller is still liable if someone uses a stolen credit card. I know this from personal experience having had my PSP "stolen" in this way. My guess is he would just send you a fake email. I've gotten those before but they are easy to spot. Most of the time the body is just a screenshot of a real email, but sometimes they actually try to fake it with fonts and such. Those never look even close, and I'm actually kind of disappointed when I get them because it means the scammer just didn't try very hard. I mean, if you are trying to scam somebody you can't be a lazy ass about it. Come on!

If the scammer wasn't lazy he wouldn't have to be a scammer. He would be a productive member of society. Lazy people HAVE to scam just to keep up.