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Archive 2013 · PayPal Scams

  
 
CosmicCruiser
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · PayPal Scams


they're very ballsy. I've had 2 emails this morning for the 5d2 wanting me to text them at a given phone number. I'm not sure the possibilities here but I just email back that all info can be shared via email only.


Jul 06, 2013 at 11:05 AM
blutch
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · PayPal Scams


All my scams have come through text messages as I put my number in the CL ad.

B



Jul 06, 2013 at 11:06 AM
CosmicCruiser
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · PayPal Scams


I'm keeping it as generic as possible; no new additives such as texting. If it can't be done by email then it can't be done. I'm beginning to feel more confident separating a scammer from a serious buyer.


Jul 06, 2013 at 11:51 AM
blutch
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · PayPal Scams


Yeah.. i just wish there was even one serious buyer. No one seems to use Sony mount lenses.

B



Jul 06, 2013 at 11:56 AM
skasol
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · PayPal Scams


check paypal's buyer protection plan. they scam by making sure that you don't ship to the confirmed address and that puts you at risk, also by not getting a signature or tracking number if it's over $250. paypal requires in order to protect you to provide proof of delivery (signature etc) . good luck with your sale.


Jul 07, 2013 at 02:25 PM
mitesh
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · PayPal Scams


cineski wrote:
In the context of this post, what I said was correct.



David,

I'll have to disagree with you on this. A seller who receives payment via PayPal gift can be "scammed". How? See this from a PayPal employee.



Jul 07, 2013 at 07:20 PM
Imagemaster
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · PayPal Scams


mitesh wrote:
David,

I'll have to disagree with you on this. A seller who receives payment via PayPal gift can be "scammed". How? See this from a PayPal employee.





Jul 07, 2013 at 08:26 PM
blutch
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · PayPal Scams


Just an update. I think I have the lens sold to a very reputable buyer here with excellent feedback. Yay!

B



Jul 11, 2013 at 09:35 AM
dale keith
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · PayPal Scams


This is great information, Thanks to all


Jul 18, 2013 at 07:06 AM
blutch
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · PayPal Scams


Here's another update- after negotiating the price, going to the post office to determine shipping which all happened within 12 hours of this guy telling me he will buy the lens, he backed out of the deal because he found one he liked better that morning. There ought to be a way to give someone negative feedback who backs out of a deal at that point of the sale. There isn't.

Still not sold.

B



Jul 18, 2013 at 10:35 AM
glort
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · PayPal Scams



I would never Buy or sell a high value item that I couldn't be there to do the exchange of goods or cash myself. It's the only way to make sure you are not going to be taken by some scam.

Paypals protecton is a complete crok of shite. If you read their terms and conditions, their $20K protection thing is a load of complete and utter rot. It's all about semantics and slight of hand.
They will protect you if they feel like it and make you jump though a load of hoops like you are the bad guy. Otherwise they look for any little reason buried in their fine print to avoid honouring their advertised promises.

I simply don't use them. I have tried for years to get them to fix my account they stuffed up and they haven't so now I have the perfect excuse why I can't ( and won't) accept money through them.

If I can't pick the item up and pay cash or a buyer can't do the same for any significant purchase, So be it.
I'd rather keep what I have than get ripped off but so far I have had no problem selling anything where the person to person exchange could be done.

Recently I bid on a Diesel engine which seemed a good deal. The seller was from a remote area which can lower the interest in an item. Some things with the buyer wanting urgent payment made me suspect and the thing was on the other side of the country.

I emailed the seller saying I had a brother that lived right in his town so give me his address and a time when it was convenient or let me know if he could come right over with the cash so he got the payment asap. Never heard back and I reported it to ebay the next day and they closed the guys account and terminated his auctions. Maybe there was something else someone had raised the alarm over.

I have found the " I have a brother/ father/ relative that lives in your town ( when you can find out where they are) who can come and inspect/ pay and collect the item" works real well for sorting out dodgy sales.

As for these scum bag POS Nigerian et al con merchants, they should be strung up by the private parts but I guess the authorities in their shite hole countries are just as corrupt and probably on the take from the cons as well.



Jul 20, 2013 at 10:55 PM
RustyBug
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · PayPal Scams


+1 @ PayPal protection is discretionary to their judgment in the fine print.
+1 @ Flush out the seller to (better) verify

A question that I'll ask is about flying in and them picking me up at the airport. The brother/relative (on business passing that way) is one I'll have to remember. It's funny how people can either come clean or run away when you throw them off a bit from their game plan. I've had people "dry up and go away" and I've had them suddenly change their tune about how wonderful the item is when I suggest I'll come their personally to inspect first. Genuine sellers (typically) respond differently than people who have things to hide.

So far, I've had good luck with all but one such purchase. I sent a deposit on an older BMW 6 Series. Then when I did get there, I saw it was ate up with some hidden cancer when I inspected (but the pics were so clean). I never got my deposit back, but I didn't wind up buying a problem either.



Jul 21, 2013 at 09:24 AM
blutch
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · PayPal Scams


These techniques are good for the buyer, but what if you are the seller?


Jul 21, 2013 at 10:01 AM
blutch
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · PayPal Scams


These techniques are good for the buyer, but what if you are the seller?


Jul 21, 2013 at 10:01 AM
CosmicCruiser
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · PayPal Scams


I guess in the end there are no 100% guarantees but you can do a lot to protect yourself. As for the person who backed out after agreeing to buy, yeah that's just a little sorry if you ask me. Somewhat off subject I was perplexed recently when I had my 5d2 on the forum for sale and even though I kept seeing WTBs on the forum, nobody seemed to see my camera which was in excellent condition and low clicks. I did finally sell it off CL to a local guy who I met in person.

It the end regarding protecting yourself, if you're the least bit suspicious you probably have reason to be.



Jul 21, 2013 at 10:23 AM
glort
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · PayPal Scams



I have worked in different avenues of sales off and on pretty much all my working life. I now help my father occasionally with his wrecking yard.
He's a bit softer than me but it's put down a substantial non refundable deposit or the item is still on the market. First in with the cash, best dressed.
Genuine people will generally offer a deposit, even a small amount if it's all they have. Tryhards will want you to keep something for them with no deposit till some distant time when they will supposedly miracle some money up they don't have now.

I have held too many things ( of all types) on promises of coming back and let genuine buyers go and then been left holding the can.
I had this clown a few weeks ago come in about some wheels and tyres and Spotted some on a the car that the tow truck was just dropping off. I gave him a price of $500 and he whined a bit but said he'd be back. Didn't have a deposit on him (wow, big surprise!) but could we hold them for him?
NO!
Said he go into town to the bank and be back.
Yeah right. Never saw or heard of him again in the 2 days I was there afterwards.

As it turned out my father found a receipt in the glovebox for the wheels and tyres when he was going through the thing and saw they were a bit less than 500 miles old and had cost $2100.
He had a regular client come in a few days later and happily OFFERED $900 which the old man took being he only paid 1120 for the whole car.

I just happened to be up there again recently when the first deadbeat came back.
He moaned bitterly when I told him they were sold. I told him about the recipt and what they were worth and he said yeah, I discovered that a couple of weeks later but I didn't know at the time. I laughed and said neither did I, that's why I offered them to you so cheap but you still complained and now you are happy to pay because you have worked out what you should have known all along.
I said we got $900 for them and he said he would have paid $1000. I said that's real funny seeing you wouldn't pay $500 a few weeks ago.

Anyway he went off moaning and complaining like I had still ripped him off or he was hard done by and I'm sure the story he would give his mates would be suitably modified to hide his stupidity and ignorance and make us out to be the bad guys.

As a seller I do pretty much the same as a buyer.
In person handovers for big ticket items, cash in hand only. I won't touch ANY of these payment systems because I don't know about them other than they leave me open to being ripped off.

I wouldn't sell a good camera or lens to an out of town person and mail it or accept any payment other than through the post office. Here they have a COD thing where you can send the item and the person picking it up has to pay by cash or CC for the item and the postage. No money, No item. They guarantee payment and if the other party does not collect, they will hold it up to a certain time you specify and then send it back.
If the purchaser has some problem with that, tough. You find another item and I'll find a less suspect buyer.

When selling things direct I have had clowns that were told the price up front turn up short of cash and promise to pay soon after. I have had people say to me " Don't you trust me?" I look them straight in the eye and say " No, why should I? I don't know you and trust is earned not automatic so why would I trust you or anyone else I don't know?
You know they are deadbeat con merchants the second they start to argue and tell you how honest they are or feign insult because you don't trust them.

That's the biggest tell of all as to what their real intentions are.

At the end of the day, I don't feel a bit sorry for some people that get ripped off.
There was a woman at my wifes work recently that got suckered with some con merchant that had a story so thin and full of holes it would have been an insult to any normal persons intelligence.
I have heard of quite a few things like this where people end up sending valuables on nothing more than a promise from someone whose basic details they don't even have.

In these obvious cases of stupidity I don't pity the victim, I see them as having paid the price for a valuable lesson that will be important to them in not loosing their house or something really substantial.

Some people are so stupid they deserve to be parted from their money for not having the common basic sense to look after it.




Jul 21, 2013 at 10:02 PM
BenV
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · PayPal Scams


On Craigslist, the popular scam is they request you to invoice them, you go ahead and do so, then they send you a fake email claiming they sent the money and they hope you send the item. They never actually send any money.


Jul 24, 2013 at 08:19 AM
camerausername
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · PayPal Scams


blutch wrote:
I have a lens for sale here and on CL. I have received two offers, both of which were obviously scams. Both offered to pay me through PayPal my asking price and additional money to ship it to a "friend" or their "son." to a third location.

Obviously, this isn't legit, but how to they scam through PayPal? Once they PayPal the money how do they get it back after you send them the merch?

Is there a way to protect yourself from this?

Thanks

B


I wonder what would happen if you scammed the scammer like on 419eater. You could take the paypal payment then transfer it out to your bank and shut down your paypal account.



Aug 01, 2013 at 02:26 PM
MazeRunner
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · PayPal Scams


Legit sellers usually are very detailed, provide pictures with something written on a card right next to the item at an angle hard to crop, and prefer face-to-face transactions. That and they don't beat around the bush.

Basics on Craigslist:
- NEVER SHIP. NO EXCEPTIONS. Don't ship to Nigeria, an army base, a military forwarding base, etc. State it immediately and you'll deter most scammers. Reason scammers name some African country is just to weed out the idiots immediately (if you say yes, they'll know they got you already hook, line, and sinker).
- CASH ONLY. Only time I would POSSIBLY take a credit card is if they pay the PayPal fee and have the physical card and matching ID, and allow me to take 2 photos: 1 of them at a recognizable street corner, and 1 of the driver's license or whatever form of identification they have on them (make sure they face matches up with ID!)
- IF* MONEY ORDER OR CHECK, THEY CASH IT AND GIVE YOU THE MONEY! No exceptions!
- If in email they say "I can give you this much more, etc." if you ship here/there, just say no.
- Be careful of those asking if you accept a check, since checks can be bounced 5-7 days after they're cashed (fake checks), and the difference goes against your account.
- Also beware of the FAKE PAYPAL emails that say you've received a payment from "blahblahblah." The real PayPal email will have a link that leads you back to your PayPal account (check the URL). Real PayPal sends you an email from [email protected] <-- NOTHING ELSE. Your real PayPal info comes to you from [email protected] <-- for account updates, billing statements and reminders. All other PayPal emails are likely fake (unless you're doing something which involves customer service).

Legit buyers/sellers will usually:
- Insist on more photos
- Ask for or provide real contact info (phone number to call/text, a real gmail)
- Have the original box for the item (not always, but it's a much better sign that it's not stolen or from lensrental or whatever)
- Prefer to sell/buy it in person, or will accommodate the request
- Do not rush it unless they have an excellent reason (but even then, if a serious photographer needed something, they'll just ship it overnight from Amazon, B&H, Adorama, etc.)

Should cover pretty much everything you see on Craigslist.



Aug 03, 2013 at 01:38 AM
BenV
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · PayPal Scams


camerausername wrote:
I wonder what would happen if you scammed the scammer like on 419eater. You could take the paypal payment then transfer it out to your bank and shut down your paypal account.


Read my post right above yours



Aug 08, 2013 at 08:34 AM
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