PayPal Scam?

[Setharsis]

Yeah I've sold 2 cars on Craigslist, never even been offered a paypal payment before, usually it's all cash offers.

 

[Breedy]

Smells bad from the get go. Any Craiglist transaction need to be done face to face. Here is their #1 way to avoid a scam...

"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"

Do you consider being robbed at gun point at scam?

Sort of kidding, but there have been a rash (or so it would seem) of incidents locally where a meet was arranged in a public space but stilled ended in robbery. Many have involved electronics being sold at incredibly low prices, but it goes back to the whole "looking like a duck" thing.

 

[{tpc}]

I would run far away from this.

I've sold one car on ebay, and basically had the other party give me a $500 deposit via pp, and the balance when he came to get the car, which actually was via a certified check. However, I don't suspect a scam when the guy and I talked through email and phone calls and then he literally drove from out of state, with his wife, then spent another 2 hours looking the car over before finalizing the deal. It was only for $5k too, so it seems like a lot of hassle to try to scam for that small amount. In the end everything went through fine.

Now had he said he would show and sent someone else, i would have cancelled the whole thing.

In your case i'm surprised the guy didn't want to also paypal you $25,000 and ask you to give the car and $5000 cash back to the "agent" lol.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if those "online background check" things may be worthy in a case like this? I think you can spend like $50 or something for a month of the service and then if any shady type of thing comes up, you just ask for all their info so you can verify it. If they are legit, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Matthew Adam]

100% a scam. All you have to do is write the erson back and ask to at least speak to them on the phone. They won't respond, then you'll know for sure. I've listed stuff on Craigslist and got the same types of inquiries asking to pay by a non-in-person method, and saying an agent will come pick it up. Never had one get past the first email, whenever you want to inquire more about it they disappear.
If you were stupid enough to send your Paypal address, they'll probably just hack it or something to run a totally unrelated scam with. It's got nothing to do with your car. No doubt these are scam emails.

 

[Yeahthatsme]

Ask for him to mail a money order, you can do that from ships can't you?

They can forge certified checks and money orders now.

Right, but you're pretty safe if you cash it and wait 10 days or so for it to be verified, then complete the deal.


In any online transaction with an unknown person you should ALWAYS make fully sure the payment has cleared before handing the item over.

 

[AVB]

Its a scam but you can be sure by asking him to send you an email for his military account It should look like Joe Blow@us.navy.mil. You won't get one and that will be the confirmation it's a fake.