Explain this CraigsList Scam to me

[elemental]

I listed some gear on Craigslist last night, and when I woke up this morning I had two "is this item still available?" emails, both of which seemed a little shady. I typed out a nice, interested reply and sent it to both. I had an email back from the first sender in less than half an hour:

"Thanks for the prompt response, i want you to get back to me with your paypal email address so i can make the payment including the shipment cost,i will include $100 for the shipment cost, so i want you to get back to me so i can make it fast and as soon as you received the payment confirmation i want the item to be shipped via USPS International Express Mail and if you don`t have a PayPal account you can go and sign up at www.paypal.com and get back to me with your paypal email id so i can make the instant payment into your account in cash.
Thanks."

This is obviously a scam (I replied "I don't appreciate scams. The item will only be sold locally in accordance with CraigsList policies."), but I am wondering how this particular version would unfold on me. I know PayPal offers buyer protection, but I guess sellers don't have much in that area. Would she dispute my having ever shipped it, or would she try to go outside of PayPal with some sort of money order or account deposit? Could my PayPal address lead her to any compromising information?

 

[ANDS!]

Give them your email, and have them deposit the funds. Stay in contact with PayPal though just in case they have LIFTED someones account. Also be aware that PayPal (if they are using their bank account) is just like that, it will say transaction pending, even if there are no funds in this account. So of course you would want to wait until funds have posted, and somehow have verified this is that persons bank account (of course it is not, as noone in their right mind would pay 100 bucks for shipping, regardless of how much they want it or where they live).

 

[Village Idiot]

Does paypal have anything in their rules about not protecting the buyer for international sales? Like if you ship something over $250 value and don't get a signature confirmation, they can start a dispute and basically get a free whatever because you didn't get a signature confirmation.

Paypal is corrupt.

 

[Ls3D]

This is very typical, usually the emails come in the middle of the night due to country of origin. I get a dozen or so anytime I list something worth a few bucks. The important thing is to simply ignore these fishers and wait for a qualified local buyer. Then it's meet me at the 7-11 time.

-Shea

 

[stsinner]

I love Paypal and have had very good luck with it. However, I do get emails all the time stating that my account is suspended pending verification of something or other and that I need to click on this link and log in.. I fell for it the very first time-clicked the link, and Firefox's fishing filter caught it and didn't let me go to the site..

 

[ccssk8ter11]

People do this all the time on our local classified site here too, but what they do here is say they will send you a cashiers check for the amount plus extra for shipping and then when you get it ship the item and the extra money back to them, but then the check bounces or whatever so you have just sent them the item plus the extra money. Or something like that, it was on the news and stuff. Just stay away from all that crap.

 

[chrisburke]

i havent read any of the replies to this, but, i had the same thing happen.. the guy even sent me a money order... but when i took it to the bank to see if it was legit.. they were like "no idea what this is" then i called the number on the back, and it was no longer opened... pretty crazy the things people will do

 

[elemental]

Well, I was getting pretty disheartened by the lack of interest, but then I got a very interesting message from a Nigerian prince. All I had to do was send him $500 to help him get to the U.S., and when he gets here, we split his inheritance! I'm so excited that I went ahead and ordered a D3. I mean, I don't have the money now, but I bet half a Nigerian inheritance is a lot of money!

In all seriousness, the tally is now

Scams: 4
Legitimate responders: 0

I didn't have this much trouble the last time I sold something on CraigsList (two years ago). Oh well. I'm preparing the eBay auction.

 

[elemental]

This is very typical, usually the emails come in the middle of the night due to country of origin. I get a dozen or so anytime I list something worth a few bucks. The important thing is to simply ignore these fishers and wait for a qualified local buyer. Then it's meet me at the 7-11 time.

-Shea

The last time I bought something (singlespeed 29er mountain bike), we met in the parking lot of an out of business car wash. It was awesome.

 

[inTempus]

Well, i was getting pretty disheartened by the lack of interest, but then I got a very interesting message from a Nigerian prince. All I had to do was send him $500 to help him get to the U.S., and when he gets here, we split his inheritance! I'm so excited that I went ahead and ordered a D3. I mean, I don't have the money now, but I bet half a Nigerian inheritance is a lot of money!

Oh wait, you know the Prince too? HEY! When you talk to him next, ask him where my damn money is at!!!

:lmao:

 

[Idaho21]

From what I understand, if you click on their link and enter your PayPal login info, they will then have your user name and password, and they will start making balance transfers to an overseas account.
This happened to a guy I work with. His bank and PP traced the transfers to a place in Scotland. They took approx. $250 out of his bank account. It took him a while to get everything sorted out and to get his money back.

 

[chrisburke]

man, i heard that prince was related to me too.. at least thats what he keeps telling me... his mum must have gotten around...

 

[elemental]

Stay off my prince!

I finally had a somewhat interested legitimate buyer.

Scams: 5
Legitimate parties: 1

The fifth scam was someone trying to sell a 5D body for a very impressive price. I was curious, so I followed my standard procedure (email a few basic questions to see if he knows the gear). Not only did he not answer my question, he told me he would make the deal "through eBay" to "protect both of us."

Lovely.