Is this a PayPal scam?

RBS · Feb 7, 2012

I`m selling 1939 Merc and I got email today from buyer who is prepared to buy it. But he wants to pay via PayPal and collect car in person. Its £40 000.

He tried to negotiate price, asked for extra photos.

How do I know if its a scam? What happens if he pays me a money and turns out its stolen from somebodies PayPal account?! :|

I do understand that PayPal offers protection for buyer.

Websitehandyman · Feb 7, 2012

Then tell paypal no Escrow yes !

Wish I had your problem

RBS · Feb 7, 2012

Websitehandyman said:
Then tell paypal no Escrow yes !

Wish I had your problem

I`m happy to accept payment and sell the car, but I need some advice in case things go wrong. Don`t want to go to jail.

Rookery · Feb 7, 2012

RBS said:
I`m happy to accept payment and sell the car, but I need some advice in case things go wrong. Don`t want to go to jail.

I would have thought that your biggest worry would be having no car and no money, rather than the prospect of prison.

RBS · Feb 7, 2012

Rookery said:
I would have thought that your biggest worry would be having no car and no money, rather than the prospect of prison.

I clearly do understand there is a risk loosing a car. But prison is more scary.

Root 66 Woodshop · Feb 7, 2012

I personally can't understand why anyone would want to pay so much money through paypal to be honest. Imagine what you'll actually lose by doing it, 10% isn't it? Thats £4000

So in essence you'll only recieve £36000 is it really worth loosing that much on the sale?

If he has that kind of money, tell him you want a BACS transfer only for the sale of the car, surely that's a much safer way of selling it?

P.S. I've personally not used paypal for quite some time, so please forgive me if the % is incorrect.

TotallySport · Feb 7, 2012

never accept paypal for a pick up.

Thinehost · Feb 7, 2012

How about splitting the transaction into a deposit/sale of accessories for say £100 - that would let you know if he's a PayPal verified customer. Ask for the balance via an escrow service so that you don't hand over the car keys until the payment is verified.

Good luck - and I wish I had your problems.

M

curvelining · Feb 8, 2012

AuthorizedAccess said:
I personally can't understand why anyone would want to pay so much money through paypal to be honest. Imagine what you'll actually lose by doing it, 10% isn't it? Thats £4000

So in essence you'll only recieve £36000 is it really worth loosing that much on the sale?

If he has that kind of money, tell him you want a BACS transfer only for the sale of the car, surely that's a much safer way of selling it?

P.S. I've personally not used paypal for quite some time, so please forgive me if the % is incorrect.

The transaction loss should be around 4%.A bigger issue is that the guy can open cases within 45 days of payment.There are many reasons to claim back the money,so there is a good chance you will lose both the money and the car.Cancel the deal if he insists in Paypal payment.

srivastava · Feb 8, 2012

What i want to suggest is never accept paypal during this type of situations

Posilan · Feb 8, 2012

For that amount you should only accept BACS/CHAPS transfer plus a 24 hours period after receiving the funds to allow for reversals.

You should also make sure you take proper proof of ID (drivers licence/bank statement etc) of the buyer and verify it. If they are legit, they should not mind. Remember, people spending not much more on houses etc will normally use a solicitor to do such a transaction, so you are not being overcautious.

In essence, treat it as though you are "lending him" £40,000 and be very careful for you may end up with no money and no car.

Steve

deadgoodundies · Feb 8, 2012

Just google paypal pickup scam. and you will have your answer.
Paypal offers you NO protection if the item that is bought is picked up by the purchaser.

TODonnell · Feb 8, 2012

Posilan said:
For that amount you should only accept BACS/CHAPS transfer plus a 24 hours period after receiving the funds to allow for reversals.

You should also make sure you take proper proof of ID (drivers licence/bank statement etc) of the buyer and verify it. If they are legit, they should not mind. Remember, people spending not much more on houses etc will normally use a solicitor to do such a transaction, so you are not being overcautious.

Steve

Excellent advice. Get that cash safely in your bank account for a while before you hand over your card and/or documents.

NO WAY WOULD I USE PAYPAL for this sort of deal. The purchase can be reversed, Paypal's charges, they can freeze your account, all sorts of nonsense ...

RBS · Feb 8, 2012

SCAM:

Hi There Thanks for your usual response and i really need you
to do me a favor,i just got a message from pick up agent that
will come for the pickup for me,which is here in UK that i need
to pay a total commission of about £2,000 to him before the
pickup can be registered and it should be paid via western
union only and there is no western union outlet at my present
location to send the money to them over here as I'm presently
off-shore,so all i
need from you is the permission to include the said amount to
the payment i will be transferring into your PayPal account and
you will help me wire the money to them for the pickup as soon
as you get it, PayPal will be informed about this process as
well.Sorry to put this on you but without the pickup, the
purchase cant hold.And I'm just asking about it to make sure
its in good condition so can you assure me i will not be
disappointed.Thanks for your help

RBS · Feb 8, 2012

Then sent a fake PayPal email saying I have received 42 000 and they are on hold until I send £2000 via WU to shipping agent

Hi Mate I have just made the payment now and i expect paypal to
have emailed by now,check your paypal email address if you have been
messaged yet, i sent £42,200 in all including my agent fee and
western union charges which is £200, So please i will need you
to help me send the sum of £2,000 to pick up agent via western
union so they can be able to come for the pick up on time and
the necessary paper documents, i have inform them for the
pickup arrangement after you have send their charges to them
here in UK.Below is the pick up agent
info you needed to get the money sent through western union
money transfer:

David Gilbert.
27 Vernon St
Hammersmith,
London W14 0RJ,
United Kingdom

kindly email the necessary details to paypal customer care:The
mtcn 10 digit number on the western union money transfer
receipt, which you will be given at the western union after you
might sent the money as well as the sender's name and address
used to send the money through western union to my agent, email
all the western union details to paypal direct that is fine
with me in order for the money i sent to be credit into your
account and after verify everything they will credited the
whole money into your account.
PS: i need your residence home address cos i need to send it to
my agent so that they can figure it out,It's nice doing
business with you.

I will be looking forward to hear from you.

Thinehost · Feb 8, 2012

Well, you've still got your car

.... sorry the sale's a scam.

M

RBS · Feb 8, 2012

TCCuk said:
People like to pay via paypal as it is a safe form of paying, and its also easy. If you accept the money then wait for a few days for it to clear and to make sure there is no problem, you will be ok. The only problem with accepting through pay-pal is the fees that pay-pal charge you, unless it is sent as a gift, with that sum of money you will be charged about 1.4% I think it is.

Are you selling the car via eBay?

http://www.thecanvascorner.co.uk/

I don`t think eBay is right place for £40k retro car. People go on eBay and expect stuff to be for free or cost less than £

Method Man · Feb 8, 2012

The scammer's uncle's brother-in-law has also recently died no doubt leaving an estate of 57,000,000USD that I need to wire to your bank on exchange of your passport, date of birth etc etc.

Well spotted on the scam anyway - you live to fight another day.

Janechan · Feb 9, 2012

TotallySport said:
never accept paypal for a pick up.

I agree with TotallySport.
Just ask the buyer to pay by cash.

Isleman · Feb 10, 2012

I have done some selling on Ebay and I will say please don't accept paypal for this under any circumstances.

The way it works is this.They pay by Paypal.Some comes and collect your car and takes it away.EVEN IF THEY GIVE YOU A RECEIPT,PAYPAL WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS AS THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY PROOF THAT THE ITEM HAS BEEN DELIVERED.(Yes,the system only works with tracking numbers)

They then raise a case against you that the item hasn't been delivered,Yes a car!!!!.Paypal will always side with the buyer,In the meantime Paypal will freeze the payment or give you a negative balance of which if you do not pay will send in baliffs.

Paypal will then go in the buyer's favour and then they have item as well as your money.Although it states that you have to accept paypal,Don't!!.

Better to get a Neg!!! than lose 40k!!!

finejewellerys · Feb 10, 2012

Are you selling the car on ebay or some reliable platforms? if so, you may ask the customer support on the site to check the buyer's info.It is not a small amount of money,sometimes,paypal will protect the buyer's right a lot.and you also could verify the buyer's paypal account if it is reliable.

Multi-store · Feb 10, 2012

Sounds like a huge amount to go through paypal. like someone else said a bacs transfer is much safer.

for that size value, and obviously a rare vehicle he will pay YOUR preferred payment method if he really wants it.

I'd steer clear if i was you. It should be on your terms or not at all, to sum it up, its not worth the gamble.

megamuel · Feb 10, 2012

Absolute b**tards! I hope you have reported them on ebay or whatever website you were using. As others have said, only accept a direct bank transfer!

Sam.

bdw · Feb 10, 2012

Lesson to be learned here, if something smells fishy then it's probably a fish!

.

MH1 · Feb 10, 2012

RBS said:
I`m selling 1939 Merc and I got email today from buyer who is prepared to buy it. But he wants to pay via PayPal and collect car in person. Its £40 000.

He tried to negotiate price, asked for extra photos.

How do I know if its a scam? What happens if he pays me a money and turns out its stolen from somebodies PayPal account?! :|

I do understand that PayPal offers protection for buyer.

There is absolutely no paypal protection on collected goods, only signed for on delivery goods. That is the reason they wish too collect, they will raise a dispute and get the money back from yourself, plus have your car.

Not read the whole post so apologies if this has already been mentioned.

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Is this a PayPal scam?

Root 66 Woodshop

TotallySport

Isleman

bdw

MH1