Paypal scam? Not sure?

[truman]

Don't let anybody pay by Paypal & collect. You have no proof of postage if they collect it, they can easily get a refund from Paypal after taking your goods.

 

Report these scammers to ebay.

 

You could get them to sign a note confirming they've collected it?

[Apnaman]

You could get them to sign a note confirming they've collected it?

And your proof of who it actually was that signed it would be ?

[truman]

And your proof of who it actually was that signed it would be ?

 

So what happens when people sell cars privately? How is it different from sending something through the post/parcel service...what if a person other than the intended recipient signs for the box? Although if someone is collecting in person you could ask for some proof of ID.. it's not really difficult..

[Ladystiletto]

Well, since I have sent them an email back saying cash on collection it has gone deathly silent lol

 

Guess I will let the Auction run its course and see what happens.

 

Was slightly annoyed as I am trying to get a new business off the ground which is hard enough at the best of time without scams like this

[anywebsite]

So what happens when people sell cars privately? How is it different from sending something through the post/parcel service...what if a person other than the intended recipient signs for the box? Although if someone is collecting in person you could ask for some proof of ID.. it's not really difficult..

 

Usually, they don't use Paypal, so there's no 3rd party to con into giving an unjustified refund, unless they can argue their blatantly false case in court. It's about Paypal rules & how they're sometimes abused by fraudsters.

 

If you send something using a tracked delivery service & provide Paypal with the details, usually Paypal will side with the seller unless the buyer can give some other reason they need a refund. If it was sent by any untracked post or collected & the buyer claims not to have received it, then they'll almost always side with the buyer & give them a refund. I made a mistake earlier, proof of posting isn't enough, you need proof of delivery. That might not even be the scam here, but there are a few ways a buyer can either make it look like they've paid when they haven't or get the money back after they've got the item, if they use Paypal & the seller isn't careful.

 

Be very wary of suspicious acting buyers on ebay. It's best to insist on cash if a buyer wants to collect an item.

[L00b]

You could get them to sign a note confirming they've collected it?

Putting aside the accuracy/validity of the point for a moment, I've tried that several times before (as a long-time eBay seller, my account dates back to December 1999) and, unless it's a high-ticket article (car or other, >£500) buyers generally don't like it.

 

Further, unless they have ID and you take a copy of the ID at the time, eBay/PP would still tell you to do one, once the dishonest buyer says that it's not their signature.

 

Of course, this is much less of an issue with a car, because the V5 tear-off bit must be filled then sent (by the seller) to the DVLA etc.

 

It's far simpler for all involved to stick to paypal-&-send-tracked OR cash-on-collection, with no in-between.

 

That said, Paypal Gift (payment sent outside of the eBay system) is a potential 'halfway' option. I only use it with posters I trust/have dealth with before, though (not on SF, another Forum), as I have been informed that even that option provides a CC clawback.

[MickM]

It's definitely a scam! Don't do it!! Email them back and tell them you've now decided its cash on collection only.

 

This!

 

I think you'll find they'll give up rather quickly or make several more poor excuses if you demand payment by cash.

[Tier]

i had theEXACT same email. when you stop the auction basically they email you a page that looks exactly the same as paypal. it says you have funds pending. because it looks so real most people wont log in to their paypal account to check and just presume they have funds, then release the item, then the scammer has your goods. i nearly fell for it, they did a vey good job at pretending to be paypal but i logged in to my account so all it cost me was the price of an ebay listing. ebay warn everybody to not complete any transactions outside of ebay for this very reason

[barleycorn]

You could get them to sign a note confirming they've collected it?

 

And they claim it isn't their signature. I guess you could get them to bring their passport and a utility bill then get them to sign a receipt and take a photo of them holding all three up to the camera. That'd work.

 

jb

[truman]

And they claim it isn't their signature. I guess you could get them to bring their passport and a utility bill then get them to sign a receipt and take a photo of them holding all three up to the camera. That'd work.

 

jb

 

.. but how is it different to someone signing for a parcel from the post office/courier service and then saying it wasn't them that did it?