Paypal scam??

stuwho

Sorry in advance if this is the wrong place to post this. I've been clearing out my garage & selling stuff on Gumtree. I've had a few messages wanting to pick things up & asking for my PayPal details & that they'll pay me through that. Is there any sort of scam that people are doing by asking this, as I find it strange that they are (supposedly) picking things up, but don't want to just pay cash when they pick up. Any ideas?

Yahoo_Mail

stuwho said:

Sorry in advance if this is the wrong place to post this. I've been clearing out my garage & selling stuff on Gumtree. I've had a few messages wanting to pick things up & asking for my PayPal details & that they'll pay me through that. Is there any sort of scam that people are doing by asking this, as I find it strange that they are (supposedly) picking things up, but don't want to just pay cash when they pick up. Any ideas?

Yes, it's a scam.

You only get PayPal protection if you can provide tracking information for the things you sell.  As you won't be able to do that (as they picked it up) they'll issue an Item Not Received claim shortly after they've relieved you of the goods and you'll be left with nothing.

Cash on collection only. If they won't do that, walk away.

ARH_2

What if they use family and friends? The buyer would be giving up their protection, and the seller would avoid the fee. Basically the same as cash? 

TOP_CAT

How would you the seller know they the honest scammer used family and friends?

ceremony

TOP_CAT said:

How would you the seller know they the honest scammer used family and friends?

It's easy enough to tell if a payment was sent via friends and family based on the fees (or lack thereof). It's still risky though. I've had someone send something friends and family then claim that their account was hacked and claw the money back that way.

Yahoo_Mail

ARH_2 said:

What if they use family and friends? The buyer would be giving up their protection, and the seller would avoid the fee. Basically the same as cash? 

If they're insisting on using PayPal for a collection item, stay clear of them.  Nine times out of 10 they'll be up to no good.  Not worth the risk that they might have found a way to game the system.

Pennylane

I’ve had 2 of these recently and after some detective work discovered they live in Romania. They never ask any questions about the item at all, just keep saying “I want to buy this. I will pay by Paypal and send courier.”  I told the second one that we won’t accept paypal and he then said “if you sign up to paypal it is very safe and secure.  Click on the link to sign up and I will send the payment.”   Any questions you ask them they just ignore.

jlemaitre

no its not a scam, far from it. A lot of people are using it like that these days. anything ive paid for is F&F and anything sold is F&F. simply transfer into your bank account once done.

Ive sold a sports car via Paypal. no issues, Ive bought coral and lots of other expensive stuff via Paypal.

Cash is no longer king anymore. Bank transfer and Paypal(F&F) are the dogs dangles.

TOP_CAT

Gumtree is rife with scammers.
 I generally get a scam text or phone call daily not to mention a high volume of the usual time wasters but it also has  genuine honest buyers as well

Alot of scammers are presently texting via whatsapp in regards to your gumtree advert this seems very popular at pres .
The scam whatsapp texts lessen as you block them on whatsapp over weeks months ..

At one time I was comfortable using gumtree with a paypal payment but I believe its a far higher risk today than it used to be ...other posters have outlined some of the main reasons why above.
The volume of scammers is so high at pres that the amount of practice you get dealing with them is so great it works against them as you get so much experience of the typical scamming behaviour..
I prefer a personal phone call and bank transfer but gumtree messaging and bank transfer work just as well too.

Even ebay doesnt want to use paypal anymore .

Pennylane

jlemaitre said:

no its not a scam, far from it. A lot of people are using it like that these days. anything ive paid for is F&F and anything sold is F&F. simply transfer into your bank account once done.

Ive sold a sports car via Paypal. no issues, Ive bought coral and lots of other expensive stuff via Paypal.

Cash is no longer king anymore. Bank transfer and Paypal(F&F) are the dogs dangles.

Ha ha you either misunderstand or you are mad.  🤣You are the only person I have seen on any  site who says that it’s a good thing to do.
We are not talking about using Paypal fullstop. We are talking about scammers who say they want to buy your item, ask no questions about that item and say they will pay by paypal and send a courier.  They won’t pay on collection and they won’t pay by bank transfer or cheque.  

Sapindus

This problem had never occurred to me.  A few years ago I sold a £100 item on ebay and arranged to deliver it for petrol money.   They paid by paypal first.  I'd have have been more worried about getting there on a cash on collection/delivery basis and having them start to haggle.  I sold a £480 item once and they came and collected it and paid cash and I was worried they would go "oh look, sorry I'm £20 short, is that OK?" or some of the notes would be fake.

Should be easy to create some sort of proof of collection like the delivery drivers have been doing, a photo with your buyer?