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View Full Version : Craigslist scams (especially having to do with paypal)



user1397
April 22nd, 2011, 01:04 PM
UPDATE: check post #8 :)

So I put up my netbook on craigslist early this morning, and got a reply rather quick (posted it at 4am, got a reply at 6:45am)

The conversation goes like this:


Person: Hi do you still have it for sale i am interested get back to me asap.Thanks.

Me: Hello! Yes, I still have it. If you have any questions about it, just ask.

Person: Nice hearing back from you asap, I have been busy all day, I am buying it for my cousin i would offer you $250 including shipping and i would be paying you through paypal to make this easier and faster so get back to me with your paypal email address so i can get a little time to make the payment ontime.I would have loved to meet up or pick but i know i have said it all it's just due to my job okay get back to me immediately.Thanks.

Me: Sounds very reasonable. Just to note, as I said in my posting, it has NO operating system pre-installed. I can install a Linux variant of your choosing for you, or you can install any Windows if you have a copy on CD or DVD (you would need an external CD/DVD drive for this, as the netbook does not have an internal optical drive). If you are still interested, or if you're not anymore, please write back!

Person: Alright all you have said is okay by me cos my cousin is not going to be using it much but just wanna get it for a certain project just for it been portable so i am interested so what's your paypal email address so we can finalize the deal?

Clearly by even the second reply this person has all the signs of a scammer. Normally I wouldn't even have replied after his/her second response, but I wanted to just see what the next reply would be. It's also funny how I posted this netbook for $150 and she is offering me $100 more for whatever reason.

So here's my question, what could they possibly do if I gave them my email address which is linked to my paypal account? I have an extremely strong password for paypal, and I have actually given my paypal email for a different transaction on craigslist before, and it was legit (the person actually sent me the money through paypal only by knowing my paypal email).

The funniest thing is that technically this person already has my paypal email, since it is the same email that I am using to communicate with him/her (little do they know). If you didn't know, when you post something on craigslist your email is anonymized and if someone contacts you through that email, they cannot see your email until you reply.

So, what could possibly go wrong if I just reply something like:

"My paypal email is the same as this email address."

?

3Miro
April 22nd, 2011, 01:32 PM
SCAM! I recently bought and sold a few things on craigslist and here is some advice:

- Never use anything other than cash!
- Never mail/ship anything!
- Always test the thing that you are buying (to the extend that you can test it)!

If you ship the computer, you will never see any money from PayPal. I would suggest you just send the guy e-mail saying that you will not ship the thing and then sever the connection. If you want to play with this, you can suggest that you meet the guy at whatever odd hours the guy can, even if he works a lot, he will be available at some time (say 2am), but I don't suggest you go there. You can also make the deal with the guys's wife/son/cousin/friend/neighbor ...

Even if you agree on the PayPal thing (and you should not do that), then you should not ship anything until the money from PayPal arrives. This is how it works with anything, newegg will not ship anything until money have cleared form the credit card bank; neither would Wal-Mart or Amazon or Target or anyone selling stuff on-line.

Zerocool Djx
April 22nd, 2011, 01:36 PM
When someone pay's you via paypal this is how they find your account and pay you. Pay pal don't have screen names. They can't do anything with just your E-mail address which you prolly have given to friends, family, work, school, blindly to countless web sites, I mean, your e-mail address isn't private no matter how much someone thinks it is. I have a graphic design company and this is how some clients pay me, it's pretty standard.

Why they would offer you $100 more? I dunno, for shipping and handling? Maybe they are over seas? Could be that much to ship it. Did you ever ask where they where from? Cause if they live in Libya on a mountain, I bet it's going to cost a few bucks to get it to them, lol.

Worse case you'll just get some spam letter from king Wakiiajia about your $1,000,000 inherits and they need $1,000 for processing, lol.

Pay-pal has a $1,000,000 insurance for most business done with them and it's a third party, so that protects you and the buyer. Someone offered you more money then you asked, they could have missed read it or just be an idiot. I'd say go with it if they actually send you the money.

user1397
April 22nd, 2011, 01:37 PM
SCAM! I recently bought and sold a few things on craigslist and here is some advice:

- Never use anything other than cash!
- Never mail/ship anything!
- Always test the thing that you are buying (to the extend that you can test it)!

If you ship the computer, you will never see any money from PayPal. I would suggest you just send the guy e-mail saying that you will not ship the thing and then sever the connection. If you want to play with this, you can suggest that you meet the guy at whatever odd hours the guy can, even if he works a lot, he will be available at some time (say 2am), but I don't suggest you go there. You can also make the deal with the guys's wife/son/cousin/friend/neighbor ...

Even if you agree on the PayPal thing (and you should not do that), then you should not ship anything until the money from PayPal arrives. This is how it works with anything, newegg will not ship anything until money have cleared form the credit card bank; neither would Wal-Mart or Amazon or Target or anyone selling stuff on-line.overall great advice, i wholeheartedly agree.

but in this specific situation, what is the actual risk in telling him my paypal email? i could say something like 'yea my paypal email is this one. once you send the money we'll discuss shipping.' to which he would probably just not reply, but it would be sorta fun anyway :)

user1397
April 22nd, 2011, 01:40 PM
When someone pay's you via paypal this is how they find your account and pay you. Pay pal don't have screen names. They can't do anything with just your E-mail address which you prolly have given to friends, family, work, school, blindly to countless web sites, I mean, your e-mail address isn't private no matter how much someone thinks it is. I have a graphic design company and this is how some clients pay me, it's pretty standard.

Why they would offer you $100 more? I dunno, for shipping and handling? Maybe they are over seas? Could be that much to ship it. Did you ever ask where they where from? Cause if they live in Libya on a mountain, I bet it's going to cost a few bucks to get it to them, lol.

Worse case you'll just get some spam letter from king Wakiiajia about your $1,000,000 inherits and they need $1,000 for processing, lol.

Pay-pal has a $1,000,000 insurance for most business done with them and it's a third party, so that protects you and the buyer. Someone offered you more money then you asked, they could have missed read it or just be an idiot. I'd say go with it if they actually send you the money.this is exactly what i am trying to get at! even if they are a super hacker that will try to brute force attack my paypal account i can easily just change the password every hour if i wanted to (not that i would go that far, unless i knew for sure that he was a hacker trying to brute force attack my account hehe)

3Miro
April 22nd, 2011, 02:32 PM
overall great advice, i wholeheartedly agree.

but in this specific situation, what is the actual risk in telling him my paypal email? i could say something like 'yea my paypal email is this one. once you send the money we'll discuss shipping.' to which he would probably just not reply, but it would be sorta fun anyway :)

The risk is small, but I am looking at this more on principle. If I think this person is running a scam, then I wouldn't want to have anything to do with them. I am not stupid enough to try and outsmart the scammer at his/her game. Don't play with fire, unless you absolutely have to.

I don't think he is a super hacker either. My guess is that if you tell him to send you the money first, then he will either try to talk you into sending the laptop first, or he will just run away (i.e. ignore you). In either case, answering is just a waste of time.

BTW: "He may just be in a hurry or in another country or really stupid ..." This is greed talking to you man, wake up to reality. You will not get 250 dollars for an item that you posted for 150.

forrestcupp
April 22nd, 2011, 02:52 PM
May be a scam, but I doubt if there is any harm in giving him your email address. If he pays you first, then you've made a good deal. If not, stop talking to him.

user1397
April 22nd, 2011, 03:07 PM
HAHAHA! This is hilarious, turns out it was just one of those Nigerian scammers (I mean the ones that say their address is in Nigeria, if they are actually Nigerian I do not know).

I messed around with him for a little bit, and then I finally told him my paypal email and then he said I would get an email confirmation soon from paypal.

So I got the email, and within 0.2 seconds I could tell it was fake :lolflag:

So I sent him a nice little piece about how he should find another job and of his poor scamming skills :guitar:

I might post a pic later showing the fake paypal email or even the conversations, but I'm kinda busy atm.

***Important craigslist note: if the person tries to hurry you, misspells/has horrible grammar, or says that he is too busy at the moment etc it is usually a scam (this is apart from all the other usual signs of scammers, aka money orders, cashiers check, etc).

But you can't rule out someone who sounds genuine and yet insists upon using paypal for the transaction. I've sold something to a person via craigslist using paypal before (just once) and I actually got the money and everything was fine. You gotta go with basic instincts. If the person sounds genuine, he/she probably is. Plus giving away an email can't hurt (at least it is extremely unlikely that it'll affect you one way or another). If the person claims that he/she has sent the money and that you should be getting a confirmation email from paypal, check the email (especially the sender address, if it's not service@paypal.com then its a scam). You can further verify this by simply logging into your paypal account and seeing if you have any funds received.

celsdogg
April 22nd, 2011, 03:15 PM
the same also happened to me recently. I am selling a solid wood mahogany dining set. The reply:

------------------------
Thanks For Getting back to me ..I am buying this furniture and i am a
military presently on a mission,and due to secrets of this mission,
phone calls,and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out
time to check this advert.i don't have access to my bank account
online as i don't have internet banking, but i can pay from my paypal
account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it,I don't mind paying
additional $50 for it in order for you to take the ad down from
craigslist and also to be assured that it is already mine.i will need
you to give me your paypal email address so i can make the payments
asap for the item and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it is
very easy to set up, go to www.paypal.com and get it set up, after you
have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you used for the
registration with paypal so as to put the money through. I have a pick
up agent that will come and pick it up after i have made the payments


US Army
OIF Veteran
2004-2005
2006-2008
------------------------

As a real veteran (of the same period he stated too, 2004), i found this extra revolting.

3Miro
April 22nd, 2011, 03:39 PM
Yeah, a soldier on a secret mission, but with enough time to browse the internet for second hand shopping deals ... If this was real, he would have send mom/dad/wife/friend/cousin/neighbor to do the business in person. Just imagine the risk someone would be taking if they were really getting a used computer (or dining set) online like that (not to mention, why in the world would a soldier need a mahogany dining set when deployed).

The problem with those scams is greed. People do buy into it, for the 50 or 100 dollars more. People don't think, they are just greedy.

And yes, it is always a veteran, widow, single mom, someone in trouble, just so that they can get a more emotional response from you.

user1397
April 22nd, 2011, 03:52 PM
BTW: "He may just be in a hurry or in another country or really stupid ..." This is greed talking to you man, wake up to reality. You will not get 250 dollars for an item that you posted for 150.yea I agree, it is all about greed, I never actually hoped this was real, just a fool's hope :) [/lord of the rings movie reference]

forrestcupp
April 22nd, 2011, 07:51 PM
HAHAHA! This is hilarious, turns out it was just one of those Nigerian scammersNice.


You can further verify this by simply logging into your paypal account and seeing if you have any funds received.Exactly. You'd be crazy to not verify things by logging into your account. I don't even trust emails from my own bank enough to click on the links in the email. I always go to the web page and check my account securely that way.

Elfy
April 22nd, 2011, 09:10 PM
I don't even trust emails from my own bank enough to click on the links in the email.
I got an e-mail once from my 'bank' asking to verify my password - I sent them the supposed password - I would type it here but the forum word filter would buzz into action.

Forwarded it to my bank - never heard anything more other than a thanks for the bank.

If I'd been my grandfather I'd have sent it really :(

Luckily I don't think he knows what e-mail is :p

lisati
April 22nd, 2011, 09:20 PM
I once had a similar approach by email that was obviously a scam. I can't remember if I billed them via Paypal or sent them a link that would take care of things without giving out the email address associated with my Paypal account, but they replied and indicated that the Paypal thing didn't work.

These days, if I feel like razzing a scammer, I direct them here (http://lisati.homelinux.com/payment/). So far, the most that has happened is they've looked at the web page, with the occasional 403 error thrown up by the anti-spam protection I have on my server. No signs of any money yet. :(

SEisch
April 22nd, 2011, 09:40 PM
I post things on Craigslist from time to time, and I've had similar experiences. My response is always to ask them to pick it up in person, and pay in cash. If they want me to write up a bill of sale that's fine. Anything else I don't do. If they need something mail ordered to them that's what Ebay is for.