Paypal

[lorbay]

I am in the process of selling 2 overseas shipping containers and have have someone that wants to buy them through Paypal. It's almost $8,000.00. Whould any of you be gunshy doing this deal and am I at risk giving out my Paypal address to someone that could be trying to do something fishy???? (Don't know if that is possible.) Thanks.

Lin.

 

[workinforwood]

they can't do anything with your paypal address unless you give them your password too. I'd be more worried about the fee's involved...also if you sell a lot of stuff through paypal that is personal property and mix that in with business stuff, you hit so many transactions and or a high enough value and you'll get nailed income tax that you have to pay at the end of the year too.

 

[philipff]

There are alternatives, including a "counter cheque" that you would cash before delivering the containers. Or, you could have the buyer wire the money but you will end up paying a fee, as will he, for the transaction. Paypal fee for $8K is going to be substantial. Check it out. I like checks in the mail. Phil

 

[lorbay]

Thanks for the comments. I am not to worried about the fees at this point, just need to get rid of the containers. It just seems weired doing a large transaction like that, I use Paypal all the time but it's all small stuff like nothing over $300.00 and mostly with people on here. + I have never recieved a large some from Paypal before.

Lin.

 

[KenV]

There has always been those who practice fraud, and it has become more sophisticated with electronics making distance disappear. Paypal provides a level of protection for both the buyer and seller and make risks smaller.

I have some looms listed on Craigs list for sale and get several certified check inquiries with each listing.

 

[Jgrden]

I would contact PayPal and talk with them, phone to phone.

 

[Smitty37]

Thanks for the comments. I am not to worried about the fees at this point, just need to get rid of the containers. It just seems weired doing a large transaction like that, I use Paypal all the time but it's all small stuff like nothing over $300.00 and mostly with people on here. + I have never recieved a large some from Paypal before.

Lin.

I would make sure to move that money very quickly and get it to an account that PayPal does not have a link to. I would not let them use a credit card to make the payment via paypal either. I both send and have received pretty substantial sums via paypal....here is a secret.
I don't use it (as you know because you've sent me money) but you can eliminate the paypal fee if you have them send you the money and mark the transaction "Personal" and "other" (and actually that sounds like what the transaction might be) the fee is smaller and it is usually paid by the sender.

 

[NewLondon88]

I don't think I'd use Paypal for something like this.. but that's just me.
I don't trust them very much. If there's a dispute, they'll lock up your
money first, ask questions later. (and very slowly) and the buyer is
probably going to win anyway. Even if you have proof of your side of
an issue, it doesn't seem to matter much.

 

[lorbay]

Well I think I have put a stop to the whole this. I was very uneasy about the whole thing. So I have been stalling him a bit, and the last email I said I am sorry but I did tell you that I had a person interested in one of the, but after seeing them they took both. So they are sold. sorry.

This is what he sent me back.

Thanks for the mail i want you to know that PayPal is the only payment i can do cos is very easy to send and received money online.So i want you to kindly set up an account with your email address it's very easy just visit www.paypal.com and get an account with them and get back to me with your full name and your email address you use for the registration so i can processed with the payment Asap.Hope to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Thanks.


On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 3:08 PM, Lin . wrote:
Sorry the person I had interested in one of them took them both.

He really wants me to get that Paypal address to him.

Lin.

 

[76winger]

Well I think I have put a stop to the whole this. I was very uneasy about the whole thing. So I have been stalling him a bit, and the last email I said I am sorry but I did tell you that I had a person interested in one of the, but after seeing them they took both. So they are sold. sorry.

This is what he sent me back.

Thanks for the mail i want you to know that PayPal is the only payment i can do cos is very easy to send and received money online.So i want you to kindly set up an account with your email address it's very easy just visit www.paypal.com and get an account with them and get back to me with your full name and your email address you use for the registration so i can processed with the payment Asap.Hope to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Lin.

Now that sounds like the wonder English of a Scammer. Glad you backed out.

 

[TellicoTurning]

First off, if these are the type of containers I'm thinking they are.. 20 ft or 40 ft... how does he expect to collect the containers if he sends the money via paypal... you certainly can't mail them... if he's going to pick up the containers, why not just have him bring a cashier's check and be done with it.

 

[Smitty37]

Well I think I have put a stop to the whole this. I was very uneasy about the whole thing. So I have been stalling him a bit, and the last email I said I am sorry but I did tell you that I had a person interested in one of the, but after seeing them they took both. So they are sold. sorry.

This is what he sent me back.

Thanks for the mail i want you to know that PayPal is the only payment i can do cos is very easy to send and received money online.So i want you to kindly set up an account with your email address it's very easy just visit www.paypal.com and get an account with them and get back to me with your full name and your email address you use for the registration so i can processed with the payment Asap.Hope to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Lin.

Now that sounds like the wonder English of a Scammer. Glad you backed out.

Not necessarily - English isn't the 1st language of everyone. I have several customers whose writing is very difficult for me to understand. I agree that scams are often in very poor English (probably intentionally) but that doesn't mean poor English from a foreign citizen is a scam.

The paypal email address does no one any good without the password and there is no valid reason for a sender of funds to ever know the receiver's password.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Well I think I have put a stop to the whole this. I was very uneasy about the whole thing. So I have been stalling him a bit, and the last email I said I am sorry but I did tell you that I had a person interested in one of the, but after seeing them they took both. So they are sold. sorry.

This is what he sent me back.

Thanks for the mail i want you to know that PayPal is the only payment i can do cos is very easy to send and received money online.So i want you to kindly set up an account with your email address it's very easy just visit www.paypal.com and get an account with them and get back to me with your full name and your email address you use for the registration so i can processed with the payment Asap.Hope to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Lin.

Now that sounds like the wonder English of a Scammer. Glad you backed out.

Not necessarily - English isn't the 1st language of everyone. I have several customers whose writing is very difficult for me to understand. I agree that scams are often in very poor English (probably intentionally) but that doesn't mean poor English from a foreign citizen is a scam.

The paypal email address does no one any good without the password and there is no valid reason for a sender of funds to ever know the receiver's password.

There's no valid reason to "get back to him with full name and email address"... if he has a paypal account and can see the person's paypal account on line, he transfers money to the account and Paypal handles the transaction through their secure server...

I still ask, how was he going to get the containers after he paid for them... if they were the regular ocean containers I dealt with, they're not that easy to move and shipping an empty container cost the same as shipping a full one..... plus ocean containers are for sale in almost every port in the world.

This definitely looked like a scam.

 

[Smitty37]

maybe,

Well I think I have put a stop to the whole this. I was very uneasy about the whole thing. So I have been stalling him a bit, and the last email I said I am sorry but I did tell you that I had a person interested in one of the, but after seeing them they took both. So they are sold. sorry.

This is what he sent me back.

Thanks for the mail i want you to know that PayPal is the only payment i can do cos is very easy to send and received money online.So i want you to kindly set up an account with your email address it's very easy just visit www.paypal.com and get an account with them and get back to me with your full name and your email address you use for the registration so i can processed with the payment Asap.Hope to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Lin.

Now that sounds like the wonder English of a Scammer. Glad you backed out.

Not necessarily - English isn't the 1st language of everyone. I have several customers whose writing is very difficult for me to understand. I agree that scams are often in very poor English (probably intentionally) but that doesn't mean poor English from a foreign citizen is a scam.

The paypal email address does no one any good without the password and there is no valid reason for a sender of funds to ever know the receiver's password.

There's no valid reason to "get back to him with full name and email address"... if he has a paypal account and can see the person's paypal account on line, he transfers money to the account and Paypal handles the transaction through their secure server...

I still ask, how was he going to get the containers after he paid for them... if they were the regular ocean containers I dealt with, they're not that easy to move and shipping an empty container cost the same as shipping a full one..... plus ocean containers are for sale in almost every port in the world.

This definitely looked like a scam.

Well there sure is....He can't transfer funds via paypal unless he has the email address. In addition I personally wouldn't send $8000 via paypal unless I knew the receiver's address.

 

[lorbay]

Well I think I have put a stop to the whole this. I was very uneasy about the whole thing. So I have been stalling him a bit, and the last email I said I am sorry but I did tell you that I had a person interested in one of the, but after seeing them they took both. So they are sold. sorry.

This is what he sent me back.

Thanks for the mail i want you to know that PayPal is the only payment i can do cos is very easy to send and received money online.So i want you to kindly set up an account with your email address it's very easy just visit www.paypal.com and get an account with them and get back to me with your full name and your email address you use for the registration so i can processed with the payment Asap.Hope to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Lin.

Now that sounds like the wonder English of a Scammer. Glad you backed out.

Not necessarily - English isn't the 1st language of everyone. I have several customers whose writing is very difficult for me to understand. I agree that scams are often in very poor English (probably intentionally) but that doesn't mean poor English from a foreign citizen is a scam.

The paypal email address does no one any good without the password and there is no valid reason for a sender of funds to ever know the receiver's password.

So if it is so SAFE why is this guy hell bent on getting my Paypal address.??
We have an SIU (special investigation unit) team where I work and they were telling me that some of the Paypal scammers are over paying people and then asking for money back as they have over paid. People send the over payment back and the transaction has not cleared your bank yet, then the whole thing is cancelled and you are out the money you sent back. IS THIS POSSIBLE.??

Lin.

 

[babyblues]

So if it is so SAFE why is this guy hell bent on getting my Paypal address.??
We have an SIU (special investigation unit) team where I work and they were telling me that some of the Paypal scammers are over paying people and then asking for money back as they have over paid. People send the over payment back and the transaction has not cleared your bank yet, then the whole thing is cancelled and you are out the money you sent back. IS THIS POSSIBLE.??

Lin.

How else is he supposed to send payment to you without your e-mail address?? That's the whole point. If he has nowhere to send the money, he can't pay you. What is he going to do with your Paypal address? Send money to it? That would be terrible, lol. I think it's good that we approach these kinds of situations with healthy skepticism, but I think you're seeing a conspiracy that doesn't exist.

I guess I don't understand how some of these scams actually succeed. I don't do anything until payment has cleared. Why would anyone send money back before the payment has cleared?

 

[Smitty37]

I doubt it.

Well I think I have put a stop to the whole this. I was very uneasy about the whole thing. So I have been stalling him a bit, and the last email I said I am sorry but I did tell you that I had a person interested in one of the, but after seeing them they took both. So they are sold. sorry.

This is what he sent me back.

Thanks for the mail i want you to know that PayPal is the only payment i can do cos is very easy to send and received money online.So i want you to kindly set up an account with your email address it's very easy just visit www.paypal.com and get an account with them and get back to me with your full name and your email address you use for the registration so i can processed with the payment Asap.Hope to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Lin.

Now that sounds like the wonder English of a Scammer. Glad you backed out.

Not necessarily - English isn't the 1st language of everyone. I have several customers whose writing is very difficult for me to understand. I agree that scams are often in very poor English (probably intentionally) but that doesn't mean poor English from a foreign citizen is a scam.

The paypal email address does no one any good without the password and there is no valid reason for a sender of funds to ever know the receiver's password.

So if it is so SAFE why is this guy hell bent on getting my Paypal address.??
We have an SIU (special investigation unit) team where I work and they were telling me that some of the Paypal scammers are over paying people and then asking for money back as they have over paid. People send the over payment back and the transaction has not cleared your bank yet, then the whole thing is cancelled and you are out the money you sent back. IS THIS POSSIBLE.??

Lin.

That scam is more often used with e-checks and sometimes used with credit cards. You beat it by not sending money except as a refund against the paypal payment and not before the e-check has cleared (paypal doesn't credit your account until the check clears. Also, you can direct paypal to only accept payments from paypal accounts where the funds are on deposit in that account (they can't pay by credit card that way). So it clears instantly. The only possibility then would be to attempt to say the goods were not delivered. However if you specify that the goods must be picked up and signed for and you send them a paypal invoice they won't be able to make that work either. Paypal handles non-delivery complaints largely in favor of the buyer, but there are steps you can take. The biggest problem is that paypal will issue a refund before you can get a response from a foreign country's customs so sometimes they refund and you then find out the item was delivered. If that happens Paypal will not help you get paid.

Check to see if the transaction can be covered under paypal's seller protection too. If it can it's probably legit if it can't ....

 

[NewLondon88]

I guess I don't understand how some of these scams actually succeed. I don't do anything until payment has cleared. Why would anyone send money back before the payment has cleared?

There is cleared, and then there is "Cleared". Until you get burned or ask,
your bank won't explain it to you. You can see the balance in your account
after a week or so, but it may not be for a month or more before your
bank finds out that the scammer knows someone who got a hold of
another scammer who sells them blank check stock, magnetic inks etc,
they made up the name of a bank, made up an account number etc.
Once your bank finds out, so will you.

 

[NewLondon88]

We have an SIU (special investigation unit) team where I work and they were telling me that some of the Paypal scammers are over paying people and then asking for money back as they have over paid. People send the over payment back and the transaction has not cleared your bank yet, then the whole thing is cancelled and you are out the money you sent back. IS THIS POSSIBLE.??
Lin.

Certainly. This is how most of the scams work. They send you bogus funds,
you send them the balance in legit funds. They disappear before anyone
catches on. They can use a bank account with a minimal balance to use
as 'backup' funding, then disappear with the money. Not all countries have
banking laws like the US, where you need to prove your identity before
opening an account.

 

[Smitty37]

Hard Scam to pull off

We have an SIU (special investigation unit) team where I work and they were telling me that some of the Paypal scammers are over paying people and then asking for money back as they have over paid. People send the over payment back and the transaction has not cleared your bank yet, then the whole thing is cancelled and you are out the money you sent back. IS THIS POSSIBLE.??
Lin.

Certainly. This is how most of the scams work. They send you bogus funds,
you send them the balance in legit funds. They disappear before anyone
catches on. They can use a bank account with a minimal balance to use
as 'backup' funding, then disappear with the money. Not all countries have
banking laws like the US, where you need to prove your identity before
opening an account.

That scam does not really work with electronic transfers ... usually only with paper. With electronic transfers the money is only available in your account after it has been received by your bank...no clearing at all.

At paypal that is a tough scam to pull off - you can configure your account so it will only accept payment if the funds are available on deposit in the sender's paypal account. Transfer is instant. I don't send "back" overpayments or anything else except as a refund to the original transaction. That way if the buyer later claims or otherwise halts payment they can only get what is remaining on the transaction. It they pay via credit card the refund goes back to the credit card.

What I would be concerned with at paypal is them making a claim on non-receipt or not as described and stopping their payment after they have received the goods. You can prevent that by transferring the funds out of paypal and then out of the account that is linked to paypal. Paypal can then not arbitrarily give them a refund. Not as described claims are fair in that the seller acknowledges they have received the returned goods before Paypal will issue a refund.

I won't accept payment by someone just sending PayPal funds unless I know them well. I send an invoice and they pay the invoice. So if they ask for their money back I can refund against the original transaction