Buyer requesting paypal address to send payment for product, is it safe?

[Anthony90]

I am trying to sell an item on craigslist.com and I have a potential buyer. He is asking for my PayPal address to send the funds. Once the payment clears his shipper will arrive at my location to pick up the product. Is this safe? What type of garauntee does PayPal offer that the funds are good and I will not be charged? This is the e-mail he sent me: 

Kind Regards....

Hello,

 Thanks for the swift esponse.I will like to purchase the item for my Son.He just set up a musical studio.I am out of town at the moment and i will be paying for the item through PayPal.If you send me your PayPal address and i will make the payment as soon as possible.Once the payment clears,my Shipper will come down to your plac to pick up the item.

If you do not have a paypal account or know about paypal,kindly go to www.paypal.com and set up an account.Paypal is easy medium for transactions and they ensure the safety and guaranteed of paymet between the buyer and the seller.

I look forward to reading from you.

[shelwiley]

These are totally scams! As anothe stated, you will hand the items over...then they will reverse the charges. After that is initiated, you will have all kinds of trouble...with Paypal, with any bank involved...Paypal charges you reversal fees, they may decide to withold future payments, etc. Protect yourself, move on and find another buyer!

[sataylor]

Thank you for the advice, I already got scammed once for $550.00 and I don't want it to happen again. I will try to find another buyer as you suggested.

Sherri

[Jaddavila]

I have been receiving emails from a buer who says that he wants to buy my product and wants to pay only through paypal.  Oddly , I looked at some of the  responses by other  Paypal members  mentioning the same oceanographer

at sea , wanting to buy my product for his father .  Well ,  I certainly beleive  the FBI  should get on this case , and get this guy  in a cell .   Should  Paypal  alert members of these  guys  who  rob people through their service ?

[paultom]

It is a scam. PayPal obviously knows that it is with this many complaints and questions but does not post a warning because they are like all companies. They get money through fees even if you get ripped off. All about the bottom line.

[NorthBayMAS]

I am in a similar situation, how did your transaction go?

Thanks,

[mr02vz800]

dont do it its a scam

[drmluver]

I am trying to sell my camera on Ebay in a small town in Missouri.  I got an email this morning from a Missionary who wishes to send this surprise package to his son.  see email below:

Hello,
 I am Pen ***,I will like to buy your item urgently for my son and i am
ready to offer you $550 for it including the shipping cost via Usps
Priority Mail Service, i need it very urgent for my
son as a birthday gift,He his schooling in Nigeria and he had just
been been promoted and i want wanted to send him a surpise package
because i am at sea at the moment for evangelism and due to
the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are
restricted also you know my Pastoral Mission doesn't allow me to be
online frequently but i squeezed out time to check this advert and
send you an email regarding it and i am sending it to him there as a
special present,so i will be glad if you could help me and sell it to
me,and i am going to pay you via paypal so kindly get back to me with
your paypal email address with your full name so that i can arrange
for the payment on time also if you do not have a paypal account
kindly go to www.paypal.com and sign up for account and once you
register just send me the email address you used to sign up because
paypal is very secure and fast,also i want you to send me some picture
of the item when you are getting back to me so i will be glad to hear
back from you now to let me know if you accept my offer because am
really serious about buying this item pls, Thank you Hope to hear back
from you now Reply me now

Funny...since his later email with the shipping address is for a guy who wouldn't sound to be like his son at all.  He seems to be very pushy.  After reading these posts, I'm absolutely positive this is a scam.  I've forwarded these emails to spoof@paypal.com.  They have verified that these emails are phishy.  I'm glad I checked because I was about to race home from work to do this great favor for this scam artist.  Per the paypal rep, any payments made to your paypal account will show up immediately (there might be a hold sometimes)...but if you don't see anything, a paypal payment was NEVER made.   This guy is really sophisticated.  He even sent me a fake paypal email confirming payment.  see below:

Dear XXXXXXXXXXX,
                        This is to inform you that we received your payment $600.00 USD by your buyer Mr Pen *** **** PayPal account for Craigslist purchases:#Canon Rebel XSi (Body Only) + extra battery + bag REDUCED PRICE). The money has been deducted from your buyer's account and is ready to be credited into your PayPal account as soon as we receive the shipment details for verification. Your funds is still on PENDING now and as we wait to receive the scanned copy of the shipment from you soonest for fast accreditation into your PayPal account, we give you 24-48hours to make the shipment of the merchandise to be shipped, we have forwarded all your details to our verification department so that you can get maximum attention from us.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAYMENT WILL NOT APPEAR IN THE "PENDING" TAB IN YOUR ACCOUNT UNTIL YOU SEND THE  SHIPMENT SCANNED RECEIPT TO US FOR VERIFICATION.

 
                            This is due to the new policies at PayPal to protect both the buyer and the seller in the face of the growing number of fraudulent activities perpetrated via the internet. Your payment is intact and you are encouraged to complete this transaction. Here at PayPal you can be assured that your security and safety is our topmost concern, You are urge to email all the necessary details to our account/verification department (paypal would not let me post the information).

Stupidly...I replied to this email address.  They replied with a fancy confirmation. see below:

 Dear Caly ********,
             Thanks for contacting us,this is to confirm to you that your payment has been deducted from your buyer account and it has been deposited into our database,we just want to verify the shipment before we credit the money into your account, so that the transaction can be protected with adequate security measures the money will be credited into your PayPal account as soon as we receive the shipment details from you and confirm it.
   So,In other to fastened the transaction you are urge to ship out the item under 24Hrs of getting this confirmation mail so that the verification can be done on time and get your money credited,we urge you to kindly get the item sent out as soon as you can get send the shipment details to us,once we get this you will get an instant message confirming that we receive it and next will be the alert message confirm that your money has been credited.

We await your soonest reply with the shipment details and we are assuring that you are safe and secure with us,so be rest assured that you will get your money as soon as we receive the shipment details.

Thanks For Choosing PayPal!!!

PayPal Teams.

I decided to call paypal when I searched everywhere for a pending post of money transfer.  I wanted to provide all these emails to show you guys how easily I could've been scammed.  I hope this helps everyone out in the future.

[wildermagic]

Thanks for this posting. I got something almost exactly like this for a computer I was selling. Complete with the email from paypal. Fortunately I refused to ship the item because I had listed it locally to avoid the hassle of shipping. Then I got threats of legal action. Now I'm not quite so worried. Thanks.

[sataylor]

I did get scammed like this is there any way to ever get paid for the merchandise?

[Southcanuck]

Helping my brother in law with a painting and got the same type of e-mail.  Where do these scum bags crawl out of anyway.  Is ther any way to squash them so they huirt and bleed and suffer to **bleep** freezes over.  Obviously you see I am being very polite about this scum.  Anyway this is the e-mail I got and by the way I got taken with a blackberry phone about a 1 1/2 ago and lost the phone because it was the first time I got taken and I am still fuming mad that this insect/parasite got away with it.

It came from a James <removed>:

Thanks for your mail. i would be glad to pay for it as soon as
possible though i will not be available to come for an inspection due
to  the nature of my work as a marine engineering, It hard to make a
phone calls and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out
time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I
insisted on PayPal because 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 will need you to give
me your full name and your PayPal email address and the price so i can
transfer the funds Asap for it and please if you don't have PayPal
account yet, it is very easy to set up, just visit www.paypal.com  and
get it set up, after you have set it up i will only need your full
name and the  e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so
as to transfer the funds. I have a pick up agent that will come and
pick it after the payment has been made.


Thanks.

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