craigslist buyers wanting to pay with paypal

[myusrn]

On more than one occasion i've had a craigslist buyer say they are interested if i can mail / ship the item to them and pay with paypal.  

The craigslist | about | scams page says "Beware [ of ] offers involving shipping" and "Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc)".

I'm curious what the craigslist buyer scam is, or seller security exposure is, associated with providing the buyer ones paypal send me money link [ paypal.com/paypalme/username ]. 

Is the typical craigslist buyer scam that they'll try and hack my account now that they know the account name or use it in other transactions that will leave me responsible? 

Is the typical craigslist buyer scam that they are hoping by paying asking price i'll get all excited about the deal and package item up and ship it to them prior to having a friends & family payment or invoiced payment processed?

Is the typical craigslist buyer scam something other than what I've outlined above or is craigslist scam faq calling out that paypal will get used more often in seller scams, e.g. get you to send me money using friends and family payment then never ship the item?

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@myusrn 

THIS SCAM?

They encourage you to accept a direct Paypal payment and may ask you to send the item internationally.
No funds or activity of the transaction shows in your Paypal account and any emails may go into your junk/spam folders.

They don't quibble on cost and may also say they can't view the item as they are disabled or working abroad or sending as a gift to a family member but they will arrange a shipping agent or courier to collect it.

You will get/got a "fake" email that looks as though it is from paypal.....it isn't because they don't have a Paypal account and have no intention of paying you.
It will say the buyer has paid ...you won't have been paid.
They will tell you that the payment is released when you provide paypal with a tracking/shipping number......this won't happen.

OR
The fake paypal email will tell you that the buyer has paid for the item + shipping costs but you must send those shipping costs to the courier/ shipping agent via another payment processor than Paypal or by providing some vouchers or tokens before the funds are released to you.
They are not interested in the item, they just want that couriers/shipping funds and you will never see money in your paypal balance.

They also sometimes threaten legal action...have a laugh at that one and ignore it as its rubbish.

Once you have become a victim they may try again with more fake Paypal emails with other reasons that you must send them a payment for custom fees / to verify, expand or upgrade an account.

Paypal NEVER tell you to send an item before the payment is showing in your paypal account.
Paypal do not tell you to send trackable, they advise it for selling protection but it is not compulsory.
Paypal NEVER expect you to use a rival money transfer service eg Moneygram, Western Union, Bank Transfer or any sort of gift token or voucher.
There is no seller protection on paypal for any type of motor vehicle or item that is collected by the buyer.

Delete any emails and ignore the scammers.

[myusrn]

Thanks for the details on various ways in which a craigslist buyer will try and scam a seller by means of requesting item be mailed [ or shipped ] and pay for it and shipping with paypal.

The scenario where they accept the price w/o negotiating, especially if you are asking for a best case price, and are willing to kick in shipping costs is something i've seen.  Makes you raise an eyebrow given you know they can get it cheaper via a local pickup purchase.

The scenarios where they say the paypal payment gets released once shipping confirmation has been applied to the invoice seems like it could catch people.  Especially if you are not aware of how the "send an invoice" process works differently than in the case of something like ebay where their is an escrow service i play.

Also this "Can we text on the phone instead ?? I hardly check my mail" seems to be common in craigslist buyer communications these days.  I'm guessing moving you off of craigslist anonymized and logged email exchanges gives them ability to engage in additional tactics and techniques.

In my case i'm was able to get the buyer proposing a shipment + paypal payment to say where the delivery would be going. In this case New York and i'm on the west coast so seems to be even more of a sign of scamming attempt given i'm not selling electronic device that unique or at such a great price that you couldn't find and aquire it locally.  Someone from New York shouldn't even be looking at items associate with a west coast region set of craigslist listings.