Scammer in action (Page 3): You better go knock on wood, Jerry. It takes just one jerk. I've bought and sold off and on since '02, and last year I finally got a troll who "borrowed" a...

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

jerryc41 wrote:

Right! Definitely! I've been buying and selling on eBay for years, and I've never had a problem because I never break the rules.

You better go knock on wood, Jerry. It takes just one jerk. I've bought and sold off and on since '02, and last year I finally got a troll who "borrowed" a lens. It happens, no matter what a saint you think you are.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

Abo wrote:

Don't know about the US rules for Ebay but down here
buyers can pay directly into your bank account with Netbank.

So none of the Paypal rules (or charges) apply.

Having said that I never break the rules either.
I've had people pay outside of Ebay but I let
Ebay know the item sold and pay them the designated fee.
I've had exactly 200 transactions now and have 100% positive feedback.

EBay is set to begin phasing out PayPal and phasing in something else in the US. That could be what it is.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Very interesting and informative thread!

cochese

Craigs list is a cesspool of scammers. Run away...fast!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Peterff wrote:

You should never ship until the money has landed and successfully transferred to your bank account.

Paypal is reliable, for both buying and selling, it just takes common sense and discipline.

There is nothing wrong with shipping to a different destination once the payment has been successfully processed.

If you have the audit trail including a request for the destination address prior to payment and shipping you should be safe.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

mflowe wrote:

Not true, not true and I repeat not true. You always have to ship to the verified address on file or you are not covered. A hacker or scammer can ask item be shipped to another address, then they can claim item was never received, then a charge back goes on your account.

All you need to do is to make sure the address is registered by the buyer and keep a documented audit trail. There are plenty of scammers out there for sure, but this really isn’t that hard.

As I said earlier, that’s what shipping insurance is for. There are ways to deal with these things intelligently.

We increasingly have to deal with porch pirates and such, especially for high value items, but requiring a signature combined with insurance usually does the trick.

My wife works in the jewelry business and frequently ships things overseas, sometimes valued in excess of $100,000. It is always insured and for retail the buyer pays the cost. No insurance, it is not shipped. She hasn’t had a problem yet.

As a buyer she has had to use paypal support when vendors misrepresent an item either deliberately or through ignorance, and she’s always polite and tries to resolve any issues, but she also lets the vendor know that she never loses, and hasn’t done so yet.

So don’t be paranoid, just be cautious and diligent.

pacman Loc: Toowoomba, Qld, Australia.

I quit using PayPal several years ago. I was billed approximately $US2,000 for a 7 year old MacBook. Not ordered nor received by me.

Turns out it was shipped from California to Indonesia, and nothing whatsoever to do with me. PayPal refunded me, but I was out of pocket about $40, the difference between the currency buy and sell rates. Emailed PayPal many times with no response. No PayPal for me, thankyou very much.

BebuLamar

Gene51 wrote:

I only use cash with Craigslist - it is a local classified service - and the best way to not get scammed is to do face-to-face transactions. Scammers will insist on shipping somewhere else, and then claiming the goods were not received, etc etc etc. If the guy needs it shipped to somewhere else, make the transaction local and cash, and let them ship it.

I do craiglist because I want face to face transactions. Otherwise why would I use craiglist instead of ebay?
All the scams on craiglist the scammers always want to ship and no cash transaction.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

WayneL wrote:

I have a camera on craigs list for sale and the person wants to use pay pal and for me to ship it to her cousin in Colorado. I'm surprised it's not Nigeria.

Reputable places are more expensive and a cheaper site may be more tempting. My nickname for it is, "Cringe List"

Save yourself some aggravation!

Kuzano

STANDARD CRAIGSLIST SCAM!
NEVER SHIP ON CRAIGSLIST! EVEN CL TELLS YOU NOT TO SHIP. FOOL IF YOU DO.

CL is only a face to face cash only web site. They have the best section advice section on scams. Please read it.

THE ISSUE HERE IS NOT PAYPAL ALL YOU GOOD NATURED IDIOTS. IT'S CRAIGS LIST. MANY ARE NOW DOING THEIR TRANSACTIONS IN LOCAL POLICE STATIONS OR POLICE PARKING LOTS.

I post frequently on CL and over half of my transactions are proposed as payment by Paypal and you ship later, and they offer to pay extra if you close the listing now (The scam part).
Doing shipping on Craigslist is ill advised even and mostly by Craigslist. A sucker bet.
I do all my transactions at Starbucks , MacDonalds, or the police station.

For crying out loud folks. People are getting thieved, mugged, raped and killed on CRAIGSLIST!!!!

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

pacman wrote:

I quit using PayPal several years ago. I was billed approximately $US2,000 for a 7 year old MacBook. Not ordered nor received by me.

Turns out it was shipped from California to Indonesia, and nothing whatsoever to do with me. PayPal refunded me, but I was out of pocket about $40, the difference between the currency buy and sell rates. Emailed PayPal many times with no response. No PayPal for me, thankyou very much.

These days they will ship only to the address registered with account. Paypal works fine for me. Thank you very much.

kkayser

WayneL wrote:

I have a camera on craigs list for sale and the person wants to use pay pal and for me to ship it to her cousin in Colorado. I'm surprised it's not Nigeria.

This does not sound like a scam to me. Either insure the package or request a signature. Keep good images of the condition as sent. Include the serial number in some images.

Typical scammers want money, not cameras.

Gilkar

I've never had A problem with paypal. When I tell scammers I only take Paypal I usually never hear from them again.

WayneL Loc: Baltimore Md

kkayser wrote:

This does not sound like a scam to me. Either insure the package or request a signature. Keep good images of the condition as sent. Include the serial number in some images.

Typical scammers want money, not cameras.

Ship to cousin is a red flag. Why does she want me to ship to her cousin, can't she do it. She responded to my first reply within minutes and when I said no pay pal there was no more replies. Scammers are good at sending out fake pp payment notices and if you don't check it out you are screwed.

kkayser

Anyone who buys online without a credit (debit) card will be scammed.