Selling your used stuff online has become commonplace. So have scams taking advantage of the good names of reputable online companies. At the FTC, we’ve heard from people stung by scammers spoofing PayPal. The scam generally goes like this: You post a high-value item, like a used car, for sale online. In no time at all, you get an email from a buyer willing to pay full price — or more! But he sets conditions; he is only willing to pay by PayPal or insists the sale must happen right away. What’s really going on? A ruse to steal your personal information, money or merchandise.
Here are some suspicious situations to look for and steps to safe selling online:
Scenario One: The buyer claims he can only pay via PayPal. Don’t have a PayPal account? No problem, he says. He’ll send you an email with a link so you can set one up.
What should you do? Don’t take the bait. The link will send you to a website masquerading as PayPal. Any information you enter will be collected by the bogus buyer, and may be used to commit fraud. If you need to set up an account, go directly to PayPal.com.
Scenario Two: “Check your email!” The buyer claims he has sent payment to your PayPal account with additional funds so you can ship the merchandise ASAP, but oops, he sent too much money. He asks you to return the extra money via a money wiring service. It’s all a lie, including the extra money the buyer says he included.
What should you do? Log into your PayPal account. Make sure you’ve been paid before you ship. Never follow links in emails from people you don’t know. The safest approach is to open a browser window, navigate to PayPal.com, and log in yourself. Also, if the buyer claims to have sent extra money, and asks for some back, that’s a big red flag.
Scenario Three: The buyer sends you real money through a real PayPal account, and you ship him the car. Problem is, the PayPal account belongs to someone else! You might need to return the money even though the scammer has your wheels.
What now? Contact PayPal and ask them to open an investigation. The company offers seller protections so you aren’t liable for unauthorized transactions. Also file a complaint with the FTC and your local police department.
Learn how to recognize and avoid common online scams. And contact PayPal at [email protected] if you’ve been stung by a PayPal spoof. The company wants to hear from you.
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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
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In reply to Please send this to all by MN
In reply to A woman wants to buy my ring by Maggie2
In reply to I have been scammed by bogus by Anni
In reply to Please send this to all by MN
In reply to ""Alright. My name is by JBB
In reply to same thing happened to me. I by laurie
In reply to Just happened to me..almost by Dee
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In reply to I just had an almost by JTH
In reply to Mine's an Air Force Major who by Rod
In reply to I have to one-up. Got one by Don't use
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In reply to Mine is apparently working by Cat Lady
In reply to Mine is apparently working by Cat Lady
In reply to I have to one-up. Got one by Don't use
In reply to Same story! My guy is by PenguinSuit
In reply to Here's one, but can't by RoKSweet
In reply to Mine's an Air Force Major who by Rod
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In reply to March 1, 2018. I had one a by SheikhLaw
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In reply to This is what I just received. by Sunrise
We almost fell for it as well, same email address and modus operandi:
" from: David Harold date: Fri, Jun 8, 2018 at 2:36 PM
Hello, Thank you for your prompt response,am really satisfied with the price and condition. I'm ready to pay your asking price including, I work as a marine engineer with Italian marines on bermuda sea, so i wont be able to come and do things personally, my shipping company will be coming for the pickup and named Parcel 2go Courier...the contract is strictly no call due to the lack of reception on the sea area.
But I'm able to access email anytime as we will make use of laptop so my only quickest payment option is PayPal or PayPal to Bank as i can send money via PayPal anytime and to bank account so since I'm requesting this transaction to be done via PayPal or Bank, i will be responsible for all the PayPal charges on this transaction and if you don't have an account with PayPal, its pretty easy, safe and secured to open one. Just log on to paypal. com. I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible so i need your PayPal Full name and email address so i can send the money now. Name: Mr David Harold Home Address: Bars town, ca 92111 City: Califonia Country: United state of America Here is the paypal information needed below. Name: PayPal Email address: Home Address: Cell Phone No: Amount: Many thanks "
With us he also had a copy of Mr Harold David Buckler (the last name on the licence card) Be careful!
In reply to We almost fell for it as well by Almost fell fo…
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In reply to I'm selling some used items by similiar scam?
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In reply to I had almost fell for it by Lauryssa8779
In reply to This is what I just received. by Sunrise
In reply to This is what I just received. by Sunrise
In reply to This is what I just received. by Sunrise
In reply to I just had an almost by JTH
In reply to Holy cow. Same thing by Kevin
In reply to Holy cow. Same thing by Kevin
In reply to Thank you for posting this. by Kurtt
In reply to Same person emailed me by D
In reply to Just had the same thing by mrkdb
In reply to Same person emailed me by D
In reply to Received the almost identical by Bob
In reply to Received the almost identical by Bob
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In reply to I had the similar e-mail by theark
In reply to Thank you so much for posting by Carol B
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Pagination