Kijiji - Pay-Pal Scam?

[Bally Boy]

I thought I'd let you guys hear about this one.... it's news to me.

I have a game up on Kijiji right now, I just renewed it after a few months, within hours of the repost I received a text reply to my ad from a 402 Area code number. He sent me a text message stating to correspond with him at a gmail address... fine.

I looked the number up on the internet, it's a Nebraska exchange, fine the guy is in Nebraska... maybe he checks Kijiji ( strange ) or got the link off Pinside ( I did post a connected link ad on Pinside months ago - the Kijiji link should have expired but who knows ).

He sends me an email reply stating he is happy with the description and wants to send money via Pay-Pal. I asked him simple questions about how he would be picking up the game, would he like to see it, etc. etc. He basically has sent me 3 more emails just ignoring my questions, just wants to send the payment..... he doesn't even provide a name.... and it now appears to me that english is a second laguange to this guy as his phrasing and emails look translated basically making little sense in english...

This smells like the old pay and then ask for a refund scam coming my way........ it just stinks, I can't be sure exactly where this is heading, but my ad clearly states I will only transport the game to the border on the CDN side for a fee OR local pick up. NO SHIPPING... yet he still wants to send the money.

I talked to a guy at work about it and he says he sold a pickup truck recently on Kijiji and had a ton of emails like this.... could it be there is some type of scam going on with Pay-Pal? I have heard of this but never experienced this personally..... Pay-Pal has always been a pretty solid system.... I don't understand how this is going to work at all...

Have any of you had this same situation ever????

 

[mwong168]

This definitely sounds fishy and I have heard similar situations. Now if you choose to entertain this potentially scammer you can ask him to send you full payment via paypal as a "gift" so this way he can't dispute and get the funds back after you have shipped the game off. The person will likely decline and insist to send as "non gift".

The other thing I have heard happen is say your game is selling for $5000, he will send you $5500 via paypal and claim he made a mistake and you can send him back the difference via wire or some other form of un-reversible payment method. Then he will dispute his original $5500 paypal payment and be up $500.

Now unless the buyer's reference checks out I wouldn't bother unless everything is in your favor in regards to payment.

 

[Menace]

Interesting... Can't say I've seen anything like this before and yeah I don't know where it would be headed either.

D

 

[Vengeance]

Most likely he is trying to get you to sell the machine via paypal and then once he has the machine in his possession he will file a dispute with paypal saying the item was never delivered.

 

[Bally Boy]

I think this is where it's headed....


Well, if Checks and Money Orders are fraught with dangers, Paypal must be safe right?
Paypal is good if you are a BUYER, but you should never accept it as a seller.
Of course if someone rips you off for $50 on a display glass you sold them, you are not going to lose much sleep, but if someone rips you off for $7000, that's a different story.
Don't accept Paypal for payment on large items.
There are 1000s of Paypal scams on the net, but the two that probably apply the most to Pinheads is Chargeback and Counterfeit.
CHARGEBACK - a Chargeback is where someone files a dispute with Paypal.
If you are a regular Paypal user, you have probably found out that it is simply the flip of a coin as to whether Paypal sides with you or not. Sometimes they ask for evidence, sometimes they don't. Sometimes it takes 2 days and sometimes 2 weeks, but however they rule, the ruling is final. There is no appeals process, no submitting more evidence, it's just a crap shoot.
IF SOMEONE PAYS ME AS A "GIFT" THEY CAN'T FILE A DISPUTE, RIGHT?
Ah, here is another False Belief that is exploited by scammers to steal from you.
Paypal says that if you pay someone by "Gift" there is no disputing of the transaction through Paypal allowed. So people get the idea into their heads that this must the only safe way to accept money from Paypal.
What Paypal does not tell you is that all the buyer has to do is file a dispute directly with their Credit Card company and then the Credit Card company will chargeback Paypal, who will then Chargeback you, the seller.
And as a super bonus, although Paypal's dispute period is 45 days (180 days for some items), most Credit Card companies allow chargebacks for 6 months. So even months latter, you can be chargedback from Paypal.
If you have already removed the money from your Paypal account, Paypal will try to take the chargeback amount from any bank account or credit card you have attached to your Paypal account.
If they can't get that money from any of those sources, they sell the debt immediately to a collection agency.
COUNTERFEIT - Another great scam is the buyer files a dispute with Paypal that the item or a substantial part of the item is Counterfeit.
Under Paypal's rules, Counterfeit items can not be returned to the seller - they must be destroyed by the buyer in order for Paypal to refund the purchase price.
No one at Paypal is a expert on Pinball authenticity, so they simply request the buyer send photo evidence that the machine indeed has been destroyed, and the money is refunded to the buyer.
You are out the machine, the shipping costs and the payment at this point.

 

[luch]

like I always said with this crap "run run very far away " cash only In person

 

[mwong168]

Thanks for posting that Bally Boy. I sell much stuff online using Paypal but I always heard receiving as "gift" was safe but apparently not. You know what else is a scam? Paypal fees

 

[Bally Boy]

Here's the latest response.... this person is a piece of work...

"Thanks for your quickly respond ,i wish i could pay as best as good
for you and for the agent they don't make payment on behalf of their
client i urge you to set up a paypal account is very easy to sign up
just log on www.paypal.com and get back to me with the email you used
to register so i can paying in asap thanks."

Seems like they are hell bent to use Pay-Pal.... scam, scam, scam...... they obviously are a master of the english language as well.....

I wish I could give out the text phone number and e-mail to everyone on the interenet and let them fill his inbox with nonsense...

 

[mwong168]

 

[mwong168]

I wish I could give out the text phone number and e-mail to everyone on the interenet and let them fill his inbox with nonsense...

Unfortunately there are some people who have or stilling falling for these type of scams otherwise I don't think people would still be trying. It happens not matter what you are selling online via kijiji.

 

[Vengeance]

The only thing I'm curious about is, who is going to meet you are the border?

 

[Paul]

Hard to belive some of he BS people think of. Should put thier minds to better use.

 

[Bally Boy]

The only thing I'm curious about is, who is going to meet you are the border?

According to the latest e-mail... an "agent", lol.....

It's possible they don't even want the machine, may just be a scam to get money back from Pay-Pal or the credit card company.....

 

[mwong168]

According to the latest e-mail... an "agent", lol.....

It possible they don't even want the machine, may just be a scam to get money back from Pay-Pal or the credit card company.....

I have entertained some of these scams to the point where I push for a face to face meeting with this so called "agent" and they usually stop replying and move onto the next victim.

 

[EVH]

I can tell you exactly what this guy is attempting to do. You give him an email address that you say is your Pay Pal registered account. You will then get an email to that account that looks like it came from Pay Pay and then he will attempt to get the machine off you. The email is a fake. Check your PP account, there will be no deposit, better yet use an email that is not associated with PP and that will be a dead giveaway.

Most likely he has no idea what a pinball machine is. I bet the original email started saying something like I am interested in your item for sale and agree with the condition and price.

Email him back and say that you have several items on Kijiji, what exactly did you want again? He will have no clue.

 

[Luckydogg420]

I've noticed these scammers seem to react to kijiji adds that have a cell phone number in the add. They text message you and then wish that you reply to their email address.

I no longer include my number in postings that I make, email only.