I had a text message asking if the car is still for sale, so I replied it was and got this in reply

 

Great! please consider it sold and cancel every other appointment regarding it,i am buying it as gift for my son that just graduated from the college and i am read to pay your full asking price, i have read through the advert and i'm totally satisfied with it and i will be glad if you can get back to me with some pics if available,sadly i won't be able to come for the inspection and pick up due to my present condition now,i loss my hearing and being on a wheelchair but I have a courier agent that will help me to pick it up at your preferred location.Regarding the payment i can only pay via PayPal at the moment and I will be responsible for all the PayPal fee/charges on this transaction kindly get back to me with your PayPal email and the pick up location so that i can inform the courier agent about it now?Awaiting your reply soon...

 

suggestions for a suitable reply please :p 

 

 

Suggested reply - "I don't have a PayPal account, but cash 3 days before collection is acceptable."

It's a scam. Can't think of a suitable response though!

Honestly, I'm not sure I'd even validate my phone number by replaying.  But if you're at a lose end then there's some fun to be had I'm sure.  

Scam. Delete. Move on.

Tell him to get a new Doctor, "being on a wheelchair" is no help to deafness.

Ask them to send you the money by Western Union Money Transfer and you'll be happy to deliver the car to a petrol station of supermarket car park of their choice.

If someone sends you money on PayPal as a gift can they get it back or not? If not make a second pp account so it's not traceable and get him to send it as a gift.

He forgot to mention that he was also a Nigerian Prince. How some people fall for these I'll never know :no:

He forgot to mention that he was also a Nigerian Prince. How some people fall for these I'll never know :no:

me neither, it's blatantly obvious what he wants to do. Send the seller the money, get the car then get the money back through the terrible system that PayPal provides for sellers meanwhile you end up with nothing.

If someone sends you money on PayPal as a gift can they get it back or not? If not make a second pp account so it's not traceable and get him to send it as a gift.

That's a good point. And even if they could get it back, who cares. You make a duplicate account and transfer the money to one of those prepaid MasterCard things...withdraw at a cash point and then hand the money into the police as proceeds of crime? Or keep it...

I don't know if it's possible to do the above but I'm sure PayPal say no bank account is required.

Send his 'Courier/agent' to: 

That's a good point. And even if they could get it back, who cares. You make a duplicate account and transfer the money to one of those prepaid MasterCard things...withdraw at a cash point and then hand the money into the police as proceeds of crime? Or keep it...

I don't know if it's possible to do the above but I'm sure PayPal say no bank account is required.

 

If someone pays with Paypal (either gift or otherwise) with a stolen (or even not stolen) credit card, then at some point in the future they'll tell the card issuer that it was an unauthorised transaction and claim their money back. At that point, credit card company come to Paypal and demand their money back. At this point Paypal either give them the money back and pursue you for the money, or hand over your details to credit card company who then come after you. In any event, the only winner is the thief at the other end, and it could very easily end up with you being out of pocket for the full amount, given that Paypal and credit card companies are a little unwilling to lose money so will pass that loss on to whoever they can.

You might not like having that happen, or you might not be overly concerned, but personally I'd rather sell a car to someone honest than a thief who's going to make life crap for everyone else.

Absolutely...but if the PayPal account was in a random name, with no links to a bank account and you withdrew to a prepaid card (some don't need to be registered to use) then clear it out at a cash point..who are PayPal going to chase? Mr John Smith of 100 Anywhere Street...

I do not condone this but let's face it, the criminals can do it.

As I also said, I'm not even sure if it could be done.

Edited 28 June, 20169 yr by chris_1d

I think I'll just ignore him, he might not understand the thing I would like to call him

 

Send his 'Courier/agent' to:

 Parkside

Cambridge

CB1 1JG

 

I consider Paypal quite a safe way to make transactions, there is security for both the buyer and the seller. I doubt money can just leave your account without you ordering it. Not sure how different sending as a gift is, never used it, but you can simply request a normal transaction and if the buyer disagrees then simply move on. Once the money is in it's in, they can't be taken back, at least that's my experience from several Paypal transactions. If something like that was possible Paypal would surely be out of business and not used to such a large extent as it is today.

 

Of-course this leaves the question what is actually the plan of this guy. One thing I can imagine is something that had happened a few years ago to me, not sure if it's still possible. I got a notification that a buyer wanted to send me X amount of euros, the amount we had agreed. But the notification was just that, the intention of him wanting to send the money but was clearly stated that it was not completed and also, no money were sent to my account. IF I had misunderstood this as an actual payment and sent the item surely I would have been cheated but it was easy to see, so I said I await completion of the transfer and then I'll send the item, just as it happened in the end.

Pay by Paypal funded by credit card. Receive goods. Tell credit card it was an unauthorised transaction. Credit card company refund you and claim the money back from Paypal, and Paypal claim it back from you.

Or:

 

Pay by Paypal with a stolen credit card. Receive goods. Real owner of credit card tells credit card company it was an unauthorised transaction. Continue as above.

 

If you look on your Paypal payments email it states "Please be aware that your payment can still be reversed, (e.g. if it is subject to a chargeback), even after you have posted the item to your buyer. "This "Chargeback" is a credit card company reclaiming stolen money, or complying with a cardholder request to perform a chargeback for whatever reason they feel like. If a chargeback is applied to a payment you've received then you'll have the devils own job convincing Paypal you'd like to keep your money.

Edited 29 June, 20169 yr by Rustynuts

It was only a Phishing Scam for an Address to go with an Email.  Not an actual car buyer.

 

Guide Dogs for the stupid are available,

just send a deposit and they are available for collection in 8 weeks.

Pay by Paypal funded by credit card. Receive goods. Tell credit card it was an unauthorised transaction. Credit card company refund you and claim the money back from Paypal, and Paypal claim it back from you.

Or:

 

Pay by Paypal with a stolen credit card. Receive goods. Real owner of credit card tells credit card company it was an unauthorised transaction. Continue as above.

 

If you look on your Paypal payments email it states "Please be aware that your payment can still be reversed, (e.g. if it is subject to a chargeback), even after you have posted the item to your buyer. "This "Chargeback" is a credit card company reclaiming stolen money, or complying with a cardholder request to perform a chargeback for whatever reason they feel like. If a chargeback is applied to a payment you've received then you'll have the devils own job convincing Paypal you'd like to keep your money.

 

 

The seller has some proof of shipment though like a receipt stating date, weight etc. and the recipient usually needs to provide some sort of identification upon receipt, they can't just deny everything. In case of a dispute (a fraud one in particular) the seller is as covered as the buyer if he has the shipment receipt, that it will mean investigation on both sides. I doubt its anywhere as buyer-biased as you imply, the service has to work for and protect equally both the buyer and the seller. I doubt any legit seller with receipts kept and everything has ever had his money asked back from Paypal, at least I know I haven't and I have made several sales to complete strangers.  In fact, for someone that wants to use the above "technique" i'd say good luck not ending up beign sued yourself by Paypal in the end. Is there a real example of such a case or this is all just speculation of what if...?

 

I also just looked in my last payment confirmation from last week, there is no statement whatsoever like the one you describe. Maybe different regions or different ways of payment go by different terms and agreements? There's sure nothing like a reversed payment stated there.

Edited 29 June, 20169 yr by newbie69

It's not a matter of proving delivery of goods. It's a matter of non payment. If the credit card company reverse the payment, then they take the money back from Paypal. Essentially, Paypal have paid you with stolen money which has been returned back to its rightful owner. They are unlikely to just sit back and say "Hey, it doesn't matter. It's only a few thousand quid after all.". They come back to you for their money.

That's how it works...

 

Screenshot of a recent payment to me (details removed).

 

Take a read of the Paypal community forum on this subject.

 

https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/How-to-use-PayPal-Archive/CHARGEBACK-SCAM-SELLERS-BEWARE/td-p/27035

 

Edit: The dates indicate how long this has been a problem, and I'm surprised you haven't heard of it.

Edited 29 June, 20169 yr by Rustynuts

And yet here is my payment received two weeks ago, no mention of this chargeback thing. I am using the French Paypal by the way, not sure if is has something to do with it and whether chargeback is only available in certain markets.

 

 

 

 

That thread from 2010 does not say much. 6 years is an eternity in IT, could have well been dealt with so far. Not that I doubt that these things written there had happened. Still my experience and official communication with Paypal does not state anything about potential chargebacks being possible. Maybe it's just different in the UK?

Okay, you win. There's no such thing as a chargeback. The original text the op received can in no way be a scam.

Edited 30 June, 20169 yr by Rustynuts

Okay, you win. There's no such thing as a chargeback. The original text the op received can in no way be a scam.

 

I win? That's rather childish... My comment was not related to the OP's case but to the Paypal process in general and to the different level of a seller's security that I have experienced. As I mentioned from the first post, it might have to do with Paypal having different terms in different countries/markets, I use the French one. I don't deny that the chargeback exists in the UK but there's no mention of it in France. It would be interesting to actually find out if this is the case and if/why Paypal does things different from one place to another (if that is the case). Not interested in arguing just for the sake of arguing...