Advice please, Paypal scam?

[PFG]

Originally Posted by CrazyJoe

My bank is not authorized to allow Paypal to remove money from the bank. Therefore, I don't believe they can do that once the money is in my personal bank account. I will confirm this tomorrow.

If your Paypal is linked to your bank account, it is authorized to do transactions. Otherwise, it would be useless.

I've never been scammed, either. But I'm cautious, and I only purchase from known businesses while using my CC instead of bank account.

[Desmo]

What PFG said.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by CrazyJoe

My bank is not authorized to allow Paypal to remove money from the bank. Therefore, I don't believe they can do that once the money is in my personal bank account. I will confirm this tomorrow.

Do what you do. Personally? No thank you.

[jredford]

Originally Posted by PFG

If your Paypal is linked to your bank account, it is authorized to do transactions. Otherwise, it would be useless.

I've never been scammed, either. But I'm cautious, and I only purchase from known businesses while using my CC instead of bank account.

I do that as well. Perhaps that is why I have not had any problems.

[JanB]

Originally Posted by jdc606

So I'm selling my cruiser on Craigslist and have it listed in central Minnesota metro region. A guy with email creds listed as "Commercial Oil Rig Inspector" for a couple big, well known oil companies wants to buy the bike. There is a regular gold rush going on next door to Minnesota with the oil business in North Dakota. There are guys making $300k a year in ND that are homeless due to a shortage of everything with the masses pouring in to make the big bucks.

Anyway, the guy wants to pay me through Paypal and arrange to have the bike shipped to him. I can think of no way to get ripped off once the cash is transferred from my Paypal account to my bank... is there? Find it hard to imagine someone scamming for an '01 Yamaha Road Star with 92,000 miles that's been parted out down to the bare essentials. What do ya'll think?

Do you have the text of the E-mail? Usually it's fairly easy to recognise a certain style, which most scam-mails share.
For the most part, the buyer claims to be en route somewhere so cannot be reached directly, someone else will do the pick-up. As a rule of thumb, they will propose to forward some more money to you, to be handed over to the person who does the pick-up. They will also ask you to pay the handling fees up front.....
At the moment, the majority of the scammers are indeed claiming to use Paypal, whether it's a fake website or something else.

[CrazyJoe]

I have just spent hours reviewing the Paypal contract and talking on the phone with them.

#1. They will not take money out of your checking account for any reason.
#2. You have signed over your rights as a seller to accept whatever decision they make in a dispute.
#3. They have zero desire to screw the buyer or the seller.
#4. If you ship your item with a signature required for delivery, the only way you would be 100% covered is if you have the contents notarized. They don't tell you this but the buyer could say that you shipped him a box full of shit and you would have no way to prove otherwise.
#5. The notary would have to be at the post office at time of shipment to verify the contents handed over to the post office.

Basically, it is infeasible to protect yourself from a thief. An honest person is always subject to being screwed unless you spend to much time covering the bases and make the process ridiculous. Thieves always know more about how to screw you than we know about protecting ourselves since we don't think about that stuff.

So ---- if I am a seller, from now on, I will require a money order up front before I ship the items. I will then pay for a signature acceptance of the goods. This way I know the buyer got what I sent and I know that I didn't screw him since I don't do that.

If I am the buyer, I will send my money through Payal because I have recourse if the seller tries to screw me.

There was a person on the Magna forum that appeared fine until he sold his Magna and bought another bike. Then, he took advantage of his reputation on the Magna forum to start screwing everyone selling his left over stuff, describing it better or different. I was screwed buying a set of stock pipes, only to receive them and discover they had been gutted to make them louder. His attitude was -- they were still stock pipes, tough.

I have had many transactions with many folks on this forum over many years. Their attitude about my reputation in a buyer/seller relationship is all that any of us have to believe that it will work out well. I would never buy from a person with 4 posts on the forum or even 100 posts over just a couple of months since I believe this sets me up for disappointment.

That's about all I know.

[grommet]

I have done many ebay, paypal, and craigslist deals over the years. I got burned once buying a video game system for my nephew, but it eventually got worked out with ebay dispute resolution.

Oh, wait. A member here sold me a Givi windscreen that turned out to be a stock one. I asked him several times if he had the real one, which he said he did not. He then sold the real one a few days later, after I ate the cost of sending him back the stock one. So I came away thinking he was a d*ck but left it at that.

Oh, and then there was the guy selling the Harbor Freight tire changer. I said I'd buy it. He was going to check on shipping cost but never got back to me. Whatever dude.

I should probably post this stuff up in the Hero/Zero area, but just haven't.

[Jared]

Joe, 1 and 2 are in direct conflict, they did issue me a notice saying they were taking the money back when someone tried to scam me. You're making the right choice.

[CrazyJoe]

Originally Posted by thoth

Joe, 1 and 2 are in direct conflict, they did issue me a notice saying they were taking the money back when someone tried to scam me. You're making the right choice.

No --- they must have changed it because now, even in the contract, they cannot take money out of your checking account anymore.

They will place your Paypal account in a negative number and then sue you if they want.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by CrazyJoe

No --- they must have changed it because now, even in the contract, they cannot take money out of your checking account anymore.

They will place your Paypal account in a negative number and then sue you if they want.

But is it worth the hassle? Shoot, I won't even sell stuff via amazon because crazy ass customers can make your life hell.

These days I'm strictly cash in hand or no deal.

[CrazyJoe]

Originally Posted by thoth

But is it worth the hassle? Shoot, I won't even sell stuff via amazon because crazy ass customers can make your life hell.

These days I'm strictly cash in hand or no deal.

Good point. I think it sucks when we allow a few to ruin it for everyone.

[Skiman]

Originally Posted by CrazyJoe

So ---- if I am a seller, from now on, I will require a money order up front before I ship the items. I will then pay for a signature acceptance of the goods. This way I know the buyer got what I sent and I know that I didn't screw him since I don't do that.

Good luck with those rules.

[Desmo]

No kidding.

[CrazyJoe]

Originally Posted by Skiman

Good luck with those rules.

You seem to forget the part about my honorable reputation.

[Cougar]

Originally Posted by grommet

I have done many ebay, paypal, and craigslist deals over the years. I got burned once buying a video game system for my nephew, but it eventually got worked out with ebay dispute resolution.

Oh, wait. A member here sold me a Givi windscreen that turned out to be a stock one. I asked him several times if he had the real one, which he said he did not. He then sold the real one a few days later, after I ate the cost of sending him back the stock one. So I came away thinking he was a d*ck but left it at that.

Oh, and then there was the guy selling the Harbor Freight tire changer. I said I'd buy it. He was going to check on shipping cost but never got back to me. Whatever dude.

I should probably post this stuff up in the Hero/Zero area, but just haven't.

He has 11 posts! Red flag alert!!!

[Jared]

Originally Posted by CrazyJoe

You seem to forget the part about my honorable reputation.

Dude, 900+ Amazon transactions, 200+ Ebay transactions, 1 bad customer not only wins but Fs up your LA trip to see "The Wall" by Roger Waters. The rules protect the crap out of the consumer which is nice if you are the consumer, if you are the seller, CYA.

[jdc606]

Originally Posted by CrazyJoe

I have just spent hours reviewing the Paypal contract and talking on the phone with them.

Thanks for taking the time Joe. Haven't heard back from my Paypal buyer since the request for cash transaction. Thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and offer to accept a money order, cashier's check, or even a personal check. After the paper is cashed and cleared, his shippers can come get the bike. Tried calling the number he originally text me with, 281-584-3640 , and get a pre-recorded sales pitch from some gal. She talks so fast I can't tell what she's selling, "You've reached a pole?-poll?-porn? number, to get your own number call...blah...blah...blah"

Looks like I dodged a scam thanks to the helpful folks on this forum. Thank you.

[Freezin]

Seems the scammers are using some phony amazon account also. Received this classic just yesterday in response to an R1 on CL. Obviously too good to be true, but I wanted to see how he was going to attempt to screw me:

Hi Jim,

Right now I am at the military base getting ready for Afghanistan. This means that I am doing a special training and I am not allowed to get out of the unit.
The bike is already at the shipping company in Topeka KS sealed and ready for the shipping. My presence won't be necessary because I prearranged the deal with Amazon. The deal includes free delivery and it will arrive at your address in 3 days. You will have 5 days to test it and inspect the bike prior to making any purchase and if by any reason you find something you don't like about it you can send it back at my expense.If you are interested in knowing more info about how it works, i can ask Amazon to send you an email with more information on how to purchase it. Amazon will contact you shortly after they have the details with all the information that you need to complete this deal and you will also have proof that I am covered by them and a legitimate seller.If you would like to receive the email from Amazon will all the transaction information please reply with your full name, plus ph# and they will contact you right away.

Regards

[Skiman]

Originally Posted by jdc606

. Thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and offer to accept a money order, cashier's check, or even a personal check. After the paper is cashed and cleared, his shippers can come get the bike.

It looks like you've realized that this is a scam, and no transaction will take place. In the future, however, if you are going to accept a check of any kind, including a cashier's check, you must be very very careful regarding exactly when your bank 'clears' it. It can take three weeks to be 100% certain. You can be sure that if there's a problem, your bank won't eat it, you will.

[grommet]

Originally Posted by Cougar

He has 11 posts! Red flag alert!!!

Yeah, I should have known better.

me