Craigslist Transaction

[Swiss17 0]

I'm trying to sell my laptop on cragslist and this guys emails me yesterday saying he wants to buy it. Thing is, he says he wants to buy it for his coulleague in west africa. Normally, I soon as I saw that I would laugh and delete the email, but he says he wants to do the transaction through paypal. Since he wants to use paypal is this legit? I'm skeptical, but figured I'd ask before deciding no. Thanks guys

[Monty22 833]

Sounds all sorts of sketchy. Also, Pay Pal isn't the most secure thing going, so don't think you can't still get screwed. I would pass.

[kovalchuk71 212]

Dont do it.

[dangle 0]

Don't do it x2

[WhiskeyTango19 0]

Doesn't matter if he wants to use Paypal or not. If it turns out to be fraud, Paypal will just remove the money from your account. Happened to a friend of mine when over an Ebay transaction.

[roadrunner 12]

That's a noted scam. Alot of them say they're sending them to Nigeria. My bro got scammed. He sent our PS2 with all our games and never got anything for it. The scammer made up a fake MoneyGram money transfer and when my bro called Moneygram to verify they said it was fake and that they photoshopped the receipt. Stay away from those. A give away is the emails the buyer sendss you. Their usually written in poor english and they buyer have a very typical western american name. Very SKETCHY. I would lead them on and say you shipped it just to f&%K with them. but I'm an asshole. lol

[fatwabbit 93]

Nigeria, usually is cited as the place to send the stuff to. I've had one or two of these on ebay as well, saying that they need stuff for their son, nephew or something...

dont send it, cause what they will do is: if you are lucky they do send the money. Then when you send the item, they will claim that it never arrived, then ask for a refund.

dont do it!

[Swiss17 0]

Thanks guys, I thought it was too sketchy

[raygunpk 0]

I thought Paypal was super secure? How come it's not?

[Rustpot 1]

I thought Paypal was super secure? How come it's not?

Paypal has no way of knowing if you shipped the item, if the buyer received it, or if the money was sent for illegal items. As soon as you file a claim the money will be taken if there is a bank account linked to the Paypal account.

If the shady person in the transaction has the absolute minimum, added money via a prepaid credit card and can retrieve and zip the funds away before you know what hit you, you're screwed.

[kosydar 0]

Kinda off topic but it might fit into this- we were trying to rent out a spare room last summer on Craigslist and got a bunch of replies. Soon enough my roommate was getting $800 checks in the mail from people who didn't ever come look at the house. Long story short what they do is send you a check for a lot more than they're asking, then they ask you to send back the difference. Their checks obviously bounce, so you get screwed. All the people who emailed him and sent him the checks said that they were in Africa now but wanted to put a down payment to reserve the room.

[Jason Harris 31]

I just read an article this morning about rental scams on Craigslist, but from the opposite side, Kosy.

Scam artists are copying rental ads off Craigslist, including photos, then listing a competing ad for hundreds of dollars less than the original ad. When people inquire to view the property, the lister is off on missionary work in -- you guessed it....Africa! -- and has the keys with him. The article says he won't send the keys without first and security, which is a crazy response to someone just wanting to view the property.

My guess is the response is somewhere along the lines of, "Hey, I'm sorry, but there are too many scams out there. I've posted two exterior shots and four interior shots. It's a hot rental market right now, but I'm oversees, so I'm eager to rent it. The first person with first and security gets to move in." Of course, the English generally isn't that good.....

[raygunpk 0]

Wow good to know. Just curious, what is the most secure method of payment? Or is that redundant?

[english15x 3]

money orders maybe?

[Rustpot 1]

Face-to-face transactions tend to be a bit more secure, especially when you can get the seller's driver's license or some form of paperwork.

Renting from someone overseas would be asinine. Send them $500 and wait for keys?

Sadly, those schemes keep popping up because people fall for them. A fool and his money, as they say.

[Jarick 5]

I do all Craigslist transactions face to face, cash only. If I were to sell a high dollar item, it'd be cashier's check or money order from a known bank.

[TBLfan 25]

I've had people offer to buy gear from me through craigslist via paypal with local pickup, they also offered to do money order because he needed to use credit. I said sure, lets meet at amscot, you get the money order, I'll cash it immediately and hand over the gear... He never responded after that.

Be careful, deals that sound shady probably are. Don't trust anyone you don't know with your money if you cannot afford to lose it.

[Monty22 833]

If you are in the States, US postal Money Orders are excellent.

[raygunpk 0]

I always thought money order was just cash in an envelope sent to whoever. And what's the difference between a cashier's check and a regular personal?

I guess I shouldn't be asking on here..

[Rustpot 1]

I always thought money order was just cash in an envelope sent to whoever. And what's the difference between a cashier's check and a regular personal?

I guess I shouldn't be asking on here..

A money order is a certified check that you buy from WalMart, the post office, 7-11, whoever. You give cash or charge for the order and the middle company guarantees the funds. Easy to forge if you just get a stack of them. Funds are instantly transferred though, so there's no wait to know if there's an issue with it.

Cashier's checks are funds taken from your account in the form of a slip saying it's the same as cash. Usually not as secure as it's just a voucher for money with no name or anything.

Personal checks have no backing to them as anyone can get their hands on a check. Usually you'll have to wait the 3-5 days for it to clear into the new account. Bad personal checks that bounce will charge the recipient a fee usually.

Cash in the mail is a bad idea. There is no trail to it, sending a handful of bills is easily felt by a letter carrier (who can then pilfer the envelope if they chose), and the recipient can claim it lost with no assurance of voiding or canceling the transaction.

[dangle 0]

Even Money Orders are not a safe bet in our world today. They can be duplicated using laser printers and they will look real.

Any transaction I do on craigslist is cash only. I just sold a car on craigslist and it was done with cash. I still photocopied the buyer's drivers license, etc. Better safe than sorry

[MLSman 22]

Send all checks or emails to your local FBI office.

[killthepoodle 0]

Even Money Orders are not a safe bet in our world today. They can be duplicated using laser printers and they will look real.

Any transaction I do on craigslist is cash only. I just sold a car on craigslist and it was done with cash. I still photocopied the buyer's drivers license, etc. Better safe than sorry

Very True- my wife works for a bank- their tellers see some beauties as far as fakes go. You really need to call the number on them to be sure they are real. Even then- if they copied an unused one it will look valid to the computers.

[grymicast184rc 0]

Yea, you have to be really careful dealing on craigslist. They actual made a special report on the news in my area where potential buyers were actually robbed when meeting up to do the transaction :(. Always bring someone with you and choose a place with a lot of foot traffic in the day when light is still out. Other than that, craigslist is a great alternative to ebay if you wanna sell off some stuff.