does this look like a scam?

[jim55]

my mate is selling a motorbike through gumtree and a buyer wants to pay through paypal ,the email seems ok but tbh im not sure ,have a read of this and see what u think
theres been a few msgs sent and the guy seems quite genuine but he would be buying it from pics and my mate has to get it motd

Ok,good..I'm quite satisfied with the condition and price. I will be paying the PayPal charges from my account and i will be paying directly into your PayPal account without any delay, and i hope you have a paypal account. If you have one already, just send me the address to send it to, which is the email address you use for it or you can send me a paypal money request, so once i receive the details i will go ahead with the payment through PayPal and then i will contact my shipping company after you get the payment. I will need your home address for it to be Picked Up by the Shipping Company..

 

[calibanzwei]

Might want to delete those emails from an open forum for a start
Looks to be overstating the payment process, but is willing to pay first and then collect - don't see a problem. Might want to ensure that the payment goes from PP to your friends bank account first, but then he's home free.

 

[jim55]

thanks ,my mate did mention that ,if he gets the money through his paypal acc and then transfers it to his own bank its ok yeah?

 

[on the road]

Does sound a bit suspicious to me. He won't be protected if pays through paypal, but it might not be his intention to pay through paypal anyway.

 

[Leedsbusdriver]

Definitely dodgy to me,having googled the email address it comes from Asia.

Your preferences will be remembered, so you don't have to do it again ... com.my, "alton alfred" <altonalfred@ gmail.com>, amber_tan13@ hotmail.com, anawiyah ...[ Iklan_Gratis_MMBC : Message: Trs: [peluang-peluang] Fw ... - asia.groups.yahoo.com ]

http://pipl.com/directory/name/Alfred/Alton/

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Looks to be overstating the payment process, but is willing to pay first and then collect - don't see a problem. Might want to ensure that the payment goes from PP to your friends bank account first, but then he's home free.

Unfortunatly he wont be home free, in many cases paypal will make a payment to an account BEFORE they take the money from the person sending the money and only then do they find out that there is no money to transfer and reverse the payment.

I sell online and have had this happen where someone has paid and I have shipped the item only for the transaction to be reversed a few days later.

From what is posted it sounds like bollocks to me, why waffle on for ages instead of just saying "send me your paypal details and I will pay then arrange for X couriers to pick it up"

Of course I could be wrong so it is up to you.

 

[calibanzwei]

So if we assume its not his intention to transfer fund via PP, what's his game - email/login info. acquisition? If the guy wants to send funds via PP, sends the cash, is received by Jims mate and transferred to his bank account... I'm failing to see an issue?

 

[calibanzwei]

Unfortunatly he wont be home free, in many cases paypal will make a payment to an account BEFORE they take the money from the person sending the money and only then do they find out that there is no money to transfer and reverse the payment.

Did not know that :-/

 

[phil_hg_uk]

So if we assume its not his intention to transfer fund via PP, what's his game - email/login info. acquisition? If the guy wants to send funds via PP, sends the cash, is received by Jims mate and transferred to his bank account... I'm failing to see an issue?

The buyer will pay by paypal then the seller will send the item then paypal will discover it is a scam several days later and reverse the transaction by which time it is too late.

 

[jim55]

thanks peeps ,,il tread warily and play it by ear

 

[phil_hg_uk]

thanks peeps ,,il tread warily and play it by ear

Rule of thumb emails that sound like bollocks usually are

 

[bikepete]

Scam 100% IMO. Key giveaway is "i will contact my shipping company". Nobody except scammers says that. Add in the dodgy language skills, the generic phrasing "I'm quite satisfied with the condition and price" and it's pretty much clear...

PayPal are also well known and often complained about for taking back money from sellers (no matter if it's already in your account - they'll just direct debit it out again!) with practically no justification if a buyer makes a complaint, however spurious. He could also have e.g. hijacked someone else's Paypal account and plans to pay with that, and you can be sure that'll be caught up with in the end. Or he might overpay then expect a refund (which the seller might then find hard to get back). If indeed he didn't just invent some problem with PayPal and go straight for one of the older fashioned overpayment scams via cheque etc.

http://www.scambusters.org/overpayment.html

 

[jim55]

the alarm bells were ringing straight away as soon as i read it,can u see any issue with him transferring the cash via pp and my mate transferring it to his actual bank account ?can it still be retracted at that point

 

[phil_hg_uk]

the alarm bells were ringing straight away as soon as i read it,can u see any issue with him transferring the cash via pp and my mate transferring it to his actual bank account ?can it still be retracted at that point

Your mate wont have time to transfer it before it is stopped and even if he did they will take it back by whatever funding method your mate has registered with paypal.

Paypal protects buyers not sellers, take it from a seller be very careful selling expensive items over the internet to people you dont know. Also unless you are selling on ebay or another site paypal offer protection through you wont be protected at all.

 

[bikepete]

Just done a bit of googling and it is usually just an overpayment scam. Apparently they just send a fake email purporting to come from Paypal saying that loadsa money has been deposited in your account, sometimes with a special note to explain that it won't show up on your balance when you log in for some spurious technical reason. The sucker is then expected to send any overpayment back via Western Union or something.

This is the exact scenario the Op describes:

http://carauctiontruth.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/gumtree-paypal-scam-update.html