Scam or am I paranoid?

[Sprouty]

I received this text today about a trailer I have listed. It felt creepy so I told them cash only in person.

[Janie Q]

Scam!

[azflycaster]

There are a lot of PayPal scams, I would not be comfortable doing this.

[RAH]

scam

[jbib]

Its a scam but you might as well have some fun stringing them along.

Jeff

[Condoluminum]

I'd agree.. Paypal has a "buyer protection" feature that allows a buyer to reverse transaction in some cases if they change their mind.. Also, Paypal linked to credit card (on buyer side) could be linked to stolen or fraudulent credit card, and bank will come after you as well if that transaction needs to be unwound...


Also be very wary of "Cashier's Checks" as they are pretty easy to fabricate these days, and it could take up to 3+ weeks for a bad check to come back around and be reversed.. If you deposit a phony Cashier's Check, you are liable to replace funds even weeks later, and might even pick up liability for check fraud yourself as a bonus... My suggestion would be to take to the "Issuing Bank" for cash before assuming check is good...

[northfayston]

Sounds like an email I got for furniture I advertised on Craigs List. I never heard from the people after I said cash and in person. Let us know what happens.

[moosetags]

I agree with the others. It sounds really fishy to me.

Brian

[Isuzusweet]

Any time you get an e-mail agreeing to full purchase price, with lots of grammatical, spelling and syntax errors and it's going to involve a shipper…………..run, don't walk.

[3 Dog Nite]

I have a paypal account. You would send them a bill to their paypal account. This is how normal transactions take place. This way you can get them for nonpayment. Unfortunately, You lose a percentage of price due to paypal fees. Ask them for their account info when you're done playing and want them to go away.

[andreasduess]

Scam. Walk away.

[pappy19]

Absolute scam all the way. I'd bet if you talked to them in person, they are foreigners probably from Nigeria. Don't give them any information at all.

[64Lincoln]

Clearly you know this is a scam by now, but for anyone else reading this, never take a cashiers check. It is not the same as cash. It is the same as a check. It can bounce, be forged, have a stop payment placed on it, and it can be reversed. The only thing a cashiers check is good for is if you lose it, you can have stop payment done and get it replaced. That is if you are dealing with someone who you would take a personal check from. If you are dealing with someone you wouldn't take a personal check from you shouldn't take a cashiers check either. They are not much different.


Cash is king!


Furthermore, if someone gives you a check and you go to their bank, get cash and nothing else. If the check you tender them ends up bouncing or being reversed, they will do the same with the check they issued you.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 64Lincoln

Clearly you know this is a scam by now, but for anyone else reading this, never take a cashiers check.

Cash is king!

If you have to send or receive payment long-distance, cash is not an option, but wiring the money via Western Union is. That's still the safest way to send money without using a bonded courier to hand-carry it.

[scamp]

It's a scam I was offered more then asking price in a similar e- mail ,tell them you deal in cash and in person and the e-mails will stop there,also report it as a suspect scam to were you were advertising and they will look into it ,and block e - mails from them to you and others.

[Belbein]

First, on the cashier's check thing: People confuse a cashier's check (well described above) with a certified check. A certified check supposedly certifies that the maker has funds available. Whether it can be forged ... don't know, but I don't see why not.

Second, though I normally agree with what everyone said about the "badges of fraud," as they say in the Biz (full price, grammatical errors, etc etc) ... I will say this. When we sold our popup, I didn't have time to do any research on pricing. The guy buying it demanded a price. I said, "X." He said, "I wouldn't be comfortable buying this for only X. What about 1 1/2 X?" No scam. He was serious. He'd done his homework, I hadn't. So sometimes ...

Other than that, I agree that this is scam all the way.

[featherbedder]

If unable to meet and pay cash then I use only bank draft issued by my bank and counter signed by bank officer for large purchase, or some demand postal money order. I agree with others SCAM.

[sheriff1]

They send a realistic looking message that funds have been sent to your account but when you check your account, they really haven't . Then try ask for personal info. Phishing for info.

[DanB]

Offer to give them your trailer for free if they pick it up in person.

[Lucy815]

I"ll weigh in on SCAM! although you have had a good many folks tell you already.

In addition to the "cash in person" response, bank wires work very well. It's strictly bank-to-bank. No funds; no wire.

PayPal works for a deposit of $500 or $1,000, but unless you are a business, don't rely on PayPal for banking transactions.

We recently sold our AS '95 34' Excella Classic and had more clowns than a circus contact us until we found a legitimate buyer whose deposit cleared PayPal in a couple of hours with the final bank transfer complete within 24 hours of purchase!!

Now, last week I was contacted about my AS for sale. Seems someone lifted the photos and had them posted on an Internet newsletter as though the unit was still for sale. Lastly, I found the pictures, contacted the newsletter stating the ad was a fraud; the scammer had the audacity to use my dated pictures! "Nothing is as it seems," - Shakespeare