Dodgy message from buyer

[reptar]

I have recently received an email from a potential buyer which rang alarm bells.
The first message was an enquiry about whether the car was still available - fine.
Next I had a message asking for more information about the condition and more photos.
This was a little strange as I had put about 10 photos on the web and a very detailed description
on 3 different websites. However I referred them to the detailed descriptions and offered to take
more photos of specific areas if requested.
Almost immediately I got a reply saying that the person wanted the car for £3,000 but needed my paypal
login and email address to make the payment as they were a missionary abroad and couldn't make a bank transfer
and that they would send an agent to pick it up as it was a surprise present for their niece.

We thought this was very suspicious as I had only asked for £2,500 for the car. And I wasn't quite sure about the
safety of giving my paypal login to someone else (I don't really know much about how paypal works?!)
I sent a reply saying that the car was only on sale for £2,500 but the buyer replied that there wanted to pay £3,000.
We then replied asking for cash instead and have heard nothing since.

Might have been genuine but I am suspicious!
WATCH OUT !

[LouiseM]

This is a common scam. No 'buyer' needs your paypal log in details to send you a payment but if they get hold of the details they can get hold of your money! Unfortunately there are loads of fraudsters about so be very careful about giving out any personal details over the internet, phone etc.

[taupe]

Hi

Classic Scam!!!!

Never give anyone your paypal log in as they will just clear out your bank account!!

[LouiseM]

Reptar - I've just noticed that you've included your e-mail address and telephone number in your ad in the 'for sale' forum. It's really not a good idea to do that as it may attract scammers so I've removed them from your post. Anyone seeing your ad here and who is genuinely interested in your car can either post a message on the board or contact you via a personal message.

[arttidesco]

Always beware of anyone offering you more money than you asked for on the internet, I was once sent a cheque by some one for 5K when I had not even sent a price list or quoted a price for some photographs, the cheque would of course have bounced and the sender would have asked me to refund the difference between the value of the cheque and any nominal amount owed before it had done so.

These scams of offering more than you ask for only work peoples naivety and greed, the scammers hope this trick will catch them off their guard, there is never any reason to pass your paypal details or bank account details onto anyone for any reason at all, ever.

Hope you find a bonefide purchaser for your vehicle.

[autolycus]

there is never any reason to pass your paypal details or bank account details onto anyone for any reason at all, ever.

There is certainly never a reason to pass on Paypal login details, but there's no possible harm in asking someone to send a Paypal payment to the email address you have registered with Paypal (apart from their extortionate fees).

It's difficult to avoid passing on your bank details (sort code, account number) to anyone to whom you pay money, whether by cheque, direct debit, or, say, online transfers. And what can anyone do with them if they have them? So, if arttidesco is determined to follow his own rule, he will only be able to use his bank account to deposit and withdraw cash.

If you found this advice useful, please transfer some money to 07-01-16 19029516. Thank you.

Kevin

[PSL184]

Ordinarily I'd agree with the above however, Clarkson said the same thing on Radio 1 some time ago and within half an hour someone had took 7K out of his bank account

[irmscher]

Kevin i found your article very interesting but i think i overpaid you ! can you refund the overpayment please of £500