I put an ad on Yahoo Classifieds. I'm trying to sell my laptop for $500. He said he'd pay me $950. He says he's from the United Kingdom and he wants to buy it for his son who is in school in Nigeria. His email address is a male's name, but not the name he gave me. He wants me to ship the computer to Nigeria, I guess to his son. Please let me know if you think I'm being scammed. He's paying through paypal, but I'm still weary. I'm thinking once I ship it and give them the confirmation number, he won't have the funds to be deducted from his account. And I'll end up with no money and no laptop....What do you think?
2007-06-14 08:55:16 · 17 answers · asked by aldridge_erin 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
Paypal has APPROVED the funds being deducted from his account, but said that they wouldn't be available to me, until I emailed paypal the confirmation/tracking number. Paypal also confirmed that it would be $950 USD.
2007-06-14 09:07:48 · update #1
Probably a scam. I would simply tell him that, due to the circumstances, he must prepay before you will ship the laptop. If he does, fine. If he doesn´t, sell to someone else.
2007-06-14 09:05:01 · answer #1 · answered by rlloydevans 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a total scam.
DO NOT SEND HIM EITHER THE COMPUTER OR MONEY.
This is a very common scam under the class "Nigerian" scam.
What happens is that the scammer will somehow play on either people's goodwill or greed.
In your case the scammer is paying you far more than what you asked for your laptop in hopes that your greed will overcome your good sense.
This variant always sees an item or service offered for sale over the internet, and the "buyer"/scammer will offer much more than the object is worth, or send check for far more than the object is worth.
The potential victim then deposits the check that will turn out to be fake in the bank. As soon as the victim does this, the scammer asks for some portion of that overpayment back.
Since the check is fake, and it will take up to 2 or 3 weeks to find this out, the bank will put YOU on the hook for any money spent from it in the mean time.
In your case, you would be out the payment and the laptop.
The paypal account is VERY likely either fake, or if valid either has no money in it, or was hacked from a valid user by a phishing attempt.
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On the off chance that this is a valid offer (HIGHLY UNLIKELY), you could ask for a cashier's check, and WAIT until it has fully cleared before sending the laptop.
2007-06-14 08:59:33 · answer #2 · answered by Random Guy from Texas 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The man is using a stolen credit card number. PayPal has no way of knowing the card is stolen, since the owner still has possession of the card and has not reported it stolen, since he does not KNOW that someone stole the number off it.
What will happen, if you ship this laptop, is that you will get $950 for it (for a while) until the owner of the credit card discovers the fraud. Then PayPal will be coming back at YOU for the money. Getting the picture now ?
2007-06-14 09:11:36 · answer #3 · answered by acermill 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say you are happy to send it anywhere he wants. You might be running into somebody using a stolen credit card so they dont care that they are paying you 950 dollars.
I dont know if its a scam or not, paypal has to figure that out and the peoples credit card. Its sounds extremely fishy.
I wouldnt sent the laptop until paypal has already sent you the money, it could be legit but I doubt it. You might what to alert paypal before you take the money and if they send you the money and they know about it.
Then go ahead and take the 950. But dont send the laptop until you have the money.
2007-06-14 09:01:43 · answer #4 · answered by financing_loans 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Everyone above is correct, this is a total scam. One rule of thumb to remember is this little gem. If the deal has anything to do with Nigeria, it is most likely a bogus deal. Nigeria is the scam capital of the wolrld. I see so much of this where I work. I won't go into detail about the scam, as somebody already has.
2007-06-14 19:38:16 · answer #5 · answered by james_walker004 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a scam. Run!!!! Run!!!! Run away from this one....and I would call and check on your PayPal account because it sounds like it has been compromised. If you send this thing you will be out of luck. Don't do it! Go through Craig's List, deal only locally, and only with cash. When I was selling an Ipod someone tried to do this to me as well.
2007-06-14 10:30:14 · answer #6 · answered by moneywise 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they're very smart scammers. they generally show you how to already know that they are interior the army, they're the two divorced or their spouse has died, they generally have a son/daughter approximately 10 to 12 yrs old. Then they show you how to already know that their son/daughter has been injured and that they choose funds. Or..... in case you prefer to communicate to them they're on the frontline and might't show you how to already know the place they're, yet once you deliver some funds they are going to be issued with a protection stress telephone which they could consult with you on, in all probability between firing on the Taliban. yet they do deliver you a MOD style which does look very genuine. l doubt very plenty that the Police will have an interest till a criminal offense has been committed, they're generally from Nigeria in a information superhighway cafe and a few human beings do deliver them funds. All you're able to do is to rfile them to the information superhighway sites that they stumbled on you on, and undergo in thoughts if anybody asks you for funds they are not first rate human beings so do no longer consult with them and unquestionably do no longer deliver them something.
2016-10-07 12:34:15 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't do it. If he really wants to give his son something, he can mail it himself from the UK. And if he can afford to spend almost a thousand dollars, he's smart enough to realize he's paying too much.
Call Paypal directly and alert them to the scam - they need to shut this guy down if he's a scam, or assure you directly if the arrangement is legit.
2007-06-14 10:43:28 · answer #8 · answered by teresathegreat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds like a scam. check with your contractual agreement with Yahoo Classifieds & PayPal. does your listing specifically say for US shipments only? what fees would you pay if any?
2007-06-14 11:16:58 · answer #9 · answered by hi91977 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you want to be scammed, clap your hands. If you want to be scammed, clap your hands. If you want to be scammed and you really want to be scammed then go ahead and clap your hands. If you really really really want to be scammed mail your laptop to Nigeria!
2007-06-14 08:59:19 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋