Maintenance & Restoration

Cathy Gale · 08-03-2012, 03:27 PM

I have a dilemma I am hoping someone out there has had experience with. In my attempts to sell my Escape 15' and posting it on craigslist (as well as here) I am getting messages from people that tell me they are out of the country but am willing to buy my trailer sight unseen. Trouble is they want to pay through PayPal. Now while I have used PayPal in the past for purchases I have made from eBay, I have not ever received money into my PayPal account. Does the buyer need anything other than my name? They are asking for all sorts of information from me which right off I didn’t do because it makes me nervous. One woman (and I don't even know if it is a woman) says she is in the Air Force overseas and wants my PayPal account number. I told her cash only. She says she has a courier that can come and sign papers. I told her if she had a courier they could bring cash. Am I being to cautious and paranoid? I would like to sell my trailer but I do not want my identity stolen. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

<_<

Cathy

Bryan L. · 08-03-2012, 03:35 PM

I would ignore all of those. If someone really wants your trailer, they will come and get it and bring cash with them. I've accepted small deposits via PayPal before for cars and motorcycles and such but never the whole payment. Stick with your gut, it's telling you something!

Bryan L. · 08-03-2012, 03:36 PM

As far as giving you a payment (such as for a deposit) all they need is your email address. If anyone is asking for more than that, it's a problem.

AKSCAMP · 08-03-2012, 04:06 PM

You would be asking for trouble if you deal any way other than cash in person. Craigs is full of scammers and automated "bots" that respond to your ad with something like "is the item still available?". You should not even email them in return. Once you do, your email address is a target for spam and viruses. gOOD luCk!

Jane D. · 08-03-2012, 04:06 PM

Cathy,

I have seen the other side of the "military" scheme. A friend of mine sent me a photo of a Scamp trailer that she wanted to buy and said that the owner was within a couple days of deploying overseas with the Air Force. As soon as I saw the price I went online and found where the ad she was looking at was posted as a fradulent one by someone who had come within a slim margin of losing their money.

Please be careful, they wanted to use PayPal as well and would have you talk to their courier also. Said they were too busy getting ready to leave to show the trailer. I'm not saying it's always bad to use PayPal but with the description that you gave, me thinks you really need to steer clear of this. Stick to your "in person cash" requirement.

Scott H · 08-03-2012, 04:19 PM

Way to many scammers on Craigs list. All of my CL listings say in bold print- Green, american, cash money ONLY! Please post your phone # in response to this add, I WILL NOT RESPOND TO E-MAILS.
This seems to work. Scammers and scambots won't give you a phone #, but someone who wants your camper will in a heartbeat!

Bob Miller · 08-03-2012, 04:40 PM

Some Tips about Distance & C/L Selling that have worked for me:

I always verify any incoming emails before responding to them. If you right click on the senders address and ask for Details and it will tell you where it came from. You can bet that someone with an email address of hhftsii447@gmail.com is a scammer.

I always use PayPal to send or receive Deposits only. All you have to give them is the email address you use and that's all. The money should appear within a few minutes and you will get an email from PayPal. PayPay DOES NOT want it's system used for full payment on vehicles etc.

Courriers, overpayments, escrow deals etc are always scammers, don't even respond. Same for emails that don't mention the item by name. When you reply to a c/l email your email address is collected for future scams.

Some sellers I know keep seperate "disposable" email addresses to use in ads and dump them every few months.

I have been buying and selling stuff on C/L and eBay for years and have had very few problems, but I do get hit by scammers on almost every C/L ad I post. You should put a room for rent up on C/L if you want to attract the scammers that want to send you a years rent in advance etc....

**cpaharley2008** · 08-03-2012, 04:41 PM

Cathy,
Stay away from foreign transactions. They will get access to your paypal personal information, send an incorrect wire, ask you to send them the difference back and later find out the wire was fraudulent and you are out your money. They even offer to pay you extra for your time, do not fall for this.

Scott H · 08-03-2012, 05:25 PM

I've been trying to think up a scam-a-scamer-double reverse-these are not the droids you're looking for-scam. You know; play along, act dumb, get em' hooked, get a little somthin' from them cause they know the big pay off is comming....

Daniel A. · 08-03-2012, 05:43 PM

Scammers !!!!

Only deal with money systems you understand even cash could be phony.

You always want to talk to the person your dealing with, I've done many deals between Canada and the USA over the years on ebay all have worked out well.
Postal money orders are best but they do have limits.
Someone spending that much money would be working with you providing you with plenty of information that you can verify.

ChasWood · 08-03-2012, 05:56 PM

I was hit by same USAF Female Sgt Scam or one similar. I did not respond. It to was on CL. Be very Careful.

Mike Magee · 08-03-2012, 05:57 PM

Cathy, don't even give those people the time of day, let alone any of your info. They will take you for all they can.

Roy in TO · 08-03-2012, 08:30 PM

If you want to play it safe, set up a deposit as a buy it now on ebay, while reserving the right to cancel because the item is for sale locally. The listing could be for some obscure part of the trailer that no one would dream of paying for. Like $250.00 for a wheel lug. Payment by Paypal only. All they need is the item #, give them up to 1/2 hour to buy it. If they don't cancel the listing (pricing error or sold locally).
Once you've got the deposit you close the deal with a real person as you would locally.

What that does is make them have access to 2 accounts to be legit. 1 for ebay and 1 for paypal. You then ship the wheel lug to a verified address, signature required.

Cathy Gale · 08-03-2012, 11:01 PM

Thank you all for confirming what I thought and felt all along. It felt like a scam and it most likely is. I too would like to scam the scammers. If I think of a good plan I'll let you know.