Buyer asked to pay by PayPal and gave me their PayPal email unsolicited?

[leel246]

A buyer messaged me saying they want to buy an item and included their PayPal address, and that if I send them an invoice they'll pay through PayPal directly. I know this is against policy so I'm not going to do it, but I was wondering what reason a buyer would do that? 

I know there's a scam where the buyer asks for the SELLER's PayPal email, and then sends a fake "payment confirmation" without actually paying. But I haven't heard of one where the buyer just gives out their own email and asks for an invoice. Is there some other scam associated with this, or some reason they don't want to buy through eBay? I would think a buyer would want to buy through ebay for the extra protection. The buyer has a lot of feedback history, all positive with no warnings from other sellers, and has left mostly positive feedback for all their many previous purchases as well. So it's not like a new 0 feedback account. 

[eleanor*rigby]

Why would a buyer do that?

Same scam (or similar). They will send you a very real looking (albeit fake) message from PayPal that says it's okay to ship, and then you'll ship it, and then you'll realize you don't have the money or the item--nor will you have any recourse.

Pretty slick, huh?

Any "normal" buyer will buy through eBay. Either stop communicating with that person immediately and completely, or send one last communication saying that ALL your transactions go through eBay's normal purchasing channels. Period. In no uncertain terms. No exceptions. And all that stuff. You may or may not choose to block that particular id.

P.S. I suppose the "buyer" could have hijacked someone else's account and is using it to make purchases. That's always a possibility.

[fab_finds4u]

Tell the buyer there's no need to exchange email addresses.  After they hit the buy button they hit the PAY button on eBay and it takes them to PayPal to make the payment.  eBay and PayPal knows where the payment goes.  

[mam98031]

They may just be confused and need a little help.  You can direct them to any of the various ways the buyer can find they pay button to assist them.

You can help them by describing how to get to their purchased items and then pay from there.

Or you might tell them to watch their email and you'll send them another invoice.  The email will come from Ebay.  They can then open the email and click on the pay button to complete the payment process.  Tell them to just follow the instructions on screen.

[eunster1313]

It's just a twist on the same old SCAM!

The chances of that being their (PayPal e-Mail address) is slim to none.

If you send them an invoice as they are requesting to the e-Mail address

they provided you.

You would be providing them with (your PayPal e-Mail address).

[byrd69er]

Snip?

I was wondering what reason a buyer would do that?

Maybe so you could deposit funds into their account?

[a_c_green]

---

@byrd69er wrote:

Snip?

I was wondering what reason a buyer would do that?

Maybe so you could deposit funds into their account?

---

If that email address was registered to a PayPal account, sure. (If it isn't, PayPal will just send a message to that address to tell the recipient that they have money waiting for them.) 

The reality is that of course you would not do that, but emailing an invoice directly to that address will reveal your email address, to which the scammer will send a very convincing (but completely fake) notification supposedly from PayPal, telling you that you have been paid, but that funds will not appear in your account until after you have shipped the item and uploaded its tracking number. Needless to say, no funds will ever appear. 

All a real buyer needs to do is hit the Pay Now button in the listing or on his eBay purchased items page. The setup described here is that of a scammer who simply wants an off-eBay method of sending fake PayPal emails to the seller that eBay cannot detect.

To the OP: just file the Unpaid Item dispute as soon as possible (2 days from end of sale) and close it out 4 full days (96 hours) later. That will get your Final Value Fees credited, and the scam account, if eBay has not removed it already, will get an Unpaid slap. (These scams are generally automated to hit up as many sellers as possible before the account is detected and removed, so the scammer may disappear anyway, but you need to be sure that you're not being billed Final Value Fees on a transaction that was never really going to occur.)

[mam98031]

---

@byrd69er wrote:

Snip?

I was wondering what reason a buyer would do that?

Maybe so you could deposit funds into their account?

---

Why would a seller trying to get paid for the item the buyer purchased give the buyer money?

[corvettestainless]

Something I don't believe anyone has mentioned. What is the item- that always paints the picture.