Scam or not?

[Anonymous]

I was selling something on here. I got an offer on this item and I was selling it for 35 dollars plus 10 dollars for shipping. She offered 50 for everything. But left a note to text her i did. Everything was normal and I gave her my paypal email so she could give me the money. But, then she said that she wants to mail it to her sister and changed the address from UK to NC. And she wanted me to help with a gift card. I told her I dont buy gift cards she said she would pay for it. And I got an email from supposed email paypalonline@gmail.com. It was in my spam. The email came with a warning. The email said that someone was trying to send me money and added the gift card that until the gift card is proven to be paid for there holding my money. I looked in my actual PayPal account and there was no sign of any money coming. So I blocked her and put reject on ebay. Later that day she wrote me telling me she was going to get me in trouble because I have her money and im keeping it.  I looked up all the scams it sounds close but after looking at the email It looks legit there is no links to click on and the emai starts of with dear and then my username on paypal. What should I do? She keeps sending me the email saying that i got paid do I ignore her and block again or is it legit and If so how do I give her money back if its not on my paypal?

[frodobagginskennedy]

Classic SCAM.  Do not communicate with this scammer any more.  Block and ignore.

[mtgraves7984]

You won't get any money. You won't get in trouble. Stop messaging and texting and block the 'buyer'.

[divwido]

Since you do not know, here's how this one would have gone.

You receive an offer higher than your asking price but they want to email you.  They send you a fake notice from PayPal that you have paid.  Sometimes this also includes a note to ship to a different address.

You, not knowing the rule about shipping addresses, believe it and ship only to find out there is no money and you just mailed your item to a liar and scammer.

Now you know.

[divwido]

By the way, that shipping rule is you NEVER ship to any address except the one provided when someone pays.  Even if it's a gift or they forgot that they moved.  NEVER.

[upgradedendmills]

If you even think you need to ask this type of question, it is a scam. There are long time fixed procedures for eBay sales and if anyone asks for anything even a little bit outside of these, it is a scam.

[vintage-car-magazines]

Scam or not?

Yes, it's a scam.

Nobody would EVER offer more than the asking price.

The Text is a giveaway.

The gift card is what they're after.

This is an area that I wish eBay could do a better job at. If we can easily spot the pattern (new seller, offer more than asked, mention of gift cards, ask to text them, etc) then eBay can as well.

[fab_finds4u]

"I gave her my PayPal email so she could  send me the money."  

Buyers do not need your email address in order to pay.  And if they did send you money  it via your email address they would not have buyer protection. Which means if you kept their money and didn't send their item they'd be SOL with no recourse to get their money back.  A buyer is just not going to trust a new seller is trustworthy because some aren't.

Your buyer is scamming you.  Reporting them does no good.  eBay will remove them but they'll just pop up on another new name or on a stolen acct.  File an unpaid dispute and get your fee credit.

[vintage-car-magazines]

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@fab_finds4u wrote:

"I gave her my PayPal email so she could  send me the money."  

Buyers do not need your email address in order to pay.  And if they did send you money  it via your email address they would not have buyer protection. Which means if you kept their money and didn't send their item they'd be SOL with no recourse to get their money back.  A buyer is just not going to trust a new seller is trustworthy because some aren't.

Your buyer is scamming you.  Reporting them does no good.  eBay will remove them but they'll just pop up on another new name or on a stolen acct.  File an unpaid dispute and get your fee credit.

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"I gave her my PayPal email so she could  send me the money."  

As a follow up to this..... The scammer doesn't want your PayPal email so they can send money. They want it so they know where to send the fake "You've Got Cash" PayPal email.

[wesk_36]

I stopped reading at "Everything was normal and I gave her my paypal email so she could give me the money."

Scam.

Nobody needs your paypal email except to scam you.

[fashunu4eeuh]

If its not in your PayPal, you haven't been paid. She is lying.

After you put her on your blocked list, go to your account and look at your Site Preferences. You can set your Buyer Requirements to block messages from those on your block list. Below is a link that will help you set that up.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/setting-buyer-requirements?id=...

[wastingtime101]

This scammer didn't even bother to commit to the purchase on eBay which will keep their scamming ways active even longer. You can't file an unpaid item case because there is no transaction.

Forward those fake e-mails to spoof@paypal.com and spoof@ebay.com 

https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/stay_safe.html

https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/report_concern.html

[bar-29368]

Just as a heads up, paypal have their own domain. They don't use gmail accounts.

[inhawaii]

*** GENERAL REPLY ***

With all due respect to the OP. I am not coming down on the OP.  But how can anyone fall for this? Yet it seems to be happening a lot. 

Offering more that what you're selling it for = RED FLAG!

Send me a text message = RED FLAG!

Mail it to her sister = RED FLAG!

Send a gift card = RED FLAG!