Spotting the Craigslist PayPal scam

I posted a photo on the Majorgeeks Facebook page with a photo of someone attempting to scam me on an iPad 2 I was selling. There were some questions on how this works and how to spot it, so I thought I would go into some detail on the Craigslist PayPal scam.



Here is the first email I received below. My spidey senses immediately went up on the Doctor part. Now, there’s no guarantee here but most doctors I know who want an iPad would go buy the newest iPad at the store. Also the name; Howard David. David Howard? Nothing confirmed but a little leary already. While also a fairly common response to barter on Craigslist the response of "Get back to me with your final price" is a common way that these scammers respond. It is more likely the person will offer you LESS money.



So, I will respond because my ad says pickup, cash only and in a public place with cameras.

Now comes the response seen below. Greed will get you here. I have seen numerous sob stories here and just like the Doctor bit makes you "feel" good, this reply will always continue looking for sympathy. In my case the reply said

"Okay dear,It's a birthday gift for my son,i'm unhealthy to pick it up so i will be paying you through PayPal.Send me your PayPal email for payment.I will be paying you the sum of $380 to cover the cost and shipping.thanks"



I am asking $300, I expect to sell it for less but this person will pay me $380.00 to ship it. You're looking at 70 bucks over asking price. Sweet! Not really.

So, how do they get you? Look at it this way. Any personal information you give out can be trouble. In this case, typically they might transfer funds via check to you and by the time that check bounces, you're out the money you would have sold your item for.

They will also often ask for your address. Get ready for some new mail if you give it to them. Maybe some new credit card applications, for example.

In these cases, odds are the person is using a spoofed email meaning they are using an email with a forged address so when you go to complain to PayPal, there’s no one to track. They have disappeared and PayPal can’t recover money from a person who does not exist.

How do you avoid it? Always follow my often repeated comments that the internet parallels real life yet many people don’t consider that. In the case of Craigslist, you are going shopping often in the worst part of town. Now, if you were going to do that, you would take precautions, right? So, take the necessary precautions. If it's too good to be true, it still usually is.

Do Craigslist business in person. For example, I am buying wheels on Craigslist right now in Connecticut. I am having a friend go pick them up for me who is in the area. I am not sending money to strangers. Just not worth the hassle. I can wait for these wheels to show up closer.

It’s just stuff!