Scam or no scam?

Really? You had to ask? SCAM!!!!! Mark sender as junk and don't be in such a rush to sell. Perhaps your ad could be revised or have pictures to attract buyers.

If you don't issue an invoice via PayPal (which is pretty common), your email address is the way payment is issued. Of the information requested, they don't need your full name, or your cell phone number (especially if they can't make calls). A reasonable response might be to offer to issue them a PayPal invoice instead. I think that in order to do that, they have to provide you with their PayPal email address. One of you has to know this if you don't work through a middleman (such as eBay).

There's not enough information here to actually hack your PayPal account, unless you've poorly chosen your password. If it's a scam/con, I'd guess they're hoping that's the case - e.g. a password based on your name, or public information related to you, such as the name of your spouse, kids, pets, information you give out freely on Facebook and/or Twitter, etc...

The other way they could do it would be to ask for some other additional information in a subsequent email that also would sound innocuous, but which when combined with this email would be compromising.

They could also be just filling in some blanks for a nice case of ID theft on you. If I suspect you are a scammer I just block you with no response. If you are not a scammer you will not meet me at my house, but at a local public location like in front of the police station where we will both be safe and I will not be alone although you might not see my partner. I will probably be wearing a "wire". I will check the cash with a marker and wand you with metal detector. I don't sell much stuff.

Deja vu! I just renewed my CR ad and stated 'don't bother texting, texts will not be answered' and that put an end to that BS. Don't even send an answer. Those scammers will drive you nuts if you show ANY sign that you might get sucked in. Craig

I have advertised on craigslist and got only scammers,usualy form far away,wanting to buy sight unseen,promising to send bank draft and having associate to pick it up.

if someone wants to buy your stuff they will call and will live close enough to come see what youre selling.

Scammers only text msg or email,having the strangest excuses for this,
such as working in some high security government location etc..

anyone asking about your "ITEM" is a scammer,

I respond with;
I do not sell ITEMS and block them.

anyone trying to scam me gets this simple response

I do NOT give out personal information to strangers,
I do NOT accept checks of any kind
I want CASH only and will meet you at my bank,
call me when youre in town,

of course no one scammer ever shows up..

beware of scammers that want to see your stuff in the evening,
there was a case nearby here recently when someone selling a truck went for a test drive with couple strangers who turned out to be criminals and killed the man,and stole his truck..
btw
anyones email starting with;
Dear honorable friend is the worst SCAMER imaginable,avoid responding to them!

fj12ryder wrote:
I've never done any Paypal the way you've described. They give me their e-mail address and I send them money through Paypal or I give them my e-mail address and they send me money through Paypal. I've never done an invoice, ever.

And I don't see how they are going to "hack into your account" by simply knowing your e-mail address?? Please expand on that.

I don't like Paypal, but I've used it quite a bit for selling stuff on Ebay, they basically shove it down your throat, and have never had a problem. I set up a Paypal account over 10 years ago and have had no issues. That doesn't mean I like it, just that I use it.

Hmmm ... I have never given my paypal e-mail account to anyone. If you log into Paypal, there is a tab that will "create invoice" and a tab that says "request money". Both tabs send a request for payment to the person you are selling to. Now that I think about it, my e-mail addy *might* show up on that invoice or payment request, but I don't recall ever seeing it when someone sent an invoice to me. I'll have to see if I can find one. I may have mis-spoke, but I know that I have NEVER given my e-mail out. I either use the "create invoice" on paypal or have e-bay invoice it.

I agree with you on one point - I was very skeptical and afraid of paypal for a while. However, after having to use it at my work (we sold media items from our website), I became more accustomed to it. I have found their resolution dept to be very good.

*How* can someone hack into the account with only e-mail info? All I I'm not a hacker, but I know that it can be done. Even on their website, paypal mentions a "hacked account." All I know is that I don't want to give anyone any info that could possibly allow a hacker/scammer to have access to my credit card or bank account linked to paypal.

I think both ebay and craigslist *can* be used carefully and there are no problems; however, there are scammers and crooks out there. It behooves all of us to be careful.

I've never done any Paypal the way you've described. They give me their e-mail address and I send them money through Paypal or I give them my e-mail address and they send me money through Paypal. I've never done an invoice, ever.

And I don't see how they are going to "hack into your account" by simply knowing your e-mail address?? Please expand on that.

I don't like Paypal, but I've used it quite a bit for selling stuff on Ebay, they basically shove it down your throat, and have never had a problem. I set up a Paypal account over 10 years ago and have had no issues. That doesn't mean I like it, just that I use it.

Someone keeps asking "how" it is a scam with "paypal". This is the clue....

[COLOR=]Your PayPal e-Mail Address :
Full name:
Firm Price:
Your cell phone number:
God bless you.

In legitimate transactions, when you allow someone to purchase by paypal, you DO NOT give them your paypal e-mail address. YOU sign into your paypal account and issue an invoice TO THEM. They pay that invoice with their paypal account and they never have to know the e-mail information.

If you give them YOUR paypal e-mail, they can then hack into the account your paypal account is tied to (i.e. checking, savings and/or credit card). Then it is easy to wipe you out. In some cases, it might be hard to get your money back. The banking institution can easily claim: "YOU gave them the information."

A side note to those who refuse to do e-mail on craigslist. I've done quite a bit of ebay and craigslist in the past few years. I would rather work with people via e-mail. Phone calls, texts and crank calls at weird hours of the day can be a hassle. So you might be missing a good sale. :)

We recently sold a 5ver and purchased a new (to us) 5ver. All the discussion regarding appointments to see, etc for both rigs was done
via e-mail. If fact - with one of them, even the sales price negotiation was done via e-mail.

FOR CRAIGSLIST, ETC... when buying and/or selling - set up a gmail or yahoo account for just that purpose. Then your personal e-mail account is not compromised. I do the same for all online ordering.

LOL - We received the exact same e-mail when we had our 5ver listed on Craigslist. Definite scam!

For this reason, we have created an g-mail address that can be used for craigslist (buying and/or selling) that does not compromise our personal e-mail address.

They are "phishing" for your personal information. If you bite they will get into your accounts and get any money you have. Also, they send you a check for more money then you ask for. You deposit the check and then send the extra amount to their account via Western Union. Of course you can keep a little extra for your troubles. Days later when the banks attempts to clear the check, it bounces sky high. You are now liable for the money that you sent back to them and they keep your cash.

These scams go on day after day. It costs these knuckleheads next to nothing to put out there. If they get one person to respond, they make money. They operate outside of The United States so there is little law enforcement can do except educate the public.