guides on PayPal usage

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 18 Feb 2011 Posts: 2

I've got a scammer trying to buy a car I'm selling. This is their 3rd attempt (different email addy but the wording of the ads are similar including poor grammar)
each time they have asked about PayPal. I have an account and am obviously not willing to use it. Apart from saying the account is locked, any other suggestions?
One thing that is interesting is that they haven't read the ad I posted and keep asking the price. Given that I have trebled the price to see if they are reading.
The most recent one is apparently in the UK so I am "placing" myself there as well.

Thanks in advance

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 18 Feb 2011 Posts: 2

They have also used a phone number from FleXible Telecoms. This one is trying to be smart

insults and more · Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:10 am

You could (in Opera or Firefox with firebug) edit the html of a paypal page to show that your character's account has been locked, then send a screenshot. For added verisimilitude, you could edit in some previous transactions with men named Mfwume, Sanusi, and Obilor.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:42 am

^^^There's really no point to doing that. It won't serve any purpose, and it's best not to give them fake screenshots that they can reuse for their own purposes.

The scammer doesn't plan to do anything with your paypal account. All they actually want is the linked email address. This particular scam consists of sending you a fake paypal email essentially saying the money has been paid and will be released to you once you have paid the "shipper."

Anybody who uses paypal frequently is unlikely to fall for this, but people who have only used it once or twice are vulnerable.

While some scammers run several formats at the same time and may have access to other options (e.g. fake checks, stolen credit cards), not all scammers have access to these things. Once you tell them you won't use paypal, most of these scammers will disappear, because they don't have another scam option. So they just drop you and move on. If they are running other suitable formats, they may be able to switch gears and offer a check istead.

Since you are really selling a car, it is best not to bait them or push back as you are not baiting safely.