Hi all,
I have someone offering more money for a board I'm selling than the listed price. The email is written with that slightly Nigerian scam-style grammar and they're after some strange information such as
"Your Name and address:
And your PayPal email:"
What on earth is a PayPal email?
What should I do with these guys?
Cheers,
N
I found this article useful.
thewest.com.au/
or on seabreeze: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/Internet-scammers-re-board-for-sale/?SearchTerms=scam
Tut tut tut! Why is everyone sooo suspicious of everyone else these days.
I mean, isn't the first thing you do when you answer an advertisment to email them and offer them more money than they are asking for it.?
Isn't that what you do when you walk into a shop to buy something?
You see what the marked price is and then bargain them up another 50%?
It's just the way we are in this affluent first world society now.
You start at the marked price and then see how high you can bargain them up.
So, whatever he offers to you, I bid 50% more.
I don't even know what you're selling but whatever it is I want it.
Just send me your bank account details and pin number so I can be sure you're a genuine seller.
I wouldn't want to be conned you know.
Oh, and just in case it's needed,.. 
My interest goes a little beyond the academic here.
Without giving too much away, my profession affords me a unique ability to warn people about these sorts of things - I have a platform to do it and I'm curious about how the scam works.
Why are these monkeys asking for a PayPal email address?
(To my shame it also made me realise I have no idea how I accept a PayPal payment outside of the eBay environment. What exactly do I have to supply on here?)
The other thread (link above) tells you how it works.
But for a legit transaction outside ebay all you have to do is give the buyer your paypal email address (whatever email you registered with IE: what paypal sends emails to when they tell you your payment is in or to send you spam advertising [}:)])
It sort of rings bells if someone is willing to pay more than the advertised price. Most people (genuine buyers) will ask if you're flexible on the price. Guess it boils down to the fact that if it sounds too good to be true you can bet it is.
Well the bells rang very loudly but they've asked for no more information than you'd ordinarily give a genuine buyer by the sounds of things.
I admit I haven't read the other thread but what, essentially, are they hoping to gain? And by that logic, am I potentially passing that gain on to genuine buyers who requests my paypal email?
Perplexing.
I shall read on.
They just send you a fake email that looks like it is from paypal, saying the funds have bene deposited, and you post the item to them.
Also once they have confirmed an email address linked to a paypal account they are half way to hacking your paypal account all they need to do is work out you pass word and often that is easier than you might imagine , especially with the right software.
Also once they confirm email / paypal account you are likely to receive fake emails / links from paypal asking you to login.... Whoosh now they have all the info they need to clean you out
He's a thread which give a pretty good insight into how a typical Nigerian type scam works.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/General-Discussion/Chat/Internet-Scammers/
This scam usually works on a service rather than an item.
They send you a cheque for more than you asked, then ask for a refund on the difference.
Then the original cheque bounces.
Believe it or not, it works often enough to make it worth their while.
Blame the dude who invented spam.
I remember on another forum when this silliness first started, a few people boasting that they had won the lottery. OoopS !!
Hey Guys, had a similar response to an advert I had on Bike Exchange except the web master had blocked them already so they respond by sending a text requesting you email them. Once confirming the scam I strung them on for a week by acting dumb.
1st I told them I didn't have paypal and asked if I could give my credit card details including expiry date and 3 digit security code...
2nd I asked if they could set up the PayPal account as I didn't have one and need help...
After about 8 emails they gave up when I asked them to please ensure me that they weren't scamming me because I really need the money..
There is a web site with forum that specifically goes after these guys as sport cant remember the details, had some great stories...
Smithy
God these scammers, I had one today asking if the board I am selling is epoxy, FWS or pro edition!!!!
Can you believe it? I have not worked out what his game is yet but sure there is a catch ....
Grrrrrr dam those Nigerian scams , but don't worry I told him where to stick his dodgy con trick ! 
You sending them the email address you registered with paypal isn't the scam. Mark's probably right about them spoo-fing a "cash received OK" message from paypal. It'd be better if they asked you for money, before they can send you money.
"I am in posesion of 1,000,000,000,000 (zillion) gold nuggets, and can pay you with all of them once I have disinfected each nugget from being in my ass. Please send me $50 so I can buy disinfectant..."
Yeah I had what appear to be scam responses to my sail ad ( asking for the same info that was in the advert). I ignored them, I may miss a genuine sale occasionally but prefer not to respond to a possible scam.... my tip to any genuine buyer is to respond to the ad with a genuine phone # for the seller to ring. I recently sold a car through a common on line site. I had 8 scam enquiries to the one genuine one. Each time the scammer gave a phone # that did not work or no phone #.
