vern1

I am selling my 993 cab and have been hit with a few obvious scams. The latest "buyer" wants to purchase the car sight unseen and ship it offshore. He wants my Paypal info to pay me and then arrange shipping. Since Paypal is just an email address what can go wrong here? I am tempted to give him the Paypal email and see if the money shows up? However it just seems a bit suspect

Thanks

Ed Hughes

I'd not take paypal for selling a car. You'll take x% hit to convert pp $ to real cash.

Mark in Baltimore

Run.

BobbyT

Well, no matter how he proposes to pay, buying a Porsche sight unseen from a seller you don't know is a very red flag. Shipping it offshore is a minor one. Added together, these two equal scam. I don't know what he can do to your PayPal account with just your email address, but I wouldn't want to find out the hard way.

vern1

Mark, you say run but why? If he transfers my full asking price in to my Paypal account how can I get scammed? Thats what i am trying to find out

I agree purchasing site unseen is unusual but he is in London England and I get the impression that cars of this vintage are much more expensive there. I bought my 997 sight unseen but did have a PPI done on it by a reputable shop. But I was 5000kms away as well and couldnt see it in person but it was a good deal and worked out well

Thanks

TheBen

He might have stolen access to a paypal account.

nile13

Run, because he will pull money from PayPal (file a dispute) and at best you'll have to go through hell dealing with them.

But most likely there will be "I'll send you more and you refund me...".

In short, stay far away.

CorrdoBrit

Only way I'd complete a transaction like that is bank to bank money transfer. If he has Paypal it has to link to an appropriate bank account. Once the money hits its yours and the buyer has no way to dispute the payment. Too many ways to get screwed using any other payment method.

vern1

He has not offered to send more money and ask for a refund. I would not do that as everyone knows that is a scam. Nile, how can he file a dispute or have you seen others doing this before?

I agree a wire transfer is the perhaps the best way. Everyones first reaction is run but I am trying to find some tangible proof of previous Paypal scams not just "Run". Paypal can be a legit way of payment and I am sure we have all used it or at least I know I have used it lots of times without issues

Thanks for the comments

Mark in Baltimore

Don't have time to explain to you all of the ways that you can be scammed, but maybe you should try it out and see what happens. If you elect not to because you don't feel comfortable, then there's your answer. If you feel confident that it will all be okay, then there's your other answer.

Good luck.

jlb_94611

google .. paypal car purchase scam

I would never ever do it

steve porter

All they have to do is file a dispute after receiving the goods or claim that the goods were not as described and pay pal will suck that money out of your account and hold on to it for as long as it takes. Even with proof of delivery my wife who is an ebay trader had to go through hell and get the police and FBI involved with someone in the US pulling Ebay scams. The person who was pulling the scams got charged with mail fraud. My wife eventually got most of her money but it took six months and about a million emails and phone calls.
The bottom line is that using ebay Buying or selling. you must look at the feedback and you must TRUST whoever you are dealing with. It sounds wrong but it is riskier to sell on ebay than to buy as there are so many ways for you to get screwed, however if you buy and you actually don`t get your goods or they are damaged Paypal will give you your money back and deduct it from the sellers account.

deadhead1960

At the most, use paypal for a small good faith deposit like $500 to see if the buyer is legit. The balance for sure must be in a wire transfer!

911Dave

Cars are bought sight unseen every day between parties who don't know each other. All most of us need is a good set of pictures and a PPI. That's how I bought my C4S a couple months back. Brits and Europeans are buying a lot of Porsches from the US these days, so the fact that this guy wants you to ship to the UK is not unusual either. However I do agree that Paypal isn't the way to handle it. If this guy is legit, you should have plenty of conversation with him first. A bank wire in US funds would be in order. This requires you to give him the account number, routing number and exact name on your account. So if you do this, open a new account at a different bank for you to use just for this transaction. As soon as the money hits it, withdraw it and put it in your regular account.

Ed Hughes

What didn't you understand about my post? If you did go thru Paypal on a car sale, you are discounting it by whatever percent. Assuming you want to take funds out of your account, and put them in the bank, PP will assess a few percentage points in fees, much like what a credit card company charges a merchant.

This is above and beyond any risk.