July 7, 2024, 2:39 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
As convenient as online marketplaces like eBay and classifieds can be, their use can sometimes be risky. Scammers are constantly coming up with new tricks to steal money, goods, and data. They particularly like to exploit the payment service PayPal. TECHBOOK reveals how you can protect yourself from two particularly insidious methods.
Imagine you list your iPhone 14 on classifieds. Soon, you receive a message from a potential buyer who wants to pay for your iPhone via PayPal and then pick it up. This sounds like a normal transaction, but TECHBOOK advises increased vigilance at this point. Payment via PayPal is a popular scam on classifieds and can be a sign of impending fraud.
PayPal scams are particularly insidious forms of fraud on classifieds because they initially appear secure. There are two types of PayPal scams.
The Pickup Trick
In the first scam, the buyer is the scammer and the seller is the victim. In the case of your listed iPhone, the interested party wants to pay for the item via PayPal using the “Goods and Services” option and even covers the fees for PayPal’s buyer protection. They then send someone or pick up the item themselves. Up to this point, the sale seems less like a scam on classifieds and more like a regular transaction via PayPal.
Also interesting: Triangle fraud on classifieds can happen to anyone!
But shortly after, the buyer contacts you again: They claim not to have received the item and involve PayPal. PayPal then asks the seller for proof of shipment or pickup. But since there is no such proof, PayPal decides in favor of the buyer and refunds them the purchase price. In the end, you as the seller are left without money and without the item.
To protect yourself against this type of fraud, you can do the following: Choose either an insured shipping method and keep the receipt, or accept only cash upon pickup.
Payment via “Family & Friends”
The second popular PayPal scam on classifieds is payment via “Friends & Family.” In this case, you are not selling an iPhone but are in the role of the buyer. You find a listing with an unbeatable price and express your interest to the seller. They offer you the option to pay via PayPal using “Friends & Family” and provide you with an email address. The seller assures you that they will ship the iPhone immediately after receiving the payment.
This is where the PayPal scam on classifieds begins. Using a PayPal account set up temporarily and under a false name, the seller and scammer withdraws the money directly into their pocket. The item is never shipped, leaving you without money and without the item. You notice the scam and file a police report? By then, it’s often too late, as the perpetrators quickly transfer the money and delete the fake account. By sending the payment via “Friends & Family,” you cannot simply reclaim the money, as this payment option does not offer buyer protection.
The police in Lüneburg confirm this method and warn all consumers about this scam on classifieds. “Before the first victims file criminal charges because they have not received their items, the user accounts on PayPal and classifieds are already deleted, and new ones under different identities are already in place to commit further fraud,” states a statement from the police.
Therefore, the rule is: To avoid this form of PayPal fraud on classifieds, you should always pay with the “Goods & Services” option. In this case, buyer protection applies if the seller cannot prove shipment, and you will get your money back.