PayPal question

[cudino]

WARNING! My friend was trying to sell a motorcycle through Craigslist and had several people say they would pay full price. But these buyers didn't ask any questions about the bike, which gave my friend a bad feeling. The buyer's conditions for all these cases was that they must pay through Paypal, and that they would send over a private driver to pick it up. After getting 3 such potential 'buyers' all with the same scenario my friend contacted Paypal to ask.

According to Paypal it's a SCAM. The buyer wires the money to Paypal and sends a private driver. The driver picks up, no problem. Then, a day or so later, the 'buyer' calls you, saying that his driver is on the way. You say "but someone just picked it up yesterday!" Since the first driver was private there's no record, and because the buyer never officially received the item they are entitled to get their money back from Paypal. And of course the crooks do have the car/bike, which has now become stolen property.

Of course this isn't all cases, but beware of somebody eager to pay full price, no questions asked, requires payment through Paypal, and is sending a private driver. If Paypal is required then Paypal's suggestion was to require a licensed/bonded carrier. At least suggesting this might scare off the potential scammers.

- Wade