How to avoid getting scammed (selling things online)

Factual Questions
1

OK, I’m selling things on facebook marketplace for pretty cheap (need cash very fast) and two items I’ve listed, I’ve gotten responses from people I’m not really sure to trust. Both user pages are very short on information, not typical for a user of the website. One person’s name is “Smith Jones” and has asked for my address and phone number, the other is in broken English.

What sort of steps should I take to ensure that I don’t get ripped off? I’m currently accepting paypal, personal check, and money order. Is the personal check a bad idea? If I take money via paypal, is there any way for the person to reverse the transaction and get the money back out of my bank account? How long should I wait past payment clearing to ship the item?

2

I happen to know a fellow named Jones Smith, he’s a bass player in North Carolina.

Sadly, knowing him has made me less suspicious of blatantly fake names such as “Smith Jones” :slight_smile:

3

If something about the “buyer” is obviously very suspicious, I would recommend not selling to them.

There are lots of people passing bad money orders. Postal money orders are generally considered the most secure, I believe you can cash them immediately at the post office. Paypal payments can be reversed for at least 45 days but they require you to ship orders within a few days of payment and you must have proof of delivery to protect yourself against a claim. I’d be careful about accepting Paypal, make sure you understand all their rules. http://paypalsucks.com/

If a check bounces, you bank is going to charge you for it.

I’d say postal money order is the safest, but you might want to do a little more research on them first. They are always coming up with new ways to scam you.

4

I’ve heard a lot of complaints from people selling items on another web site that I frequent. The web site is for collectors of a certain item. In the past year, people selling items are often targeted for scams like the counterfeit bank check. The scammers typically want to buy everything, ask none of the questions that might be asked by a collector, and want the items shipped to a different address.

5

[QUOTE=ForumBot]
OK, I’m selling things on facebook marketplace for pretty cheap (need cash very fast) and two items I’ve listed, I’ve gotten responses from people I’m not really sure to trust. Both user pages are very short on information, not typical for a user of the website. One person’s name is “Smith Jones” and has asked for my address and phone number, the other is in broken English.

What sort of steps should I take to ensure that I don’t get ripped off? I’m currently accepting paypal, personal check, and money order. Is the personal check a bad idea? If I take money via paypal, is there any way for the person to reverse the transaction and get the money back out of my bank account? How long should I wait past payment clearing to ship the item?
[/QUOTE]
I’ve only got PayPal experience from selling on eBay, but yes, there are lots of ways to be scammed - (and eBay+PayPal actually offers a bit more protection than either of them alone).

If you’re paid by PayPal and the payment ultimately came from fraudulent sources such as a stolen or fake credit card, then the money will disappear from your PayPal account. If you have managed to withdraw it in the interim (and assuming the withdrawal transaction is complete), then PayPal will freeze your account and pursue you for the funds.

The most common kinds of scam you’re likely to encounter are:

-Fake payment - fake checks, fake PayPal emails (in the hope you won’t actually check the transaction exists in your account), fake postal orders, payments by stolen cards - In all of these cases, the idea is to get you to send the goods before it becomes apparent there is no real money. More common for high value items such as laptops and mobile phones, but also happens on other things that are easy to resell for cash.

-Fake escrow - you recieve a message saying funds are held in escrow until you provide proof of shipping - sometimes, there will be what appears to be a fully-fledged website on which you can track the progress of the transaction. You ship the goods, you don’t get the money. Same target products as above.

-Overpayment scam. This can happen on even smaller items. “Oops! My secretary wrote you a check for $3000 instead of the $30.00 due for the item - I’m out of town for a few days and can’t raise another check - please could you cash the $3000 check and write me another for the $2950 balance (keeping $20 extra for your trouble)”.
You do this - their check bounces, yours doesn’t - goodbye three grand.

6

If you’re selling stuff via facebook, the only people who can see your listing are those in your geographical or school network. Meet them in person, and insist on cash.