Beware of the easiest Paypal Scam ever.

2006-07-14T06:38:00.000-07:00

This an extremely easy scam for anybody to do with Paypal and Ebay and just about impossible to stop. I'm writing this post as to hopefully warn others that auction high dollar items on Ebay, before they wind up in the same position I was in. Of course, this does teach others how to do the scam I suppose, but I think informing the sellers is just as important. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. I chose the "do."

I had a Powermac G4 that I decided to put on Ebay. The machine was in great condition so I snapped a photo and ran my auction. A buyer paid through Paypal, the funds cleared, and I shipped off the laptop. Transaction over, right? Nope...

A few days after the item arrived at it's destination, I get an email from the buyer saying that he or she wasn't satisfied. The buyer complained that the laptop was badly scratched and it looked as though someone had spraypainted over it. He or she took their fingernail and rubbed at the "spraypaint" and it flaked off. They said that they buy laptops on Ebay to resell on Ebay, and now this one is damaged and won't sell for a higher price, insinuating that I should give them a partial refund. Spraypaint on the laptop was an absurd notion, so of course I rejected to refund any money, nor take back a laptop that they admitted to damaging. Some pictures followed (withheld from the post) of a chipped case. This isn't something done with a fingernail. The area between the screen and the keyboard looked gauged and then spraypainted over.

After I rejected the refund, sure enough, a claim was put into Paypal, bringing my Paypal balance into the negative. I was forced to write my side of the story for Paypal and leave the good folks there to decide my fate. A few weeks passed and I hadn't heard anything so I called to check the status--their website is less than descriptive when the claims are being processed. The gentleman on the phone told me that they had asked the buyer to take the laptop to a third party (e.g., a computer store) and get it documented that the laptop was damaged. Wait, didn't the buyer damage the laptop with his or her fingernail?

Time passed and the buyer did not get their documentation in on time and Paypal closed the case. It makes me wonder what would have happened if he had?

Here's the scam. Find a laptop for sale on Ebay that doesn't have pictures of every square inch of the case. Buy it. Once the laptop arrives, immediately email the seller and say it was scratched and spraypainted over. Demand $200. If the seller complies, great! Now relist the auction, get the same price, pick up $200. If the seller refuses, scratch the laptop yourself, spraypaint over, and submit a claim to Paypal to get your money back. Once Paypal asks you to get documentation of the damage, take the laptop to your local mom & pop computer store and explain how an evil seller sold you a damaged laptop and now you just need them to fill out a form saying it is in fact damaged. Of course, they'll see damage (that you caused) and gladly fill out the form. In fact, they will feel like the did a good deed to help thwart a scamming seller on Ebay! Return the form to Paypal, get your money back, start over with a new Ebay/Paypal account. This is far too easy.

So in all of this, there is a great lesson I have learned. From now on, I will not sell anything on Ebay that I can't afford to lose. In my case, anything over $150 or so will not go the normal route. I will still list the item on Ebay but I will demand a money order or personal check. I will also wait for those to clear before sending the item off. The buyers may not like the delay, but that's what Ebay & Paypal have forced me to do. That's really the only way I can think of selling anything on those sites anymore.

This scam is so simple for someone to pull off so please do not put yourself in the position to get victimized. Perhaps you just list your items on Craigslist and try and find a local buyer. I really don't know what to suggest, other than to beware that Paypal will do everything they can to protect a scammer in this one particular instance.

The Paypal Scam

Beware of the easiest Paypal Scam ever.