Trust your gut on this one.

Weird.

It's a scam.

Stick with your instincts.

Definite scam, what happens is they are using a stolen cc to pay with and after you receive payment and release the game to someone then there is a paypal chargeback and you are out both the money and the game... Also they sometimes try to pay you more and give the extra to the person picking up the item or say for you to keep it for holding the item etc which then screws you out of even more. Don't fall for any of it.

Anyone that tells you that PayPal is the safest and easiest way to pay is a scammer.

I get emails for parts orders from Asia all the time like that.

Appreciate this thread. I had never thought about this angle before.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-not-get-ripped-off-in-pinball-vids-guide

Its a scam! I had the exact response two weeks ago. Exact. The next step is they will accuse YOU of scamming them. When they said they were going to report me it threw me off my game. Then I got pissed. I told them to go to hell.
Once they get the item (pin) they file a claim saying they never received it. Paypal almost always sides with the buyer. It sucks but the scammers found a good loop hole. Its tempting when someone offers you what your asking, beware.

Or they send a fake PayPal notice that overpays then claim it was an accident & that the difference was to go to the shipping co or courier and u have to send those funds by Wells Fargo or some other untraceable means.

Happened to us by listing a large used printer.

The immediacy and inability to bother asking for a better price was the first clue... And as soon as the fake pp payment notice was sent an almost mechanical "oops we overpaid" email was rec'd.

Like what u said - mechanical response.

Rod

The magic word is "independent courier." That's all I need to hear to know it's a scam.

yeah independent courier, agent, or regards are all red flags

Also want to add that while I don't listen to the Wu-tang clan personally, we should all follow their motto of c.r.e.a.m.

Cash Rules Everything Around Me

Or follow Jean Sheppards golden rule

"In God we trust, all others pay cash."

I'm super polite when I email, I always say take care, and had a guy tell me he thought I was a scammer because I'm so polite!

Has anyone played one of these through for shits and giggles?

I wonder if her "independent courier" is indeed an actual hired shipper, or someone in on the scam.

I'd be tempted to play along and have her send her "independent courier" for the pick-up, then give them one of those 1/12th-scale models. That'd be a hoot, except for the part about criminals having your home address.

I bet they have no intention of getting the game. They are just looking for the overpay scam. Pins are only lusted after by "us"

Scam scam 100 percent

it's pretty common if you ever try to buy, sell or rent anything on the internet. at least half the people who express interest in my dad's rental properties are obvious scammers.

It's a scam! Run away

I dunno, it could be legit or it could have been a scam... It's not that unreasonable that some random lady who isn't into pinball is buying her cousin her first pin for Christmas and responds quickly during office hours and wants to make a transaction through PayPal (which has more security than a lot of people claim)... It's not hard to imagine a situation where she's sitting on her end saying "why is this dude insisting I come to his house, he's probably some serial killer who doesn't even own a LOTR pin"... But it's ridiculous that she would insist you sign up for some service just so she can make her purchase... PayPal is much safer if you have an established and verified account... Bottom line, if you're uncomfortable with it don't do it! If she really wants it, she will find a way to complete the transaction on your terms.

Could you hear a foreign dialect in your email? Did it sound like Nigerian? If so, then this is a scam!

94f0cb21bd56b93e42b4e712200eced6.jpg

how many of you have cousins that close that your would buy them something for 4-6k?
ridiculous! if you had money like that to throw around to extended family members you could just catalog order something online. that was a total B.S. scam.

Nope it's a scam and a pathetic & tired scam at that!

No bullshit I put a vehicle on Craigslist 9 days ago here in Oregon and I got the following text...

Scammer: "Do you still have the vehicle for sale and are you the first owner, Can you assure me i will not be disappointed as i am buying it for me cousin as a surprise, Do you have a pay pal account"

Me: yes I am the original owner and yes I do have a pay pal account.

Scammer: "Sounds good kindly get back to me with your paypal email address and your full name as i have a private pick up agent that will come for it at your house after the payment is cleared..As soon as the payment is cleared we can fix a pickup date are you okay with that?"

Me: I will accept pay pal for a small deposit only, but the balance of funds would have to be in cash.

Scammer: "Hello the highest you can accept from your pay pal is 10000 at a time are you okay with that"

Me: No I'm Not ok with that

(You see the guy is sitting in a cafe in Nigeria)

Everyone knows they don't have cafes in Nigeria! Obviously...

Yep everyone knows! Obviously...
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Selling-on-eBay/Fraud-in-Nigeria/td-p/451797?profile.language=en-gb
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130605180730AA2u6Qt
http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-scammers20oct20-story.html#page=1

"The scams offer fabulous riches or the love of your life, but first the magha has to send a series of escalating fees and payments."

In neither the OPs case nor your own, was someone asked to send money... You were both being sent the money... But I suppose it's a valuable lesson for anyone seeking a mail-order bride...

More likely, you're just racist...

As soon as you hear they are semding a courier, you can be absolutely sure its a scam.

I am still on the fence with this .....

I miss the closing line "God bless to you and your family"

You can edit the title of your thread now to “I Know Someone Tried To Scam Me”

haha.

Racist? Seriously dude, if someone is trying to rip me off I don't give a crap what color they are! I have no time for people like you who throw accusations of racism into discussions. I am trying to prevent a fellow Pinsider from getting ripped off and again let me be perfectly clear... I don't give a rats ass what color the person trying to rip him off is.
Looks like you just created a Pinside account about a minute ago so here is a free lesson for you. Pinsiders whatchout for each other, we are good people who share a common intrest and your race baiting garbage has no place here.
Good day sir!

GTFO with this crap...

Hmm... Maybe try posting articles that are relative to your point then?

All I am saying is that NOT every PayPal transaction is a fraud. Things you should know when using PayPal:
(1) only deal with people who have "verified" accounts, meaning they have both a credit card and checking account link, which PayPal has verified are real and tied to the same person
(2) only ship to people with "validated" addresses, meaning, again, PayPal has validated there is a physical location where this individual has been known to live
(3) handle the shipping yourself and this is really the key. As many have pointed out, a personal courier is not acceptable, nor is direct pickup. These things are against paypal's terms so any fraudulent activity will not be covered by their insurance. You must arrange the shipping to the validated address and require a signature.
(4) Wait a while before shipping. If it is a fraud, PayPal will catch it the vast majority of times and they'll notify you when it's safe to ship. After all, the majority of risk is on PayPal if you follow their terms.
(5) realize PayPal is kind of a pain in the ass in terms of fees. If the buyer insists on using PayPal, make sure to have them pay the additional fees and s/h costs.

Obviously it's always safer to deal directly in cash, some people love PayPal though. Other options are to use Western Union and have the cash wired to you, or an IES as vid outlines at the end of his guide.

As for my account, yes it's new... God forbid anybody new join the pinball world... I'm excited to get a MMR so I made an account... I've wanted a pin for years but never liked the Stern ones much and am hesitant to purchase an older one that I don't know how to maintain properly

I just find it appalling that so many people immediately call scam when the real problem is that they don't know how to protect themselves when using online transactions... The objective is to reduce the risk to yourself...

In terms of racism, you're the one who posted a picture of a black guy and seemed to be able to determine his ethnicity and nationality from that alone, then proceed to link an article only vaguely related to the conversation, not much baiting involved, but I'll just take your word for it that you're not a racist...

I want people to watch out for themselves but I also want them to not live in fear of every online transaction they ever make. Yes, this most likely was a scam since they insisted on a courier and stopped communicating with the tiniest push back. Just be safe and be smart! I've never sold a pinball through PayPal, but I am a real estate developer and have sold a few things in the same price range as one, and guess what, I have yet to be scammed and have received my money every time because I knew what I was doing!

My apologies for the "more likely you're just racist" comment... I felt the article posted wasn't on point and it was late one Friday night

It's plainly a scam. But best of luck with your apparent policy of giving everyone that emails you with bad grammar and a fishy story the benefit of the doubt. What could possibly go wrong?

Lol because that's what I said...

We're all racists now. Don't believe it? Disagree with any political position left of center and you will immediately be pegged a racist. That's just how they roll.

Back on topic: OP, did you really even consider this offer legitimate for even 1 second? If so, you should stay off CL altogether.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=391&sid=222473&title=be-aware-dont-become-a-victim-of-fraud

Every time I list anything on CL, I get a few scam emails.

If you are new to detecting scam emails, add this line to every ad you place:

"I will only answer emails with the words "suck it up sally" in the header."

Scammers can't seem to figure this stuff out, or they simply avoid anybody who is not an easy target.

Knock this garbage off.

Wow, a free thinker. Also if they cant get their way your racist. You and I both will be banned from this thread in 10..9..8.. LOL

trolling-1.png

This has happened to me a few times actually. Always the same texts. Telling me to use paypal, that it's the safest way. Never wanting additional pictures of it...etc. I always tell them I don't do paypal, cash only. Even though I do have a PayPal account. ...