at least they managed to have the water behind the pirate ship line up with the rest of the ocean.

Probably not the greatest idea to give scammers advice on how to scam better...

It's a scam. Here is an example of what is being done to you https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/i-think-i-may-be-getting-scammed-help#post-5855915

In the above example photographic proof was provided that a pinball machine for sale ad from back in the day was photo-shopped with the note.

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Yep... 100% scam. Here is your proof.

Here is the image without the "note". Circa 2019 Pinside for sale ad. https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive/89340

Edit: Mods, can we get pinside watermarks on old images to cut down on this or at least make it harder for scammers?

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Ok I'm confussed...the title say PayPal Purchase but it's more about photos shop scams.

It's not really PayPal fault that this is taking place, is it?

It's simply the method of payment that was discussed. Don't get too hung up about it.

Shipping deals can work and unknown sellers and buyers are the backbone of getting machines to people who want to play them. And even the most shady of deals do sometimes come true.

I had a wanted ad on Pinside for a Gottlieb Subway. I got a response from a guy with the handle “sellsubway” who said he had one in his father’s basement, just wanted to get rid of it. Not willing to ship, pickup only. A cold contact from a brand new account on Pinside, just opened, named “sellsubway” and I am the first person this guy messages? Ok, red flags are going off like fireworks. Rare machine, located in the middle of nowhere upstate New York, cheap price, new Pinsider account, looking to unload MY dream title AAB wedgehead but only for local pickup?

Got to be a scam.

Nope.

Thanks to Mopar and STI, I was finally able to get my Subway. This deal smelled fishier than a bucket of chum but was actually on the up and up. So don’t throw all the babies out with the bath water… put in enough leg, ear, eye, nose, and throat work and actually communicate with other Pinsiders and get those machines you really want.

maybe this topic should be renamed "how to spot and avoid a pinball scammer". this topic has some good advise on it.
maybe people will be more careful when spotting these shady ads , because sometimes its not always that easy to spot as this one.

Glad you caught it before you lost some money

Same here - couple years ago out of the blue I was skimming ebay, which i NEVER do anymore, and ran across a classic Marshall 100 watt head and cabinet in Brooklyn NY - brand new account, pickup only, no feedback. Opening bid was $450 - I bid on it for the hell of it and was the only bidder. Seller turned out to be a guy's mom, he'd moved to Germany years earlier and it was too expensive to ship the amp. Me and a buddy left southeast Michigan at 5am and returned home at 10pm that night, 1200 miles. She was an artist who lived in her studio in the warehouse district downtown, and while we were there she says "Do you want his old acoustic guitar too?" "Sure!" "How about these 8 hanger things for hanging guitars on the wall?" "Well sure!" Amp is probably worth about $4k.

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I picked up a Data East Star Wars game from Ebay, my one and only "auction purchase" for a pin.

It was sketchy as the buyer wanted payment through paypal and I was like "No. Cash in hand which is an acceptable form of payment per Ebay for such a purchase. Send me your address now, I'll be there "X" day" and the deal went down.

They were stubborn but relented as they had no choice. Turns out the seller was clearing out a parents house (a former Olympic participant!) after they had passed. Oddly enough I didn't even meet the seller, his staff whom was cleaning the house met me there and took the money as instructed. Just strange all around, very upscale neighborhood in New York and joggers were giving me fisheye that some guy with a DODGE TRUCK was parked in the street.

The seller’s references, Davey Lopes and Ron Cey, seemed to check out though.

I have that same JCM model... I didn't realize that stack was worth that much - was the head hotroded?