SCAM ALERT!

[RRuskin]

"This transaction payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and "APPROVED" but not credited into your account, Reason for both buyer’s and seller’s safety policy. We put this transaction to your account on “HOLD” until the item is shipped out to the buyer and the shipment reference/tracking number is sent to us for shipment verification, so as to secure both the buyer and the seller. Check payment details below and follow the instructions for your account to be credited."

The above email looked to be from PayPal & legit but was not. I did not fall for it but others might not be as diligent as I was. Always check your PayPal account before shipping an item you have for sale. If you have any doubts, contact their customer service via chat or phone.

[woodbox]

Thank you for posting this.
I have a friend who received a similar email, with virtually the same wording, but believed and fell on the foul side.

[gmel555]

That's a good heads-up, thx. A couple years ago I took over all of the affairs for my aged parents ~90yo. I now get all their scam calls, e-mails, papermail, etc. The frequency and deviousness of these rotten thieves(who target everyone but particularly the elderly) gets worse every year.

[Beakybird]

It's sad that people fall for these scams. It's even sadder that there are people with such little empathy that they would perpetrate them.

[lowrider]

I'm fortunate to live in the NYC metro area so I can buy and sell face to face. If I was to sell something with PayPal payment, I wouldn't ship it until the money came out of PayPal and into my bank account and I would let the buyer know that.

[Ludere]

I work in Cybersecurity, so this is a subject near and (not so) dear to me ...

NEVER click on a link in the body of an email. NEVER.

A well crafted link can "read" any way the author wants it to read, so just because it SAYS "https:// blahblah Paypal_Secure blah blah" ... does NOT mean that's where it leads.
Just don't click on links in emails, period.

Instead, open a new browser session and navigate to their website yourself and look into whatever notification the email stated.
As often as not, it is a bogus attempt to get you to click their link and visit their site, which can look EXACTLY like the legitimate site. Up to and including the URL reading properly.
These guys have gotten very crafty, so the best bet is open a new browser and navigate to the site yourself.

Also, no legitimate seller or broker is ever going to send you an email asking you log in via a link they send you.
Oldest trick in the book: "There has been some suspicious activity in your account. Please click the link below and log in to ensure your safety and keep your account from being deleted."
And when you do, they capture your username and password.

Easy to remember - never click on any links you are sent.

Tell your friends.

~ Paul

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[Dustinfurlow]

Thank you!

[capefisherman]

Great info from Paul, thanks. Also - and it amazes me that apparently there are still people who fall for this - ALWAYS look at the COMPLETE email address. If anything looks funky, regardless if the beginning of the email address has "paypal" or "ebay" or "amazon" or whatever, consider it a total scam.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by Ludere

I work in Cybersecurity, so this is a subject near and (not so) dear to me ...

NEVER click on a link in the body of an email. NEVER.
Easy to remember - never click on any links you are sent.
Tell your friends.
...

I agree totally!
With that being said, I recently sold a guitar & Some Camera gear on Ebay. It was a wonderful, easy transaction. I had only sold one Item before On ebay. I have bought lots of stuff, but not sold, with the exception of the one other Item.

So they actually held the funds as mentioned in your email scam. I called ebay and they said that I needed to sell 25 items before they would release monies to me immediately. In the meantime they told me I needed to insert Tracking numbers into my account...and when the guitar arrives via tracking confirmation they will deposit monies into my account. And they did! As soon as UPS delivered it, ebay new and deposited the monies into my account.

So while this email is a scam and I concur with Paul, Never open a link from an email, the premise of holding funds could actually be correct for new sellers.

[RustyAxe]

Yeah ... they're out there. I got a couple from "The Apple Store" saying I bought this or that (stuff I would never buy). "Click here to view your purchase". Deleted the emails, logged on Apple Store in a new browser instance, and checked my account to be sure. Of course, nothing.

I've stressed to my wife (who is barely computer literate) NEVER open a link any email, SMS message, whatever. Even if it comes from a friend or company you know ... cuz you never know.

[Bain]

I would have fell for this ............😖

[YamahaGuy]

After a bait-and-switch Ebay debacle, directly followed by nightmarish PayPal dealings, I have written off both from my repertoire of purchasing options.

[mercy]

I had the exact statement when I sold my last guitar but eventually the funds got into my paypal. Whats going on?

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by mercy

I had the exact statement when I sold my last guitar but eventually the funds got into my paypal. Whats going on?

This email wasn't about a hold on the funds. It directed me to ship before the transaction even showed up in my account. No way was I going to do that.

[Ludere]

Originally Posted by mercy

I had the exact statement when I sold my last guitar but eventually the funds got into my paypal. Whats going on?

At one time, I was an avid knife collector and made hundreds of Paypal transactions. Every once in a while they would put a hold on funds ... they even held my funds from going to a seller once when the money was clearly available ... never could figure out why they did that - it seemed almost random, but the few times they did it, the deals were legit and the transactions eventually went through.

So ... I dunno ...

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