How easy to be scammed using Venmo or paypal

I have a item for sale on Facebook market place. I’ve had a few offers from people out of the state who are interested. They say they are willing to pay by Venmo or paypal and send a prepaid shipping label. I have been saying sorry only local pickup. I really want the item gone and the out of state offers seem like all I’m getting. Its not a real high value deal so I’m thinking about just going ahead with one of the offers. I just don’t see a way you can get scammed if you receive the money into a paypal account and all I have to do is stick a pre-paid label on the box and mail it. Am I missing something to worry about.

fishthumper wrote:

I just don’t see a way you can get scammed if you receive the money into a paypal account and all I have to do is stick a pre-paid label on the box and mail it

It’s a scam, the payment will get reversed.

Read this and the next one on list: https://www.paypal.com/us/cshelp/article/what-are-common-scams-and-how-do-i-spot-them-help201#Prepaid_Label

Well I knew there must be a reason why it sounded to good. The link you sent only shows the scam on the shipping label side. If i use my own shipper and add the cost into the the Venmo payment can the payment somehow still get reversed after its been credited to my bank account ?

I think in general neither are very safe if you don’t trust the buyer. All of the protections are for the buyer. Even if you have proof of delivery they can just say it’s not as described and file a claim.

If you suggest an alternate method that protects you, that will be the end of the conversation. The “person” you’re talking to isn’t who they say they are and they have no interest in your item, only in stealing from you.

If no one locally is interested in your item at the posted price, it’s highly unlikely that someone from another state would be. There are exceptions on certain niche items but in general if you’re not selling it, it’s either overpriced or there is no demand.

dirtywater wrote:

but in general if you’re not selling it, it’s either overpriced or there is no demand

In my case I think a lack of demand ( office phone set of 5 phone’s ) That is why I was thinking a wider purchase base may have been the reason for the interest. I’ll just stick to the local purchase only. If it doesn’t sell I’ll probably just donate the item.

at least get them to send you an extra $200 for your troubles…

Typing this as a PSA.

Been looking for a car for the teen, $3-6k range, have a cousin up nort very active on FB, complete gear head but don’t see him a lot during the year. He posts a small suv and utility trailer for sale on FB, sweet price for the suv but not stupid cheap, friends husband died, downsizing vehicles. PM him to ask a couple questions, responds, asks for a deposit to hold until the weekend. Understandable, alot of talkers out there and doesn’t want to burn a friend who may need the cash. I’m busy AF as work so going thru this seems all legit, send the cashapp to his buds for $500, gets rejected right away. He PMs right away asking whats up, takes me a lil bit bc work is busy, but that’s when his PMs got a bit off, and suspicious.

Sum things up they hacked his FB, posted a fake ad, used his messenger to facilitate conversations and luckily cashapp stopped it. Got my refund in 48hrs.

Fwiw, just this week sold a pair of old bike pedals to some dude in fon du lac, he mailed cash and I mailed pedals, so sometimes it works too lol

I buy and sell stuff on archery talk all the time. And there has been a big increase in venmo / paypal scams and fake posters. Same with fb market place.

Sounds a bit off. Ask for a phone number and call the person, that usually helps separate ouot the scammers, not always. I use Venmo among friends and some local small dollar marketplace items. I just sold some boat bumper ties to a guy in Canada using Paypal…never again. Talked to the guy on the phone and he was great, but Paypal is a mess. Ending up having to ask for a check mailed to me which will take 5-10 days just to get the money out somehow. Done with that app!

If your selling on FB click on offer shipping when you create the ad. You enter the weight of the item with packaging and FB will send you a shipping label when the item sells. The buyer pays through FB and you are safe. I sell 100’s of items and this the only way unless your meeting up local with cash.

I don’t have Venmo but I’ve used my wife’s venmo to complete transactions. It helps to have an eye for scammers; most of them don’t speak or write English well.

I recently sold some truck parts; I spoke at length with the buyer, he venmo’d my wife, once we had the money in our actual possession (ie, out of Venmo and into bank account), I shipped his parts. he agreed to that, and I could tell just speaking with him he wasn’t into scams.

I’m working with someone right now to buy something and have him ship to me. We’re going to reach a deal, but like I said most important thing is actually speaking to these people. It might be a generational thing but the scammers are so blatantly obvious when I see them that I don’t worry too much I just ignore those.

Example: Anyone asking for a “code” or some such nonsense is a scammer; anyone who won’t talk to you 1:1 is likely a scammer; anyone asking for additional personal information that is irrelevant to the transaction is a scammer. And so on

I just assume everyone and everything related to a financial transaction is a scam until proven otherwise. It’s a pretty foolproof way to not get scammed.