Need Help Determining If This is a Scam

[jlee14]

Guys I apologize if this is in the wrong section. . .

I am trying to sell an old laptop and I posted an ad on cragslist. I got a response from a man claiming to be interested in purchasing it for his son. He wants to ship it to him but claims his son lives in Africa. He has offered to wire me the money and pay the extra for shipping. I don't use paypal often, so I am not sure what the rules are. Reading this, it sounds like a scam. It sounds like he would wire me the money temporarily and wait for my laptop to exit the country and then try to get his money back. As I said though I'm not sure about paypals policy. Has anyone had a similar experience? Once he wires the money am I good to go?

 

[endeavour37a]

His son can find a laptop in Africa, there are plenty of them...

 

[WhiteSnake91]

99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of anything like that online is a scam. Scratch that, 100% is a scam....don't do that man, it's like the oldest trick in the book with various scams,emails,etc from Africa. The used laptop market is pretty poor...why not sell it on ebay? Or worst comes to worst the local pawn shop. That's about all you can expect if nobody will buy an old laptop from craigslist. Tech advances fast as it is

 

[jlee14]

I mean I assumed it was I was more curious if there was any harm in seeing if he would actually wire the money.

 

[WhiteSnake91]

that I'm not so sure about. Actually, you could open a new paypal account up and attach a new empty prepaid visa/mastercard to it, and if he does wire it, spend the money/withdraw it quickly so he can't cheat you, and then mail him the laptop. If he refuses to send the money first, then it's a scam. Which it most likely is....but it would be nice to see somebody one-up these scammers for once lol.

 

[RazerZ]

It's a scam, stay away. Infact you could copy and paste his email into google and probably find the same scam. If he's legit then say you'll sell it to him and he can ship it to his son.

 

[philip0871]

This is a total scam. Hes not even interested in the laptop. He's phishing for more valuable info like bank info. Cease all contact with this individual immediately!

 

[ldewitt]

Yeah seems like a scam to me also glad you came here to the toms family for answers because we give it to people straight no punch lines.

 

[shadow32]

100% a scam. I get replys like this all the time when selling on craigslist.

 

[jlee14]

I know that now lol. I got about 5 more of them.

 

[endeavour37a]

Not to be respectful but if you think about this it just does not add up, Africa, dad/son....... common sense says this is not the way people do business. Glad you did not fall for this BS, you should report this to the FBI, but then maybe not