Please Tell Me If This Is Legit

Okay, I have a car for sale. I posted it on Cl with a lot of info and a link to may pictures. So I get this email from a guy and this is how it went:

"Hi, Still for sale? Why aren't you finishing it? Thanks.

http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/cto/2555123994.html"

"Yes it's still for sale. I'm selling it due to a combination of health and financial issues."

"Hi Jim, Do you have a good, not salvage, title for it? I'd really like to take a look, but I'm in upstate NY, and not right around the corner. I am very interested, and your description and photos do a good job of showing what you have. You've obviously done a lot of work on the car. I'm interested in completing it and giving it to my daughter. I have a '66, and she's always been a big fan. She has an illness that is not going well, and I thought maybe it would give her a bright spot in life for a while. Anyway, I could give you $6000., as the new economy hasn't been all sweetness with me either. Let me know if you can do it, and I'll get back to you promptly."

"It has a clear title. I should mention that I didn't do any of the work. I bought it this way with the intention of finishing it. I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope she is going to be okay. I can come down to $6900, but that's as low as I can go."

"That's fine. Send me your paypal email and I will transfer the funds. I'm almost out the door to a wedding, so it may be this eve, as today I'll be driving and attending wedding. After I paypal and you receive, pls send me an email acknowledging the sale, and that you'll transfer title to me. I'll have to arrange transportation, so pls hold safely on it, as that may take a few days. I'll get it arranged next week if that's ok with you."

I guess what concerns me is how little he asked, that this email exchange was the total extent of our communication, and while I have a paypal account, I know nothing about any partriculars related to transferring this much money.
What do you guys think?

I don't know if he's a legitimate buyer or not, and I don't know anything about paypal. I do however know I wish I had the space and time to take on that TVR. Awesome cars.

I think I'd want to talk to him on the phone at least first. Best of luck with the sale.

I would never ever ever let paypal have access to that much of my money at once. They're not an escrow service or a bank, and they basically don't answer to any authority or have any responsibility to verify anything before throwing your money in a hole where you'll never see it again.

Have you considered asking for payment in the form of a cashier's check or some other guaranteed funds? I'd say if he's not willing to do that, he's probably not a serious buyer or he's trying to pull something over on you.

Yeah, I wouldn't rush into anything on this one. Feels fishy. Wait til next week (or whenever) and try to get him on the phone. Hearing a voice can go a long way to assuaging doubt.

And I'd arrange a wire transfer from bank to bank. Once your bank can verify he has the funds, and they make it into your account (usually a matter of a few hours), you can deal with title transfer and shipping.

Or hell, look into an actual escrow service. I have no idea what this costs or entails.

Could be legit, but the use of PayPal makes it seem a little(?) like a scam.

What is odd is that he didn't call you (I wouldn't part with more than $1,000 without hearing it described by the seller/asking a few questions) and he seems to be doing this about as "casually" as going to the corner store for milk while he has a few minutes between football games. But that's just me, I guess?

I've accepted full payment for a vehicle from another GRMer via Paypal but that wasn't for anything close to what you were asking for a vehicle.

I can see a couple of problems with this (like using a stolen/hacked Paypal account) that would result you in being out of money and out of car but I don't think the alternatives are much better if you can't meet in person. It's not like cashier's checks haven't been forged in the past either.

Something smells rotten...

Wire transfer is the best option IMO.

Joshua wrote: Wire transfer is the best option IMO. And yes that TVR is legit.

Potential Buyer said: so pls hold safely on it, as that may take a few days. I'll get it arranged next week if that's ok with you."

Having some experience with this, walk away. Sorry about the guy's daughter, but it sounds like his plate is full.

Money talks ..........

Paranoia pays off, I say.

Wire transfer, nothing else. Paypal has too many opportunities for problems.

No phone call, no request for extra info and pics.... that guys nonchalance throws a red flag for me.

If you are concerned I would ask for cash. I actually talked to my bank about something similar (although the amount was only $1k), and they said paypal was more secure than a cashiers check for a few reasons. I ended up deciding not to deal with the person because it seemed a bit too weird. I think a reply saying pick up in person with cash only might lead to the end of that conversation.

In my experience paying or getting paid by Paypal is about as safe & trustworthy as getting a Western Union Moneyorder from one of the Nigerian scammers/

That's not a lot of money, ask for payment in cash when he picks up the car.

jimbob_racing wrote: That's not a lot of money, ask for payment in cash when he picks up the car.

^^^This. Even cashiers checks are not safe. A wire transfer is a lot better and cheaper than Paypal.

carguy123 wrote: In my experience paying or getting paid by Paypal is about as safe & trustworthy as getting a Western Union Moneyorder from one of the Nigerian scammers/

I don't understand this. How can funds be transferred via paypal and not be legit??? I though that it either clears or it doesn't.

I must be WAY more naive than I thought.

^^this...i thought that sh1t was tight!

gamby wrote:

carguy123 wrote: In my experience paying or getting paid by Paypal is about as safe & trustworthy as getting a Western Union Moneyorder from one of the Nigerian scammers/

I don't understand this. How can funds be transferred via paypal and not be legit??? I though that it either clears or it doesn't. I must be WAY more naive than I thought.

Like was mentioned earlier, it could be a hacked PP account, or after they get the car they could file a claim saying they never got the car and cause problems after the fact.

PP is set up to protect the buyer, to the extent that opportunities exist for the buyer to work the system. You can easily lose in contested deal.

Scam.

cwh wrote: PP is set up to protect the buyer, to the extent that opportunities exist for the buyer to work the system. You can easily lose in contested deal.

Not only that, but IIRC, they can also screw with linked credit cards.

I had an incident a couple years ago where I get an email demanding money back from some kid form Kansas. I had no idea what was going on. Next thing I know I have an email from Paypal stating that I need to make my wrong right. I had done nothing, this kid paypalled to the wrong email and know it was my issue as I had robbed him and he needed the money back.

Now, if he hadn't been such an shiny happy person, I would have just sent it back. Due to the way he came at me as if I had wronged him, I let it sit out the waiting tome and Paypal took the money out of my account. Now this was a legit error on his part, the money went into my account and back out, but I could see the money going in, never being right and returned AND you having a dispute where it would get pulled out again as well. Way to much risk, wouldn't do it.

edited because I found a word (unintentionally) that was not filtered.