This person tried to buy something from me over craigslist and Paypal. He seemed suspicious when he wanted me to ship it and then give me an extra $100. He later called me and he was middle eastern. Sounds like a scam to me. Needless to say, I didn' t go through with the transaction.
Here is how the PayPal Scam, or any other online money service, works:
They say they will buy your item, unseen.
They say they will pay you extra money to cover the shipping charges through their shipping company or agent.
They request your email address linked to your PayPal account.
They instruct you to wire the extra funds they send you to their shipping company or agent.
You receive a invoice from PayPal to your email, stating the funds have been deposited to your PayPal account.
So, you use your money to wire the funds to the shipper.
You then find out the PayPal email was fake, it was sent by the scammer, there were no funds deposited into your PayPal account.
The money you wired, was really picked up by the scammer, it is unrecoverable.
You are out the money you wired.
The same scam is also done with money orders, bank drafts, or cashiers checks.
In these cases, the check you receive, for funds over the amount of your item, is forged, stolen, or counterfeit.
As it may take several weeks for the banks to realize the check is bad, you may not know you have been scammed.
Worst yet, as you passed a bad check, you can be held criminally liable.
You are out the funds you wired, return check charges, and face possible arrest.