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Is there a public database of fraudulent PayPal emails?

Someone private in an online forum NOT EBAY / AMAZON (I was discussing that item) suggested me via private message an item he claims to have used "4-5 times", and is like new.

Is it safe to pay with PayPal? Does he receive the money immediately or only upon item delivery?

I tend to believe him (I also search a bit on him online and doesn't seem to be a malicious crook), I just want to make sure I leave the edges open to my direction as well.

Is there any way to check his PayPal account if it has been verified/reported?

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2 Answers

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I use PayPal for my Ebay account and I haven't had any problem. It's very safe, you can see all the transactions that you made in your account. You pay for the item before its shipping, so it can be a problem if the buyer it's not serious. You can't check his Paypal account, so the best thing to do is reading the reviews that he got from his buyers. If it's Ebay, you can buy the item, because if you're not gonna receive it, you can start an Ebay protection case and you will receive back the money or the buyer will resend the product. I would buy the product only by a serious site, after reading all the reviews.

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I wasn't talking about eBay, I said it's a private transaction. Does PayPal cover that too? – Shimmy Dec 5 '12 at 9:03
You can use Paypal to send money, make payments, but I don't think you will get your money back in case you don't receive the product. – anairda Dec 5 '12 at 11:21
Any resource that confirm what you said? – Shimmy Dec 5 '12 at 12:31
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Short answer: No, and unlike CC payments, once a Paypal payment has been made, it can not be reversed

We cannot reverse a transaction which is Completed so in this case, we suggest that you contact the recipient directly to arrange a refund.

There are a couple of things you can do, should you choose to go down this road:

  • Excercise due diligence: search for the e-mail address, real name, and any contextual information you can get from his e-mail. Establish, that he has a reputation, which outweights the value of the item.

  • Ebay have an option for private listing, which allows you to take advantage of ebay's Paypal protection (payment reversal, and seller getting paid upon successful delivery)

  • Might also want to check out escrow.com ,or similar escrow services, which are specifically for these sort of situations -essentially, you, and the seller agrees on terms, you pay escrow, seller sends item, you check, seller gets paid.

Hope this helps.

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