Help Please!
Now I know lots of people on here know a hell of a lot more than I do about IT and the internet in general.

Yesterday I put my SLR onto Gumtree, received an email asking if it was still available, replied and then received the following...

'Hello,

I will like to buy it as a surprise gift for my Son, let me know if i
worth it, and will need your assistance in shipping it to him because
i'm not in the country right now and won't be back in a couple of Days
but i hope it's in a good condition.

I will pay you through my PayPal account and will be adding an extra
of 65 which i am sure will cover the shipping expenses via Royal Mail
International Sign For.

If you have an account with Paypal, just get back to me with your
paypal email, so i can make your payment and if you don't have one you
can log to paypal website at www.paypal.com and easily sign up for
your own personal account since it's free. Don't be scared of dealing
with me because many sellers are scared of dealing with any buyer
outside UK, I want your honesty in return to my faithfulness to you
during this transaction. Your immediate response will be really
appreciated, Thank you.
My Paypal email is at *****[email protected]'

Now is this a scam? Can people get info from your paypal email or fish for anything else? It all seems too good to be true, I only put it on there last night.

Im away from the comp until 5 so hopefullt there's advice by then! thanks!

alt q: How gullible are you?
(MissFlee tried again on, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 8:05, 20 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

Sounds and looks like a scam
I would avoid this transaction if possible.
(Cancer Joy was short lived, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 8:15, Reply)

when people say...
not to worry about dealing with them.. thats the first thing you do :(
(MissFlee tried again on, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 8:22, Reply)

100% scam
This is a scam, do not even reply to their mail.

There are a number of very similar ones doing the rounds at the moment.
( RadG Drinking Mojitos in the sun, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 8:24, Reply)

Scam for sure
What kind of SLR is it?
(PenguinOfDeath is Scottish, and most likely angry, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 8:35, Reply)

canon eos 400d ..
Got a load of amazing pictures for me holiday, and then it's just sat there :(
(MissFlee tried again on, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 15:51, Reply)

The paypal thing is real, I use it all the time, and would find it hard to see how they would scam you (in reality)...
... for example, on eBay, you're protected, if you claim the item never got sent or was in bad condition, you get your money back, but protection doesn't count on private purchases such as this one. So when the money hits your paypal (instant), extract it straight away into your bank account (2-3 days in the uk), and then you've got the cash. Let's say there _is_ protection on private purchases, keep your recorded delivery note and you've got proof that PayPal would be happy with.

However, "Don't be scared of dealing with me because many sellers are scared of dealing with any buyer outside UK, I want your honesty in return to my faithfulness to you during this transaction. Your immediate response will be really appreciated, Thank you." screams out at me as a scam style of writing, it's on the verge of being to elocent without being something a nativly british person would say. But even if she is forrin, and it's all ligit; it's not natural to say that sort of thing on an initial encounter. It's like a politition saying "Trust me" or "In all honestly"; you know the following or proccedding is bullshit.
( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 8:45, Reply)

If the paypal link is embedded, it could be a fishing link.

(PsychoChomp, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:18, Reply)

Yeh', true, although I *think* the email came via gumtree doesn't allow HTML.

( G/PP 💩💩💩💩💩&#128, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 10:12, Reply)

fuck that bullshit
might as well drop your trousers and bend over too.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 8:56, Reply)

You're selling a self loading rifle on Gumtree?
Really?
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:03, Reply)

No, up a gumtree with an slr.
B3tas very own Charles Whitman.
(porkylips looks better as the sun goes down., Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:16, Reply)

He could be selling the Sri Lankan Railway.

(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:22, Reply)

Anyone who basically says
"don't be scared I'm not a scammer, trust me" is a scammer.
Plus gumtree is full of them.
(PsychoChomp, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:17, Reply)

and when you say 'them' you mean
'backpackers with that ghastly quizzical intonation trying to sell VW Campervans'?
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:27, Reply)

The first rule of everything.
If it sounds too good to be true then it usually is.
( girlinthehole, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:34, Reply)

Hair lair, gorgeous.
*Waggles eyebrows like epileptic caterpillars*
(porkylips looks better as the sun goes down., Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:41, Reply)

: )

( girlinthehole, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:45, Reply)

Does this rule apply to your breasts?

(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:41, Reply)

Nope!
My breasts will never let you down.
( girlinthehole, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 9:45, Reply)

Thank you please
I am liking to buy your thing with the money. Please to be sending. I will money you afterwards! Is good time happy transaction.

If you were to follow it up, you'd recieve a very carefully done fake email that suggests that a payment has been sent to your Paypal account. A friend of mine had this exact situation come up. She was about to post her iPhone when I told her to stop and check her account. No money.

My friend Tim had the situation with a very pricey SLR. But he'd posted it to Liverpool by the time he realised.

The rapid application of three mates and a Transit van soon got the camera - and a grovelling apology - back.
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Mon 20 Sep 2010, 12:19, Reply)