Yesterday morning I put up a few items of IKEA furniture on Kijiji. I’m always amazed at how quickly I receive responses for the things I list – I’m either selling things too cheaply or have a super-compelling pitch style. 😉 I received a message from someone yesterday – they were the second person to express an interest in the item, so I wrote them back saying that I’d keep them informed if the first person bailed on the purchase. This was the response waiting for me this morning:
“i will like to purchase the item out rightly,I am willing to offer you $1400 for it and i will be paying you with my credit card via my PayPal account,I will also like you to send me your paypal details(PayPal e-mail address) including your phone # so i can effect payment to you right away and make sure you get back to me so that i can arrange for pick up as i will like the item to be picked,so no shipping included.i will appreciate if you can get a PayPal Bank account to make things more easier for both of us. NB:Honestly, I do not know the actual worth of this item because I’m always busy sailing. If my offer is not ok, Let me know so i can shoot up abit or bring it down as the case maybe. Thank you for your understanding, while i await your urgent response.”
So they want to pay $1400 for items that I listed for $250? And all because they’re too busy sailing in the land-locked provice of Alberta? Gosh, what a deal for me! I’d better hand over my PayPal email address and my phone number on record so I can get all that extra money! Sheesh. I’m not sure what sort of scam they’re trying to pull with my PayPal email address and phone number – I suspect some sort of identity/account theft, though if PayPal’s security is that lax, that concerns me a bit. Regardless, it’s good to remember that if something seems to good to be true, it is.