Person A advertises a laptop for £250 on Gumtree.
ScamBuyer calls and asks if it's OK for their father to use his PayPal account to send money to A's bank account. A agrees and money arrives.
Laptop is despatched.
A few days later, A gets an email from a complete unknown (buyer B) asking where is the iPhone that they ordered and paid £250 for.
It turns out that as soon as ScamBuyer saw the laptop for sale, they advertised a non-existent iPhone for £250 and when Buyer B contacted them to buy it, ScamBuyer gave the bank account details of Person A. So the £250 that Person A received actually came from Buyer B.
So PayPal side with Buyer B because their T's and C's say you should only hand over the goods to the person who paid for them. Person A has to refund the £250 to Buyer B. Meanwhile they have lost their laptop. And, of course, the Police are not interested.
ScamBuyer calls and asks if it's OK for their father to use his PayPal account to send money to A's bank account. A agrees and money arrives.
Laptop is despatched.
A few days later, A gets an email from a complete unknown (buyer B) asking where is the iPhone that they ordered and paid £250 for.
It turns out that as soon as ScamBuyer saw the laptop for sale, they advertised a non-existent iPhone for £250 and when Buyer B contacted them to buy it, ScamBuyer gave the bank account details of Person A. So the £250 that Person A received actually came from Buyer B.
So PayPal side with Buyer B because their T's and C's say you should only hand over the goods to the person who paid for them. Person A has to refund the £250 to Buyer B. Meanwhile they have lost their laptop. And, of course, the Police are not interested.