Should my Mom Accept South African Payment?

business is business guys, just like $ = $. If you are on the net, and selling a product, you must know, of course, that ppl across the globe are going to find you! I say: go for it! If you get the money, why not send the product. These are my $0.02, peace.

 

He's most likely using an account that was phished.

 

What is the problem here really ? The guy paid for the item that shows that
he can be trusted but when he wants to pay using he's credit card then all of a suden there is a problem..

It's really simple.....if the credit card has the same name as the paypal account holder then there wouldn't be any problems.

Cheers

 

How naive Credit cards are easy to print with any name on them. How do you verify if you can't hold it? If its from a SA bank, they probably won't even verify the card holder

 

Naive ? If this person were trying to cheat them, then he wouln't
have paid them $400 for the purchase allready. Obviously, the risk of loosing
hes money is greater that his mother.Any payment must first clear before any goods get ships out..... It's simple, and im not naive

 

Uh, the purchaser has no risk. Since its a fraudulent card (or phished paypal account), the account holder simply issues a chargeback. Boom; the seller is out merchandise and money.

 

Yes, there is loads of scammers on the internet and yes, people should be
care-full who they do business with. Im in no mood to have a debate this
early in the morning and it sound like you know it all

 

The scary part of this thread is

1.) The amount of people that would blindly trust a sale because it appeared to go through

2.) The number of people dispensing advice that don't even sell online (aside from the occasional eBay auction)

This thread only goes to show why scammers do what they do, their are tons of soft targets.

 

Well, I'm from South Africa so I can clear up the bank issue. In order to have a bank account especially a credit card you have to identify yourself and proof your address otherwise the account gets frozen.

 

Do you have to identify yourself if you are using someone elses?

 

I see nothing wrong in accepting payment from south africa specially if they pay before you send the goods

 

I give up

 

i think for her Westren union will be the best choice.

 

No, obviously not. The point I was trying to make is that you run just as great a risk from a "scammer" in the US, the UK as you do with someone from South Africa.

Just because the guy is from South Africa it doesn't mean there is a greater risk that he is a scammer or that the credit card he has is stolen. What is to prevent a US buyer to do a chargeback or file a complaint with their CC company? Or use a stolen CC for that matter?

I would hope that Paypal checks if a CC is stolen. I have a credit card facility for my phyiscal shop and each day it's updated with stolen cards (known as hot cards). Each time a transaction is done the bank is automatically contacted and checks are done to ensure the card is not stolen and funds are available. Doesn't Paypal or other online CC payment handlers have the same protection in place?

The only protection I can suggest is to use a shipping company that keeps records of deliveries and can proof that they delivered. DHL is pretty good for delivering to South Africa, as they handle the import duties (the buyer has to pay them the import tax etc, before they hand over the package).
You should also get the relevant info from the person and contact the CC issuer to ensure that the card is not stolen. Obviously if you see issues with CC payments, you should choose a method that gives you the best protection. If the person is a legitamite buyer they shouldn't mind the extra effort.

I did a quick check and I can't see "South Africa" as an option on Western Union's site. So that might be a problem.

 

It isn't specifically about the country of origin, but the patterns. When someone wants something shipped halfway around the world and doesn't blink for a second in regards to the shipping rates (which are higher then the actual product), it raises red flags.

This thread isn't a bash on South Africa, but it is more about recognizing suspicious patterns which your Credit Card processor might not pick up (and yes, Paypal is the worst at picking up stolen cards etc)

 

I didn't think it was a bash on South Africa (I hope I didn't come across that way). I just wanted to point out that you run the risk no matter where the buyer is from.

I must say that this particular case does seem fishy to me. $400 for shipping amounts to R2880, which is about the average salary for most people. So unless the lamp is a one-of-a-sort collectors item I would definitely be suspicious.

 

Hey

The person that started this thread made up his mind long ago, thats why
his not bothered replying anymore.

People who do business online sometimes have to take risks but it doesn't have to mean that they stand the chance of loosing their money.If your wise enough and wait till all money clears in your account before shipping any goods then you'll be fine .... It's that easy

 

ok i've done a lot of research about this, and I think I'm going to have to do some more. This thread has been very helpful. So, at the advice of this thread I had my mom go with escrow.com and the buyer agreed. My mom created the invoice, sent it to him, he paid with a credit card, then they told him that credit card payments aren't allowed to pay for antiques from south africa with escrow.com. They requested a wire transfer with a $40 fee in addition to the $50 standard fee, and he has to fill out several forms from escrow and my mom.

It sort of seems like this guy is a legitimate buyer. I mean, who would go through all this trouble to scam someone? The buyer is even still saying that they will go through escrow if we want to go through the paperwork. I looked up the area in south africa that the item is being shipped to it's the Guateng provence and the median income for a white person is $10,867, so that's going against him.

He says he's related to some archbishop, i know it sounds like those phoney nigerian scams, but I actually think he might be telling the truth. Usually when i see scams, I can smell it from a mile away. My thoughts are now to have my mom call so she can talk to him to check out the situation, get his credit card info. Verify it as much as possible shipping address=billing address, cvv #, whatever you can do to verify it. Record all the tracking info. He has agreed to sign whatever forms that say he will accept the item in whatever condition it arrives in.

The only seem that seems weird is how much crap this guy is willing to go through to get this lamp. I certainly wouldn't, but maybe buying online is a known major pain from south africa, Crusader?

If she decides to take the credit card over the phone are there any extra steps she should take? I know absolutely nothing about this area. Would it be safter to take his credit card over the phone or to go through paypal?

 

Hey

What do you mean by the following you said ?

he median income for a white person is $10,867, so that's going against him.

cheers

 

I thought he was doing a wire transfer? If he could do a wire transfer that should be a lot safer then using the credit card.

Edit: Just realized he originally wanted to use PayPal and now a credit card. Just be careful. Verify the name on the card and PayPal address and see if its the same. Then verify it with the name he's using.