Keep an eye out for online selling scams

With the start of the new year, many people are getting organized and purging their homes of unused or unwanted items. However, if you are decluttering your home by selling unwanted items online, whether that is furniture, electronics, clothing, etc., be on the lookout for buyers wanting to pay you more than the listed price. If the offer seems “just too good to be true,” it probably is.

This type of scam follows a similar pattern. You post an item for sale online. It might be clothes, electronics, or another item. You are contacted by a buyer who seems trustworthy, nice even. They offer you more money than what you are asking for.

The reasons vary. The scammer may claim they want to cover shipping or other fees for you “because you’ve been so helpful.” Or they may overpay through a digital wallet app, claiming it is a policy of the service. Or they may mail a check for more than the asking price and then insist it was by mistake.

In any case, once you are overpaid, the buyer will ask for their extra funds back. After you’ve returned their money, you’ll likely find the initial payment was false — the check will bounce or the buyer’s online payment will be denied. You will have lost the money you “returned” along with the item you sold.

The Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston and South Texas offers the following tips to avoid online selling scams:

Don’t ship an item before you receive a payment. Make sure any payments you receive are legitimate before you ship your item to the seller. If you ship before they pay, you will have no way to get your item back.

Don’t believe offers that are too good to be true. Unless you a selling a rare or highly desirable item that several people are bidding on, you should not expect anyone to offer to pay more than what you are asking. If someone tries to overpay you, consider it a red flag.

Look out for counterfeit emails. Scammers are skilled at imitating emails from popular payment services. Examine all emails carefully. If an email comes from a domain that isn’t official or contains obvious typos and grammatical errors, it’s probably a scam.

When selling on a site that offers protections to buyers and sellers, take advantage of them. If a seller tries to persuade you to go outside the site’s usual process or payment methods, that’s a big red flag.

Report scams to the online marketplace. Be sure to report suspicious activity including dishonest buyers or sellers.

Notify the Better Business Bureau. File a report using the BBB Scam Tracker tool at www.bbb.org/scamtracker to help warn others about similar scams.

The Better Business Bureau is a nonprofit for honest business behavior. Visit www.bbbhouston.org or call 713868-9500.