Craigslist Scam?

I recently posted an engagement ring on Craigslist and received the following email:

Hello,

What is the condition of your jewelry ?


To which I responded appropriately thinking this was a legitimate inquiry.
Then I received this email:


Thanks for getting back to me, But i am presently not in the States to complete the transaction by cash... i am sending the jewelry to my wife in New York City as a gift and i will be responsible for all shipping expenses......and i will be paying you via PayPal because i am afraid of scams on the internet now......So Kindly get back to me with your PayPal email Address so that i can send the payment to you as soon as possible..Regards

I became suspicious immediately because of the language. Then I googled the last line and that same sentence has been used over and over again in other scams! The buyer went by the name Thomas Cook. The email was [email protected]

Am I over paranoid or is this a scam?

Thanks...

Always Suspicious

Well, let's put it this way--sometimes a little paranoia is a good thing.

The language and scenario tell me that this is a scammer. In many cases, the scammer doesn't want the item, and is only after the cash he wants to convince you to send the shipper. Since this is jewelry, though, he may very well be after the item itself (often the case with small electronics and jewelry).

What he plans to do is send a fake paypal email that says that you have been paid, but that paypal will not release the money until you provide a tracking number for shipping. Paypal does not do this. They do not act as a third party in customer transactions, and they do not "hold" money for proof of shipping or anything else.
He wants you to ship the jewelry to his mule in New York before you realize the Paypal email was a fake.

Thanks Dottie, I was wondering how they could claim to use paypal and it still be a scam. I went to paypal and read that I would request payment from them by putting in their email address, not the other way around.

I wrote Thomas Cook back and told him I'm too leery of online transactions and would prefer to meet in a public place. I did not hear back.

Thanks for your post!