I am new at the internet & would like to know how to determine what's fraudulent when selling items or craigsl?

[diannehusband]

I am new at the internet & would like to know how to determine what's fraudulent when selling items or craigsl?

[thetaxlady898]

If you list an item on craigslist, you will certainly get scam spam.

All will offer to over pay you, ask you to ship out of country and will try to pay you with a fake email. (The fake email will say that paypal is holding the money when paypal never got any.)

[jesteele1948]

Fraud may be committed by a seller or a buyer.
Your question is unclear as to whether you're the seller or another person is the seller. I'll assume YOU are the seller.

A person saying they want to buy may, as the first responder said, claim "Paypal is holding payment for you." If you have a Paypal account, you can check your account online to see if that is true. The payer's ID and the amount would be revealed there. Paypal should be able to answer any Q you have about what it takes to have the "payer" release the payment to you. I think you can pose your Q online or by phone. Visit Paypal.com to find out how they answer Qs you have. Almost certainly one of the steps is to ship or deliver the item to the buyer. Wait until you understand your obligations under Paypal.
If you don't have a Paypal account, then Paypal can't be holding money for you.

The more common frauds are payment by false checks or money orders. Since these are very hard to identify, Craigslist suggests you do not accept them. Almost any payment from a distance is "suspect" -- very likely to be fraudulent. So Craigslist always suggest you deal locally. You can meet the person you deal with, and if there's a legal dispute over payment, both of you can appear in a small claims court. Unless you meet face-to-face, do put everything in writing. Email is generally accepted as proof of communication.