Does this sound like a craigslist scam?

[Sara]

I've never sold on Craigslist before, but have on ebay a lot and have felt totally protected through PayPal. I'm trying to sell a camera and want to avoid Ebays seller fees. So I listed it on craigslist saying I would like to use paypal (thought it would keep me safe). Well now I've learned there are apparently a lot of scams out there through PayPal. Huh.

So, the camera was advertised for $1600 and this guy writes me back below, saying he will pay $1700 (red flag for me right there) if I ship it. But he also offered money order? I've already requested the money but now am second guessing it and will cancel everything if you can tell me I'm going to get scammed...?

His reply message was:
"Sounds good, i am in the U.S. Air Force currently on duty right now. I am
getting it for my fiancee as a surprise gift. I accept your price and will
be paying total sum of $1700 for item cost & shipping fee. Send me your
name and address for Money Order Payment or a request invoice to
[email] for PayPal payment."

[Cantra]

Classic scam, it can go either one of two ways, depends if they really want the item, or don't care about the item, just want to get money from you.

1 - They send a fake cheque, which since the banks do not check their legitimacy immediately, is something you can cash, the money will appear in your account, and you can withdraw. The scammer will then suddenly want to cancel the sale, claiming a medical emergency or something, and will ask you to wire transfer the money back to them, which will be untracable, and often can be picked up in a different country to the one they claim to be in. Then when the bank realises the cheque is fake, then it's you that is on the hook for it.

2 - You will receive a fake paypal email saying the money has been paid, but will not be released until the item is shipped and you give them the tracking number. This of course it NOT how the genuine paypal functions, as they do not 'hold' payments in escrow like this. The scammer gets the item and you don't get any payment.

[Roddy]

Scam. First off it it's not a military address APO or FPO it's a lie he's even in the military. The email from PayPal will either be fake or it will be paid for with a stolen credit card. The money order will be fake and your bank will treat it like a regular personal check. In other words they will make the funds available to you usually within 24 to 48 hours of deposit. The money order will be found to be faked a week or two later. YOU have to pay the money back. YOU are suspected of check fraud and YOUR account gets closed.

The address they want you to send it to will likely be an African country. Probably Nigeria but South Africa has also gotten bad about these scams lately.

If you go though with this you will never see your money or your camera again.