Did you purchase Apple’s latest and greatest hardware and you’re looking to offload your old Mac or iPhone?
If you can’t sell it to someone in your network, you probably are considering putting it up for sale on a classifieds site like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. If you do that, be cautious about potential buyers—it’s increasingly common for a scammer to request that you ship them the device and then to “pay” you by forging payment email from PayPal or using a stolen PayPal account (whose owner will likely get PayPal to take the money back from you).
Instead, insist on an in-person meeting in a public place – a police station works well – and payment in cash or via a digital method like Apple Pay Cash or Venmo that can’t be canceled once you accept the money. Or, if the location and payment amount (under $1000) work, meet in a nearby post office and request payment via money order (US or Canada) that you can verify on the spot.
Of course, it is important to navigate the actual sale and exchange of funds. However, it is even more important for your financial and personal safety that you make sure you don’t provide the buyer with sensitive data that may reside on your devices. It’s one thing to possibly lose money on a bad sale, but if you hand over information someone can use to steal your identity, you will have a much bigger problem. Contact us to learn how we can help protect your data from a hacker.
Craigslist has more advice about how to safely conduct a sales transaction:
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arobasegroup has been consulting with clients and advising the best use of Apple Technology since 1998. We listen to our customers and solve problems by addressing their specific, unique needs; we never rely on a one-size-fits-all solution or require them to use a specific product. arobasegroup is your advocate in all things related to information technology. Contact us to learn how we can help: info@arobasegroup.com.