| Author |
Ebay (scam or not) pls. help |
alfaromeo777
Joined: Apr 15, 2003
Posts: 453
PM |
Hello everyone. I just posted an item on ebay. I need your help in identifying if the buyer is a scam or not.. This is my first time on ebay. I have been receiving a lot of inquiries recently, most of them are from nigeria. some are americans who wants it delivered to nigeria.. And most of them is paying thru bidpay or western union, wherein they would supposedly pay you the amount then when I receive the confirmation from Western union or bidpay, A courier service would pick it up at my house.. there must have been more than 5 inquirers that wants it like that..
below are some of the letters...
"Hello seller
GOOD DAY, I live in uk and i have a store in uk,europe,usa,and africa, singapore where i sell cellphones .and i am interested in the immediate purchase of this items please i will like you to give me 1 piece of this item and i will like to buy 1 and i will be making payment right away, i shall also be paying through western union action payment.[money order] i will like to ask u if u would be able to ship as soon as payment is confirmed and approved by western union auction payment,this is due to the fact that its demand is high in my store and so i will want to complete the transaction in a very timely manner.ifyou can do this,email me with your name, contact address and your phone >number so that i can proceed with the payment right away. let me quickly say that i will be handling shipping with my fedex account as i will be sending to his unit to afric a i will be expecting your reply ASAP....... thanks.
best regard.
B.Johnson
and another one:
"Dear Seller,
I am Mrs Jessica from washignton, i want to end the bid for the this
item by paying you the original price you will like to sell it and . But
before i conclude may be i will buy it or not i want to know the
difference between the shipping cost to my house in washingnton and my Friend
i am buying it for in Nigeria, let me have the price for the shipping
to washignton and Nigeria to see which one i will prefer. Moreso, let me
have the price you wish to sell the item, and my method of payment is
through by western union/Bidpay fast and secure. Get back to me fast
because the item is needed urgently and i want the item to be shipped out
Via UPS, once you comfirm the paymnet.
Thanks in advance
Mrs Jessica.
N.B
Let me have the price in US.Dollars"
These are just two of almost ten letters I received.. Anyone can tell me if it is fraudulent or not? thank you very much... |
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alfaromeo777
Joined: Apr 15, 2003
Posts: 453
PM |
anyone? please? thanks |
Sammy_boy
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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They're all scams, avoid at all costs, don't accept payment ever by western union or anything like that, and I recommend you never end an auction early, let it run it's course, no matter how good the offer to end early.
"All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke
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masseur
Joined: Jan 03, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Sydney, London
PM |
definitly scams. I have received almost identical emails in the past. almost word for word even.
To be 100% sure, I tend to reply to them because I have an email tracking service which tells me exactly where in the world the email is opened and usually these email messages get opened in indonesia or nigeria etc
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alfaromeo777
Joined: Apr 15, 2003
Posts: 453
PM |
Thanks so much for the replies..
If i may ask, how do they get western union or bidpay to give the victims a confirmation? And do those courier services really come to pick up the item? |
Sammy_boy
Joined: Mar 31, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Staffordshire, United Kingdom
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They're probably fake ones - there's no payment protection with western union, which is why these people like those services, and why I've never accepted it as payment, and never will 
"All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke
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absinthebri
Joined: Feb 11, 2004
Posts: 476
From: London, UK
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They use scam Western Union emails to 'confirm' you have received payment. WU and BidPay are perfectly safe ways to be paid if you wait until you have the cash in your hands.
This message was posted from a T68i |
masseur
Joined: Jan 03, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Sydney, London
PM |
and the courier confirmation email (usually TNT) is also from a fake account made to look like it really is coming from the company
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govigov
Joined: Jul 30, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Back home - Cochin
PM |
:-( my dad has western union in his branch. It works like this, the buyer has to put his money into any of wumt outlet and tell the name and place of the person who will withdraw the money, a code will be given to the buyer.The seller will have to go to any of the wumt outlet near his selected place and say the code that styes has told him and produce his identity. If this matches the what the buyer described, the money is given and a print out taken. Once the print out comes, the transaction is closed.
This message was posted from a K500 |
absinthebri
Joined: Feb 11, 2004
Posts: 476
From: London, UK
PM |
Precisely, gov. I'm happy to accept WU (it's fast, safe and free for sellers) but I wait until the cash is in my greasy mitt before I ship.
This message was posted from a T68i |
folling182
Joined: Oct 14, 2003
Posts: 368
From: nottingham>girona[Spain]>???
PM |
Ive had a few email from people wanting me to sell to nigeria.
The thing is they are obviously scams because im trying to sell my k700 for 230€, and they send emails offering 320€ and even 390€!! 
I have replied to the last one saying that i must have the cash before i ship the item. 
[addsig] |
duncan_elliott_2U
Joined: Feb 02, 2005
Posts: 1
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99% most likely to be scams. We had a few cheques bounce from Uganda and Nigeria a few years back (before we stopped doing export phones) ... up to 6 months after we had succcessflly cashed them!!
Its a very risky game to send anything of value by this means. We lost a fair wedge of money doing this and in the end (before we stopped completely) we only took orders by face to face cash payments. Its the only way you can really be 100% sure ... even then it might be counterfeit ...
_________________
Duncan Elliott
http://www.2u.co.uk/mobile-phone-ringtones/
[ This Message was edited by: duncan_elliott_2U on 2005-02-02 15:28 ] |
EastCoastStar
Joined: Dec 07, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: orlando fl US
PM |
thank you very very much @masseur. you just saved me some money i am going to thell them i do not want to pay VIA wastern union.
i also checked the reference number, and it didnt work.
thank you much!
but im also confused because they are a powerseller on ebay... and have alot of stuff up for auction, with good feedback... thats what makes me wonder a little bit. |
Bammers
Joined: Jan 03, 2005
Posts: 250
PM |
You can actually buy good feedback on ebay now!
I would be very wary of any transactions to do with Nigeria etc.
Have you ever heard of the scams via email and letter that come from there purporting to be from an exiled prince or similar wanting to use your account to recover money owed to them? All you have to do is send them your account details and often some cash in return they'll "give" you a share of the money! The biggest scam ever, once they have your details they clear your account out! We had a councillor from the Borough Council get scammed like that, except he actually went to Nigeria too and got mugged as well!!!!
Steer well clear of things that sound too good to be true, or written in bad english! |
EastCoastStar
Joined: Dec 07, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: orlando fl US
PM |
whattt
thats crazy!!!!!!!!!!!
the person that tried to do it to me is from London, and speaks perfect english though |
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Posted: 2005-01-27 06:06
