Watch out for this intricate eBay scam
- Thread starter robby
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EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
These kind of scams have been going on for many years. As long as people use weak passwords for their accounts they will continue to get their accounts hijacked and this is one of the results. I had a guy call me, this has to have been well over 10 years ago, because I had an IT consulting business and someone told him I might help him. He wanted me to help him get his money back. Of course he had sent a money order or cashier's check or some other method that gave him no way of doing so. He may have wired the money. I don't recall. The scam was an almost new $50K John Deere tractor with a buy it now for $5k. I asked him, "Didn't you think something was fishy buying something like this at ten cents on the dollar?". He didn't think about it because all he could think about was getting this tractor for a ridiculously low price. Of course he wasn't very tech savvy and he just figured if it was on Ebay it had to be legit. I had to give him bad news. Your money is gone and you're not getting it back. Next time be a little more suspicious. I think it was from W.C. Fields in one of those old movies - you can't cheat an honest man. I don't know that I agree with that 100% but I get the gist. If you think you're getting something well below its value doesn't that mean your cheating the person you're buying it from? That's subjective, I suppose. Bottom line - if it seems too good to be true ...
Edit: I'm not insinuating that it's not a good thing to warn people or at least remind them about this stuff, so thanks for doing so!
robby
Photon Vampire
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I have also seen similar listing Scams but not one as well done as this one. The only thing that made this one obvious was the fact that they did not use a PayPal payment system. As Dave said he has seen them use Paypal.
I have seen listing where the seller is selling a certain color model of a item and when I email him asking if he has it in another color he writes back and says yes and sends me a personal auction link. These have always worked out for me but now I am realizing that it could have gone sideways. The good thing is that i rarely spend over a couple of hundred dollars on an eBay item.
I have seen listing where the seller is selling a certain color model of a item and when I email him asking if he has it in another color he writes back and says yes and sends me a personal auction link. These have always worked out for me but now I am realizing that it could have gone sideways. The good thing is that i rarely spend over a couple of hundred dollars on an eBay item.
EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
I got scammed on a network switch on Ebay several years ago. It wasn't this kind of deal. The guy just went out of business or something and "sold" a lot of stuff on the way out but never shipped any of it. Fortunately I paid with Paypal so I just filed a complaint and got my $300 back. Personally I think this kind of stuff should be a hanging offense. That and any phone spammer. ?
Warpspeed
Solar Wizard
Pay pal is o/k, they will definitely refund your money only IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE ITEM.
But the situation has arisen in the past, where a tracking number was provided, and the buyer received a very carefully wrapped brick.
So be very careful guys, the world is full of crooks these days.
But the situation has arisen in the past, where a tracking number was provided, and the buyer received a very carefully wrapped brick.
So be very careful guys, the world is full of crooks these days.
EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
Good point. I rarely buy anything on Ebay and haven't for years, but that's good advice.
Warpspeed
Solar Wizard
Scammers can be very clever.
There was a case in the UK many years ago, where someone was advertising a device that was guaranteed to cut your electricity bill in half. Absolutely guaranteed, or your money back. A great many people fell for it, and received a cheap pair of plastic scissors.
Enough people fell for this, that the guy pulling the scam was finally arrested charged with fraud, and it ended up in court.
He demonstrated to the Judge that his "device" would indeed cut an electricity bill in half.
There was a case in the UK many years ago, where someone was advertising a device that was guaranteed to cut your electricity bill in half. Absolutely guaranteed, or your money back. A great many people fell for it, and received a cheap pair of plastic scissors.
Enough people fell for this, that the guy pulling the scam was finally arrested charged with fraud, and it ended up in court.
He demonstrated to the Judge that his "device" would indeed cut an electricity bill in half.
42OhmsPA
What's in a title?
You can't teach common sense but stupidity spreads like wildfire.
MurphyGuy
It just needs a bigger hammer
- Joined
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One of the best lines I've ever heard...
If it can be used to not find golf balls, maybe it can be used to not find anything. >That's Genius level thinking.
EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
The saying I came up with many decades ago - sometimes I feel like I've been cast adrift in a sea of stupid.
Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
- Joined
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Paying outside is the tip-off.
I've seen these before, and it said to communicate by a different email, that built-in one wasn't working.
It was somebody who normally sold figurines, now had Harleys and motor homes for $5000 each.
I would think eBay/Paypal would refund if you provided a photo of the brick. There is something about most items covered by buyer protection, after you try to work out with seller.
Most of mine too, but a number of purchases in the $thousands and at least one over $10k.
Inverters, office size laser all-in-one, test equipment
Here's a "possible" scam right now:
I've seen these before, and it said to communicate by a different email, that built-in one wasn't working.
It was somebody who normally sold figurines, now had Harleys and motor homes for $5000 each.
I would think eBay/Paypal would refund if you provided a photo of the brick. There is something about most items covered by buyer protection, after you try to work out with seller.
Most of mine too, but a number of purchases in the $thousands and at least one over $10k.
Inverters, office size laser all-in-one, test equipment
Here's a "possible" scam right now:
EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
Yeah, that one looks more than a little sketchy to me. The link to an outside domain trying to masquerade as an ebay link definitely flags this one as a scammer.
EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
On a positive note, I just learned that I had a distant relative die in Nigeria who left me $3.7 million. There's a little trouble getting the money over here but the nice gentleman who emailed me is going to assist me. All I have to do is give him my banking info and he's going to take care of everything. I may have to buy some gift cards and email him the codes to cover some of his expenses as well, but still a great windfall, huh?
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