Sellers Beware

[Jimm 437]

i wanted to share with you all a "horror story" from a seller's point of view about a recent transaction through Ebay.

 

I recently had my old Alienware laptop on Ebay for sale.  Despite having to take a bath on it's value, I had several offers come my way to take it off my hands.  I finally settled with someone who made an offer that was acceptable and followed through with sending the laptop out to them after receiving an email stating that funds were transferred.

 

This is where things go really wrong.  After sending the laptop, I informed the member of shipment and sent the UPS tracking number.  Their first response was that the shipment would not arrive in time for their "relative" to pick it up, supposedly the person was only visiting the states and they were due to leave the very same day that the shipment would arrive.  I tried to assure them that it was possible that the laptop would arrive early and then at this point, this is where things get freaky.

 

I get a series of emails through Ebay claiming that I disregarded their request to send the package in such a manner that it would arrive a day earlier (which I never got) and then explanations of this persons location.  Now, the freaky thing was that every email I received, needed to be translated from German, despite the fact that I was dealing with an Italian guy who lived in Mexico.  I decided to revisit the email I got stating I received funds and then double check this through Paypal...no monies received.  in fact there was no activity showing up about this transaction at all.  This is when I smarted up and contacted PayPal, who informed me that when a payment is sent to me, they send the email to my email address on file.  The email I got came to my other address that is not on file...yep, i got scammed.

 

In any case, I called UPS and placed a return to sender request, to stop the package from being delivered, and not a moment too soon.  I found out later that the package was sitting in the destination location, ready to be delivered...close call.  I then called Ebay and explained the situation and they told me to cancel the order, which I did.

 

Now it's Wednesday and I am still waiting for the laptop to come back.  The real kicker is that when i shipped the laptop, the shipping cost was more than what Ebay quoted the "buyer" so i had to eat that extra cost and now on top of that, I'll have to pay for shipping the laptop back.  Still, that's nothing compared to losing my laptop to a thief.

 

Point to all of this:  when selling items on Ebay, double and triple check validity of messages before proceeding.  There are spoof emails circulating all over the net these days so be very careful.  I was dumb and almost paid the price. :(

 

-Jim

 

[Jim Young 2,356]

Thanks for the info Jim.  Sorry to hear you were one of the scam victims.  Here's a link about most of the scams that one should be wary - http://www.newlifeauctions.com/ebay_scams.html. Think yours is in there around the UPS scam.  It's a shame we have individuals in this world who prey on us and, no matter what the security, they will find a way to get around it most of the time.

Best regards,

[Jimm 437]

Thanks Jim, I've been very proactive this week, making sure all of the right people are informed about what happened.  I currently have Ebay by the shorthairs, making sure this member is focused on.  I saw your link and the first thing they talk about is feedback scams.  I have a funny feeling this member who scammed me, probably engaged in that scam as well.  If you were to see his rating and amount of transactions, it would make sense that it is a carefully hacked and placed account for the very purpose of scamming the people on Ebay.

 

I'll just be happy when this is over with.  getting my computer back in my hands is tantamount.  Then, I have to rethink if I want to sell again on Ebay.  I remember the days when selling on Ebay was quick and painless and you never had any issues. :(

 

-Jim

[Christopher Low 5,331]

The most important part is to confirm and verify that you have received payment before you send anything. Any reputable buyer will understand that this is paramount. I am glad that you realised your mistake just in time!

[Jimm 437]

The most important part is to confirm and verify that you have received payment before you send anything. Any reputable buyer will understand that this is paramount. I am glad that you realised your mistake just in time!

I typically do.  In fact, I did get an email about the funds being transferred.  it was the fact that the email was sent to my other email address that is not on file at Paypal.  After conferring with Paypal, they stated that transaction emails will only come from them, they will address me by name and not an email address and will be delivered to the email address they have.  Yeah, I screwed that up big time, but it is getting resolved.  What is creepy is that this person I am dealing with is so off his rocker.  My wife is worried he'll track me down, that's how bad it is.

 

-Jim

[Christopher Low 5,331]

Ah, I can see how that could be upsetting. I guess I have just seen so many supposedly "legitimate" emails from the likes of PayPal, HSBC Bank, eBay etc that I can usually detect when something is not quite right about them. It's always best to log in to PayPal and confirm that the payment receipt really is genuine!

[Jimm 437]

Ah, I can see how that could be upsetting. I guess I have just seen so many supposedly "legitimate" emails from the likes of PayPal, HSBC Bank, eBay etc that I can usually detect when something is not quite right about them. It's always best to log in to PayPal and confirm that the payment receipt really is genuine!

here's a laugh:

 

Since I'd been so eager in getting this computer sold, I saw the email stating the funds were transferred and immediately got on the ball to ship the item, without really looking into whether it was suspicious or not.  The spoof email was cleverly put together that most people wouldn't give it a second thought.  The only reason I checked Paypal the next day was because the buyer started to give me attitude that the item wouldn't arrive on time.  I went to Paypal to confirm the amount transferred and that's when I detected the fraud.

 

What is funny is that I had received a couple of these spoof emails before, but since I wasn't selling anything, I dismissed them as fraudulent.  Chalk it up to some very clever and deceiving crooks.

 

The reason for me posting this story is because I know there is a classifieds section here where people sell off their computers, hardware and such and if they have a hard time finding a buyer and want to resort to Ebay, be very careful of the buyers.  It seems the consensus on Ebay right now is that buyers have more protection for a transaction than the seller.  buyers can come up with quick scams and pocket a lot of cash.  I know it's not a comforting thought but reality rarely provides happy endings.  There are plenty of sellers in the Ebay community fuming over fraudulent transactions and the buyers are getting away with it.

 

-Jim