Welcome to Esato.com




Ebay (scam or not) pls. help


Click to view updated thread with images




Posted by alfaromeo777
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...


Posted by alfaromeo777
anyone? please? thanks

Posted by Sammy_boy
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.

Posted by masseur
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

Posted by alfaromeo777
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?

Posted by Sammy_boy
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

Posted by absinthebri
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.

Posted by masseur
and the courier confirmation email (usually TNT) is also from a fake account made to look like it really is coming from the company

Posted by govigov
:-( 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.

Posted by absinthebri
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.

Posted by folling182
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.

Posted by duncan_elliott_2U
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 ]

Posted by EastCoastStar
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.

Posted by Bammers
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!

Posted by EastCoastStar
whattt
thats crazy!!!!!!!!!!!

the person that tried to do it to me is from London, and speaks perfect english though

Posted by Bammers
The scam is known as something like the Nigeria 510 scam or something. Its named after the piece of legislation that is supposed to prevent it in Nigeria. Trouble is they dont enforce it. The Met police have a specific squad who deal with the scam, its that common!
You will probably find that with the large number of Nigerians arriving in Britain the stuff will be emailed or sent from the UK, its just an extension of the usual scams. It will have originated in Nigeria.

Posted by masseur
close, its the 419 scam

Nigeria - The 419 Coalition Website

Posted by Bammers
LOL been a while since I did investigations at Trading Standards!! Knew it was something like that, thanks!

Posted by Alec
I just got that PM from NIgeria, asking for my sharp gx10.

:s

Posted by Sammy_boy
@alec - was that pm from a new member, or someone whose got quite a few posts or a newbie/someone with very few posts? If it's the latter, it could be a scam, make sure you have cleared funds in your account before sending the phone.

btw, if you want a laugh and to see people getting their own back on these 419 scammers, take a look at 419 Eater. There are some people who have even managed to get money OFF these scammers!

Posted by Bammers
That looks like a great laugh! About time we started getting our own back on the "scammers". It just amazes me that people fall for it after all the advertising etc. Although I suppose we all like to think we can get "something for nothing" or that things "can be too good to be true"!!
Think the moral may be, trust no one, especially fantastic deals from Nigeria!!LOL!

Posted by Burgaz
Another one to add to the list!!
This guy even included a phone number??? Not that i'm about to ring him/her! Email and Phone no edited out at masseur's request!

hello,
i'm interested in your phone that you have for sale on
esato.
but i 'm in bolton england so i will like you to ship
the
phone to nigeria,but i will pay you through western
union ,have sent money many times which resulted to my
not getting the item i
purchased,you can ring me on +4470*******1 or mail me
at
*******@yahoo.com
thanks
mate



Posted by masseur
actually, looking again at the full text of your PM to me, its the same guy that caused this thread (didn't notice first time through)

Nigerian Scammer in my PM

and

Scammers

he's no longer a member here but unfortunately that doesn't stop him getting your email address if you have it displayed in your profile

Posted by Burgaz
And there is nothing we can do???

Posted by masseur
only to do as I do and don't display your email address in your profile

Posted by Burgaz
I didn't really mean it in that way... I just meant is there no way we can report them to the authorites or something?
I like having my email addy in my profile because it makes me feel "special" when i receive a mail from a fellow esatodian


Posted by Bammers
The metropolitan Police have a unit that deals with scams from Nigeria, but not sure if they would be interested in this one. Give them a call!

Posted by khaltire
I have a question about this:

"
hello, my name is janet i was born and brought up in uk, i saw your advert on ebay and i will like to purchase it my husband that has been posted to africa Nigeria for work i will like you to make sure that this item of yours is in very good condition before sending, so i will like you to get last amount you are selling with the cost of shippment so i will know the total amount i will ready for buying item from you.however i will like you to treat this transaction quick before his upcoming birthday.i will prefer this item send to him by country ROYALMAIL OR UPS or any other means you know it will ensure the save of the item, and my mode of payment willbe PAYPAL(payment) or WESTERN UNION BIDPAY(payment) i will appriciate if you treat this for me for him with your response with your name for quick payment. thanks i await your response."

I got this email saying they could pay by Paypal... that's odd usually its money order or Bidpay or something... It may be legit. I offered them 250 US including shipping for a GX30, to an account that ISNT mine (friends). So if I get an email at my email address saying I have funds, then I know its a scam. But if they do send it (I've heard they use stolen credit cards), Ill just keep the money and not send the phone. The person who got their card stolen can obviously get their money back.. And if they can't, it doesn't matter whether I keep it or not. It's either me or the scammer. LOL

Do you think it's possible?

Posted by Bammers
Two things,
Its from Nigeria, therefore a guaranteed scam
Two, you will probably in breach of some legislation. Keeping money that isnt yours will almost certainly result in a chat with the police if it comes to light!
One other thing to mention, the Proceeds of crime act is being used more and more. If you get a visit from the police and they have cause to look into your finances or if you have cash about your person and you cant legitimately account for it then they can seize it and any property you cant account for!

Posted by donkasss
omg! the same thing is happening to me. I am about to sell my laptop and I put for auction for $750 and there are many people offering alot of money, more than double of the amount. they are all from west africa or nigeria. Everyone I talk to tell me not to accept the payment and they all tell me they are all scams. Well, I guess both of us should not accept the payment from those people.


Posted by Bammers
Good move!!

Posted by thami
I once got about 10 emails from 10 diffrent users and was about to axapt one at that time i didnt know that it was a scam saying he would pay me with western union and i peaced together the peaces and told them to DO...1 I never heard from them ever since!!

Posted by Sir-SonyEricsson-man
easy thing.. Never sell to Nigeria and never use WU


Click to view updated thread with images


© Esato.com - From the Esato mobile phone discussion forum