Hurray! Another eBay scammer!

Lartrak · Post by **Lartrak** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:26 pm

I just thought I would share my little experience with an eBay scammer. I was selling a laptop for a friend, an older Toshiba model still worth over $500. The auction listing, as per my usual rules, says I ship only to the USA, and I will only accept PayPal.

Anyway, someone who is new to eBay with zero feedback wins and sends me this email...

Christine Sinclair wrote:I am happy i won your item.. I am Christine Dolly Humphrey mother to David Humphrey an about-to-graduate scientist.. I am happy to have won your item and I hope we conclude the transaction as fast as possible and so that both of us will be happy. David Humphrey is graduating in 2 weeks and is currently student of harvard university. he is currently on a student exchange program to nigeria so he is currently in nigeria... i want the item posted to him in nigeria.. i will pay you an extra $60 to cover for the postage to him in nigeria... I will be paying you via MoneyGram online. the money will be brought to your house.... please i will like you to get back to me as soon as posible and give me the following for me to proceed to payment:
your full name
your full address,
your email address so that moneygram can contact you directly.
I will be happy to receive these as soon as possible so that we can complete the transaction immediately.
Thanks & Regards
Dolly Christine Humphrey

To which I replied...

Lartrak wrote:NO! Can't you read! PayPal only and I will not ship outside the USA.

Stop trying to scam me. Christ.

Perhaps I came across a bit harsh, but I've had people try to scam me before and I'm sick of it.

Somewhat suprisingly, they did respond...

Christine Sinclair wrote:I am not trying to scam you...i will use paypal but please can you help to get the items to my son?

i will really like to get the item for him

thanks for your favour and i promise to add some amount to cover for S&H

D.C.H.

To which I replied, now less irritated...

Lartrak wrote:No. US bidders only.

Sorry if I sounded defensive, but I have had lots of people try to scam me, and somehow they all end up wanting it to be shipped to Nigeria and use a non-standard payment method I've never heard of. And, of course, they almost always have zero feedback, like you.

Assuming you are, in fact, not a scammer and are in fact the first person I've encountered who wants legitimate goods shipped to Nigeria, world capital of internet and mail order fraud, I'd advise you to in the future to use a seller who advertises international shipping.

As the auction listing says:

Ships to: United States

And

US $30.00 Other (see description)United States only

As is, all I can offer is to ship you the item (assuming you truely are located in the USA), and you can ship it to Nigeria yourself. Also, please be advised I have been sent fake PayPal emails and seen fake PayPal websites before, so don't try to rip me off using such a tactic. You'll just be wasting both your time and mine.

Regards

I guess I'm not 100% positive it is a scammer.. Just 95%.

I just thought I would share. And please be careful out there, fellow eBay sellers.

Politiko · Post by **Politiko** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:29 pm

Well, I heard a lot of scammers are coming from Nigeria now-a-days, and it does sound like a scam to me.

FETUS · Post by **FETUS** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:35 pm

Assuming you are, in fact, not a scammer and are in fact the first person I've encountered who wants legitimate goods shipped to Nigeria,

Best line ever!

Veggita2099 · Post by **Veggita2099** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:33 pm

If it was me I would be willing to do it just tell them it won't ship till you have the money in your bank and you are 100% sure it is cleared. ACtually if they are willling to use paypal Id do it. If they are willing to give you $90 for shipping you will profit since I doubt it would be more then $50 to ship it there.

Prophet][ · Post by **Prophet][** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:44 pm

he is an about to graduate scientist from harvard who is on an exchange program to nigeria and wants a $500 laptop off ebay? that in itself sounds dodgy.

not just souLLy now · Post by **not just souLLy now** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:46 am

a definite scammer, give negative feedback, contact ebay and relist your item

Rand Linden · Post by **Rand Linden** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:10 am

Scammer, definitely.

BTW, waiting for a payment to clear could take up to a month (or longer!).

Don't do it -- just relist the item.

Rand.

Skynet · Post by **Skynet** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:26 am

Rand Linden wrote: Scammer, definitely.

BTW, waiting for a payment to clear could take up to a month (or longer!).

Don't do it -- just relist the item.

Rand.

Lartrak · Post by **Lartrak** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:57 pm

Rand Linden wrote:Scammer, definitely.

BTW, waiting for a payment to clear could take up to a month (or longer!).

Don't do it -- just relist the item.

Rand.

That's what I've been planning to do. But, one of the other bidders bid almost as high and I contacted him about a day ago. If he doesn't respond within 12 hours or so, it is going back up I think. I'd like it if he could take it, since he wanted to pick it up himself as he lives nearby. It'd save me the hassle of shipping and the amount I'd save on PayPal fees would make up the lower bid.

APE · Post by **APE** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:07 pm

eBay advises against MoneyGram, not only because it's not secure in any form but because they don't get to profit from it.

Lartrak · Post by **Lartrak** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:56 pm

Another update... Apparently eBay has changed since the last time I had to relist an item with a bad winner. I have to wait until a week after auction end before I can try to get credit for the final value fee put on my account - $17 in this case. Means I have to wait 3 more days before I'm going to relist it.

I guess I could just remake the auction rather than relist it, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

MulletMan13 · Post by **MulletMan13** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:53 pm

P-p-p-p-powerbook!!!!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:32 pm

MulletMan13 wrote:P-p-p-p-powerbook!!!!

I damn near pissed my pants when I read that for the first time. Absolutely classic.

ASCIIN · Post by **ASCIIN** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:49 pm

Nick wrote:
MulletMan13 wrote:P-p-p-p-powerbook!!!!
I damn near pissed my pants when I read that for the first time. Absolutely classic.

that was a true classic, anyone got a link to that page?

navi · Post by **navi** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:51 pm

I find this comic in a twisted sort of way. Like when a Clown dies.

Lartrak · Post by **Lartrak** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:28 pm

I thought I'd post another update here. I did get my final value feedback from eBay. Yay. I ended up not leaving the "winner" a negative feedback, primarily because, as a seller, it is not worth the risk of getting a retaliatory negative for something which ended up costing me nothing but time. Kind of sucks, but that's how it is.

I have now relisted the laptop.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... B:AAQ:US:1

Due to the previous experience, there are a couple differences in the new listing.

New Laptop Auction wrote:Due to the nature and cost of this item, I will only ship to confirmed addresses.

NO ONE other than American and Canadian bidders! No, I WILL NOT ship to Nigeria, Uzbekistan, or anywhere else other than America and Canada.

In retrospect, I should have also asked for no bidders with zero or negative feedback as well, but it is too late as I already have a bid. Oh well, hopefully I won't get another scammer who will just waste my time again.

MulletMan13 · Post by **MulletMan13** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:51 pm

ASCIIN wrote:
Nick wrote:
MulletMan13 wrote:P-p-p-p-powerbook!!!!
I damn near pissed my pants when I read that for the first time. Absolutely classic.
that was a true classic, anyone got a link to that page?

http://www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/

SlammedNiss · Post by **SlammedNiss** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 12:16 am

trust me, its a scam. Between ebay and craigslist, I've seen/heard them all. Although they claim they pay with paypal, all you'll get is an email stating that funds have been delegated to you, but wont be distributed until you send them a tracking #.

If it's going to Nigeria, 99.9% of the time, it's a scam.

What I DO feel sorry for is the one actual legitimate person living in Nigeria who is trying to buy items off ebay, and everybody pretty much tells them to F-OFF. And why is it always Nigeria? Do they have a class called "Scamming the clueless American: 101"

EDIT:

Here's my own personal example. I was selling a modded Xbox on Craiglist, when I got the classic scamming email. It was easy to spot, as they're always very similar in their wording. They basically wanted to Paypal me the money, and use their own "personal" FedEx acct. to ship it to Nigeria. I thought, what the hell. If they're paying for the shipping, what have I got to lose. So, I took the following picture, put it in a box with 2 bricks, and sent it on its way. A day later, FedEx contacted me telling me that they hold ALL pkgs. going to Nigeria, until accounts can be verified. The following week, they called again. The acct. had been hijacked from somebody in CA. He asked me what I wanted them to do with the box. I told them to toss it, and explained the situation. He chuckled and told me it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard of.

butters · Post by **butters** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:04 am

You have 3 hands?

Egotistical EvilN · Post by **Egotistical EvilN** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:55 am

Reminds me of the P-P-P-Powerbook.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/