A very good customer of mine has been caught out on Ebay and it has cost him £3K.
He bought an item from a person with great feedback and lots of it. They only accepted money transfers. He sent the money, and the goods never
arrived.
The seller is in the US.
So here's how it works: You get an Email for 'Ebay' (though it's not from them). It looks real with all the HTML. You click on the
link and ALL your membership ID details are captured. The person can then change your password and lock you out of your account. When you report this
to Ebay it takes them about 3 days to close your account and give it back to you to open affresh.
During this time the seller will list a good item at a reaonable price and use your account and excellent feedback history to sell the item. It will
always be listed for no more than 3 days, usually in the highlighted section at the top. There will be a 'Buy Now' option. The photo will
have be ripped from a previous sale. He will say he doesn't accept PayPal anymore (which is also no gaurantee of a safe sale) because of fraud
from some other dodgy country and you have to pay by bank transfer.
You pay your money and kiss it good buy.
Unfortunately for this chap he doesn't as yet know who he's ripped off. My customer is worth millions and is quite a 'scary' chap.
He's aready got the investigators on it who are working on Alex Ferguson, and they are homing in on him in the US. When they've got him my
customer will be on a plane with a couple of chaps armed with pliers and a blowtorch - seriously!
So unless - you've got those kind of resources, be very careful what you buy.
[Edited on 26/2/04 by Jasper]
Got some pliers and a blow torch - should be fine
which many people seem to lack..
paypal and ebay will not email you, unless you've bidded on something, sent/recived money or somesuch.
if they want to update your details, they'll do that on the site when you next sign in, in a secure connection.
all legit paypal URLs start with HTTPS://
But that when the scammers email you - they wait till you win a bid - then send you a dodgy email - and you don't even need to divulge your info - the software strips it out automatically.
"Pulp Fiction", classic
i felt bad sending a cheque off the other day for £14. anything more i would go in person anyway. Thats hard luck on your mate though jasper, at least
theres a chance the lasher will learn an important lesson! (bum not, lest thee be bummed thyself...)
probably the crack with the hayabusa on the other thread then... ('too cheap?'
talk of the devil, heres another. 3 items listed too cheap at the same time... vieq sellers other items.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2463155030&category=9808
maybe put you pal onto this crank jasper?!?
btw, i've reported this one myself...
[Edited on 26/2/04 by JoelP]
The Phaeton just changed to an SL!
All his feedback is for stuff Bought, not Sold......
i have 130 sucessful / buy / sells on ebay and have never had a prob with a payment or billing.
But I can see how it happens.
I have never been above 150 quid.
spending serious money with someone you dont know for something you cant see is stupid anyway.
Things on ebay tend to find their own correct price and level - anything that looks like that hayabusa has GOT to be a fraud
atb
steve
So why can't the police get called and set up a sting !!?????
Jason
I received one of theses e-mails and at the time I did not have an account with ebay.
One way to safe guard your purchase is to use an escrow service. These companies will hold your payment until you've received, inspected and
approved the item. Only then does the escrow service pay the seller.
There is a charge for this service but for large amounts this maybe worth it.
I have listed below the address to the ebay help file on this matter.
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/buytrust-escrow.html
RE that hayabusa on EBay. It says the seller is in the Uk. But one of the cars in the background is clearly a yank.
Dunno, i know people have cars imported. But that pic would put me off anyway.
And on the other Hayabusa he has the pic is clearly of an american house, not many like that in the uk...especially with the post box out from..
Check it and see for yourself...something dodgy going on i must agree!
Just my 2p worth 
David
[Edited on 26/2/04 by flak monkey]
quote:
Originally posted by mackie
The Phaeton just changed to an SL!
quote:
Originally posted by Deckman001
So why can't the police get called and set up a sting !!?????
Jason
Thought there would be a simple reason involving police time and avaliable officers
Jason
quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
madness! plus, its on a 52 plate (obv. sept 02), says reg 2003,
does anyone know the address to which you should forward spoof emails from ebay to? i think i got one...
abuse@ebay.com maybe?
It's a cutthroat business, this teddy bear stuff then? I reported one a month ago from "ebay". Forward them the email with headers and
let them deal with it. You have to go to the contact us section and find the section that deals with fraud. There are ones for suspicious and
inappropriate listings as well as email detail fraud.
yours, Pete.
Ebay don't really care too much about this as far as I can see and hear. They just unlist the item.
I'm putting an article together for a couple of magazines and possibly a national paper on this - anybody know of anybody else whose been ripped
off then please let me know.
A guy at work bought (or tried to) an iMac that didn't get sold on eBay so he went "out of band" and sent money direct. To Portugul.
Needless to say he got no pretty coloured computer.
Emailed the seller with the Busa, asking if i could come and look at the bike, as i thought surely it would be too dodgy going and paying in cash and
collecting the bike. Of course i had never intention of buying the bike, ive only ever riden my mates 50cc derby senda before!
Got this reply.
Hello,
First of all I must inform you that currently I'm in Netherland and i have to let you know that the bike is here with me. I am the first owner of
the bike; I bought it directly from an authorized dealer.
No damage,no scratches or dents, never down, no hidden defects, and it is as advertised.The bike is an UK model with UK specs,it passed the test
emissions and comes with all the documents you need to register the bike ,still under warranty(extended at 3 years) .
The bike it has a clear title wich you will receive it with the bike.
I recently ordered a new car from a dealer down here because I suffered a bike accident and can't ride for a while and i need the cash in the
next few days to pay for it.
The buy it now price is 2180 GBP, shipping included
The bike will be shipped from Netherland with Fedex and i will cover the shipping costs and insurance.You will not have to pay additional taxes, just
only the price for it.
The payment is fully refundable. if for any reason you do not accept the bike or if the bike has scratches, hidden defects, or it is not as
advertised. I will even pay for the shipping back to my location if you reject the bike but since it is a state of the art bike and works and looks
perfectly I think it would not get to this.
If you agree with these terms,let me know and i will provide you further details.
Kind regards.
And i though they would only except cash on collection as u could never post a bike!!
That Hayabusa Ad has been pulled, doubt EBay will chase anything up though.
My chap who was scammed now knows the scammers home and work address, all phone numbers, all his bank details, and his credit card numbers, and is
about to totolly clean him out for everthing he has.....bring it on!
Ebay never chase anything up - they recons it's up to local plod.
Let us know the results !!
Jason
quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
I'm putting an article together for a couple of magazines and possibly a national paper on this - anybody know of anybody else whose been ripped off then please let me know.
i think we should all send him a card.... not sure what to put but someone will think of something funny!
sign him up for a load of gay sex catalogues 
and before you ask no i don't know where from
Hehehe, and I was thinking just a stern letter requesting my money be refunded and a warning of what would happen if not.
Occurred to me that a postal fraud report, an internet fraud report and a posting of his name & address to a few forums would be easy to do now
that I have his address. It might warn others plus get the story high up on any google search for his name.
Might make for an interesting discussion at his next job interview or whatever... Seems a pity to sacrifice your reputation for the sake a couple of
bucks.
Besides, I'd hate to find out I'd done him a favour by subscribing him to those catalogs Carl .
Classified scams
The Metropolitan Police Fraud Alert web site has some very useful information on various scams and frauds. We strongly advise you to visit it and read
the West African advance fee fraud section.
Another good source of information is the U.S. Secret Service 419 scams page
We do not tolerate abuse of our system or any kind of fraudulent or criminal activity and will immediately bar from our system any user suspected of
such. However in common with all other public services of this type we cannot possibly prevent all occurrences.
Your best defence is common sense. If a deal doesn't seem right or something is well below the normal price walk away from it. Here are some
suggestions.
• DO pay by credit card if possible. You then have some protection from the credit card company in most cases.
• DO meet the buyer/seller and use cash as payment where possible. You can then see exactly what is being sold and get immediate payment.
• DO use an escrow service such as Auctionpix.
• DO NOT pay money direct into someones bank account or send them a cheque unless you are prepared to accept the risk that you will never receive
whatever you paid for or it doesn't work, is incomplete or is not as described.
• DO NOT assume that receiving money via payment systems such as Nochex, Paypal etc gives you 100% guarantee of payment. It is not unknown for them to
confirm payment into your account then a day or two later to retract that saying the payment was fraudulent.
• DO NOT have anything to do with anyone contacting you saying they are from Nigeria, South Africa or any other African or South American country who
want you to send them your name, address and bank account details.
• DO NOT accept a cheque or money order for more than your asking price and send the difference to the 'buyer'.
Many people have been contacted from African, European, or U.S. buyers involving a common scam. Most of these people are actually based in Nigeria,
regardless of where they say they are located.
A typical Example:
• Your car, boat, campervan etc. is for sale for £3000.
• The buyer wants to have his friend, business partner, or employee send you £6000 because his friend or business partner owes him £3000.
• You are supposed to cash his cheque for £6000 and then send the remaining £3000 to the buyer, usually by Western Union.
• DO NOT DO THIS! It is a scam. You deposit the cheque and then send the buyer the extra £3000. The bank cheque either bounces or was a forgery and
you lose your £3000. They don't want what you are selling, just the cash - the goods are never collected.
A similar scam:
• The buyer sends you the cost of your item and the cost of shipping. Later, they says they have taken care of shipping and ask for you to refund the
shipping cost. They keep your refund and the original cheque bounces.
• Beware of anyone "representing a client".
• Beware of any buyers from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia or Egypt who want to wire you money.
• Beware of anyone who does not ask you specific questions about your vehicle.
Why do they say they want to money sent by Western Union? Because this puts cash directly into the scammers hands immediately.
If any deal requires you to send the buyer money, it is a scam.
Guess what - Mr. Fuller re-registered with eBay and eBay provided me with his new email ID. An email to Matt quoting his home address and mentioning
my next intended actions worked out great - I got my $39 back 
. Woohoo, about 1/6th of the cost of Ron's Locost back in my pocket!!!
quote:
Originally posted by MikeP
Hehehe, and I was thinking just a stern letter requesting my money be refunded and a warning of what would happen if not.
Occurred to me that a postal fraud report, an internet fraud report and a posting of his name & address to a few forums would be easy to do now that I have his address. It might warn others plus get the story high up on any google search for his name.
Might make for an interesting discussion at his next job interview or whatever... Seems a pity to sacrifice your reputation for the sake a couple of bucks.
Besides, I'd hate to find out I'd done him a favour by subscribing him to those catalogs Carl
Hmmm I won a triumph on ebay yesterday - but it turns out its 560 miles away! So I apologized to the seller that I couldn't complete the deal. He
didn't seem that bothered but he originally sent the email below for a cheque & his mobile phone number!
quote:
• DO meet the buyer/seller and use cash as payment where possible. You can then see exactly what is being sold and get immediate payment.
• DO NOT pay money direct into someones bank account or send them a cheque unless you are prepared to accept the risk that you will never receive whatever you paid for or it doesn't work, is incomplete or is not as described.