5D MK II scammer on Amazon.co.uk?

I came across this last night. Reading it as a scam, I tried to place an order (never intending to follow through), which prompted a message:

"Important Message

• Canon Digital SLR Camera EOS 5D Mark II cannot be shipped to the selected address."

I emailed the seller, "Jewellery Cave" (?!), via Amazon Marketplace and asked about the delivery problem. They answered:

"Hello

We could not ship the item because we had some problems with the shipper, but now we had solve those. We offer free shipping if you will order it within next 2 days. If you have any questions regarding the product,returning policy or if you want to order please contact us at: [email protected]. Waiting for your email!"

I sent another e-mail stating that I wouldn't consider placing the order outside the Amazon Marketplace. I also asked how come their price was so low. The answer: the seller disappeared from Amazon.co.uk. Now the lowest price for the 5D MK II is £ 1743,90 again.

Not surprisingly, it was too good to be true.

I have had a similar experience: I saw a surprisingly low price for a Nikon D700 body, and emailed [email protected] - the contact email address asking why the price wa so low - grey import, used, etc?

This was the reply: "Hello

The price is lower than the usual because we have some promotional prices before holidays.

The Nikon D700 is brand new, UK model, comes with 1 year UK warranty, all manufacturer supplied accessories. The shipping is free if you will order it within 2 days.If you want to buy send me your full name and address and i will contact Amazon asap to process your order.Delivery will take 1 - 2 days and my return policy is full money back in 30 days or replace the product if its faulty.

If you have any questions regarding the product,returning or any questions feel free to ask us.
Waiting for your email!"

So what is this about? I assume that Amazon guarantees its retailers and am obviously not going to buy via a mechanism that isn't through them, but am still intrigued. If it's a scam, what is it about?

Has anoyone else seen this? Has anyone actually bought and received anything from this weird-looking outfit?

Allan

I think this seller has little to do with Jewellery Cave. "Oscar Dehn" is obviosly a fake name. The people behind it want you to send your credit card details by e-mail after which it's - sayonara. The card gets charged but you'll never get the camera, nor replies to your e-mails.

What's surprising is that Amazon.co.uk is not weeding out blatant scams. And I think the scammer is still there, because now there's a new low price for the camera, £ 1650. This time, the seller is ifozi (96% positive feedback). They urge you to order soon. "Only 2 left in stock".

I made up a new profile and tried to place an order and once more got the message that the item cannot be shipped to the address I supplied. They want me to contact them personally.

So be careful out there.

Any e-mail ending in "hotmail.com" should cause all alarm bells to ring.

--

• Jan