A Word of Warning

[ozgoldman]

I recently listed by Minolta 28-70 G on Ebay. Did not sell immediately and relisted twice. On the third relist it 'sold' immediately to a legitimate buyer in the USA.

Unbeknown to me the Nigerian scammers had hacked her ebay and had bought my lens without her knowledge.

Fortunately she was alert and notified Ebay. The transaction was suspended.

Initially I was not aware of the suspension and emailed the costs of shipping to another email as 'she' claimed to be in New Zealand at the time.

I would normally have used the Ebay email, but it all looked very legitimate at that time. Valuable less there for me.

Alarm bells started to ring when the buyer asked me to send the lens to Nigeria.

Initially all looked quite legitimate as the buyer was real and based in the USA.
I was of course not aware that her access to Ebay had been hacked by the crooks.

As Nigeria is a word that really sets of alarms I then looked further and noticed a message from Ebay stating that the transaction had been suspended. I did not receive this direct to my email addy, and it was only evident on my Ebay messages on site.

I could not give the 'buyer' a final price as the transaction had been suspended.

I then received three more messages from the scammers.

Two that looked like they were from PayPal confirming payment of $950 had been made and a further email that looked like it was from Ebay stating that I could now complete the transaction.
Of course the initiating email addy was not from Ebay or PayPal.
Checked my PayPal account and of course there were no funds.

These emails were from the crooks. Cunning little people some of them and getting much better at scamming.

As this was the first item I had ever listed on Ebay it appears that they look for inexperienced sellers and work on naivity.

I feel sure that I would have woken up in any case, as I always do due diligence on any transactions involving money and would have checked for payment on PayPal before sending, but these crooks are getting much more sophisticated than before and many would fall into the trap and send their assets to Nigeria as requested, believing it to be real.

Speaking with Ebay, they advised that crooks hacking into legitimate buyers on Ebay was an increasing problem for them.
I might add that these people appear to be based in the UK.

So if selling on Ebay please be careful and check it all out before committing to sending anything that you might in fact lose.
--
ozgoldman

 

[seilerbird666]

I stopped dealing with eBay and Paypal years ago. Both places are full of scammers and fraudulent and counterfeit merchandise. Not worth the effort. I only buy and sell on Amazon. Amazon has much better control over their sellers.
--
My photos:
picasaweb.google.com/seilerbird

 

[EvilOne]

I stopped dealing with eBay and Paypal years ago. Both places are full of scammers and fraudulent and counterfeit merchandise. Not worth the effort. I only buy and sell on Amazon. Amazon has much better control over their sellers.
--
My photos:
picasaweb.google.com/seilerbird

--In the last six months Amazon has also allowed these scammers to work their business through Amazons website.. there are more scammers there daily...lots of fake stuff and knock offs.,,, you have to read the reviews too but you have to know that these scammers write the positive reviews...places like B&H photo are a little more expensive but their products are genuine and they stand behind them...
Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.

Visit my Smug Mug Galleries at:
http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/

 

[Tubal]

Welcome to ebay. This has been going on for years.

 

[Tubal]

Normally if the seller is amazon (and not a 3rd party seller) you're ok.

You even need to watch out for the "fulfilled by amazon" sellers. They ship their merchandise to an amazon warehouse, and amazon ships it, but those could be counterfeit too.

 

[peter42y]

Thanks for the valuable post. It was good that you did not loose your merchandise.

 

[mick232]

I have never came across a scammer on Ebay. I have seen several hacked Amazon marketplace accounts, stating "do contact us via email if you want to buy".

 

[XPinger]

eBay and in particular PayPal are a constant source of aggravation to me. I can not believe people still use Paypal when they provide such third rate service.

 

[Rexel99]

Good to know.

Once trick I use is to have a special email address for paypal and another one used on ebay or other for the selling. this way only official paypal comes to the right address, scams come to my ebay/selling or normal email and I know.

 

[Itsa Dry Heat]

I recently listed by Minolta 28-70 G on Ebay. Did not sell immediately and relisted twice. On the third relist it 'sold' immediately to a legitimate buyer in the USA.

Unbeknown to me the Nigerian scammers had hacked her ebay and had bought my lens without her knowledge.

Fortunately she was alert and notified Ebay. The transaction was suspended.

Initially I was not aware of the suspension and emailed the costs of shipping to another email as 'she' claimed to be in New Zealand at the time.

I would normally have used the Ebay email, but it all looked very legitimate at that time. Valuable less there for me.

Alarm bells started to ring when the buyer asked me to send the lens to Nigeria.

Initially all looked quite legitimate as the buyer was real and based in the USA.
I was of course not aware that her access to Ebay had been hacked by the crooks.

As Nigeria is a word that really sets of alarms I then looked further and noticed a message from Ebay stating that the transaction had been suspended. I did not receive this direct to my email addy, and it was only evident on my Ebay messages on site.

I could not give the 'buyer' a final price as the transaction had been suspended.

As soon as I saw Nigeria, all bets off!

 

[Stv]

.........in the For Sale & Wanted Forum.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1056&thread=40385379

They're easy to spot with minimal care and attention to what you're doing.

--
Simplify_balancE_eXclude = photo SEX

http://stv.smugmug.com/

 

[JWDART]

Over the years I to have also had my Ebay account hacked into. Paypal is a joke. I had a fake Paypal account set up in my name and it had $1,800 in cash advances taken out over about a 5 day period. It was being drawn out against my credit card. My account number was compromised from an online purchase. I found out by accident when I called my credit card company to get rewards I had comming. The credit card company, even after they cancealed the card allowed an additional $400 go through. I no longer have that card. I cancealed the new card they sent me.

JWDART

 

[pierre_x]

eBay and in particular PayPal are a constant source of aggravation to me. I can not believe people still use Paypal when they provide such third rate service.

I closed my paypal account a month ago. I don't see any benefit. It is another middle man taking a cut. By the way, to close, you have to pay a fee... are they taking people for idiots?

Pierre

 

[tnagy]

I recently listed by Minolta 28-70 G on Ebay. Did not sell immediately and relisted twice. On the third relist it 'sold' immediately to a legitimate buyer in the USA.

Unbeknown to me the Nigerian scammers had hacked her ebay and had bought my lens without her knowledge.

Fortunately she was alert and notified Ebay. The transaction was suspended.

Initially I was not aware of the suspension and emailed the costs of shipping to another email as 'she' claimed to be in New Zealand at the time.

I would normally have used the Ebay email, but it all looked very legitimate at that time. Valuable less there for me.

Alarm bells started to ring when the buyer asked me to send the lens to Nigeria.

Initially all looked quite legitimate as the buyer was real and based in the USA.
I was of course not aware that her access to Ebay had been hacked by the crooks.

As Nigeria is a word that really sets of alarms I then looked further and noticed a message from Ebay stating that the transaction had been suspended. I did not receive this direct to my email addy, and it was only evident on my Ebay messages on site.

I could not give the 'buyer' a final price as the transaction had been suspended.

I then received three more messages from the scammers.

Two that looked like they were from PayPal confirming payment of $950 had been made and a further email that looked like it was from Ebay stating that I could now complete the transaction.
Of course the initiating email addy was not from Ebay or PayPal.
Checked my PayPal account and of course there were no funds.

These emails were from the crooks. Cunning little people some of them and getting much better at scamming.

As this was the first item I had ever listed on Ebay it appears that they look for inexperienced sellers and work on naivity.

I feel sure that I would have woken up in any case, as I always do due diligence on any transactions involving money and would have checked for payment on PayPal before sending, but these crooks are getting much more sophisticated than before and many would fall into the trap and send their assets to Nigeria as requested, believing it to be real.

Speaking with Ebay, they advised that crooks hacking into legitimate buyers on Ebay was an increasing problem for them.
I might add that these people appear to be based in the UK.

So if selling on Ebay please be careful and check it all out before committing to sending anything that you might in fact lose.
--
ozgoldman

Well, I have nearly the same experience. I sold my A700 (not on eBay) and someone from USA was the buyer. I was told that the delivery service come to me and take the camera to the buyer. Between the buyer emailed me that he made a payment through PayPal (980 Euro, 430 for a delivery and 550 for the camera). I asked PayPal and no payment was made. The buyer promised me that I will see the payment only in case I send the money (430 Euro) to a delivery company and send a scanned bill to them. But PayPal told me, no payment is invisible if it arrieved to an account so if I didn't see any payment there was no one made.

We must be very careful in these days, scammers triyng their best to get the money and the goods...Thanks to PayPal (have only good experiences with eBay and their protection)
Tibor

 

[Chinese Pilot]

I stopped dealing with eBay and Paypal years ago. Both places are full of scammers and fraudulent and counterfeit merchandise. Not worth the effort. I only buy and sell on Amazon. Amazon has much better control over their sellers.
--
My photos:

AMEN!!!

 

[yakky]

Ebay does have its scammers, but its better than the scammers AND tire kickers on Craigslist. There is nothing worse than trying to buy or sell photo gear on CL.

As a seller, everyone wants to offer you 1/2 of what the going price is on ebay or B&H/KEH. As a buyer, everthing is listed at 50-100% more than B&H/KEH.

I can put stuff on ebay, its gone within a week for close to, sometimes even more than B&H. I only ship to paypal confirmed addresses and I've been lucky so far (14 years of ebaying). The fees are out of control though.

 

[JWDART]

I also have had request for items I have had for sale on Craigs List. They offer a high amount for postage to send the item to a relative overseas. "Give me your Paypal account number" and I will deposit the money in it. "I don't think so".

JWDART

 

[gblatchford]

Speak to the buyer/seller if it's a high-value item. Pick up the phone!

Ask for a phone number, preferably a landline which they should be willing to give, even though Sk*pe etc now provide the service of number obfuscation via dial-thru.

Then there's the publically available electoral register, Companies House for companies.

Most persons will offer work or home numbers. Most will allow you to have their home address on the understanding it's for fraud prevention.

It's pretty obvious if you have nothing to hide then you won't have any issue with persons checking up on you, as you would equally do the same if the situation is reversed.

Yes, the scammers are clever, so take everything slowly and do indeed call Paypal if you're suspect regarding the actions.

Heavy accents and bad grammar are easy to spot, so one tends not to sell to them if offered.

Paying a fee up front? It's the good old 419. Using the internet should be on the condition you first learn about these Mugus!
Check out 419eater.com

P*yPal? Yes, they are money-grabbing with a penchant for keeping your money, your interest earned and the dirtiest debt-collection agency I've ever encountered, but they provide some modicum of protection when acting as the middle-man.

If they come after you for whatever reason, be prepared for a fight when you know you're in the right, and go public straight away with your disquiet. Shine the light of day upon them, then kick them back under the stone where found.

P*yPal will try to recoup/freeze funds for whatever reason if a claim is filed erroneously, so photos and audit trails if you sell through them as a private seller, as they always treat you as a business seller vending new goods, even when secondhand.

Obviously don't scam or inflate inferior goods, it's going to come back and bite you!
One way or another.

P*ypal are one level above the scammers, but not much. Never leave money in your account, close the DirectDebit if you feel like theyre going to try to pull cash from your account.

Been through the mill, now only high-value sales to persons I can either meet or deal directly with.

GB

 

[reflected_light]

When I sell on eBay, I only ship to a confirmed address and do not ship until the funds are actually in my bank account after transfer. It only takes a couple of days to get to my bank (I do the transfer immediately after payment is made) and a lens sale I made last week hit my bank just over 24 hrs after the auction ended.

I know this delays my buyer from getting what they have purchased, but it's safer that way and I state in my auctions that I will ship within 2 days of auction close.

 

[Pixelizer]

I've noticed lately that Ebay doesn't let your PayPal payment clear (or be available to you) until as long as 2 weeks after the payment is made. Supposedly for buyer protection. But that works to the detriment of the seller, who can get stiffed by the buyer through defunding of his payment, or outright lying that the merchandise didn't arrive, or that it was defective, etc.

I'm a reasonably good-sized private seller, with a 100% rating, and I still get this treatment. I'm thinking Ebay isn't going to get as much traffic from me as it used to.

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Digital imaging has introduced a whole new generation to the joy of photography.