CRIMINALS AT WORK - TWELVE “RED FLAGS†TO WARN OF A FRAUDULENT TRANSACTION
(If 3 or more of the following apply to your transaction, beware of losing all your money)
1. Expensive item, often computers, electronics, cameras – listed at auction at a significant discount off fair market value. Multiples may be offered in the fixed price format.
2. Western Union wire transfer is only acceptable payment method. WU wire transfer is untraceable and unrecoverable after the thief picks up the money. In an attempt to provide the illusion of safety, the prospective buyer is often told to send the money to a fake name or use a secret password, which the buyer will change only after receiving the item. (Also beware payment by e-gold).
3. Bidder is required to be pre-approved. When pre-approval is sought, seller offers instant sale (usually off-eBay) at significantly less than true value.
4. Bidder who was the underbidder on an expensive item receives emailed offer (customarily from a person in a country thousands of miles away) offering to sell an identical or similar item off-eBay for a huge discount.
5. Private auction. After bidding the bidder receives an emailed offer to sell “off eBay.â€
6. Item listed on hijacked account. Some characteristics of a hijacked accounts:
--Seller with excellent feedback, which was acquired solely from buying or from selling items unrelated to the expensive item being offered.
--Long dormant account suddenly listing expensive items.
--US or UK registered seller whose payment terms are the usual PayPal, money orders, etc., but the auction page shows location city/country as other than in US or UK. The location city and country may be bizarre (e.g. Bucharest, USA or Madrid, UK).
-- Payment terms for an auction listed from a US location are the customary PayPal, Bidpay, money orders, and checks. When contacting the auction winner, the seller claims to be in a country thousands of miles away on a business trip, vacation, or other excuse, and WU wire transfer abruptly becomes the only acceptable method of payment. (Sure…most sellers take along a few Plasma TVs when traveling to Europe for a vacation, don’t they?)
7. Seller offers free shipping, from distant countries, often premium (very expensive) shipping such as FedEx overnight. One inept criminal offered to ship a horse trailer from Romania by overnight FedEx for $275.
8. No actual photo, or a generic photo or illustration of the item taken from a catalog or website. (Inconclusive in the absence of other red flags)
9. Three day auction, often ending on a weekend, (Inconclusive in the absence of other red flags)
10. Poor or unusual grammar / spelling indicative that English isn’t the user’s primary language. (Inconclusive in the absence of other red flags)
11. Seller recommends an escrow service other than those endorsed by eBay. Click the following link for an overview of escrow, including a list of the 5 escrow companies endorsed by eBay: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/buytrust-escrow.html
12. Buyer who is doubtful and undecided receives email (Typically containing poor or unusual grammar) appearing to originate from eBay, vouching for the seller and security of the transaction, and advising the buyer to complete the transaction. The email may assert that the seller has placed a multi-thousand dollar security deposit with eBay. Some further claim that the item will be shipped from the eBay warehouse in San Jose, CA. (Remember, eBay is only a venue)
On this help page:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/rfe ... -sale.html
is an embedded link to "Contact eBay to report an off-site email offer from a seller"
Report the "seller".
goWholesale Forums » Wholesale Buyers » General Chat » Auctions, eBay, Closeouts/Surplus
Tips to Avoid Ebay Scams
17 posts
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You should make this a "sticky". Very informative, especially for the newbs.
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gr8 info
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Hello.. I am new to the forum but wanted to take a moment to thank you ever so much for sharing this important and vital information. I am going to make sure that I pass this on to others I do business with as well.
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yes great help keep it up!!!
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Excelent posting! All auction buyers should read it
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I was scam by this guy on Ebay, he offered free shipping if I used Buy Now and required payment to be made by PayPal Instant Transfer, so I bought the auction that way, and paid 20 hours later via PayPal with money from my savings account. A few days later the guy tells me that I need to pay for shipping because the payment took a few days to clear and that free shipping was only if I paid the same day, so, I told him that I wasn't go to pay anymore since he offered Free shipping in the auction for which I qualified since I paid via Instant payment and within 24 hours, and it wasn't my fault that Paypal took so long to clear the payment. Well, the guy refused to ship the item neither to refund my money. So, basically, he stole my money. I complained thru PayPal but they didn't do anything, they said the seller was at fault but that they couldn't recover any funds from his account. Ebay did nothing either, they told me that since this is the sellers first offense they couldn't suspend him. So, I am out of $69 which is what I paid to this thief and do not have a way to get my money back and the seller still on Ebay. Now I know why the seller wanted instant payment and not payments via credit card. His Ebay ID is: pathan69
Name: Akhtar Hayat
From: Winnetka, CA 91306
Beware of this thief, you have been warned. I hope somebody would've warned me
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Although I agree that it wasn't right for the seller to not refund your money, the fact that he said he wanted an instant payment via paypal means that you could only pay by credit card on paypal. Bank account payments are not instant payments. They are eChecks which take a few days to clear through PayPal. So, although the seller was more in the wrong for taking your money and giving you nothing, you were also in the wrong for not paying for shipping since you didn't abide by the terms stated in the auction. Might want to call the seller, be civilized, and come to an agreement since it seems that there were mistakes on both sides.
- Jason -
frankr32 wrote:I was scam by this guy on Ebay, he offered free shipping if I used Buy Now and required payment to be made by PayPal Instant Transfer, so I bought the auction that way, and paid 20 hours later via PayPal with money from my savings account. A few days later the guy tells me that I need to pay for shipping because the payment took a few days to clear and that free shipping was only if I paid the same day, so, I told him that I wasn't go to pay anymore since he offered Free shipping in the auction for which I qualified since I paid via Instant payment and within 24 hours, and it wasn't my fault that Paypal took so long to clear the payment. Well, the guy refused to ship the item neither to refund my money. So, basically, he stole my money. I complained thru PayPal but they didn't do anything, they said the seller was at fault but that they couldn't recover any funds from his account. Ebay did nothing either, they told me that since this is the sellers first offense they couldn't suspend him. So, I am out of $69 which is what I paid to this thief and do not have a way to get my money back and the seller still on Ebay. Now I know why the seller wanted instant payment and not payments via credit card. His Ebay ID is: pathan69
Name: Akhtar Hayat
From: Winnetka, CA 91306
Beware of this thief, you have been warned. I hope somebody would've warned me
the scammer that posted the above post basically want everything his way and for free. i sent him refund minus ebay fees that i had to pay for him not being able to read my auction rules. he declined and sent my refund back. i asked him since i cant take a payment after 10 days if he want the item he either pay me the shipping or take the refund. he declined and gave me negative feedback. below is the copy of paypal refund that he declined. also his account was suspended by ebay since he probably been scamming people. please look at my feedback history to judge for yourself.
Refund Offer was Denied
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 18:52:05 -0700
>From: service@paypal.com
>To: AKHTARH76@HOTMAIL.COM
>Subject: You Refund Offer was Denied
>Date: Sun, 09 May 2004 13:53:55 -0700
>
>Dear AKHTAR HAYAT,
>You recently offered a refund related to the following transaction:
>
>Buyer: Francisco Rios
>Buyer's Email: modservices@aguadilla.net
>Transaction ID: 6SK41783TW201315K
>Transaction Date: May 3, 2004
>Transaction Amount: $69.00 USD
>Partial Refund Offer: $66.48 USD
>Your Note to Buyer:
>
>The buyer has denied your refund offer. If you wish, you can offer another
>refund in an attempt to settle this issue but you are not required to do so.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>PayPal
>
>
>
>
>PayPal Email ID PP500
>
> -
jmeyer wrote:Although I agree that it wasn't right for the seller to not refund your money, the fact that he said he wanted an instant payment via paypal means that you could only pay by credit card on paypal. Bank account payments are not instant payments. They are eChecks which take a few days to clear through PayPal. So, although the seller was more in the wrong for taking your money and giving you nothing, you were also in the wrong for not paying for shipping since you didn't abide by the terms stated in the auction. Might want to call the seller, be civilized, and come to an agreement since it seems that there were mistakes on both sides.
- Jason
being civilized is something he doesnt know. from that day he has been threatning me via email that he is calling the police and god and who knows what. -
I have created a report similar to the first post in this thread, but specific to a certain products. If you are considering buying a DVD online in the near future, you should read this report. I am a DVD professional, and I have created this report to give people who are considering a purchase in the near future important tips and terminology to remember, and questions to ask, before they buy a DVD online, especially on eBay!!! I would post the report in its entirety here but its 13+pages long, so I have decided to put it up as a downloadable file.
http://www.geocities.com/dvdscamreport/
Thanks,
Tim -
I really want to thank whoever posted this - I was browsing ebay yesterday looking at laptops. I received a private auction invitation to purchase a Dell Inspiron 8500 for $650. It looked legitimate at first, and it took me to
(do NOT post your real login and password in - you can enter anything and it will take you to the next page)
http://aribada-scgidll.home.ro/signin.e ... :h:sin:US/
if I wanted to purchase it. I wasn't sure about it, it seemed too good to be true, so I went searching for ebay scams and found your list. This guy fit 4 of them, including offering to pay the shipping from London and wanting Western Union as payment.
When I looked closer at the link - I noticed the .ro extension which indicates that the ISP is in Romania!!! I also started to notice the grammar was not quite right. He was almost correct, but certain language was wrong like "I hope I answered all of your questions but if I did get over something please let me know."
I'm so glad that you posted this - it saved me $650 and possibly more. I had also logged in to that original link with my real login name and password, which would have given him access to my account. I changed the password after I realized what was going on, and it doesn't look like he changed anything. Do you guys know if I should do more? I also have paypal and a credit card. Do you think he could have gotten information about those?
sunhobo wrote:CRIMINALS AT WORK - TWELVE “RED FLAGS†TO WARN OF A FRAUDULENT TRANSACTION
(If 3 or more of the following apply to your transaction, beware of losing all your money)
1. Expensive item, often computers, electronics, cameras – listed at auction at a significant discount off fair market value. Multiples may be offered in the fixed price format.
2. Western Union wire transfer is only acceptable payment method. WU wire transfer is untraceable and unrecoverable after the thief picks up the money. In an attempt to provide the illusion of safety, the prospective buyer is often told to send the money to a fake name or use a secret password, which the buyer will change only after receiving the item. (Also beware payment by e-gold).
3. Bidder is required to be pre-approved. When pre-approval is sought, seller offers instant sale (usually off-eBay) at significantly less than true value.
4. Bidder who was the underbidder on an expensive item receives emailed offer (customarily from a person in a country thousands of miles away) offering to sell an identical or similar item off-eBay for a huge discount.
5. Private auction. After bidding the bidder receives an emailed offer to sell “off eBay.â€
6. Item listed on hijacked account. Some characteristics of a hijacked accounts:
--Seller with excellent feedback, which was acquired solely from buying or from selling items unrelated to the expensive item being offered.
--Long dormant account suddenly listing expensive items.
--US or UK registered seller whose payment terms are the usual PayPal, money orders, etc., but the auction page shows location city/country as other than in US or UK. The location city and country may be bizarre (e.g. Bucharest, USA or Madrid, UK).
-- Payment terms for an auction listed from a US location are the customary PayPal, Bidpay, money orders, and checks. When contacting the auction winner, the seller claims to be in a country thousands of miles away on a business trip, vacation, or other excuse, and WU wire transfer abruptly becomes the only acceptable method of payment. (Sure…most sellers take along a few Plasma TVs when traveling to Europe for a vacation, don’t they?)
7. Seller offers free shipping, from distant countries, often premium (very expensive) shipping such as FedEx overnight. One inept criminal offered to ship a horse trailer from Romania by overnight FedEx for $275.
8. No actual photo, or a generic photo or illustration of the item taken from a catalog or website. (Inconclusive in the absence of other red flags)
9. Three day auction, often ending on a weekend, (Inconclusive in the absence of other red flags)
10. Poor or unusual grammar / spelling indicative that English isn’t the user’s primary language. (Inconclusive in the absence of other red flags)
11. Seller recommends an escrow service other than those endorsed by eBay. Click the following link for an overview of escrow, including a list of the 5 escrow companies endorsed by eBay: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/buytrust-escrow.html
12. Buyer who is doubtful and undecided receives email (Typically containing poor or unusual grammar) appearing to originate from eBay, vouching for the seller and security of the transaction, and advising the buyer to complete the transaction. The email may assert that the seller has placed a multi-thousand dollar security deposit with eBay. Some further claim that the item will be shipped from the eBay warehouse in San Jose, CA. (Remember, eBay is only a venue)
On this help page:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/rfe ... -sale.html
is an embedded link to "Contact eBay to report an off-site email offer from a seller"
Report the "seller". -
frankr32 wrote:...Ebay did nothing either, they told me that since this is the sellers first offense they couldn't suspend him...
Wow! And I got suspended for forgetting to update my telephone number!!!
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Superb info!!!! Thanks a bunch!!!! Wish I had read this ages ago!!!
Eunice -
Very good info!! The most obvious though would be to check the feedback though on anything you're bidding on.
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I had a portable DVD player listed a while back and I was emailed and questioned by 4 different people in far away countries wanting to pay me through different forms than I accept and asking my to rush deliver it. Also they wanted my email and address info right then, before purchasing. After the first one I didn't think much of it, then I got 3 more and decided that there must be some sort of scam to it. Do you think I'm being paranoid? I replied that I only accept paypal and only ship through the ways specified in the listing. Anyone else have this happen? In all my listings (even for other portable DVD players) I've never had that happen before or again.
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dkmwholesale wrote:I had a portable DVD player listed a while back and I was emailed and questioned by 4 different people in far away countries wanting to pay me through different forms than I accept and asking my to rush deliver it. Also they wanted my email and address info right then, before purchasing. After the first one I didn't think much of it, then I got 3 more and decided that there must be some sort of scam to it. Do you think I'm being paranoid? I replied that I only accept paypal and only ship through the ways specified in the listing. Anyone else have this happen? In all my listings (even for other portable DVD players) I've never had that happen before or again.
No, I don't think you are paranoid. You have good instincts.
When in doubt, Don't!
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