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eBay Scams
We Have Encountered
In late June 2006, I listed several items for sale on eBay.
Immediately, someone purchased one of the items for the Buy-It-Now price.
I sent an invoice to the buyer for $130.00 purchase price plus $15.00 for
packing, shipping, and insurance -- total of $145.00. This is his reply to
my request for payment.
QUOTE
I am intrested in purchasing your item and i will like to know if
you will accept a certified money order as a mode of payment,the final asking
priceand also if you will be able to wire transfer the excess funds to my
shipper after you might have cash and deduct your charges for this item as i
will be taking care of the shippment of the item from united state to our store
in UK,pls kindly get back to me with your CONTACT NAME AND ADDRESS so that i can
issued and forward the money order to you ASAP you can aswell send me your
MOBILE PHONE NUMBER
eBay sent this message to
rossi fred (sys936f68-e61).
END QUOTE
This reply obviously is a scam attempt -- here are the clues.
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The "buyer" wants to send "excess funds" and he wants
me to send the "excess funds" to "my shipper."
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Why does he need my "mobile phone number?"
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Note the misspellings and poor grammar -- this appears
to be from a non-native English speaker.
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When I checked the "buyer" --
rossi fred (sys936f68-e61)
-- on eBay, I found he had no feedback and he had been an eBay
member for only one day.
I notified eBay security, I left negative feedback on eBay for
this guy, and I notified him that the sale was cancelled and that I would return
to him any form of payment he sent to me.
I have now changed the way I list on eBay:
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If I have a Buy-It-Now price, I click the option for
Immediate Payment Required via PayPal. This way, if someone wants to
buy the item, they must pay immediately using PayPal -- this will preclude
offers to pay by check, money order, etc.
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From now on, I list only PayPal as the payment method
-- I will not accept money orders or checks or anything else. I may
lose a few customers this way, but I will be certain of being paid.
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