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EBAY SCAMS! Beware!!! As someone who has done business on ebay over the last few years, it's just amazing to me how the instance of fraud has exploded on Ebay, and how little can be done once burned. There are several scams going on as we speak, I'll address the FOUR main ones I see lately. Scam #1 - Selling an Item based on a stolen picture. I have on several occasions noticed a guitar for sale that seems one I may have seen before. For example, recently there was a nice National Triolian in mint shape on ebay. I swore I had seen the pic before, but couldn't remember where. I emailed the seller to ask a question, and he immediately offered me the guitar for $2,000, shipping included. In the meantime, a friend pointed out the guitar in question was actually listed a while back at the London Reso Center. I called them and they told me they sold it to a guy in England for $4k and that he would NEVER sell it. The item on ebay said it was in Vermont. The seller said he was in England at the time and I should WESTERN UNION the money. (NEVER Western Union money on an Ebay purchase!!!) The picture was stolen off their site and used to promote this fraudulent auction. When I got the guy to tell me where he was, (he said London at the time), I told him great, I had friends there and my friend would come over w cash. I got one more email imploring me to send Western Union, then never heard from him again. BTW, if you ever see a National Don for sale w pics of it showing it on a couch w a small child in one of em, beware. This same guitar has come up 3 times now, auction get's cancelled, and someone get's burned. It was offered to me for $3,500, a ridiculously low amount, provided I western union the money to England. Beware!
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Scam #2- The Second Chance Offer ...... This is the most recent method of fraud, and is super dangerous. The last few times I attempted to buy something on ebay and lost, I immediately got an email shown below. This looks super official, like it came from ebay directly. see below.... It'll look like this, w the ebay color insignia included.... From:aw-confirm@ebay.com Subject Question from Ebay Member Reply to: aw-confirm@ebay.com Please don't respond to this message as you will not receive a response. This was sent by an ebay member. MESSAGE FROM EBAY MEMBER (logo) Marketplace Safety Tip (right!) If this email is an offer to sell an item without winning it on ebay, please do not respond to the sender. These off ebay transactions are unsafe and ont covered by ebay protections. Never pay for an item using instant cash transfer services such as Western Union or Money Gram. Dear (my ebay monikor), You expressed interest in an item titled "Late 1920 's National Style 1 Tricone Roundneck"-ltem# 7311003507 by bidding,however the auction has ended with another member as the high bidder.ln compliance with eBay policy, this seller is making this Second Chance Offer to you at your bid price of US $4,661 .OO.The seller has issued this Second Chance Offer because either the winning bidder was unable to complete the transaction or this seller has duplicate items for sale or the reserve price is not met in a Reserve Price. If you accept this offer, you will be able to exchange Feedback with the seller and will be eligible for eBay services associated with a transaction, such as fraud protection.This is an eBay protected transaction and you can pay with trust.To learn more about Second Chance Offer go to:http;//pages.ebay.com/help/sell/personal_offer.html To purchase this item, don't reply to this mail, just contact the seller at: RobinGates@AOL.com. Thank you, eBay, Inc. Please respond to the question on eBay by clicking the button below. RetpMtdNowj Thank you, nathan ee333w Sounds like an exciting situation, I can get the item after all! Bummer was, I got like 3 of these from 3 different senders! I emailed the seller, asked where he was. He kept emailing back saying "please use the directions to pay listed below and you will get your items sent right away!" I emailed to say I wasn't Western Union'ing any cabbage unless he called me at the number I listed. He resent the same message, I responded that he was a crook and should burn in hell. Never heard back again. The scary part is, they send this to the next five or so bidders who didn't win. They may ending up having several people paying for the same non existent instrument! Yikes!!! Who knows how many people are getting burned daily, it's gotta be HUGE!!!
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Scam #3- The Cancelled Auction....This is another scam being used more and more. Here's an example..... A couple weeks ago, I noticed a beautiful Froggy Bottom acoustic deluxe model that normally goes for around $6k new. I actually have the same guitar currently so I was interested to see what it would go for. There was about 16 bids and the guitar was at $2,000 after one day. All of a sudden, I noticed that all 16 bids were cancelled, but the auction was still up and going. I emailed to ask what was the deal. He emailed back to say "thanks for contacting me" and then offered me the amazing guitar for only $2k, including shipping! (see emails below...) He states he is in England, so I told him great, I had a friend there who could come over w cash and pick it up. I then get the second email shown saying I should still go thru square trade. Why? I said I had no interest in square trade or any other deal but giving him cash for the guitar. If he didn't want cash, he had to be crooked. I never heard back again from this knucklehead, but who knows how many others he had going at the same time. He may have taken several payments for something he probably didn't even own! WOW!!! Below is the emails sent back and forth..... |
From: sweetiep7878@yahoo.co m Hello there, Thank you for your interest in purchasing my guitar. I know that are numerous offers on eBay and I'm glad that you choose to contact me regarding your willingness to purchase. MY REPLY....... Hello Luis, Best Regards, Lenny Gerthoffer Now, it's obvious if he has the guitar and wants to sell it for the agreed amt., he'd love to have cash come by............ His Response..... Hi, I will ask Square Traders help. They will contact you. Like this you can talk to them and see that I'm a serious seller. I want to first see the Square Trade confirmation i feel more secure to proceed. Pleae understand me. I am positive that you,, dear sir, would do the same thing in my situation. Of course you can come by and pick it up, i will not pay shipping. Works for me, but I want to first see the Square Trade confirmation that everything it's ok and you are the buyer of my guitar. I m selling it because my wife want to leave me with nothing after the divorce. I have serious problems and i don't want to discuss it with you. I want to know if you buy it or not. I expect reply after you talk w SQ! I will forward your details (mine too)to SQ to open a case regarding our deal. Respectfully, Michael
Hmmmm, Michael? What happened to Luis Espineria? Getting his alias's mixed up. Obviously a scam, as he says I can pay cash then goes right back to the Sq Deal. I responded I didn't want anything to do w Sq Deal. I had cash ready to be delivered. If he didn't want it, he was as crooked as a dog's hind leg and should burn in hell. I never heard back after that, what a surprise. |
Scam #4- Updating your EBAY and or PAYPAL acct..... This is a really scary one, as I tend to get these in waves. In one day I got 3 different emails, threatening that if I didn't update my account it would be frozen in 24 hours. It's very official looking and tempting to go thru w. Once I started to look at it, you could see they wanted your account and password, which ebay will NEVER ask for. They then can drain your paypal account, or use your account info to do who knows what. Someone once stole mine and listed a ton of items almost immediately. Others may try to pull or send money from your Paypal account! Below is a copy of a typical scam for info I seem to get in waves every few days. Scary stuff, and very official looking!
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From"aw-confirm@ebay.com" <aw-confirm@ebay.com> subject:Billing Issues. Date:April 26, 2005 1:20:08 AM PDT Tobluestar@silcom.com Update Your Account Information Within 24 Hours Valued eBay Member, According to our site policy you will have to confirm that you are the real owner of the eBay account by completing the following form or else your account will be suspended within 24 hours for investigations. Never share your eBay password to anyone! Establish your proof of identity with ID Verify (free of charge) - an easy way to help others trust you as their trading partner. The process takes about 5 minutes to complete and involves updating your eBay information. When you're successfully verified, you will receive an ID Verify icon ^ in your feedback profile. Currently, the service is now available to residents from every country.) eb To update your eBay records There will be a button that says to update your ebay records, click here..... When you click, you can see the web address is not that of ebay, although many don't notice. Super dangerous. Ebay and Paypal will never ask for this info, IGNORE!!!
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BOTTOM LINE... Ebay has become incredibly dangerous. Some tips.... Don't buy from zero feedback buyers, especially when they just opened their account w ebay.... Don't respond to second chance offers..... Don't respond to email requests to update your ebay or paypal account. Never send money by Western Union or MoneyGram, there is no help from ebay's fraud dept. if you do so. CAVEAT EMPTOR... Let the buyer beware.... AND.... if it seems too good to be true, it probably is! -Lenny
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