eBay scams

[kerryg]

Well I thought was pretty careful but I VERY NEARLY got sucked in. Man these guys are GOOD!

I (as ya do) was browsing Ebay looking at Ducatis for sale (sigh) and in a moment of recklessness bid on an 851. Didn't win it 'cos my bid was far short of the reserve. So that was OK. Then a few days later I got an e-mail from eBay saying that the seller's deal with the winning bidder had fallen through and offering me the bike under an eBay sanctioned and guaranteed "second chance" deal at my bid price. All the right e-mail addresses and logos and links etc etc so no reaon to be suspicious. I thought OK , too good to resist, so I responded saying OK, let's do it. Hey, the bike was cheap! Then I got an e-mail from the actual seller, asking me for name and address details and eBay ID and some other stuff (but no bank account or credit card details) and telling me that an invoice would follow from eBay. Which it did. Again looked 100% kosher. Lots of long explanations about the safety of the transaction, and talking about money held in escrow etc etc etc. So all good, right? WRONG!! It's 99.999% certain it's a fraud. A few clues: they asked for payment by Western Union. Western Union's website itself warns against using its system for paying sellers who are not known to buyers, e.g. internet transactions such as the one I was contemplating. At the same time I got a mysterious e-mail from US Bank asking me to up-date my details...and warning me that my ability to make payments for internet transactions could be affected if I did nothing. I have no dealings with US Bank but I do now and then with Paypal and Bidpay though, so I was kind of half-tempted to reply. I clicked on the link and it didn't connect (some kind of error message came back so I guess that was a good thing...they wouldn't have been able to get any info...would they???? Anyway I e-mailed US Bank and got a prompt reply that the e-mail I had received was a fraud. Gulp.

I did a google search on eBay fraud and guess what....the type of deal I was looking at was a VERY typical example of the sort that these fucking phishers go for. So now I have reported it to spoof@ebay.com and am now waiting for their reply. But I came SOOO close to sending that money off.....

[gav]

How much are we talking about?

[kerryg]

How much are we talking about?

3000 US dollars

[White trash]

Good spotting, Kerry.

I know of a well respected racer who got suckered BIG time on e-bay. Poor prick.

[jrandom]

Far as I can tell, bike buying on eBay is not worth the bother unless you or an acquaintance can visually inspect the bike pre-purchase. The scams are so prevalent these days that I wouldn't even consider a 'sight-unseen shipping' type bike purchase, no matter how legitimate it seemed.

[scumdog]

Yup, don't trust (now theres a word) e-bay type deals at all as I see so many poor sods coming in to ask what they can do about being ripped of on Trade me or e-bay or...
Only time I DID get something I got one of my "workmates" to drop the cash off and examine and pick up the goods at the same time.
Just my thoughts, others may have had a good run on e-bay

[Gixxer 4 ever]

. But I came SOOO close to sending that money off.....

If it looks to good to be true it probably is. Good on you for getting out of it with no loss.

[toads]

good for you for just following your gut instinct, I get a bit paranoid just buying stuff thru trademe, I'd never even bother to look at ebay cheers L

[Hoon]

Yep you just have to be super cautious. I bought my ZXR400 from off trademe but I went and saw the bike in person, handed over the money and then took the bike so it really wasn't anything more than a typical private sale.

However I did buy a $600 ohlins rear shock from some Californian guy on ebay but I checked his feedback and previous deals first - he also had "buyer protection" so I was pretty safe and sure enough the shock turned up within a week.

[kerryg]

Got the following long e-mail from eBay's security section last night

QUOTE
Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to report this email.

The message you received is fraudulent and is not a part of eBay's
second chance offer program. In addition, it is attempting to sell an
item outside of the eBay site. To be a valid transaction, your User ID
needs to be listed as the buyer on the ended auction page. Items
purchased outside of the eBay site are not eligible for our protective
services, such as the Fraud Protection Program. This service is only
available for items listed, bought, and sold on eBay in compliance with
our guidelines and policies. For more information on this policy, please
visit the link below:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/...ebay-sale.html

We strongly recommend that you ignore this email and all emails that ask
you to complete a transaction offsite. We would like to remind you to
make sure that you are the confirmed winning bidder on the auction
before sending money to anyone! In addition, make certain that you
dealing with the actual seller and not someone else. eBay only
recognizes the seller and the winning bidder that is on the auction page
at the end of the auction as the rightful participants.

In addition, we do not recommend the use of instant cash wire transfer
services such as Western Union and MoneyGram, and we ask that users
decline sending payment in cases where these are the only methods of
payment offered by the seller. Generally, if payment is sent using an
instant cash wire transfer service and the item is not delivered as
promised, no recourse is available for recovering funds. In most cases,
an escrow service should be used when purchasing high dollar value
items. More information on the benefits and risks of individual payment
methods can be found at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/payment.html

eBay urges caution when purchasing high-priced items, especially if the
price seems too good to be true.

I appreciate you taking the time to send us this information so that we
were able to look into this.

Regards,

Ian
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team

*******************************************

UNQUOTE

So it WAS a fraud, and a lucky escape for me. The truly worrying thing about it though was this: the real seller was a "power seller" with lots of great feedback, and the "second chance" approach to me from (not the real) eBay is a proper "kosher" eBay procedure so far as I can tell. Actually it wan't eBay that approached me but you would never know. So...the lesson for me is this: only buy on eBay through the auction process (i.e. by winning the auction) and do not buy outside it, even by eBay's " second chance" system. And never pay by Western Union in any circumstances.

I have made several eBay purchases and have never had a problem. Recently bought an absolutely mint set of genuine Ducati factory mufflers, not even a mark on them, for under $NZ300 including shipping (they are on the bike now, and they are perfect) so I think eBay can be a great way of getting stuff and I will use it again but NEVER without exercising a great deal of caution.

[jrandom]

And never pay by Western Union in any circumstances.

Well, not unless you're really, really sure about the seller.

I used Western Union once to pay a couple hundred dollars to a chap in Slovakia I met on an online forum, the package arrived by airmail in my PO box within the fortnight. Bit of a gamble, but he came recommended. It elicited stifled giggles from the counter clerk girl at the WU office in Queen St when I wasn't sure whether the receiver would be able to present identification...

[gav]

I've bought a lot on ebay and to date have had a pretty good deal, bought a lot of fairing panels for my 97 CBR600, the guys I've bought from have really been great. One guy I bought two lower fairing panels then offered me a headlight for $25US (NZ new $858!) The guy took the box to his local Post Office and it measured up that in was just inside the maximum size they would take. It was sent from Florida, got all the way to San Francisco and some dork decided the parcel was too big and wouldnt send it. It turned up back at his door abot 8 weeks later, but he eventually got it to me, top effort!
The worst I've had is where they may charge you $25 freight and the parcel turns up with $10 postage on it, but what the hell?

[Gixxer 4 ever]

Yep you just have to be super cautious. I bought my ZXR400 from off trademe but I went and saw the bike in person, handed over the money and then took the bike so it really wasn't anything more than a typical private sale.

.

Trademe is safe if you say "that bids are subject to a ride". I have purchased 3 bikes from TradeMe and sold two. One was a problem the others were no problem
Not to mention a heap of other stuff including a car. Anything under $500.00 I do all I can but take the chance but anything over that no money till I see it.
Purchased a 85 gixxer from Wellington once. The question was asked by another bidder " Could I ride it to Auckland?" Reply was yes but no Reg/Warrant. I stated "subject to a ride". Won it and when I went to pick it up it was not running and had a 17mm bend in the front rim. Like to see him ride that to Auckland. Renegotiated the price on the spot and took it home. It was advertised as accident damaged but not quite described correctly. All worked out in the end.

[geoffm]

So it WAS a fraud, and a lucky escape for me. The truly worrying thing about it though was this: the real seller was a "power seller" with lots of great feedback, and the "second chance" approach to me from (not the real) eBay is a proper "kosher" eBay procedure so far as I can tell. Actually it wan't eBay that approached me but you would never know. So...the lesson for me is this: only buy on eBay through the auction process (i.e. by winning the auction) and do not buy outside it, even by eBay's " second chance" system. And never pay by Western Union in any circumstances.

I have made several eBay purchases and have never had a problem. Recently bought an absolutely mint set of genuine Ducati factory mufflers, not even a mark on them, for under $NZ300 including shipping (they are on the bike now, and they are perfect) so I think eBay can be a great way of getting stuff and I will use it again but NEVER without exercising a great deal of caution.

I have just recently got a BMW ABS computer from the UK via Ebay, and all was good, but I was worried. It is also hard to get sellers who will ship overseas.

Your scammer porbably had a hujacked account, wher ethey have stolen the password and user name of some legit accoutn (via a virus or philshing scam), so get the benefit of their feedback.
Geoff