Almost got scammed on ebay

bubblesung

bubblesung

pink ninja
Nov 22, 2006
1,120
0
#1
So i lost an auction on a Forest Campeggio. I bid $121, but it ended somewhere over $160.

Before the auction ends, I get an email from the "seller" of the auction saying "I'm the seller of the item that you've recently bided through the eBay system.Item name: LeSportsac Tokidoki Foresta Campeggio Travel Bag w/Qee Item number: (300095296668) I`ve just been contacted by the eBay staff who informed me that due to some reasons the eBay policy automatically proclaims you to be the winner by default. I need your agreement on this so I can contact eBay to confirm you that you're the winner, otherwise I'll relist the item. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I need an answer asap. You will have the oportunity to purchase the item at your last given price wich is US $121.00 .If you agree my offer please respond this email or contact me at xxxxxxxxxxx. Thank you!"

So I think $121 for a foresta campeggio...i'll go for it. However the seller never replied back.

Then today I get an email from ebay concerning a "Second Chance Offer" and it seemed like a legit ebay email...But this time the email was to: xxxxxxxxx
I barely noticed the different email addresses so I email saying yes I do want the bag...And he emails back saying give me the auction # and I'll send you an invoice. I'm thinking this is strange, shouldn't HE know his own auction number.

Then I get some faulty all text email from "ebay" and that I must send my payment via Western Union to an address in Romania. I checked the auction and it didn't state that it was located outside the US. And I was confused as to why I couldn't pay with paypal because the auction stated nothing about Western Union payments.

Here's what the email said, "We know that we encourage every buyer to send the money for an eBay Transaction with Paypal.This seller is an verified PayPal member but for the time we have problems with his PayPal account so he won't be able to receive payment if you pay with paypal but if you pay with Western Union we will offer you the same protection like you are paying with PayPal directly" Very suspicious and strange...Why would ebay be explaining this individual seller's situation?

Plus I didn't feel safe not doing my transaction with ebay and how would I be protected? His emails had very poor english when the auction itself had perfect english.

And I was still very confused as to why ebay proclaimed ME the winner. I figured at first because the winning bidder had a score of 0 and some sellers won't sell to buyers with that score. But there was another bidder with a high feedback score so it didn't make sense...

I told the guy I don't want the bag anymore and checked up on ebay afterwards. Turns out the Western Union is NOT an accepted method of payment..And to always ignore emails send to you about Second Chance Offers...

Thank gawd I didn't send my money! Scary...
 
#2
Wow, weird. A lof of people have been hacking into accounts including those of sellers and buyers so that's probablt how they got that info and stuff. You can read a lot about that on the ebay forum. I go there and it's depressing.
 
#3
No it wasn't hacking. I believe these people just look at the list of usernames who bidded on an auction, and just contact those bidders pretending to be the seller.
 
#4
What was the person's info that tried to scam you? Did he have another profile? I mean do you know any info about him besides his gmail? So I won't have to deal with him.
 
#5
bubblesung said:
No it wasn't hacking. I believe these people just look at the list of usernames who bidded on an auction, and just contact those bidders pretending to be the seller.
Click to expand...

omg.....i thought i have enough experience with ebay scam but I never heard of something like this. Thanks for sharing bubblesung, u give us good lesson!
 
#6
Yea I had something similar happened to me and did A LOT of research. I will never do any transaction with a seller in Russia, or using western union. Too many scams! even when selling. They take your product and chargeback. were the messages you received in your 'my messages' box? Cuz if it wasn't, it's defintely not legit.
Also..check their email domains. If it looks funny or unfamiliar, you might not want to do business with them either.
ex: ******@worldwidecrew.us; I believe there are groups of people that set up emails and accounts just to scam- or set up email accounts- hack into someone else's account and uses their new email address to scam you. Beware
 
#7
I sold a gioco on ebay a few weeks back and someone offered the winning bidder a second chance offer with free shipping and insurance. She emailed me and asked me if I sent her a second chance offer because she had thought that she won the bid. I told her it wasn't me and that it was a scam and to contact ebay. So from now on I list my auctions as Private. I write in my description that due to past fraud experiences the auction will be private.
 
#8
that's scary... but it kind of sucks in a way. My bf and I contact bidders when we have auctions or items that they have bidded on and lost in the past and might be interested in our stuff. I noticed more people were listing private auctions but I didn't realize why until now... It makes me sad but that's how we've done a couple of our sales :sad: now the stupid scammers are taking that away from us :crybaby:
 
#10
Wow, that certainly is scary :cursing: Dateline NBC just had a show tonight about internet fraud, we all need to be careful and change your password immediately on all your related accounts!!!
 
#13
Yeah....I got some emails like that. I was bidding on a pair of shoes, and I had a max bid for about $120 and in the last few hours, the seller sends me an email telling me that she could sell them to me for $150, that she would take the auction down and relist, or something to that extent. And then the auction ended and I got the Second Chance offer, and another email from her telling me to pay immediately and she would ship it. Such a scam. None of this appeared in my Messages box. I never open an email from Ebay in my Inbox. Only from my messages box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back