Ebay con - what do I do?

[bekah]

Hi,

You may remember me mentioning my first ebay sale, when I was ripped off by the Nigerian phone scam, (the fake paypal 'send your tracking number' one) Well I have received an email from the buyer today asking for my name, address and phone number so that they can send me a cheque, as paypal dont seem to be crediting my account. I know this is dodgy as hell, and wondered if there is somewhere I can report it to? Im presuming that they are going to try and hijack my account or something and dont really know what to do!! Should I just ignore it?

Thanks!

[Catso]

Firstly, I presume you HAVE actually sold something?!

You must have the email address of the buyer, email them and ask if they're having trouble paying with Paypal. Could be the real buyer is nothing to do with these (alledged) scammers.

Have a look on ebay and get the buyer's address (as seller, you can), then email and ask these people who and where they are. Again, the scammers could just be 'hijacking' a geniune finished auction. No match on address - it's dodgy.

Or, give them your work address to send the cheque to. Or, you can still do 'Poste Restante' for free.

Don't give them a phone number, they don't need it.

Just insist they pay by Paypal - no payment, no goods. Sorting out the Paypal 'problem' is up to them, not you.

You do seem to attract problems :(

[bekah]

Thanks Catso,

The person is no longer registered on ebay, so can I still get their address?

She says they have received the phone, I had just put it down to bad experience!!

[Catso]

No, you can't. Though ebay might release it to you if you email and tell them why.

So you sent the goods BEFORE getting payment? Oh dearie me!

If they really did submit the money to Paypal, ask Paypal to chase it. Though I suspect in fact they won't have. Paypal will have internal records of their name and address, and these will be genuine. Thye probably won't tell you though. Is the transaction covered by Paypal guarantees?

[bekah]

I received fake paypal messages saying that Paypal had the money from her account, and that they required the Royal mail tracking number to forward on to me. As it was my first sale, I didnt know any better, and it all looked very genuine to me!!

Anyway, I spoke to Paypal as soon as I realised, and they said there had been no transactions, and after forwarding my emails they confirmed that they were all fake and that the matter was being looked into.

Would you just ignore their request for address, or give them my work address. They also are asking for my FULL name, Im just a bit worried that they are trying to get all this info off me, Ive changed all my passwords is there any more security I can use?

[alijangra]

Put it down to bad experience. Do not send them any more information. They should already have your name and address for correspondance through the transaction on ebay??

You can report them as a non paying bidder on ebay but not much else you can do.

Read the guidance notes on ebay about fraud, it tells you how to spot trouble, fake feedback etc

Dont let it put you off using ebay, but you must educate yourself before you proceed with any more transactions.

[Catso]

In that case DON'T give them your address, or any more info. It looks like they are trying to con you again. Ignore everything from them, no matter what it threatens.

Bit late now, but always logon to your Paypal account and check for payments there, don't rely on emails.

And never click on links in emails. Put the address in your browser yourself or make & use your own shortcuts.

I don't think Paypal will help you as apart from using their name, nothing has gone through Paypal.

You haven't had a very good ebay experience, have you? If it's any consolation, I've 100s of transactions and only been cheated once or twice. So don't give up, but be careful, and think about what you do; think 'how can this con me?'. And if something sounds/feels a bit odd, check it out from a different source.

[southerngirl]

Don't give them your name and address. Nigerians scammers use this for money laundering purposes elsewhere in the finance industry.

I remember your last posting and responded. I do feel for you, but I can only repeat that you should NEVER buy or sell anything involving Nigeria.

A good tip when selling an item by auction is to have a look at the bidders ID when they make a bid. If they come from Nigeria or other dodgy country then cancel their bids and block them from bidding in the future from any of your goods. Good Luck and remember most people are honest. I have made hundreds of transactions on ebay and have had no problems, so please don't let this put you off.

[Chappers]

And paypal are a bunch of complete and utter unhelpful wan*ers too! They screwed up my account twice, said I owed them money but wouldn't tell me what for! Nochex aren't much better either...asked me to confirm my details once, I did so, they said I didn't, they closed my account and told me I would never be able to do business with them again! Boo hoo! Big loss! losers!

[Susie Strawb]

The trouble is Southern Girl they register in this Country so you wouldn't know until after the auction ended anyway. Best thing to do is block bidders who are registered in Countries you don't ship to, block bidders with no credit card on file and also block bidders who don't have a paypal account (they don't have to pay by paypal). This only really applies if you're selling things like mobiles or laptops etc. Oh and DON'T accept paypal if you're selling a mobile either. I've successfully sold a few mobiles like this

[Cheekystar]

forward to [email protected]

[Im a BusyBee]

My daughter got caught in a similar way too. with 2 mobile phones on ebay - selling to nigerians which it transpired were not registered with ebay but she still had to pay the selling fees. When she disputed this time lapsed,charges were added on and she ended up having to pay �47 for something she hadnt had a penny for. As a single parent she really really couldnt afford this. There must something that can be done, or some protection?