Don't see the fire but I smell smoke...

weebber · Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 6 Location: London

I posted an ad because I want to sell my Xbox 360 and this er... person emailed me showing interest in it, even though I am selling it almost at the price of a brand new one, from a high street store.
There's something worng about it. Can you please help me here?

His 1st email:
BRAND NEW XBOX 360 PREMIUM

Hello, Am ineretesting in buying this your item for my relative
schooling abroad. what is the final price of the item? Will you be
accepting westernunion ?Contact
me With the present state of the item and your contact Information
to mail out the payment immediately. Regards .

I used western union only once, to make a payment so I wasn't really sure how it works so I said though I'd rather PayPal, Western Union should be ok. To what he replied:

Thanks for the reply, I want you to send to me your payment detials(name,address and zipcode)and i want you to calculate the total cost the item and the cost of the accessories and the total cost of shipping abroad(west-africa(Nigeria)because i going to make the payment right now. Regards

But once I read NIGERIA I got [even more] allarmed. I've heard about these scammers for some time now and would like to know what you think because I know about the cheques scams but with Western Union when I go get the money, I get it cash, right? I mean, I'd only send my Xbox once I had the CASH with me...
Still, he's showing himself very willing and they're always coming up with some new forms of scam Confused

Please help me here, I really don't wanna be part of scam statistics Wink

Thanks.

Fanthony · Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 16 Location: London

Dead simple. Don't touch it. If it smells bad - and it does smell bad, it most likely is bad. You'd be better off to use Ebay and Paypal.

weebber · Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 6 Location: London

aha eBay... thats a good one :p
I got it on eBay as well and someone today 'bought' it as 'Buy It Now'... and for what? To send to her son in NIGERIA. 'Use DHL. Not Royal Mail'. It was the first 'purchase' on eBay and the account was deleted right after 0_0
She asked my PayPal email address... I tend to trust PayPal but after this, I'm not sure I'm safe getting payments through there either Confused

I may as well go to a street fair and sell it there Laughing

classichick · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 1

Hi, having read your message, I have had many simular experiences in my time with ebay with nigerians , NEVER accept payments from western union do not trust if you use ebay.. members who have purchased your item and registered on the same day if they have check the address in payment information if the address is malaysian or nigerian report that member to ebay immediatley, ebay are trying to cut down the amount of fraudsters and western union payers intil then steer clear! as for elsewhere a warning of advice is known never to accept western union payments, always use paypal or nochex as a payment method it is trusted safe. if anyone has a reason not to use those as payment method dont accept. if you are a member of ebay and have frequant problems like these I tend to block members who dont have a paypal account as that verifys they are 50/50 genuine and have a proper registered account and valid address. this stops scammers threats and timewasters.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Emma.

sm0ke · Joined: 09 Jul 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Manchester - UK

Replyin to Classichick.

caryn · Joined: 04 Jul 2006 Posts: 6

i was scammed by a "fake" paypal about a week ago....they send you fake confirmations from paypal etc
so not even paypal is trustworthy these days

weebber · Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 6 Location: London

*sigh*

Are these things that make be be sooo friggin' tired of the internet! ugh!
I tried to sell my Xbox360 on eBay before coming to gumtree and for the 2 times someone 'bought' it as 'Buy It Now'. I was always very aware of the scam from the 1st second they said Nigeria but what pisses me off the most is that I reported to eBay but I think I had to pay the fees and whatnot! [I'm not even sure. I didn't even want to look at my card statement. I know it'll only get me depressed and mad and... *heavy sigh*]

Oh well, welcome to e-life Neutral

cakesy · Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 25

Hi,

I have seen many scams, where you are supposed to send them money via Western Union - but I have no idea how the scam is supposed to work, if you recieve money from WU. Since you get cash from WU, how can they scam you.

Oh, here we go:

"The way the scam works is that the seller is told the money will only be released by Western Union / Bidpay when the buyer supplies a tracking number, i.e. when he has already shipped the parcel. To get the seller to ship the parcel, the criminal himself poses as Western Union, sending an email from a free webmail service to the victim using an email address which mentions Western Union or BidPay, for example "onlinebid-pay@accountant.com" or "westernunionmoneyorderpayment@banknotes.com", assuring the seller that Western Union has received payment from the buyer and will release it as soon as he submits the tracking number as proof of shipping. A seller believing this message to be sent from Western Union will lose his merchandise and the shipping costs."

So it will be a waste of time.

Always follow this simple rule: Wait until you have the cash in your hands, before you send anything.

cakesy · Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 25

If you are scammed on Ebay, you claim the fees back. Make a non-paying bidder request, it is right there on the seller information page.

nexus_mark · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 1

allright everyone ?
if you want to know more about nigerian scam go to www.ebolamonkeyman.com
you may even want to play the game

tigertom · Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

Buying on eBay:

1. Buy from people who have lots of positive 'votes'
2. They've been on there a couple of years
3. They don't ask you to contact a separate email address printed in big letters in the listing body (the account may have been taken over by a scammer)
4. They write a bit about the item; why they're selling it, where they got it from
5. They're from a 'first world' country
6. They use PayPal, NoChex, or have a proper, detailed website set up that accepts credit cards. Pay by credit-card, and if you get cheated, you can charge it back
7. Don't get greedy; if it's too good a deal, leave it e.g. seach on 'Alienware' and look at the cr*p that comes up

Selling on eBay (or elsewhere)

1. No Third World bidders
2. State that people who have 5 stars or less have to contact you first
3. Follow your gut; if it feels wrong, it probably is
4. Ignore convoluted payment arrangement offers
5. Don't be tempted by greed-inducing offers (offering way over the price)
6. If they want more than one of the same item, why?
7. If they want it shipped to an address other than their PayPal one
8. If they are based in the UK, and want it shipped to a Third World country (incl. Eastern Europe).
9. No blinkin' Nigerians!
10. Ignore sob stories
11. Ignore convoluted, illiterate requests
12. If they don't mind paying extra to have it delivered in 24 hours.

And as the poster above says: wait until you've got the cash in your bank account, and if it's from a cheque, delay sending the item for a week at least.

Ceejayo · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Posts: 16134 Location: Manchester

gums · Joined: 18 May 2008 Posts: 315

another acam