Almost got scammed.

[vic_.]

<P>I write this to hopefully prevent others from being scammed.

Here�s how it works:

 

<P>I bid, but didn�t win, an eBay auction for a camera. After two

weeks I was contacted by someone (via email) who said the winner of

the auction couldn�t buy the item and that I could have it for the

price I had bid ($200 below the winning bid), and to reply as soon as

possible as he was leaving for Europe. The deal sounded good to me,

so I said I was interested, assuming naively that everyone is

honorable.

 

<P>The seller emailed me later stating that I had replied too late

and he was now in Spain, but the package was already at UPS awaiting

release. He sent me two GIF files with UPS information, and his son

would send it as soon as I wired him the money to Spain, via Western

Union. I found it odd, but did that anyway. He then couldn�t access

the money when he went to the office. (The UPS information looked

authentic and stated in fine print that: <I>UPS has received

shipper's billing information electronically. Billing information

received does not indicate shipment pickup or drop-off. Please

contact the shipper for more details.</I>)

 

<P>A man from Western Union called me and told me that they were

experiencing many fraud problems with people sending money to Spain.

The WU man asked me whether I had bought anything on eBay, whether I

knew the seller, whether I had a relationship with him. I said no,

and he strongly recommended that I cancel the transaction as there

was a possibility of fraud, and that I pick up my money from any of

their offices (less the initial transaction charge). So I cancelled

and got my money back. He told me that I should not buy big ticket

items from Spain via Western Union.

 

<P>The gent from Spain then emailed me to say he has a perfect eBay

rating (with many transactions) and that I should resend the money

and he'd pay half the transaction cost. I told him to send the

camera first and then I would send the money, end of discussion.

That's the last I heard from him.

 

<P>I feel a bit silly, but very fortunate. Now I know why it's

called Sleaze Bay. Has anyone else had this experience? I hope not.

[ticean_bennett]

I've only had good experiences with ebay. I've made quite a few large purchases, but I'm very careful about who i buy from.

 

Always read the feedback and, more importantly, be sure to email the seller and ask lots of questions. You can generally get a feel for who you are buying from if you ask the right questions.

 

Beyond that always pay via a traceable method. NO money via wire - not to Spain or anywhere. I recently had a seller from Ukraine ask me to send via wire. I didn't do it, and I got my camera.

 

I know there's plenty of scam artists out there, but if your really careful you can avoid most of them. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.

[henry_ting2]

The Ebay "feedback rating" is as unreliable as a Ford Pinto. I once got a totally trashed, non-functional M6, but yet it was described to me as "mint". The seller had close to 300 Ebay transactions with perfect 100% feedback. Later I found that ebay rating can be jazzed up with numerous one-dollar transactions that were totally misleading.

[todd frederick]

There are crooks in churches too!

 

Just follow the rules, check feedback, call or contact the seller, and never agree to after-auction or off-auction transactions unless you know the seller very well.

 

All of my transactions have been completed honestly on eBay as long as I follow the standard procedures and I never bid if I feel uneasy about the item or the seller.

[kevin m.]

With all due respect, Vic, how is ebay to blame here? You were tempted by a deal that proved too good to be true. That's it. This doesn't qualify as an ebay deal since your transaction wouldn't have been the result of a completed auction in any event.

[george_conboy1]

Henry, have you ever owned a Ford Pinto? I had one (yellow, sorry to say) and it was much more reliable than eBay's feedback ratings. That said, I'm in no hurry to get another Pinto. It wasn't exactly a babe magnet.

[george_shihanian]

Many of us have heard either first- or second hand of similar "deals" being offered. A lot of what I've heard involves Western Union being the only choice for the seller to use.

 

It's gotten to the point where I'll only buy if I know someone else has reccommended the seller, or if the seller has no problem with my getting his phone number and calling him. No excuses like "You can't call me because I'm away on business,.." etc, etc. If it feels any bit "strange" to you, walk away. There'll surely be another item coming down the eBay pipeline very soon.

 

Understand that the eBay feedback profile isn't 'gospel', it can be manipulated and new seller names can appear if a person gets too many negs from his previous name. I received a broken, worthless camera from the Netherlands once, and I tried to ask for a return, to no avail. After I posted a negative on him, he did the same to me, then changed his seller's name. So, now I have a negative against me for doing nothing more than being this guy's victim, and what's worse, MY negative comment on him now refers to a former and now defunct seller's name, so I'm not even helping anyone else from being a future victim.

[gerald_widen]

I've purchased about 60-70 items on ebay and only got burned once. Fortunately it was a $20 English Patient DVD which I bid without looking at the persons feedback. If a seller has a lot of past sales with perfect feedback, is knowledgeable about the items and a lot of items currently for sale then obviously you feel more comfortable buying from them. Typically those sellers get higher bids for their stuff. OTOH I have received some great deals from sellers with some negative feedback or sellers with no history just trying to get rid of their personal stuff. I have even emailed previous buyers. In the end I have mostly relied on my gut feeling and have been successful. Without ebay I wouldn't have most of my camera equipment especially hard to find, filters, hoods. And certainly couldn't have afforded my darkroom.

[henry_ting2]

"Henry, have you ever owned a Ford Pinto? I had one (yellow, sorry to say) and it was much more reliable than eBay's feedback ratings. That said, I'm in no hurry to get another Pinto. It wasn't exactly a babe magnet."

 

 

George, I had a Pinto (green hatchback) too during my college years and you are right -- it was more reliable than ebay's feedback ratings.

[grant_.]

the people that are doing the scams have nothing to do with the actual named seller. they highjack the name and just use it to sell fake stuff. its all vitual except for the cash you send them.

[paul_neuthaler]

Pay only with credit card or with credit card through Paypal. If you get screwed, cancel the credit charge with your credit card company. Don't worry about Paypal's "rules."

[patricks]

I got an offer from a guy in Italy after bidding on a M7 wanting pre-payment via UPS (or was it Western Union). Needless to say, I was very hesitant, and so should everyone be.

 

It sucks that people want to take advantage of you in that way, but I guess it is part of the world.

[paul hart]

The mention of Spain rings a bell...I was once tempted by a Canon 10D on eBay with one of those strange markings that bids would only be accepted from pre-approved bidders.

 

I made an enquiry, and it was someone who said he was in Spain and had a few of these bodies that were surplus after a fashion show and the organisers were using his good eBay rating to sell them on.

 

I smelt a large rat and took it no further, putting it down to the sort of black arts one might expect with dealers in d*****l cameras. So far, I've had no problems with deals I've completed.

[vic_.]

<B>Pay only with credit card or with credit card through Paypal. If you get screwed, cancel the credit charge with your credit card company. Don't worry about Paypal's "rules." -- Paul Neuthaler</B><P>Paul, Thanks for this great advice. Worth repeating until it sinks in.

[chad_hahn]

I agree that ebay is not to blame. I read an article about where the update your profile emails that are sent out are done so to gather go accounts. The guy probably didn't even have an ebay account, just the stolen name password and good rating.

 

Also, just because it is done through Western Union is not an indication of a scam. I have bought things from the Ukraine and they all seem to use Western Union. I have had no problems with those transactions. Of course the things I bought were bought off of ebay and not from some unsolicited email.

[beau 1664876222]

Ebay was originally created for buying and selling hard-to-find, highly specialized, or collectible things. It still works perfectly for that, because few scam artists are going to be posing as buyers or sellers of 30-year-old lens hoods or whatever. I've bought and sold a lot of photo and music gear without a hitch.

 

Definitely stay away from ebay if you're looking to buy high-ticket new items like digital cameras or computers, and if you're the seller, be wary of buyers with peculiar requests. When in doubt, strike up a correspondence before sending the item or check.

 

Ebay is an unbelievable resource if you understand it for what it is and use common sense.

[h._p.]

I actually had one of the 'Update your details' e-mails last week. The fourteen spelling mistakes in the text would, I think, have made most people a little suspicous. We sent it to fraud@ebay.com and left them to get on with it.

[heller_harris]

Ebay makes its money from Sellers - not Buyers - so it's more protective of them. It's always good to remember that.

 

They have to keep it relatively honest or people will stop bidding, but they're not aggressive in pursuing Buyer complaints. They respond to email complaints, but do little to push the Sellers. For example, if you're the high bidder and the seller refuses to ship to you, Ebay refuses to do anything unless the Shipper sends an email which explicitly states that they refuse to sell. Imagine our criminal justice system if we couldn't prosecute anyone who wouldn't confess? It's pretty much the same thing on shill bidding and anything else short of hijacking an account.

[mark_b.]

Vic, Thanks for the heads up!! Bravo to Western Union for calling you back!

[henricus]

Vic, I'm glad you got to keep your money. ;-) The sad fact is that crooks are everywhere. They especially like to frequent places where business is good and much money is exchanged. It is not that *bay is ripe with crooks, it's just a great market place and the crooks like to hangout there. Sorta like pick-pockets at the Superbowl. :-)

[michael_kastner]

I don't know if this'll help but via eBay I bid exclusively from somebody who has a camera store. You can always find out if he's real, he can't afford to make a bum deal, and there is sometimes a small garantee time too.

[john falkenstine]

My brother sells vehicles through E-bay and has gotten the following:

1)A Nigerian-type scam that could have resulted in the loss of at least seven grand.

2)Unreliable customers that commit to a sale, then want to back out of the deal

3)Customers who don't reach the detailed vehicle descriptions, such as 160,000 miles, then complain that the vehicle has problems.."of course its not perfect, and you paid a price for a used vehicle, not a new one."

My personal experience was a letter from Paypal stating there was a problem with my account. A careful scrutiny of the URL indicated a problem and the paypal netsite as shown also had typos. So before reacting like a sucker, I contacted paypal through E-mail and sure enough, the netsite was a scam attempt at identity theft. I have seen some very intelligent folks get suckered into these things, once watching $2500 disappear as this greedy fellow bought into a lottery award scam. (The party doing the scam was in Canada, and got caught about a year later)CAVEAT EMPTOR!!

[chip l.]

Kevin wrote: With all due respect, Vic, how is ebay to blame here? You were tempted by a deal that proved too good to be true. That's it. This doesn't qualify as an ebay deal since your transaction wouldn't have been the result of a completed auction in any event.

 

I feel that EBay is to blame here. This is nothing new to them. They should be able to protect their computer systems from those that "hijack" accounts. EBay was "founded" on the idea that "bargains" could be found. From what Vic stated it does not seem that he was trying to get something for nothing. Not like getting a 10D for $899.

[lutz]

Vic, <br>Spain, Western Union and the fact of being unsolicitedly contacted after bidding unsuccessfully rings a big bell with me! Didn't fall for the scam because of typos in the (most probably fake) escrow site being referred to. I was being offerd a lens. When I suggested he should make it a buy-it-now eBay auction and inform me immediately so I could be the instant buyer he stopped pushing me into the deal. It was tempting though and I'm happy I resisted the sirens' song. The ID with perfect feedback smelled perfectly hi-jacked.

[dan_fromm1]

Um, I had a similar experience earlier this year with a 40/4.5 Luminar that had been listed as an enlarging lens. Yeah, I know, its a foul alien unclean Zeiss-Winkel lens, not a proper Leitz one.

 

I won the auction but didn't make reserve. Then the seller, in Romania, contacted me and offered to sell me the lens at my bid. No PayPal in Romania, he didn't want BidPay. My choices were Moneygram (expensive),Western Union (more expensive), bank transfer (absurdly expensive). The guy offered to eat half of the funds transfer charge.

 

So I gulped a gulp and paid and waited for confirmation that I was a damn fool. Y'know what happened? The lens arrived in good order and was as represented.

 

They're not all scam artists. The vendor had a feedback rating of around 100 at the time, and everything he'd sold recently was high end photo gear. Voislav-Lazar Mucibabici, eBay name volex.ro. I'd buy from him again on the same terms. They're not all scam artists.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan