eBay buyer/seller protection - Is this a scam?

I found a listing for brand new apple iphones 4 on ebay for a very cheap bulk lot price. I made contact on a personal email as requested and then the seller took the listing off ebay due to buyer enquiry (so he said). I said I wanted to go ahead, so he said we would proceed under ebay buyer/seller protection, and I would receive an invoice from ebay.

I did receive the invoice to my personal email- it said it was from ebay - and I am to send the money via western credit to a third party, who seems to be an individual person.

Does ebay do this? Wouldn't everything be through the website? It would be easy to bodgy up an invoice to appear to come from ebay.

The price asked was very cheap, and if something seems too good to be true, then it usually is.

Does anyone have any thoughts?? If this is genuine, then the profit would be handy, but if this is a scam, then I can't afford to lose $5500USD at the moment.

You just saved yourself a bunch of lost cash rexy5!

What you have come across is a hacked account. These will always direct you to email the seller directly, not through the eBay system (usually because of some technical issue). This of course then gives them one on one with you to complete the sting.

The truth is, the real owner of that account most likely has no clue what is going on whatsoever!

Your instincts are very good, if it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't!

Of course the other big give away is the payment method. I would strongly suggest never, absolutely never send money via wire transfer without knowing the seller personally or trusting them 100%, because once that money is sent, you have ZERO chance of getting it back once it is claimed at the other end.

100% scam, walk away and report the account to eBay so they can get the owner to change the login details!

Thanks Marc. I knew that really. Just that lure of the quick cash makes you think twice!! We are weak, that is how the scammers win.

I can't report it to ebay, because he took the listing off, I can't remember who the seller was.

100% correct, it's the lure of scoring the great deal that gets a lot of people into trouble with scams, and that's exactly what the scammers play on. Your instinct was spot on and you saved yourself a bunch a cash, hopefully this thread may well save some others as well from falling prey to a hacked eBay account..... fingers crossed!

I'll Just run through the warning signs of a hacked account for others.

1. The deal simply being too good to be true
2. The member requesting direct email connect, not through the eBay
system
3. Closing the transaction off eBay.

Always use the eBay message system and always close the transaction through eBay if you are not 100% confident in who you are buying from. If you insist on closing the transaction off eBay, then ensure you get the sellers PayPal id to make the payment and go to PayPal to make that payment.

Never use Western Union or use an invoice that they have mailed to you with any links, whether it has PayPal written all over it or not!

It's a great warning, scammers are everywhere, even eBay!

I would like to add that there is a similar scam where the scammer sends you an email which purports to be a Paypal payment notiification but is in fact a fake page. Defo look out for that as well.

I found a listing for brand new apple iphones 4 on ebay for a very cheap bulk lot price. I made contact on a personal email as requested and then the seller took the listing off ebay due to buyer enquiry (so he said). I said I wanted to go ahead, so he said we would proceed under ebay buyer/seller protection, and I would receive an invoice from ebay.

I did receive the invoice to my personal email- it said it was from ebay - and I am to send the money via western credit to a third party, who seems to be an individual person.

Does ebay do this? Wouldn't everything be through the website? It would be easy to bodgy up an invoice to appear to come from ebay.

The price asked was very cheap, and if something seems too good to be true, then it usually is.

Does anyone have any thoughts?? If this is genuine, then the profit would be handy, but if this is a scam, then I can't afford to lose $5500USD at the moment.

This sounds quite scammy just reading this post. I would say he is a scammer, eBay accept money via PayPal only not western union so this is not going through eBay at all.

I would tread carefully here and avoid contact with this person and even tell eBay, because if he doesn't scam you he will someone else.



Alex C Ryan
Managing Director
Import Export Exposed
startimportingnow.com.au

Hi,

Although the question was posted January 2012, for the benefit of everyone reading the thread I would like to add that Western Union should be used only if you trust and know the person 100%. Once withdrawn, there is no way for you to get it back. Have a read at Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps. :)

I once had an experience about 2 years ago, when I bought an underwater camera from Ebay for around 80 USD (didn't have enough funds to get a GoPro). I used my credit card that was linked to my Paypal account and bought it. Guess what? I did not receive anything to this day! I think the seller was from Canada or the US. I reported it to Ebay and Paypal o get a refund but the hassle and took over so I let it go.

Lesson: Be very diligent. Know the seller first. If you happen to be a seller, this should apply too. Know the buyer first. If it's possible to contact them directly, do it. It's better to be diligent than losing money due to fraud.

Hope my experience helps.