Someone wants my phone ASAP - is it a scam?

StuBFrost

I nearly fell for this scam several months ago.

The person was buying for someone for a birthday present and they wanted the phone sent to Lithuania.

They paid by PayPal using a stolen credit card and the scam works through PayPal because Lithuania is not listed as a country that has PayPay seller protection.

Luckily for me, I was waiting for the funds to clear to my account before I sent the phone but I very nearly didn't.

Stu

angelcake

To be extra careful add this bidder to your "Blocked bidders List to keep them away from you!!

movietunes

I had this happen once with a camera I was selling - They lived in the US and wanted it to be sent to lithuania!!!! They paid me via paypal. I rang paypal and they said that Lithuania was not covered on their paypal protection insurance but they said if i sent it to his registered US address I would, soooooo,

I got him to pay me (£200 for a £50 camera) and sent him the item to the USA - when he complained Paypal said 'sorry, but the item was shipped to the verified address' - End of story and im £150 better off!

Another time i sent an empty box to someone for a phone they wanted (same type of scam), they complained and got nowwhere as it was a stolen card but i was covered for the chargeback part as i sent again to the verified address.

Sometimes it feels REALLY good to scam the scammers!

Dr_Robert

Just to add, be careful of anyone wanting to you to send items to Nigeria. Just for the record here are two that I had recently.

"Hello,
Compliment of the season to you. I am Richard Mufy from New York, but Presently i am leading a conventional church program in Holland. I saw your item below and i will like to buy it for my daughter that will be doing her birthday in Nigeria Next week. Dont worry about the shippment to Nigeria ok? i will ask UPS or Fedex to pick it up at your place after the payment. I will be paying you via Western Union Money Order. Kindly send me your address in other for me to make the payment right away. So mail me now because it's urgent.
Thanks
Regards."

"HOW ARE YOU DOING? I WOULD LIKE TO BUY YOUR ITEM FOR THE PRICE OF
£120,I WILL BE PAYING VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY ORDER BIDPAY,ONCE I MAKE THE PAYMENT,THE BIDPAY WILL SEND A COMFIRMATION OF THE PAYMENT TO YOU ONLINE,VIA E-MAIL, THE ITEM WILL BE SHIPPED TO MY FIANCEE IN NIGERIA,I AM SENDING IT TO HER AS A BIRTH-DAY GIFT WISH WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE ENDING OF THE MONTH,WISH I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND DUE TO THE DISTANCE,I WILL PREFER YOU SHIPPING THE ITEM TO HIM VIA UPS,DHL OR ROYAL MAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY,LET ME HAVE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS YOU WANT THE MONEY ORDER TO BE
DELIVERED,SO I CAN MAKE PAYMENT ASAP.
HERE'S MY FIANCEE'S ADDRESS
STANLEY ADEOLA
34 IJU ROAD,IFAKO IJAYE
AGEGE
LAGOS,23401
NIGERIA"

To re-inforce what to look out for;

It's usually very urgent.
They usually have some wonderful story attached.
They want to pay be Western Union money transfer.
They usually want to send it to a third world or obscure country.

A little logic should also be applied. What would someone in Nigeria want a 3G phone for?
My guess would be that the network would net yet be quite complete!(sic) and the value of the phone would probably equal several months wages to the average Nigerian.

sirius66

Luckily for me, I was waiting for the funds to clear to my account before I sent the phone but I very nearly didn't.

Stu

Please Note:
I came across a case a few months back where a Paypal payment was reversed and the persons account went into the red.
I also used to think once the money reached my bank I was OK. Apparently not always true. They have your card details as well.

Now I always check all transactions very carefully.

John

Gem+Dave+Kaci

If you get one of these mails send the details to http://www.ebay.com.sg/helpTSForm and choose options as follows: 'Member Problems', 'bidding offences', 'a user is offering to purchase this item out of eBay'. Make sure you include the item number, the sender's e-mail address and the body of the e-mail you received.

Until eBay cracks down on it's registration process this is the only way I have found to weed out all the 'Western Union' customers who mess up all my bloody auctions!!! >:(

Gem+Dave+Kaci

Extra note: These e-mail snever had the bidder's eBay user ID attached to them!! How the hell do they do that? That usually tells you that they're dodgy though.