how did this sell for £600???

bellagio_2

vacheron wrote: »

I'm tempted to stick in a 99p bid on the pink Nokia so it loses it's BIN and then see what the seller does :-P

did bid 99p and 16 seconds later went up to £1.04????

Jamie_Carter

Mylo_The_Moggy wrote: »

OMG!! :eek::eek:
LG Optimus L3 E400 - 1 GB - White (Unlocked) Smartphone: £1,750.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worth around £100 at the most, maybe a bit more?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LG-Optimus-L3-E400-1-GB-White-Unlocked-Smartphone-/230986505715?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item35c7de5df3

Defo scammer alert surely? Shocking.

EDIT: Could this be the one OP was taking about & has now been re-listed for a daft price? Although in the original listing it say the phone was black, & this one is white, but shows the same photo as OPs link....

It must be money laundering. Report it to ebay.

the-mango

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

I think it most likely is money laundering.

The buyer and seller are probably the same person. So they have just laundered £600.

How does it money laundering work on Ebay? (I don't even know what money laundering is.... off to Google!)

paddyrg

Money laundering is about creating a trail of distraction and complication so 'black' money (drugs, prostituion, weapons, stolen goods, whatever) is 'washed' to become white, legitimate money (or appear to be).

Police say 'where did you get that cash?', they can show 'I sold xyz on ebay - look there's the listing'. Doing it through ebay seems a very clumsy way to do it, but if it's a step in a more complex chain the point is to make it difficult to prove it is directly the proceeds of crime.

This is why a lot of bent individuals and companies use offshore shell companies and uncooperative banks (places like Switzerland, Panama, Cayman Islands, etc) which won't reveal account details. Other classic laundering operations include phantom hotels (no guests but the cash is put through the hotel books as if guests had stayed), casinos, movie investment (easy to make/show/prove a loss)

ETA-Hollywood and Vegas largely started with mob money for this reason!

tizerbelle

And the gentleman selling the phones (according to the contact details) is apparently also featured in this newspaper article

Why does he say he's VAT registered ? That number he gives is fake

Jamie_Carter

the-mango wrote: »

How does it money laundering work on Ebay? (I don't even know what money laundering is.... off to Google!)

Money laundering is making money gained by illegal means appear to be earned legally.

So lets say for example, someone makes a large amount of money from selling drugs. With a bit of clever juggling of ebay accounts, they can pay themself way over the top prices for items on ebay. This will make it look like they have earned the money by legitimate means.

A more common method of money laundering is a hand car wash, or a nail bar. They can claim to have had a thousand customers per day to explain their high income. When the truth is that they have only had a few.

zerog

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

Money laundering is making money gained by illegal means appear to be earned legally.

I can't believe that this would ever appear to be earned legally

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221230288054

Raksha

check out the only item he's received feedback for http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161031063892

Brooker_Dave

Would it not be a better way to quickly spend paypal balances accrued from fraud?

Jamie_Carter

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Would it not be a better way to quickly spend paypal balances accrued from fraud?

What do you mean?