Idiot pays £450 for a photo of an Xbox on Ebay.

Simmysim

VictorCharlie wrote: »

His local CeX has taken pity on him and gave him a free Xbox One.

Basically rewarding stupidity.

No, his local CEX are getting lots of publicity for the measly sum of £430.

And you called him stupid?

DavidFx

Simmysim wrote: »

The PS4 is sold out all over so they may well know what they are buying, but I doubt it.

The fact that the seller has used the "Item specifics" and the "Detailed information" to list PS4 details, along with a picture of PS4 means the buyer will easily get their money back.

If the seller was 100% genuine then they would use a picture of what they were actually selling. Id say the seller is half chancing his arm.

The winner bought a PS4 for £710 by my reckoning - the current price on ebay is about £450, so I assume they didn't read or understand the description.

prowla

If it was listed under games consoles then it was a scam.

It doesn't matter whether the buyer was monumentally stupid; the scammer tried it on and rightfully lost out.

Regarding the selling of packaging, there are people who genuinely sell boxes and buyers who genuinely want them, but there is a category for this.

Flyonthewall

Principia wrote: »

I personally don't think the guy was very bright (although he has apparently now got a free xbox!).

So he had several pieces of information - the item was listed in the category for games and consoles. The item was listed at either a starting bid or buy it now for £450, the item was described as a photo.

Now most people would think that that didn't add up. Some people (the less cynical and unrealistic of us) might feasibly think that the seller made a mistake somewhere and it must be the description of the item as a photo as the price and category listed both back up the item as a high value item.

The guy is only 19, he might also not be as suspicious about possible conmen as most of the rest of us most of the time.

Where does it say that was the start price? Other people may well have bid and it was just that he won it.

I don't think age is an excuse, especially when he knew it said photo. He wasn't sure about it at all, he had a feeling it was a con and ignored it. He's a regular user of ebay too. It's quite worrying that he'd spend all his savings on something he was so unsure about.

Simmysim wrote: »

When did we switch from a money saving site to one that insults innocent members of the public based on the information of a few lines written in an online paper.

This part of the forum/site is for ebay related topics. This is ebay related.

The guy wanted his story in the paper - he went to them, he was quoted saying he knew it said photo and everyone has the right to an opinion.

By the way, that paper isn't just online and it's not like it some really dodgy site that you can't believe a word of. Nothing wrong with discussing it in my opinion.

DavidFx wrote: »

Another lot of people failing to read an item description - this time for a PS4

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-PlayStation-4-500gb-Pre-Order-With-Game-Online-Guaranteed-For-Xmas-/281221300901?pt=UK_VideoGames_VideoGameConsoles_VideoGameConsoles&hash=item417a1882a5

So what do these people think they are getting for £390?

Ah dear They obviously think they're getting a paid for pre-order console rather than a reserved item that still needs to be paid for in full.

What I don't get is why people attempt to sell that. If they cancelled then someone who already pre-ordered would get an earlier delivery date and if they kept the pre-order they could pay and then sell the console on if they no longer wanted it - would probably fetch more too.

geri1965_2

Just because someone is stupid doesn't mean they deserve to be ripped off. There are plenty of stupid people around, they can't help the way they were born! This is why we have laws to protect people!

Principia_2

Flyonthewall wrote: »

Where does it say that was the start price? Other people may well have bid and it was just that he won it.

I don't think age is an excuse, especially when he knew it said photo. He wasn't sure about it at all, he had a feeling it was a con and ignored it. He's a regular user of ebay too. It's quite worrying that he'd spend all his savings on something he was so unsure about..

Based on the evidence it seemed like a reasonable assumption - £450 being a round number and round numbers being unusual in winning bids - however Simmysims link has made me change my mind - not because there are listings shown as buy it nows for £450 but because the body of the text in that article says the lad won it for an odd amount.

Age is not an excuse to be conned? I agree, there is no reason to try and con anyone, no matter what their age - the fault is on the side of the seller.

Call me strange but I don't care if someone is naive, stupid, busy, young, inexperienced or a bargain hunter - no one deserves to be conned and there is absolutely no excuse to do it. In fact I'm going to say that the prevaling attitude of this country, that somehow victims deserve their fate make people who consider conning other more likely to do it. After all why shouldn't I take a chance or be a bit cheeky - it's their fault for not being smarter isn't it?

Nothing cheeky or admirable about taking advantage of someone else's human weakness, no matter what it is imo.

Flyonthewall

geri1965 wrote: »

Just because someone is stupid doesn't mean they deserve to be ripped off. There are plenty of stupid people around, they can't help the way they were born! This is why we have laws to protect people!

Actually when it comes to cons (talking about overall, not just ebay scams) the law isn't always that great at protecting people. A lot don't even realise they've been conned. Most people who are conned never come forwards out of embarrassment because they know it was stupid and they got greedy. Even if they do go to the police proving it happened and actually catching the con artists is very hard.

Problem with cons is that people willingly give the person their money. The marks/victims are generally misled but the con artists don't steal.

This case as an example, the guy read photo and still willingly paid out, he hoped for more. Course, this one is easy to prove that the seller was dodgy with it being through ebay.

Flyonthewall

Principia wrote: »

Based on the evidence it seemed like a reasonable assumption - £450 being a round number and round numbers being unusual in winning bids - however Simmysims link has made me change my mind - not because there are listings shown as buy it nows for £450 but because the body of the text in that article says the lad won it for an odd amount.

Age is not an excuse to be conned? I agree, there is no reason to try and con anyone, no matter what their age - the fault is on the side of the seller.

Call me strange but I don't care if someone is naive, stupid, busy, young, inexperienced or a bargain hunter - no one deserves to be conned and there is absolutely no excuse to do it. In fact I'm going to say that the prevaling attitude of this country, that somehow victims deserve their fate make people who consider conning other more likely to do it. After all why shouldn't I take a chance or be a bit cheeky - it's their fault for not being smarter isn't it?

Nothing cheeky or admirable about taking advantage of someone else's human weakness, no matter what it is imo.

I've won a number of things for a round number, although I've no idea how many were the start price and how many had other bids. Can't say I've thought about it lol.

Age is not an important factor for falling for cons or as a target. I agree that no one of any age should be conned. What I meant was that at 19 he is old enough to know better when it comes to this scam. He was suspicious so he's obviously not some clueless teen using ebay for the first time.

I think there's a big difference between (small time) scams like this, being ripped off and proper cons. But I agree, nobody should be ripped off or scammed in such a way. Sadly there are certain scams that can happen to anybody, although most of us are smart enough to avoid being in the same situation as this guy.

Principia_2

Flyonthewall wrote: »

Actually when it comes to cons (talking about overall, not just ebay scams) the law isn't always that great at protecting people. A lot don't even realise they've been conned.

It's hard to make laws that are useful to protect people who don't even know they needed protecting

Most people who are conned never come forwards out of embarrassment because they know it was stupid and they got greedy.

And that is a huge shame, it means people continually get away with what is actually the morally reprehensible act of conning people. Maybe if society was more supportive of victims instead of blaming them or saying they deserved it, more might come forward.

Even if they do go to the police proving it happened and actually catching the con artists is very hard.

Not on ebay and if it's a foreign Lottery type fraud then the more publicity these frauds get, the harder it is for people to defraud other people. Again victims should be thanked for coming forward, they've already been defrauded, they feel shame but they are still able to come out and warn the rest of us, often in spite of the reaction they know they will get - now that is a nobility of spirit where for example an older woman groomed by a younger foreign man. She knows she is going to look a fool (and face harsh criticism for her trust) but is still willing to remind everyone that this kind of thing still goes on.

Problem with cons is that people willingly give the person their money. The marks/victims are generally misled but the con artists don't steal.

I think conning someone out of their money under false pretences is stealing:eek:

This case as an example, the guy read photo and still willingly paid out, he hoped for more. Course, this one is easy to prove that the seller was dodgy with it being through ebay.

The seller was not altogether clear in his item description. It could easily have been that the photo was newly taken in 2013. It is deliberately ambiguous. If you are not alert to a scam, most people's instinct is one of trust. A sad thing for everyone that this can be a wrong decision. Particularly sad when someone really does need help and no one will help them because they fear it is just a scam.

Principia_2

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I think there's a big difference between (small time) scams like this, being ripped off and proper cons. But I agree, nobody should be ripped off or scammed in such a way. Sadly there are certain scams that can happen to anybody, although most of us are smart enough to avoid being in the same situation as this guy.

Because small time con artists who only take a few hundred knowing that they are probably only spoiling someone else's christmas wouldn't take a chance of a big con?

There's no lovely rogues in my worldview - you either respect other people or you don't.

I read about a con in the guardian recently where someone phones you to tell you that your credit card has been used fraudulently and to phone the fraud number on the back of the card.

You phone the number, enter your pin 'for security' reasons on the keypad and after a time they say they will send a new card to you and get your old card from you by courier so they can destroy it. The courier then picks up your card.

All a big con but if you weren't aware that phones in this country only disconnect from the person who made the call then you'd swallow the whole thing with nery a murmur. You may think some of the information requests were a bit strange - inputting the pin for example but because you have never had your suspicions nudged you just follow it through.

I probably would have been taken in by this one due to my ignorance of how the phone system works.

Anyone who thinks they can't be conned probably can be.

Anyone who genuinely can't be conned is probably the most miserly unhelpful person you could possibly meet, how could they not be, they would have to view every interaction with another person with suspicion.