Need an advice - is this a scam?

[dtimur87]

Trying to sell my iMac. Already had someone try to scam me on Saturday, that one was was a more obvious one.

This time someone with a fresh 0 feedback account sent me an offer (at exact price of the item, not lower or higher), and asked to send him my PayPal email through PayPal invoice, or text him to what looks like a US phone number, because he wants to ship to his US address (account is out of Spain). His email is very generic too (johnsmith/janedoe type). 

This is a scam right? 

[nobody*s_perfect]

Right.

The way it works, once the "buyer" has your PayPal email address, he will send a fake email that seems to be from PayPal, telling you that you have been paid but that the payment won't show up in your PayPal account until you've provided proof that the item has been shipped.

[dtimur87]

So they want seller to click to accept the offer? Wouldn't that create an invoice for them automatically?

I'm going to decline the offer and probably turn off the Best Offer setting, seems its adding unnecessary hassle to the experience) 

[mr_lincoln]

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@dtimur87 wrote:

Trying to sell my iMac. Already had someone try to scam me on Saturday, that one was was a more obvious one.

This time someone with a fresh 0 feedback account sent me an offer (at exact price of the item, not lower or higher), and asked to send him my PayPal email through PayPal invoice, or text him to what looks like a US phone number, because he wants to ship to his US address (account is out of Spain). His email is very generic too (johnsmith/janedoe type). 

This is a scam right? 

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YES, that is a scam ... Sellers NEVER have to give out ANY information to make a sale.  Ignore them, add them to your blocked Buyers list, move one.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@dtimur87 wrote:

So they want seller to click to accept the offer? Wouldn't that create an invoice for them automatically?...

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If you accept an offer then the buyer doesn't need the seller to send the invoice.  Asking for a PayPal invoice is one big clue that this potential buyer is a scammer.

[ckudika]

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@dtimur87 wrote:

This is a scam right? 

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I think a good rule of thumb is if you have to ask that question it's probably best just to block and avoid them altogether. It's not like they are the only person in the world that would want to buy your iMac. If something seems wonky just block the buyer

[3eyedfishcatcher]

Ebay used to have options in the buyer requirements under site preference for weeding out buyers with no feedback but it looks like they removed them.  Now there is only options to block buyers with negative feedback and unpaid item strikes. Perhaps for electronics and cell phones eBay should require buyers to have some purchases under their belt to ensure they will be honest and not scammers creating junk accounts to abandon after they rip someone off. You should never communicate with buyers outside of eBay or process payments outside of eBay as this leaves you at risk for being scammed and it will void your seller protection.

I would actually suggest using something like cl to sell your laptop locally to avoid these issues.

[nobody*s_perfect]

There has never been an option to completely block buyers who have zero feedback.  There is an option to block buyers from purchasing more than one item from you per 10 days, but sellers have never been able to  block that first purchase.  

The most useful available option is for a seller to list in fixed price format with "Immediate payment required."

[csbbct]

These are some board threads from just the last three days with questions about this same scam.  I wish these predators could be shut down by eBay.  Where are the BOTS when we really need them?

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/offer-asking-for-a-text/qaq-p/30323802

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/real-buyer/m-p/30323090#M1496035https://community.ebay.com/t5/Getting-Started/First-time-seller-Got-someone-wanting-item-but-not-sur...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Do-buyers-know-your-name-when-they-purchase-something-Would-li...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/Shipping-item-to-new-address-requests/qaq-p/3...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/Fraud/qaq-p/30321203

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/Scamer-Some-know-if-this-is-a-scam/qaq-p/3032...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Scammers-asking-you-to-text-them-on-eBay/qaq-p/30320267

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/I-think-a-Buyer-is-trying-to-scam-me/qaq-p/30...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/how-do-I-report-a-scam-buyer/qaq-p/30317374

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/Report-scam/qaq-p/30317067

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/Suspicious-buyer/qaq-p/30316378

[luckythewinner · Accepted solution]

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@dtimur87 wrote:

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So they want seller to click to accept the offer?

No, they want you to text or email them your PayPal email address.

Wouldn't that create an invoice for them automatically?

If you accept the offer they will simply ignore the invoice. All they want is your PayPal email address. As soon as they have your PayPal email address, they can begin sending you forged emails.

Their goal is to trick you into thinking they have paid and sending the item for free.

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

The bots are busy looking for messages where a seller might sell outside of ebay.

These scams arent policed because there is a chance ebay gets a final value fee and no chance it costs ebay money.

It costs ebay sellers that leave. Which costs ebay buyers that follow. Which costs ebay tons of lost fvf. But greed cant see the forest because all the darn trees are in the way.

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

There was the option to block buyers with low feedback in the early 2000s. Buyers received negative feedback back then. Both buyers and sellers during this time built an amazing community that weeded the bad ones out.

Without those tools......lets just say the yard is full of weeds and with weeds to hide in you get snakes.

[bigdeals.etc]

Watch out OP. You are being hornswoggled.

[geobra-5125]

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@cashvaluerecovery2011 wrote:
There was the option to block buyers with low feedback in the early 2000s. Buyers received negative feedback back then. Both buyers and sellers during this time built an amazing community that weeded the bad ones out.

Without those tools......lets just say the yard is full of weeds and with weeds to hide in you get snakes.

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Nope.  Never happened.  No such block. 

You could block with NEGATIVE feedback, but never low.

[csbbct]

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@geobra-5125 wrote:

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You could block with NEGATIVE feedback, but never low.

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And, what a joke it is that it is still an available Buyer Requirement you can set today!

Buyers with a negative feedback score

This requirement can help you avoid buyers who have received more negative than positive feedback from other eBay members bidding on your item.

For goodness sake, how many years has it been since we've been blocked from giving buyers a negative?