eBay

richard1rst · ‎10-18-2022

So I get a private message through these boards (not eBay messenger) from someone who identifies himself as the CEO at Polarr. “And we are conducting research around ecommerce image editing workflows - focused on your experience with setting up your shop in terms of photography, uploading images, and other things along these lines.”

He says it will take 45 minutes and he will pay me $50.00 through my Paypal account. So I would have to give him my Paypal address and that’s a HUGE red flag.

I have no intention of doing it. But I am posting this as a heads up against what might be Phishing (and I admit only a might because who knows it may be legit)

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

sprinkles91 · ‎10-18-2022

yep yep! definitely a scam, never give anyone your personal email or any other information. "I'll give you money if you give me your financial information." & your paypal email is not 50%, but 100% of everything a scammer needs to keygen your account password & take all of your identity with it..

aqeeqsouq · ‎10-18-2022

@richard1rst

Thank you for alerting us to these scammers, We appreciate that too much.

("Winter Is Coming")

a_c_green · ‎10-18-2022

@richard1rst wrote:
So I get a private message through these boards (not eBay messenger) from someone who identifies himself as the CEO at Polarr. “And we are conducting research around ecommerce image editing workflows - focused on your experience with setting up your shop in terms of photography, uploading images, and other things along these lines.”

He says it will take 45 minutes and he will pay me $50.00 through my Paypal account. So I would have to give him my Paypal address and that’s a HUGE red flag.

I have no intention of doing it. But I am posting this as a heads up against what might be Phishing (and I admit only a might because who knows it may be legit)

Frankly, I'm not seeing a problem here. My PayPal address (one of several, actually) is an email I've had for literally decades. Someone knowing your email address does not have any special access to your PayPal account. Anyone with an email address could conceivably have a PayPal account as well. It's not a huge red flag of anything.

The CEO of Polarr is easily identified on-line, for what that's worth, and if you have any doubts, you could contact him through LinkedIn (from any other email address and not your PayPal email, if that helps). Fifty bucks sounds reasonable for 45 minutes of on-line time from your own home. I've done focus groups and surveys like these for many years.

simply-the-best-for-you · ‎10-18-2022

I've been getting them too. I don't see any reason why it would be a scam though, it's a legit company. I did not reply b/c I don't have the time, but I got both an ASQ & a message on here. I think it's just a photo editing company trying to do some market research & get real users input.

There doesn't appear to be any scam involved.

This one goes to Eleven - Nigel Tufnel

Simply-the-best-for-you Volunteer Community Mentor
eBay Seller since 1996

chapeau-noir · ‎10-18-2022

I simply asked for their URL since Google, in its wisdom, keeps making a 'misspelled misdirect' and then lectures me. We'll see - I do little jobs like that all the time for a gift card or a few bucks.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Do not obey in advance." Timothy Snyder "On Tyranny"

richard1rst · ‎10-18-2022

@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:
I've been getting them too. I don't see any reason why it would be a scam though, it's a legit company. I did not reply b/c I don't have the time, but I got both an ASQ & a message on here. I think it's just a photo editing company trying to do some market research & get real users input.
There doesn't appear to be any scam involved.

And yet you spend way more time than the "45 minutes requested for $50.00" to help innumerable strangers here - for free.

And we all thank you for that.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

richard1rst · ‎10-18-2022

@a_c_green wrote:
@richard1rst wrote:
So I get a private message through these boards (not eBay messenger) from someone who identifies himself as the CEO at Polarr. “And we are conducting research around ecommerce image editing workflows - focused on your experience with setting up your shop in terms of photography, uploading images, and other things along these lines.”

He says it will take 45 minutes and he will pay me $50.00 through my Paypal account. So I would have to give him my Paypal address and that’s a HUGE red flag.

I have no intention of doing it. But I am posting this as a heads up against what might be Phishing (and I admit only a might because who knows it may be legit)
Frankly, I'm not seeing a problem here. My PayPal address (one of several, actually) is an email I've had for literally decades. Someone knowing your email address does not have any special access to your PayPal account. Anyone with an email address could conceivably have a PayPal account as well. It's not a huge red flag of anything.

The CEO of Polarr is easily identified on-line, for what that's worth, and if you have any doubts, you could contact him through LinkedIn (from any other email address and not your PayPal email, if that helps). Fifty bucks sounds reasonable for 45 minutes of on-line time from your own home. I've done focus groups and surveys like these for many years.

Well in fairness I did leave open the possibility it was legit. But unfortunately there are so many scams going on that I find it safer to view an out of the blue note as a scam until shown otherwise. I have always found some degree of skepticism to be helpful.

"Laissez-faire capitalism (AKA The Great Material Continuum) is the only social system based on the recognition of individual rights and, therefore, the only system that bans force from social relationships." ~ Ayn Rand

itsjustasprain · ‎10-19-2022

@@richard1rs wrote:
He says it will take 45 minutes and he will pay me $50.00 through my Paypal account. So I would have to give him my Paypal address and that’s a HUGE red flag.

In what way?

donsdetour · ‎10-19-2022

@richard1rst wrote:
So I get a private message through these boards (not eBay messenger) from someone who identifies himself as the CEO at Polarr. “And we are conducting research around ecommerce image editing workflows - focused on your experience with setting up your shop in terms of photography, uploading images, and other things along these lines.”

He says it will take 45 minutes and he will pay me $50.00 through my Paypal account. So I would have to give him my Paypal address and that’s a HUGE red flag.

I have no intention of doing it. But I am posting this as a heads up against what might be Phishing (and I admit only a might because who knows it may be legit)

Well such is that these type of messages should be through eBay and not direct as seems to be being done. It is a third party system that should have permit from eBay to do such.

So yes its a red flag just on that.