Ebay $400 gift card scam

[sopwo-6184]

Hi all,

I've recently joined Ebay's selling base. I've posted a bunch of items for sale, and received three offers. They all said they had a question and left their number stating that that was the best way to reach them. They were three different numbers and I got a similar reply from each one. They wanted me to add a $400-$500 Ebay gift card for a birthday gift, or their cousin in Florida or Philadelphia. I then declined the offer on Ebay and refrained from responding further. My only concern is that these scammers or bots now have my phone number, and I know that there are simple ways for technologically savvy people to track numbers. I'm just not sure what to do from here - is there by chance a safety concern? I don't want to overreact, but would it be beneficial to report this to authorities?

Thanks in advance.

[simba6]

No they are up to their ears in such reports.  That is the old over payment scam.

The Russian wedding scam is another name for it.

[ittybitnot]

These communications were all your basic ebay crooks.  They want the gift card money and your merchandise, I doubt  they are interested in your phone number.  NEVER should you contact someone via text or phone.  They closest they will ever get to paying for something is sending you a phony (but decent looking) notification that you have been paid.   They hope you are inexperienced enough to fall for it.  

These "text me" and the "change the address" scammers will initially contact you via the ebay message system or through the "make an offer" feature.   This is how these people make a living, buy cheating others out of their funds and products. 

Read here often. You can find out all the things to look out for. 

[nkmipgolf]

No concern as scammers ask to "text me" using free telephone numbers off the net. The numbers change every day. They want to send a fake PayPal payment and ask to ship overnight to avoid detection.  They work overseas and pick on new sellers hoping they do not know how PayPal works.  One lady sent a $3000 laptop to a scammer. They use reshippers. As you were not fooled authorities will do little.

[ittybitnot]

 I don't want to overreact, but would it be beneficial to report this to authorities?

This is so common even eBay doesn't want to hear about it anymore.  They removed the "Report this message" feature from ebay messages, and there is no place on the site to report these IDs unless they become a winner of your AUCTION or actually hit a BIN listing to become buyer of record.  To report a buyer on ebay, you need a transaction to occur. 

You could contact ebay Customer Service, but basically it is a waste of time.  Yes, perhaps ebay will delete the ID, but these people just use another new ID or hacked account and carry on in a matter of minutes.  It is ebay's job to keep these people out of here.  If ebay was truly interested in really doing something they would make it easier to report the scammers. 

[janet9988]

You should never have violated ebay policy by texting them in the first place.

Ebay even warns you on messaging NOT to do so.

[moo.paso.whw3dsm4]

Hi,

I used to meet the same situation as you
He said he gonna report me🙄

[wrong66]

?

[maxine*j]

It's a shame that you texted them.  It's not just that it's in eBay's interests that it has the policy that you are to communicate only through the eBay message system -- it protects you, as well.

I wouldn't worry, though, because these guys will spend their time finding people who will fall for their gift card scam and waste no more time on you.

=

[toysaver]

They likely have your email and phone number. 

It would be beneficial for you to read the eBay User Agreement.  Correspndence between seller and buyer has to stay within eBay's messaging system. 

User Agreement | eBay

Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay policy | eBay 

Member-to-member contact policy | eBay

[kh-gary]

Hi everyone,

If you believe that you or someone you know was scammed into buying eBay Gift Cards, visit our gift card page to contact customer service and find additional information related to gift card scams.

Thank you.

[resen-16]

I listed an item for the first time today instantly had an offer for it the buyer asked me to message through text so I did and I had a feeling something was not right so I looked it up when they said the item would be a gift to their cousin in Florida and to send a 400$ eBay gift card well I had already sent my PayPal info to them so after I read that I instantly removed all my card info from those sites and blocked the persons number . Now I’m worried they will somehow be able to take my money 

[toysaver]

Now I’m worried they will somehow be able to take my money

Probably not, the $400 untracable gift card was the money they were after.

[dbfolks166mt]

Exactly what PayPal information did you send them? This could be a MAJOR problem well beyond the gift cards. 

[speedwagon7]

I encountered the same situation as yours, and unfortunately, I contacted my scammer via text.

He asked me the item condition first, and then told me;

1. He wants to send the item to his cousin in Nevada as a Birthday surprise

2. He wants to send an eBay gift*card of $400, including the package. (I'm not sure why he added the asterisk between gift and card...Maybe he reused an example script?)

3. He is a military officer and could not do that

4. He will pay an additional $500 to the payment, $400 for the gift card, $50 for shipping, and $50 for my gas and such

Luckily, I found this thread before I answered his message and declined.

Thank you for sharing your information! I appreciate it.