How To Spot a SCAM

[vintage-car-magazines]

Hey eBay!!

Since we seem to have this question posted several times a day, can we have this post pinned to the top?

If they buyer wants to.....

• Pay more than the asking price .....it's a SCAM (Nobody does that. The scam preys on greed)
• Have you include gift cards for an extra fee....it's a SCAM (this is what they're after)
• Text you regarding payment and shipping....it's a SCAM (they can message in eBay)
• Email you regarding payment and shipping....it's a SCAM (they can message in eBay)
• Pay outside of eBay because they don't have PayPal and want to use a credit card....it's a SCAM (you don't need a PayPal account)

These scams a FULL of red flags. Did I miss any?

[firesteel_surplus]

Kindly pass this on.

I say "Interesting" to a lot that is said to me. Sometimes I follow it with a thoughtful "Hmmmmm." It's in the same context as @prabutfa0 "thank you now". It can be both positive and negative. Or neutral. Or whatever.

I used to work for a Colonel back in my military days. He was...let's say...not computer savvy. He'd constantly call me up with computer problems (some real...some....uh....not so real....). I'd sit in front of his computer for a bit, move the mouse around, might click on a icon or two, and say "interesting." Heard through the grapevine that he completely hated it when I did that.

Of course, I did not stop.

I had a scammer steal my email address by modifying it just a bit and sent a scam message to a buyer who had just bought a laptop from me. The sale was around $600. They said they needed a Western Union check sent right away for the payment. She sent it...then contact me through my ebay contact because she got worried she might have messed up. Yeah...the money was gone. She still followed through and bought the laptop...

That was back in the days when we could contact ebayers directly at any time with our contact info.

My bump to the thread.

Interesting.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[iart]

I doubt eBay will admit they have a scam problem. They seem to feel that those scammed are not obeying eBay policies so they deserve it.

Their way of actually dealing with it is to make us sign in 5 times a day and to prove we know the difference between a motorcycle and a boat.

[daniela_90]

What about sellers who promise to ship your item within 4 days from receiving funds, create a shipping label but never actually hand the item to the carrier? Also, in order to delay refund requests, they set a handling time of more than 31 days. Then, when you contact them for clarification, they keep telling you that they shipped the item, when in fact they only created a shipping label. And when told that the tracking shows that the item has not been handed to the USPS, they claim that the USPS tracking system is unreliable.

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.