New Seller - Is this a scam????

[daka6588]

Good morning everyone!

New seller here. 

I was ecstatic when I sold my very first item, however there are some red flags and needed confirmation.

Buyer made me an offer a few dollars above my asking price. 

They asked me for my email so as to send payment to my paypal.

However, seller responded via text by asking,"Thanks..I would love to have it mailed to Cousin in South Carolina as her birthday gift, please can you get an ebay gift card of $300 inside the package before you ship it, would appreciate you assisting with this cause i work away from home with the US Marines and not in the right position to have it mailed out myself, I will add $300 to your payment for the ebay gift card and an extra $30 for gas and stress...and I will also add $50 for shipping."

I want to help this person out. Apparently, they have positive reviews as a buyer, but only 8 reviews.

What should I do? Please help!

Thank you and stay safe!

Best,

David

[ittybitnot]

Is this a scam????

Yes, it is.  

[mtgraves7984]

You should cancel the order (problem with address) and stay on your toes. Good catch!

[mr_lincoln]

@daka6588   Its a scam, to get to their 8 FB count they may buy some cheap items to get their FB count up then launch in to scam attempts.

[bonjourami]

Big fat scam!! And an old one at that! They want your email and will send you a fake Paypal invoice that they have paid. In two days file an unpaid item dispute, and close it four days later. Be sure to block this scammer.

[daka6588]

Thank you for the help!

I will do that!

[rgroftexas]

It also may not even be their own ebay account, they may have taken over someone else's by stealing the password. But your first clue was them asking for your email address. Notice everywhere on ebay says not to give people contact information. This is one of the reasons why.   Also, no one legit will ever offer you more than you're asking.  Ever. And finally, you can only mail things to the address that ebay gives you. Anyone that asks you to mail it somewhere else is probably scamming you. Not always, but if you don't send it to the address ebay gives you, you have zero protection. 

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@daka6588 wrote:

Good morning everyone!

New seller here. 

I was ecstatic when I sold my very first item, however there are some red flags and needed confirmation.

Buyer made me an offer a few dollars above my asking price.  STOP! This is a SCAM.

They asked me for my email so as to send payment to my paypal. STOP! This is a SCAM.

However, seller responded via text by asking,"Thanks..I would love to have it mailed to Cousin in South Carolina as her birthday gift, please can you get an ebay gift card of $300 inside the package before you ship it, would appreciate you assisting with this cause i work away from home with the US Marines and not in the right position to have it mailed out myself, I will add $300 to your payment for the ebay gift card and an extra $30 for gas and stress...and I will also add $50 for shipping." STOP! This is a SCAM.

I want to help this person out. Apparently, they have positive reviews as a buyer, but only 8 reviews.

What should I do? Please help! STOP! This is a SCAM.

Thank you and stay safe!

Best,

David

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Good for you for asking about this first. This person you are dealing with is a SCAMMER.

Report the "buyer"

Block https://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?bidderblocklogin

Ignore

File the unpaid item report 48 hours after the purchase and close it out 96 hours later. This will get your fees back.

The whole idea is for the seller to be blinded with greed, or just stupidity, and for the scammer to get the seller's phone number or email address. Once that happens, the seller receives a very real looking, but very fake email stating that they have been paid, and in order to receive their funds they need to ship the item right away. Sometimes these emails will also have a phone number, for the seller to call and "verify" the transaction. That phone number is a direct line to the scammer.

These scammers depend on a seller's greed/naivete/ignorance/stupidity to ship the item without checking to see if they have actually been paid. It works surprisingly well, even with established sellers, because for some strange reason people want to "trust" emails.

There is no reason on this planet for a buyer to need a seller's email address, phone number, or any sort of financial/payment information. Everything a buyer needs is right there when they click the buy now button on a listing.

Also, in cases like this, there is absolutely NOTHING Ebay, Paypal, nor any other venue can do to help the scam victim. These frauds and scams are totally avoidable, and it's up to the individual to educate themselves on how to avoid them. All the info is out there, everywhere, about these scams. All people need to do is be aware and not trust anything online, especially emails - even ones that appear to be from "trusted" entities.

[turquoisetulips]

Yes ,, its an old  scam  with a long beard . Ignore it and block the so called '' buyer ''.  Tulips 

[a_c_green]

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@turquoisetulips wrote:

Yes ,, its an old  scam  with a long beard . Ignore it and block the so called '' buyer ''.  Tulips 

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