Pretty sure I avoided a scam but I'm not sure how

[watersblue]

Let me explain exactly what I mean by that title statement.

I'm new to eBay and am trying to sell a video game console that is very popular right now. Nearly instantly someone sent the best offer that was only $5 dollars off my asking price. Immediately I was happy but then I read their message and suddenly it felt too good to be true. They didn't say anything out there but they did leave their phone number and wanted me to text them as soon as I accepted their offer. I clicked their profile and saw they were 2 days old, no feedback and from Singapore. I live in the United States and through the console isn't region locked it seems odd to order a console from outside of your country. Really my "something's fishy" senses were tingling now so I reverse looked up their phone number to find it was a VOIP number that pings all over the world but most often in Illinois. 

I declined the offer and did so as nicely as I could while also stating "There's a lot of scams on eBay," which I really don't know if that's true but I wanted the person to think I knew they were trying to hoodwink me. 

I'm glad I avoided that headache but now I'm left with a nagging question; how were they planning to scam me? Two many red flags went up way too quickly for me not to believe it was a scam but I can't wrap my brain around how it would have played out. I guess knowing is more out of a curiosity than anything as it's over with now, but if they had sent the money via PP what could have happened? I think if I understand these things more and don't just only follow my gut I'll be better at identifying them when they pop up.

[castlemagicmemories · Accepted solution]

You did great!  Congratulations!

Here's what would have happened.  They wanted  you to text so they could send you a fake Paypal notice saying you have been paid, in hopes you would not check your PP account to see if payment really was there.  Of course there would be no payment there.  They were banking on the fact you would take it at face value and just ship.

Be proud that you protected yourself and avoided this!

This Board is a great place to become familiar with the various things that people may try.  May you always avoid a scam!

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

Welcome to ebay. Especially as a newer member you are a prime target. If your gut feels its scammy it is because it likely is. Ebay will not help you as a seller. This is a well known fact for several years now. Shipping out of country raises the risk as is being new. Selling highly scammy items raises that risk yet again. Game consoles, cell phones, anything expensive. Goodluck. Well done avoiding this .

[bigdeals.etc]

Yes you avoided a clear scam as others mentioned. It's very risky selling a high profile item like a popular console on ebay with a "newbie" account. You are a prime target. Even with my experience, if I opened up a new account and listed such an item... I'd still be targeted by scammers. The sad part is, even with a seller with experienced knowledge... a scammer can come out on top 100% of the time because of ebay's rules.

If you still want to sell that console on ebay, my tip to you (without getting too into detail) is to not conduct anything outside of ebay. Keep things within ebay and paypal channels. NO EMAIL OR TEXTS, PHONE CALLS. That may lower your scam potential by a bit, but it'll still always be there... as it is for every ebay seller. Continue to post anything you are unclear or concerned about in this board BEFORE acting. Many members on this board are very knowledgeable and apparently I don't think they sleep neither. So you can even post in the middle of the night and get a rather quick response.

[watersblue]

Thank you to everyone who answered! This makes sense now that I know what could have happened and I'm very glad I followed my gut and avoided this huge headache!! I'll follow my gut and try to be as diligent as possible, and when in doubt I'll consult the forums before being hasty!

[extrememobility]

Good Job! All new sellers should come in this forum for any questions concerning transactions that appear suspicious, maybe ,just maybe we all can drive these scammers away, or at the very least expose them and get them banned from Ebay?