Scam Help please

[thesatellitejack-3]

listed an item on eBay, the next day I have a few offers and I accept one of them, A few minutes pass and I get a text from an unknown number saying something like "Hello seller, this is Sgt. Hayes. I hope an item is in good condition as I am buying it for my cousin.". that was a big red flag for me, so I go to my email to check about the buyers contact info (I can see his since he requested mine) and the number I got a text from didnt match the number on his info, also I should mention I hadn't received payment yet but he marked it as payment sent (even though eBay knows payment hasn't been sent)

I opened a cancenllation request, I haven't shipped the item yet and haven't received payment (nor do i want to anymore) but I really don't know or think they will accept the cancellation request. What happens if they deny the request? (keep in mind I haven't shipped and havent received payment yet), also is there anything I can do other than wait the 10 days for it to be automatically closed?

sorry for the wall of text, but this is my first time dealing with a fishy sale/buyer and I'm really worried.

[kitesss18]

Got the exact Same text today! Sgt hayes buying from cousin..

[turquoisetulips]

It's a classic scam.

-Offering more than you asked. (playing on greed)

-Text from unknown number, bringing his relatives into the picture (offering too much information (sign of lying), empathy play)

-Numbers don't match

-Marking on ebay as paid when they didn't pay (deception)

-Hours old account

Any one or some of these don't make a scammer, but they all do together. new -oldman - unquote ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not to mention the Sgt. Hayes bit . Scammers always try to appear to be upstanding , truthworthy and honorable . In fact - I've heard of this so called Sgt .Hayes before in another  attempted scam . Tulips 

[evandel-37]

Hello. I got this same person. I listed something for 100$ on a item and they offered 215$ and I accepted of course. Then person contacted me on eBay to text his number to discuss about the item. So I did. The person said he hopes it’s in good condition cause he was buying for his cousin too. After searching about this and I see you have the same experience in freaking out. 

[escuintla]

First rule of thumb.

Whether you receive a payment or not, perhaps you receive an email stating so, which is a scamming one, when you are going to print the label from Paypal, it will tell you you haven't received any payment. Do not ship, you will lose both Ebay and Paypal protection. I think 

Second rule of thumb. 

Do not ship but to the address stated on the shipping label your pay for to Paypal. 

Now, if you are depending on what you do at the post office without using Paypal labels, God have mercy on your soul. 

[creoleorchid]

You have earned yourself a major defect by cancelling this sale. Since the buyer hadn’t paid, you should have opened an unpaid item case after 2 day. In another 4 days without payment you would need to close it.

[femmefan1946]

I think the seller only contacted the buyer(s) that he was cancelling the sale.

Since there has been no payment, he should unmark that "paid" in his Sold list.

It's available for cash on pickup transactions, but is used by scammers to fool sellers more naive than the OP.

[femmefan1946]

@itsjustasprain

You only have to wait 2 days before opening an Unpaid item dispute.

That's only true of US-based sellers, the rest of us have to wait four days to open a Dispute and then another four days to close it and be free to relist.

[ky9991]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

I think the seller only contacted the buyer(s) that he was cancelling the sale.

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Search for "other" (with the quotes) in this thread.

[devthegoat]

Omg this exact thing happened to me. TWICE. Except both people wanted to buy it for their “boss” what made it fishy for me was when I read the message he sent to me on eBay and he spelt sergeant “sargant” but anyways the first guy asked my to buy him a steam card I said no and I asked him to cancel the order and he never responded.

i delisted the item, ignoring his order then I got an offer for $380 I immediately checked if the country is Austria and of the name says anything relating to the military or sergeants and it didn’t. But when I accepted the offer it did. i dont know if this is a scam group but eBay needs to stop then now.

[a_c_green]

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@devthegoat wrote:

i dont know if this is a scam group but eBay needs to stop then now.

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The problem is that you cannot sell big-ticket, high-scam items such as Air Jordans here from a zero-feedback account: you will only hear from scammers. Honest buyers will stay away because they're concerned that you might be the scammer.

Not everything can be sold safely here, at least not until you've built up enough practical experience and enough feedback history as a seller that buyers will trust you and scammers will (mostly) stay away. Even then, you should not sell anything that you cannot afford to lose completely if things go sideways on you.

[soh.maryl]

FYI:  Usually no reason to ask the same question more than once.

[effie*s_trinkets]

Why the cancellation? You should have just ignored that message and waited for payment. Also the buyer can’t Mark it as Paid, if it’s not. as far as I know...

[kh-ornesh]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began, we have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread HERE.
Thanks.