Scam? How to respond if not?

[terrlloy-0]

I have a notebook of vintage post cards that I have had listed for a while with lots of interest. I received this message today from someone who says the collection had been stolen from them. I don’t know if this is a scam or not but I really don’t know how to respond to it. This is the message: Good morning. Are you aware that this notebook with these old postcards is just a small portion of the complete notebook of vintage post cards and Easter/holiday cards? I KNOW this, as THIS ITEM WAS STOLEN from my house in Henderson, Nevada, in January/February timeframe. I did file a police report for this and other items stolen from me at that time.

[gurlcat]

I don't know how this didn't get addressed in 30 replies about postcards, but @terrlloy-0  are these USED or UNUSED?   If any are used, they would have addresses on them.  And if the 'To' addresses show the same recipient, then this would be that person's keepsakes of old correspondences -the person who may or may not be the one who had their collection stolen.     

[terrlloy-0]

These are antique postcards dating from 1906 - 1933 and all but a few have writing on the back and are addressed to different addresses. There are only four that were addressed to the same person and those weren't in plastic sleeves, they were loose. 

[1786davycrockett]

And no one has thought to ask:  "What kind of thief would steal a notebook filled with old postcards?"

We're not talking about cell-phones, or laptops, or jewelry, or Rolex watches, or Coach purses, or high-end sneakers.

No -- the item in question is a book of old postcards.

Think about it:  no pawn shop would be interested, as there isn't much demand at pawn shops for old postcards.

And they would only have a market value (and a low one, at that) at antique shows, flea markets, old book stores, and so on -- not exactly high-dollar type showplaces.

I'm thinking that there was no theft to begin with -- but that the "theft victim" is just another postcard collector, trying to snatch up some free inventory.

Without any verifiable proof of connection to a specific crime, I would no nothing -- wait out the "theft victim" ; and, when nothing is resolved, re-list again.

[albertabrightalberta]

@terrlloy-0 

I've heard similar versions of that story over the years. Personally, I don't believe any of them. 

In some cases, posts were from sellers who were contacted and informed that their listing is an item that was stolen from them and in other cases, posts were from victims who claimed to have found their stolen items being sold by sellers. 

In a quick search, I wasn't able to find any sellers who made similar posts as the OP has but I found a few from "victims." 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/stolen-items-on-Ebay/m-p/34720765

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/A-stolen-watch-of-mine-is-now-up-for-sale-on-Ebay-I-conta...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/how-to-report-stolen-item-which-has-been-somehow-transpor...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/eBay-knowingly-selling-stolen-goods-is-bad-for-community/m-p/3...

[terrlloy-0]

I have come to the same conclusion. She has given me the run around on getting the police report uploaded, claiming issues getting it on the eBay message, etc. I asked her a question about four of the cards addressed to the same person (all the rest are random addresses) and she gave me a LONG story about her mother's collection over the years, etc.  In other words, she has failed my only tests.  I am in  "wait her out" mode. I was giving her the benefit of the doubt at first but am suspicious now, especially when she asked for email address or text number to send the report. No way.  Thank you for the advice, it was very helpful. 

[terrlloy-0]

Thank you for taking the time to send me those links. That was very helpful to my situation. I was giving this person the benefit of the doubt at first but now I am suspicious. I am in "wait her out" mode so we shall see. 

[gurlcat]

Keep us updated.  I'm curious how this turns out. 

[cityslickercreations2004]

That was my thought exactly!! Who would steal postcards of all things?

Actually, I wondered if there is an ex somewhere in the background...

[dirk12955]

City,     In my experience,   If it ain't nailed down,   Somebody will try to steal it.   

[terrlloy-0]

This morning, the supposed victim sent me a message that said, among other things, that she had decided to let this go and hoped that I was able to sell them to benefit the animal shelter since that touched her heart.  My theory is that she initiated all this to get my email or phone number and, when it became obvious that I was not going to oblige, she is moving on. I have to say, if that is the case, she did a good job on her story and the details she included in her messages.  Thank you to everyone that responded, I appreciate the time that you spent on your messages, they were helpful and supportive. I plan to give this a little time to settle down before relisting the items. 

[adamcartwright]

@terrlloy-0 

I'm really glad it worked out.

What an odd item to pull a scam on, though. 

[jonathanbrightlight]

@adamcartwright 

If @terrlloy-0 has correctly guessed that they were after her phone number or email address, which I suspect is true, the scam probably had nothing to do with trying to get the postcards.  What they would likely have ended up doing is sending a fake payment notification with a warning that she needed to pay some type of fee in order to release the payment to her.  They're after that fee and/or the card number used to pay it, not the actual item.

That's just a guess from my time spent browsing the Scams subreddit, which is more time than I'd like to admit.

[gurlcat]

---

@adamcartwright wrote:

@terrlloy-0 

I'm really glad it worked out.

What an odd item to pull a scam on, though. 

---

LOL that was my thought every time someone replied "Who would steal postcards though?"  -Who would try to pull an eBay scam for postcards? 

To me the physical theft is actually easier to believe.  I never pictured a cat burglar finding a notebook of postcards with his flashlight and grabbing those instead of jewelry, silver, or anything else he could carry in one arm, HA.  More like some **bleep** family member who knew when the home would be vacant and the easiest way to get in, so they could rob the place at their leisure, just fill their whole vehicle with anything/everything with even the slightest potential of value. 

 I once (unknowingly) participated in a mass-theft exactly like that.  Right after graduating high school I had a roommate who said his grandpa had recently died and left his WHOLE HOUSE (in another town) to this kid, so we should drive down there and get whatever stuff we wanted.  He had a key and everything, so I had no reason to be suspicious.   Only years later did I find out there was no dead grandpa; that was the kid's middle-age groomer "ex-boyfriend", and we just straight up robbed him while he was out of town!  I still have the electric can opener I took.  Still works great!  

The message-sender said the listing was just SOME of the stolen postcards, so picture this:  Some of the other ones WERE valuable and the owner had talked about that in front of the **bleep** family member, maybe years back, so when they robbed the house they included that notebook in their grabs, fenced the valuable postcards and dumped the rest in a donation box (or fenced the whole collection to someone who cherrypicked the best ones and donated the rest).  

[gurlcat]

Using a stolen postcards story to get a seller's phone/email is a pretty viable theory.  So is (to me) the chance that the writer really did have postcards stolen and only thinks the ones in the listing are from that notebook (she said they were her mother's, so she may just recognize a few that she remembers, I mean they were mass-produced so the same ones would be in lots of collections).  Or who knows, maybe these really were among a larger collection that was stolen! 

 But to me the LEAST likely theory is: Fake theft story, scam attempt to get the OP's postcards.  🤣

[nyr134]

@terrlloy-0 : probably best to block that person before you relist - in case there is a ‘plan b’ to get those postcards.