Scam

[stevemurill_3]

Hi I'm new to the selling thing and I think this is a scam I was selling a I love Lucy doll for 31.99 and someone offered 33 and messaged me and said Hello how are you doing, i will like you to accept my offer so that i can make payment for the item asap and you should text me on blank thanks then they said it was a gift for their niece and asked if I would put a 300  steam wallet gift card and they will put 30 for shipping their Ebay said their location is Singapore and they said their niece lives in the states I'm nervous 

[this*old*attic · Accepted solution]

Yep, scam.

Gift card, broken English, offer more than item amount.....

[stevemurill_3]

Thanks so much

[this*old*attic]

You’re welcome.

 It used to be the Nigerian scam (they’d overpay with some convoluted story and ask you to wire them back the difference).

Now gift cards are the hot new scam. The Expedia website got spoofed just this week and the scammers actually convinced a number of people that their payment processing was down so buy gift cards and call in the numbers.

Earlier this year my school principal’s email got spoofed and “she” sent out emails asking people to buy ITunes gift card, scratch off the cover, and send “her” the codes - I forget what the spiel was.

It’s so sad people fall for this stuff.

[cadbury0007]

This is a scam, scam, scam.  Good for you that you decided to ask first before being scammed.   A gift card is something YOU buy to give to a person as a gift.  Scammers always try to get you to fall for the gift card scam of offering you more than you ask.  They count on the victim counting his/her chickens before they've hatched.  See the added photo of a post from the FTC concerning scammers.  To learn more about how this is done, type "gift card scams" into a google search and read a few of the horror stories of people who lost BIG.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@stevemurill_3 wrote:

Hi I'm new to the selling thing and I think this is a scam I was selling a I love Lucy doll for 31.99 and someone offered 33 and messaged me and said Hello how are you doing, i will like you to accept my offer so that i can make payment for the item asap and you should text me on blank thanks then they said it was a gift for their niece and asked if I would put a 300  steam wallet gift card and they will put 30 for shipping their Ebay said their location is Singapore and they said their niece lives in the states I'm nervous 

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@stevemurill_3  Your instincts do you credit. This is a SCAM. I would decline the request and place this person on your Blocked Buyer list. Oh, I see the buyer bought the item. (Did he ask for the gift card nonsense before or after you accepted his offer?) Anyway, this buyer will slink back into the shadows and is unlikely to complete the sale by remitting payment. If no payment is received in your PayPal within 2 days, open an Unpaid Item Dispute. Then after 4 days you can close the dispute and eBay will return your Final Value fees. The buyer then receives a strike on his account and he will be unable to leave any feedback. 

If you receive an official-looking message from eBay or PayPal saying he has paid and to ship the item, do not click on any links in such a communication. It will be a fraudulent message. Always check your PayPal prior to shipping any item. Go through your browser directly to PP to see if payments are there. 

So sorry this had to happen to you. So glad you came here for clarification. Please come back with any concern. Someone is always here to help.

[classic_luxe]

Please, also use the "Report Buyer" feature so that you may help someone else from being scammed in the future.

[this*old*attic]

True, could even be a hijacked account and the inactive user has no clue.

[apabh18]

Yes this is a scam. I too have experienced this. One buyer contacted me with an offer and dropped his/her number to text back as the buyer had some inquiries regarding the item. I did text back asking about the inquiry and said that I had made an counter offer as the price offered was low. The buyer agreed and said will add extra and make an PayPal transaction. I agreed for that. Then the buyer requested like as this item was being sent as a gift to the cousin requested me to add steam wallet cards for $300 after the successful payment. I said no I can't do that I can only courier the item listed and no additional thing in the package. After that I never received any messages from that con buyer. So in my opinion and experience this is 💯% scam and never make agree to send any extra stuff apart from what's been listed