fake buyer -

[steamboatshoppe]

watch out for 

Correspondence with  from eBay.

He's a scammer, not really trying to buy the book my friend had posted for sale.

His text number is 

Me:

Hi - I’m texting you about the book [. . .]. What’s your question?

him:

Oh yeah 

Thanks for getting back to me 

What is the shipping cost to Florida Tampa?

Me:

The shipping is included.

We need your shipping address.

him:

Can you use zipcode?

My zipcode is 33647

Me:

we need your whole address to mail the book

him:

**** 33647

Me:

Great. You know, [my friend] was friends with the author's mother since high school. Then remained friends with the author until her passing. We will mail the book to you Tuesday or Wednesday. Then you can let me know when it reaches you.

We will address it to user id, or do you think we should include your last name too?

him:

Thanks. I would love to have it mailed to my cousin in Florida as  birthday 🎁 , please can you get a google play card of $300 inside the package before you ship it, would appreciate you assisting with this , I will add $300 to your payment for the google play card and add extra $30 for gas and 30$ for stress... 

Me:

We are not the most techie people around. What's a Google Play card?

him:

Oh it a gift card which you can get at any store near you like Walmart cvs or Walgreens etc 

Me:

this is getting kind of complicated

him:

Oh nope 

[ckimodog]

SCAM!!

[ittybitnot]

@steamboatshoppe 

Never reply to the "text me" scammers.  They won't pay.  They just want the gift card codes and will send you a fake payment notice.  

[southern*sweet*tea]

Read all of this:

All contact should always be through eBay messages. Do NOT, under any circumstances, give your phone number or email address to a buyer. Do not send a Paypal invoice, either. Your email address can be found on the invoice. Do not click any link sent from a buyer claiming to have payment issues. There is no legitimate link for buyers to fix a payment issue.

No legitimate buyer needs any of these things, and no legitimate buyer will give up their eBay buyer protection by paying off site. Your "buyer" wants your email or phone number so they can send you a very real looking, but very fake payment email. They are hoping you are too inexperienced to verify the payment. There will be NO PAYMENT, only a fake email saying you've been paid and you must ship immediately so the payment can be released. This is a lie. This person wants you to ship your item without being paid. They want to steal your stuff.  A gift card is just more icing on the scam cake.

Report the buyer https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/reporting-issue-buyer?id=4084 Use the reason "asking to complete a sale off eBay". This only works if they have made a purchase. If they have not yet purchased, scroll to the bottom of that page and use the "contact us" button on the left to contact eBay support. When the chat box pops up, click 'See more' the "request an agent". This bypasses the chat bot and gets you a real person. You also have the option of requesting a call back.

Add the buyer to your blocked bidder list: https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/BuyerBlock Ignore any further messages from them.

If they actually purchased, cancel the sale immediately using "problem with buyer's address". You don't have to let the unpaid item process play out. You can do that here: https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/cancelling-transaction?id=4136