Phishing...
Sigh...I am officially a victim of the Ebay machine. Well, not really a victim because I am wise to the ways of the scammer and will not let them win.
Two days ago I sold my water damaged iPhone on Ebay. It sold for $217.50 + 12.98 shipping.
I had it listed as a US only sale.
It was purchased by some fool who "lives" in the UK. Alright, I decided when he won the auction that I would allow that but would let him know that I would be adjusting the shipping price and would contact him the next day with the new shipping price (have to do it with confirmed receipt of product as well as sending it insured). I then received, rather than a response to my email, a "paypal" payment for $317.00 that was awaiting approval as soon as I provided a tracking number to provide that this item was shipped and asking -- no demanding is more the right word -- that I ship it TODAY to an address in Nigeria! Needless to say, I was suspicious - so I looked deeper and saw that it was very likely that the email I received was not really from paypal but a false email to make me BELIEVE that the money was waiting (and many $$ more than was due as you can see - even shipping to Nigeria wouldn't cost an extra $90!)
It was my belief that the buyer was hoping I woul be wooed by the extra $$ and send the phone out immediately. NOT! This girl is no Ebay newbie!
I emailed the buyer back and stated that I would not "rush" the shipment and would not ship until payment was received and in my account. Furthermore I stated that I was compromising in mailing it to the confirmed address in the UK but that I WOULD NOT send the phone to the Nigerian address indicated in the emails for shipment.
I received no personal emails back from the buyer but receieved this evening three threatening emails from "paypal". Still questioning their authenticity due to several pretty obvious things in my opinion - I forwarded these emails to paypal this evening. I received confirmation that they are phishing attempts and so I also forwarded all correspondence from this buyer to the ebay team who has also confirmed that the emails from them were false as well.
I sure hope that this buyer is cold BUSTED and shut down - of course it probably doesn't matter because they likely have several accounts that are doing the same thing and it seems that you have to be the bad guy to win with ebay these days. But maybe, just maybe the good guy will prevail this time and the bad guy will get the shaft!
We shall see!!!
Guess I am going to have to re-list the iPhone and see what happens this next go-round. Darn it...I was really excited about this sale! :(
Two days ago I sold my water damaged iPhone on Ebay. It sold for $217.50 + 12.98 shipping.
I had it listed as a US only sale.
It was purchased by some fool who "lives" in the UK. Alright, I decided when he won the auction that I would allow that but would let him know that I would be adjusting the shipping price and would contact him the next day with the new shipping price (have to do it with confirmed receipt of product as well as sending it insured). I then received, rather than a response to my email, a "paypal" payment for $317.00 that was awaiting approval as soon as I provided a tracking number to provide that this item was shipped and asking -- no demanding is more the right word -- that I ship it TODAY to an address in Nigeria! Needless to say, I was suspicious - so I looked deeper and saw that it was very likely that the email I received was not really from paypal but a false email to make me BELIEVE that the money was waiting (and many $$ more than was due as you can see - even shipping to Nigeria wouldn't cost an extra $90!)
It was my belief that the buyer was hoping I woul be wooed by the extra $$ and send the phone out immediately. NOT! This girl is no Ebay newbie!
I emailed the buyer back and stated that I would not "rush" the shipment and would not ship until payment was received and in my account. Furthermore I stated that I was compromising in mailing it to the confirmed address in the UK but that I WOULD NOT send the phone to the Nigerian address indicated in the emails for shipment.
I received no personal emails back from the buyer but receieved this evening three threatening emails from "paypal". Still questioning their authenticity due to several pretty obvious things in my opinion - I forwarded these emails to paypal this evening. I received confirmation that they are phishing attempts and so I also forwarded all correspondence from this buyer to the ebay team who has also confirmed that the emails from them were false as well.
I sure hope that this buyer is cold BUSTED and shut down - of course it probably doesn't matter because they likely have several accounts that are doing the same thing and it seems that you have to be the bad guy to win with ebay these days. But maybe, just maybe the good guy will prevail this time and the bad guy will get the shaft!
We shall see!!!
Guess I am going to have to re-list the iPhone and see what happens this next go-round. Darn it...I was really excited about this sale! :(
Comments
I sold my broken iPhone for about 200 bucks too, and promptly got the 3G version a week later.
I listed it again now and hope for better results this time. :/