Bizzarre eBay buyer - Scam?

[sicasey]

I started an online auction on eBay for an Apple watch.

After an hour of it being up I get the expected - "how much to buy it now" malarkey, except this one chap has me a bit confused and unsure if it was a scam and if so how it would have gone down..

Buyer - "How much are you willing to sell it including postage via Royal Mail Next Day Delivery to ****?

Me - "Make me a sensible offer"

Seller - "I will offering £220 and also you are shipping to United Kingdom, Conwy ****. kindly get back to me with your PayPal email address so i can make the payment or you can send PayPal money request to my email : (@outlook.com ) Thanks @outlook.com"

Me - "Hi, OK I am prepared to end it early.

I'll send you the pay pal request now.

Thanks."

Seller - "Hello,

Just to let you know that i have successfully sent out the payment for the item, and i believe you should have receive update from PayPal..Kindly check your email for payment confirmation from PayPal and also check for the postage address on the confirmation email that was sent to you by Paypal.

Thanks"

Me - "Hello, the PayPal payment request to you is still showing as pending?"

Seller - "Kindly check your email for payment confirmation from PayPal and also check for the postage address on the confirmation email that was sent to you by Paypal. Thanks"

Me - "Hi, no payment has been received and it states @outlook. com hasn't paid yet.

I'd suggest contacting PayPal if you are having issues."

And then silence. Was this some kind of potential scam? He seemed fairly adamant, but not pushy, that he had sent payment.

If I had of ending up sending the watch, following Pay Pal payment, and sent it tracked/recorded I couldn't have been scammed shirley?

Idiot or scammer?

Edited by sicasey on Sunday 21st August 09:37

[wjb]

Scam, stupid people don't write like that.

[sicasey]

wjb said:

Scam, stupid people don't write like that.

That's what I thought but how could this have turned into a scam.

If he sent me the money via PayPal then great. I then send the item RM Tracked and I have proof of delivery so no come back from a PayPal dispute attempt?

[Spanna]

It's to catch stupid people out. They get your email address and say payment has been sent and then send a faked PayPal email to your email address which appears to be a notification of payment received.

Alwyas log into your PayPal account to look at addresses and payment confirmation, emails are not so reliable.

[Toaster Pilot]

Stolen credit card / PayPal account probably

Only end early if they're sitting in front of you with cash.

[sicasey]

Spanna said:

It's to catch stupid people out. They get your email address and say payment has been sent and then send a faked PayPal email to your email address which appears to be a notification of payment received.

Alwyas log into your PayPal account to look at addresses and payment confirmation, emails are not so reliable.

Thats it! Well done that man.

My PayPal log in is for an old hotmail account I don't use any more.

I'v just logged in and sure enough there's a fake email confirming payment from him but nothing in my account.

[Spare tyre]

The watches go for decent money on gumtree, I've been looking to buy one for awhile on there

Gumtree is better, cash on collection, much safer

[sicasey]

So.. in the fake PayPal email is the full address of a woman in Conwy, Wales for shipping.

Would she be in on this or is this woman likely to be an innocent person caught up in this guys scam?

[sicasey]

Spare tyre said:

The watches go for decent money on gumtree, I've been looking to buy one for awhile on there

Gumtree is better, cash on collection, much safer

I have an immaculate 42mm Sport with two tan leather straps for sale if you're interested

[eltax91]

sicasey said:

So.. in the fake PayPal email is the full address of a woman in Conwy, Wales for shipping.

Would she be in on this or is this woman likely to be an innocent person caught up in this guys scam?

He will just have the local courier nobbled for that location, where he bungs him £50 for any deliveries to that address. Note he was very specific it had to be royal mail....

At least that's what the fraud squad told me when the scammers skimmed my card and ordered £13k of goods last year, all from companies that happen to routinely use CityLink

[shep1001]

sicasey said:

So.. in the fake PayPal email is the full address of a woman in Conwy, Wales for shipping.

Would she be in on this or is this woman likely to be an innocent person caught up in this guys scam?

Send a picture of the watch packaged up in a box that would look like you sent the real thing. Worth a couple of quid to have a laugh. Would also help prove if Royal Mail postie is on on it.......

[sicasey]

shep1001 said:

Send a picture of the watch packaged up in a box that would look like you sent the real thing. Worth a couple of quid to have a laugh. Would also help prove if Royal Mail postie is on on it.......

[sicasey]

The address he has given in Conwy, Wales is only about an hour from where I live.

It's very tempting to send a box of pebbles out tomorrow and sit outside the address to see what goes down on Tuesday morning.

Edited by sicasey on Sunday 21st August 11:09

[jonamv8]

Do it!!! Film it

[BRISTOL86]

Surely no one would be daft enough to send expensive goods like that out before logging into the PayPal account to see that the funds are there!

[sicasey]

BRISTOL86 said:

Surely no one would be daft enough to send expensive goods like that out before logging into the PayPal account to see that the funds are there!

I have it on good authority that there are a lot of stupid people out there.

[Spare tyre]

sicasey said:

I have it on good authority that there are a lot of stupid people out there.

My dad is a bright guy, gave financial advice for a living. He's been retired for 10 years, I suspect that one day this sort of thing will catch him out. I think for the older generation it's hard to determine where different systems / apps etc meet and end

It's easy to forget that not everyone understands it all

Nearly every time I go to my outlaws they have the pc on ready and waiting for me to read the emails from hsbc and PayPal about their accounts. They don't have accounts with these companies and even when you explain why / how the scam works they still don't really understand and think it's real

[BRISTOL86]

sicasey said:

I have it on good authority that there are a lot of stupid people out there.

Agreed and I get how people can be caught unawares by cleverly designed scams etc - but you would think anyone competent enough to negotiate setting up an eBay account, a PayPal account, listing things on eBay etc would have the smarts to ensure they have received the money for the expensive tech goods that they are selling before they send it away!

[sicasey]

I'm surprised that there aren't more scammers on eBay simply selling things that they don't have.

For example; blasting eBay listings with x4 <insert high end tech> at a reasonable price, fake photos etc, cashing in then disappearing.

I don't know if eBay is a popular as it used to be but it sure seems like a minefield of either being scammed or bent over for sellers fees and / or disputes.

Edited by sicasey on Sunday 21st August 12:13

[Evolved]

I would never entertain PayPal payments for items of value nowadays. Always cash on collection only as they'll only open a dispute once they receive anyway.