ebay scam or not?

[WCZ]

I'm selling surpluss hvac equipment on ebay, there's 10 of them availible at around £200

I recieved a message from a buyer firstly saying can we ship to lithuania - I originally said no but now he's saying he would like to buy all 10 so I said okay

then he is asking to pay via bank transfer and he'll arrange for a courrier himself

he has also sent an 'invoice' which he'd like me to fill out

screams like a scam - just wondering what the actual scam is?

[MattsCar]

Yep, it is a scam. I don't know how, but the fact that he is arranging payment outside of eBay, without paying by PayPal which offers buyer protection, suggests something is odd.

Maybe he has access to someone elses bank account which they don't know about.

Block him.

[BrownEaredDog]

Sounds a bit dodgy.

As mentioned above, block (and maybe report) the user.

[poo at Paul's]

Not so sure, a mate sells surplus and end of life machinery etc on ebay, and loads of it heads to Eastern Europe.

I'd be inclined to get payment via ebay and say that you will not deliver but they can collect. But depends on the buyer, do they have decent feedback etc, established account or brand new?

[DavePanda]

Only thing that sounds a bit sus is wanting to pay via bank transfer, no problem organising a courier, the "invoice" would be for customs, although they're paying for the shipping etc it's technically up the shipper (you) to provide customs invoices.

[Skyedriver]

Just received this one for a car the buyer hasn't seen.

Ok great. I'm okay with the price and present condition, I believe that I won't be disappointed in buying it from you, what is the postcode for the pick upand do you have an account with paypal to receive payment? so i can proceed with the payment and to set up collection time asap if you don't have an account with PayPal, it's pretty easy, safe and secured to open one.Just log on to www.paypal.co.uk it takes a few minutes to set up one

Another scam I assume

[vikingaero]

Skyedriver said:

Just received this one for a car the buyer hasn't seen.

Ok great. I'm okay with the price and present condition, I believe that I won't be disappointed in buying it from you, what is the postcode for the pick upand do you have an account with paypal to receive payment? so i can proceed with the payment and to set up collection time asap if you don't have an account with PayPal, it's pretty easy, safe and secured to open one.Just log on to www.paypal.co.uk it takes a few minutes to set up one

Another scam I assume

The scammer will use a hacked account and fund it with a stolen credit/debit card. When the banks/PayPal realise the transactions will be reversed. You will be carless and "owe" PayPal money which they will try to take from your linked bank account/card. Owing PayPal isn't a problem as they don't take people to Court and have their ruthless debt collectors who are as scary as a kitten.

[Skyedriver]

vikingaero said:

The scammer will use a hacked account and fund it with a stolen credit/debit card. When the banks/PayPal realise the transactions will be reversed. You will be carless and "owe" PayPal money which they will try to take from your linked bank account/card. Owing PayPal isn't a problem as they don't take people to Court and have their ruthless debt collectors who are as scary as a kitten.

Thanks for explaining. I've stopped communication with the guy but he has a good collection of extra photos and details of the car.

[WCZ]

poo at Paul's said:

Not so sure, a mate sells surplus and end of life machinery etc on ebay, and loads of it heads to Eastern Europe.

I'd be inclined to get payment via ebay and say that you will not deliver but they can collect. But depends on the buyer, do they have decent feedback etc, established account or brand new?

he went completely silent after I said to him 'collection 48 hours after cleared funds' so I presume it's a scam of some type

[Pixelpeep Electric]

The moment you hear 'courier', block the email address and move on.

[WCZ]

now he's bank transfered the money (coming from an account in his name too) and it's been cleared for 48 hours, still can't see where the scam is coming or whether it's a legitimate purchase as the units are a good price

[WCZ]

courrier collected it and it turned out not to be a scam, strange world! guess it was just a good price and he genuinely wanted to avoid all ebay and paypal fees