how to tell if you are being scammed online

[pontifex]

Why is it that every other day we have people coming on here asking if this or that is a scam? its always the same exact scam too. are you people really that stupid or are you just blinded by greed that you want to get your money that badly?

the mods should sticky this thread....

How to tell if you're being scammed - I would say these are true 99% of the time:

1 - The word Nigeria appears in the email.

2 - The buyer says he lives in place A but is in place B on business/vacation/etc.

3 - The buyer is purchasing your item for a family member (usually son or daughter) who is in college in another country (usually Nigeria - see item #1)

4 - The buyer is willing to pay more than your asking price or more than the winning bid.

5 - The buyer will pay for shipping via his FedEx/UPS account

6 - The buyer wants to pay with some form of payment other than the accepted payment methods you listed or are allowed by Ebay.

7 - The buyer usually has really bad grammar.

8 - The buyer makes a point to tell you he needs the item shipped ASAP (usually multiple times).


Feel free to add on to this.

 

[purbeast0]

if the buyer is paying with a money order, it's always a USPS postal order. (never from 7-11 or anything)

 

[jhayx7]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
if the buyer is paying with a money order, it's always a USPS postal order. (never from 7-11 or anything)

Whats wrong with that? Every time I send a money order it is from USPS....

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: jhayx7

Originally posted by: purbeast0
if the buyer is paying with a money order, it's always a USPS postal order. (never from 7-11 or anything)

Whats wrong with that? Every time I send a money order it is from USPS....

i think thats the point, only accept usps MOs, not from 7-11 or from the grocery store.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: jhayx7

Originally posted by: purbeast0
if the buyer is paying with a money order, it's always a USPS postal order. (never from 7-11 or anything)

Whats wrong with that? Every time I send a money order it is from USPS....

I'm just saying in the scam, when they use money orders, it's ALWAYS a USPS money order.

I'm not saying every person who uses a USPS MO is a scammer ... it's like in addition to the rest.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Text

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: jhayx7

Originally posted by: purbeast0
if the buyer is paying with a money order, it's always a USPS postal order. (never from 7-11 or anything)

Whats wrong with that? Every time I send a money order it is from USPS....

i think thats the point, only accept usps MOs, not from 7-11 or from the grocery store.

No it's the opposite. On all of the scam emails I've seen they always use USPS MO because I guess they are the most commonly accepted and they are the easiest for them to forge.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: LoKe
Text

lol, missed that one. yeah, that pretty much works. works for anythign really.

 

[Born2bwire]

I have received fraudulent USPS MO's before and as well I've received other fake MO's that were from small regional banks (supposedly, I never bothered to check if they existed).

 

[Kyanzes]

- You see an asterisk with a lot of whitespace next to it in the description
- The name "BigCoolJesus" appears anywhere on the auction page

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: Kyanzes
- The name "BigCoolJesus" appears anywhere on the auction page

BCJ is a scammer?

 

[Kyanzes]

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: Kyanzes
- The name "BigCoolJesus" appears anywhere on the auction page

BCJ is a scammer?

You decide:

link

If you ask me, there's a fair chance. Unless he did it only to get some attention from the others.

 

[imported_LoKe]

That's the kid I turned in for cheating.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: pontifex
Why is it that every other day we have people coming on here asking if this or that is a scam? its always the same exact scam too. are you people really that stupid or are you just blinded by greed that you want to get your money that badly?

the mods should sticky this thread....

How to tell if you're being scammed - I would say these are true 99% of the time:

1 - The word Nigeria appears in the email.

2 - The buyer says he lives in place A but is in place B on business/vacation/etc.

3 - The buyer is purchasing your item for a family member (usually son or daughter) who is in college in another country (usually Nigeria - see item #1)

4 - The buyer is willing to pay more than your asking price or more than the winning bid.

5 - The buyer will pay for shipping via his FedEx/UPS account

6 - The buyer wants to pay with some form of payment other than the accepted payment methods you listed or are allowed by Ebay.

7 - The buyer usually has really bad grammar.

8 - The buyer makes a point to tell you he needs the item shipped ASAP (usually multiple times).


Feel free to add on to this.

9. If you have to ask if it's a scam, it is.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: dainthomas
9. If you have to ask if it's a scam, it is.

Originally posted by: LoKe
Text

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: LoKe
That's the kid I turned in for cheating.

Ahahahah, vindication at last. You were just ahead of your time Loke.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Kyanzes

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: Kyanzes
- The name "BigCoolJesus" appears anywhere on the auction page

BCJ is a scammer?

You decide:

link

If you ask me, there's a fair chance. Unless he did it only to get some attention from the others.

wow, how did i miss the rest of that thread? what a fvcking piece of sh!t.

although i'm rather confused about ATOT's stance on the issue. it seems rather hypocritical that they say "ratting" out this guy is ok but "ratting" out people on other things isn't

 

[imported_LoKe]

although i'm rather confused about ATOT's stance on the issue. it seems rather hypocritical that they say "ratting" out this guy is ok but "ratting" out people on other things isn't

For the most part, they'll agree with the majority and go with that. Nothing new or unexpected, so it's best to make your own mind up on the situation. Then there's victimless crime. When I turned him in, he was cheating, but it wasn't directly affecting anyone else. However, in this situation, he's screwing other people out of their money.

At least I know I'm a decent judge of character...

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: LoKe

although i'm rather confused about ATOT's stance on the issue. it seems rather hypocritical that they say "ratting" out this guy is ok but "ratting" out people on other things isn't

For the most part, they'll agree with the majority and go with that. Nothing new or unexpected, so it's best to make your own mind up on the situation. Then there's victimless crime. When I turned him in, he was cheating, but it wasn't directly affecting anyone else. However, in this situation, he's screwing other people out of their money.

At least I know I'm a decent judge of character...

thats debatable...

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: LoKe

although i'm rather confused about ATOT's stance on the issue. it seems rather hypocritical that they say "ratting" out this guy is ok but "ratting" out people on other things isn't

For the most part, they'll agree with the majority and go with that. Nothing new or unexpected, so it's best to make your own mind up on the situation. Then there's victimless crime. When I turned him in, he was cheating, but it wasn't directly affecting anyone else. However, in this situation, he's screwing other people out of their money.

At least I know I'm a decent judge of character...

thats debatable...

I'm tired of trying to debate that point. I gave my arguments and few people agreed. Though, I do give kudos to those who defended me, especially after seeing how AT felt.

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: LoKe

although i'm rather confused about ATOT's stance on the issue. it seems rather hypocritical that they say "ratting" out this guy is ok but "ratting" out people on other things isn't

For the most part, they'll agree with the majority and go with that. Nothing new or unexpected, so it's best to make your own mind up on the situation. Then there's victimless crime. When I turned him in, he was cheating, but it wasn't directly affecting anyone else. However, in this situation, he's screwing other people out of their money.

At least I know I'm a decent judge of character...

thats debatable...

I'm tired of trying to debate that point. I gave my arguments and few people agreed. Though, I do give kudos to those who defended me, especially after seeing how AT felt.

I am pretty sure he is saying that cheating not affecting anyone else is debatable, not your judge of character.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: Mike
I am pretty sure he is saying that cheating not affecting anyone else is debatable, not your judge of character.

Yeah, and I tried explaining that and only a few people agreed.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: Mike
I am pretty sure he is saying that cheating not affecting anyone else is debatable, not your judge of character.

Yeah, and I tried explaining that and only a few people agreed.

for the record, i wasn't necessarily singling you out, loke. there have been other threads to the same effect as yours recently also.

 

[imported_Mike]

Oh, well I think that is irrelavent. He is just saying you could make a case for either side, not that you're completely wrong.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: Mike
I am pretty sure he is saying that cheating not affecting anyone else is debatable, not your judge of character.

Yeah, and I tried explaining that and only a few people agreed.

Well, ATOT is a pretty poor moral compass....especially considering how massive the bandwagon effect is here. Also, people tend to get noisier when they disagree than agree, so getting flamed isn't in and of itself indicative that the majority of ATOT disagrees.


You should change your avatar back, BTW.