It's happening again. eBay buyer trying to scam me for $900+

[Captante]

I've also recently bought a lot of gaming stuff from eBay and haven't had a problem with any of them

I'm semi-ashamed to say I snagged my 3080 FE from a local ebay seller/scalper before prices really went through the roof.

Considering I've seen them going for $1000 + MORE than I paid I must admit I've seriously considered flipping it!

 

[Ichinisan]

Is it possible that the trend of international buyers paying more, is because a large % of them are scammers requesting refunds later?

If you have theft and loss protection, isn't that exactly what this is? Why would it need to be transferable if the sales agreement is allegedly not met so it it is still your phone and your loss?

I would never sell anything of value to a buyer outside the continental US or new account.

Unfortunately, removing my iCloud account from the phone also nullifies my theft + loss protection.

 

[CZroe]

I recently sold some medium-value gaming items on eBay and didn't have a problem, but I was concerned about one of them.

I listed a New 3DS XL (SNES edition) with custom firmware, and this was explicitly stated in the description. Some guy from Canada won the auction and I mailed it to him. When he received it nearly a month ago, I got the following message:

Good afternoon,
I picked up your package today, everything looks great and I look forward to using my system.
However, in attempt to access the store, the software was updated, and I receive an error message (“Failed to apply 1 FIRM patch(es)”) every time I attempt to boot up the DS.
I’m not very familiar with modding/cracking devices so I was hoping you could direct me towards a solution. From what I understand, I need to update the modding software so that it’s no longer bricked? Again, I don’t really know what I’m talking about or how to resolve this issue.

Thank you in advance.

I debated whether to ignore him or reply, but I ended up telling him that he needs to just update a couple of files on the SD card, and I sent a link to the GBAtemp forums where this problem is discussed. He hasn't messaged me back, nor has he filed a refund or left feedback, so I think I'm in the clear. This guy just didn't know what he was really buying.

At the same time, I also sold an NES PowerPak and SNES PowerPak to some dude. That went smoothly, though, and he left positive feedback.

I've also recently bought a lot of gaming stuff from eBay and haven't had a problem with any of them.

If you are into stuff like softmodded 3DS then perhaps you’d be interested in my current wares:

ODEs, true digital HDMI mods, flash carts, etc for retro consoles. Just buttoned up a DCHDMI/DCDigital with GDEMU before making this post. Preeminent installer of UltraHDMI too.

This has the potential to be a legendary thread if eBay really goes after this guy.

I’ve had my eBay account since 2006 I think, 200+ positive feedback probably evenly split between buying and selling. Surprisingly no/minimal problems so far although lately I’ve been choosing to use forums and local methods whenever possible. I did have one lady return an item as defective (nav computer that drives the infotainment screen for an old car) that I know was in working order. Luckily she packed carefully and returned, it still worked fine in my car when I received, and I resold again for $10 extra to cover lost shipping charges .. new buyer seems happy. I filed a report bitching about it and how I was forced to pay her return shipping, don’t think they cared.

Had a scare with one of my UltraHDMIs a few years back when someone didn’t understand that the self test throws errors any time the screen goes white, black, or the audio goes silent. It literally says on the self test screen that the game must display audio and video for valid self test results but he thought I was just trying to avoid dealing with an intermittent error. I recall he was testing with the Diddy Kong Racing intro and just didn’t believe me when I said it was caused by the white/black scene transitions since the error lags what you see on screen by over a second. There is no way for the UltraHDMI board to distinguish all white from a high short or all black/silent from a short to ground since the APU/GPU literally ties those digital logic outputs to one or the other in those conditions.

He was very threatening but also very apologetic when he realized it was actually working perfectly.

You guys got me paranoid. I sold a couple watches this year, a phone case, something else and I just sold a second Japanese kitchen knife last week. This time I took photos of it going into the packaging, the package, and then the package with the mailing label on it. I was even going to have the postman pose for a picture holding my box for the camera!

But all my buyers had good feedback, so all is well.

Some post offices have objected to me taking pictures after I set a package on their counter. I still do it though.

 

[CZroe]

Latest Mark Rober pranking scammers video shows how some scammers move their stuff around internationally:

Wonder if our scammer is using mules and Airbnbs after the forwarding service like those guys.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Latest Mark Rober pranking scammers video shows how some scammers move their stuff around internationally:

Wonder if our scammer is using mules and Airbnbs after the forwarding service like those guys.

Doubt it.

I watched it today too. Old people are just technologically retarded.

I honestly counted like 15 red flags that any sensible halfway intelligent person would have easily seen.

 

[mindless1]

^ Seems like an unfair stereotype unless someone is old enough to be senile, every other day on the news I see some report of another way younger people were scammed and sent store gift cards as payment to supposed IRS/electric company/etc. scammers.

Then again I've no idea how many seniors fell victim to same but weren't as arrogant about it and just wanted to keep a low profile instead of advertising themselves as an idiot/target to the entire viewing area.

 

[paperfist]

Latest Mark Rober pranking scammers video shows how some scammers move their stuff around internationally:

Wonder if our scammer is using mules and Airbnbs after the forwarding service like those guys.

Wow that's such messed up bleep. Mr. Mark Rober is a marked man from the Indian mob I'm curious how he's able to get FedEx to send packages back.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

^ Seems like an unfair stereotype unless someone is old enough to be senile, every other day on the news I see some report of another way younger people were scammed and sent store gift cards as payment to supposed IRS/electric company/etc. scammers.

Then again I've no idea how many seniors fell victim to same but weren't as arrogant about it and just wanted to keep a low profile instead of advertising themselves as an idiot/target to the entire viewing area.

He literally cites it in the video above @ 20:29




Majority of young people don't even know how to operate a phone-call let alone talk on it with some guy in India while they go to the store heh.

Now if they start being able to scam via text message, maybe you can get younger people to fall for it more often.


Also young people just don't operate around laptops/desktops as much - where in this case the scammers get them to install remote desktop services.

 

[Linux23]

Following this thread. Please keep us apprised of the situation.

 

[MrSquished]

I hope they catch the fuckers. Scammers are horrible, and especially those that target the elderly. I mean seriously. People suck.

 

[Ichinisan]

Following this thread. Please keep us apprised of the situation.

eBay decided in my favor. However, I wasted days of productivity documenting proof of the buyer's dishonesty. My time was worth far FAR more than that. It feels like a massive loss. The guy tried to scam us during a major life crisis while a lot of other people are depending on me.

We've had a series of other...crises(?)...crisises(?) since then. Mostly compounding problems after an EF-4 tornado damaged the home we were renting. We are displaced and our shared collection is split between 5+ different locations. Now the landlord is planning to sell the home when repairs are complete, so we will not be able to go back there. Our stuff is at-risk so we really need to sell it all ASAP. We need to list thousands of items.

My twin brother's car was crushed by a tree, which caused lots of time + transportation difficulties. Retrieving our items to take photos and list them has been incredibly difficult and slow. We also have other obligations and priorities we need to work on.

Now I believe another buyer attempted an extremely similar scam against me.

EBAY ITEM:
133769687941

SELLER:
cyberzer0
(account shared with my twin brother since 1999)

BUYER:
eos-9447

We started off this round of eBay auctions by selling some sealed Gamecube games. As usual, they were listed with starting prices of $0.01

It was a difficult start. Due to an issue with a draft template, a lot of games were initially listed with a buy-now price of $200. Immediately after listing the first handful, I started trying to fix the buy-now prices. Each time I tried to revise and click save, the item would be purchased and the revision would fail to apply. One guy bought two games for a total of $400. The most recently sold examples would have been $1,000! He almost bought a third game worth ~$1,000 by itself. Thankfully someone bid $0.01 just in time to make the buy-now option disappear. The guy who bought those first two (and at least two other users) messaged me to say he was trying to buy that third item for $200 when the option disappeared. Ultimately he won the auction for that third game for $731.21 when bidding ended. Anyway, it's basically a "fire sale" and I need to move things fast, so I can't complain about selling things way under market value. I'm glad I was able to help another person who will take care of these items. It helps me too.

Then an eBay user from South Korea purchased a sealed copy of Animal Crossing. Similar to the scammer in my OP, this eBay account was also just days old. He sent a message attempting to explain an aberration with his feedback / purchase history; assuring me that he was purchasing the item and would not cancel it. I purchased the shipping label via eBay. The address he provided to eBay was there automatically. The destination appears to be a Korean package forwarding service. Just like the similar case from February, the forwarding service has locations in New Jersey and Delaware. There's some funny business with the shipping address. The final tracking event on the USPS web site shows a full delivery address that is slightly different from the address I shipped to -- but apparently still the same building. USPS tracking usually does not reveal a destination address at all. After searching Google for "730 GRAND AVE UNIT 1L" I found a Korean site in the search results:

https://itsny.co.kr:442/help/info_delivery.asp

It seems a bit suspicious for a web site to be hosted using a non-standard port number (442). It's can sometimes be associated with a compromised web server hosting phishing sites or spambots, but maybe there's some other reason for it. Also the web page title and domain name refer to the service as "It's NY" and the in-page graphic calls it "Interbox." The previous scammer I dealt with used a service called "NY Box" (what's with "NY?"). In later communication with the buyer when he acknowledged the use of a forwarding service, he called it "Joypost." Using WayBack Machine I can see that both addresses are associated with itsny / Interbox / Joypost.

Without accusing him of anything, I feigned naivete and offered my assistance in figuring out what happened. Initially he did not disclose the use of a third-party package forwarding service until I asked questions. In fact the wording of his earlier message implied that he was supposed to receive the package directly. When it was obvious that I was assisting and investigating instead of offering a refund, he jumped to extreme-pressure threats. He basically said I am 100% responsible. I reminded him that I did not involve a third-party package forwarding service with some kind of address complication. I simply sent the package to the address that was provided to me. I continued to offer my assistance and advised that hostility is unwarranted.

I believe he realized I was covering my bases and I was not going to make it easy for him to scam me. Maybe he took a closer look at some of my messages in which I mentioned dealing with a similar incident in February+March where eBay decided in my favor. He sent some messages along the lines of: "Ah! They found the package and everything is fine now." Rather than discarding this brand new eBay account, I believe he will try to use our transaction and feedback to make his account seem more legitimate and then he would scam someone else for a similar item. If that happens I hope the victim will search Google for his eBay user name ("eos-9447") and find this post. There's a remote possibility he was legitimate, but I believe it's extremely unlikely. Considering the circumstances I believe scrutiny is warranted, so there's no good reason to take offense.

 

[YuliApp]

In europe was eBay dead like 3 years ago. The scam to real buyers were 2:1 and there was no working way to avoid scams and negative feedback.

Shop i know in Germany which used eBay as main selling platform got bancrupt because of that.

As much as i hate to say it, only way which works for me now is facebook marketplace (and avoiding buying something i will not use forever)

 

[Muse]

It's gotten so bad that I think anyone who sells on eBay anymore is just stupid and begging to get ripped off.

Yes, this kind of shit is probably not very common...but I suspect it happens way more often than eBay wants people to know.

There are so many sellers on ebay and they aren't all gluttons for punishment. I used to sell some, not really as a significant source of income, just a way to get rid of some of my stuff that I knew would be of value to others and get some money for it. Last time I put up an item there were no takers and I just stopped selling. But I buy a lot, seldom get burned. But as a buyer, yeah, ebay has your back (although the way they do it can be nasty, slow and opaque). I'm always honest, but even so it can be aggravating.

I think I pick decent sellers. But yeah, you can get burned. Still, I find it interesting to check out ebay, I do it alot. Much of the time you can get the same thing cheaper off Amazon, and it's usually a lot safer doing that too.

The funniest stuff is the real cheap stuff from Asia that takes 6+ weeks. I don't remember being scammed doing that.

What's really hysterical is the listings when they want 10 or 20 times as much for an item as other sellers. What are they thinking?

 

[pmv]

There are so many sellers on ebay and they aren't all gluttons for punishment. I used to sell some, not really as a significant source of income, just a way to get rid of some of my stuff that I knew would be of value to others and get some money for it. Last time I put up an item there were no takers and I just stopped selling. But I buy a lot, seldom get burned. But as a buyer, yeah, ebay has your back (although the way they do it can be nasty, slow and opaque). I'm always honest, but even so it can be aggravating.

I think I pick decent sellers. But yeah, you can get burned. Still, I find it interesting to check out ebay, I do it alot. Much of the time you can get the same thing cheaper off Amazon, and it's usually a lot safer doing that too.

The funniest stuff is the real cheap stuff from Asia that takes 6+ weeks. I don't remember being scammed doing that.

What's really hysterical is the listings when they want 10 or 20 times as much for an item as other sellers. What are they thinking?

I can't be bothered with it any more (for selling). For low-value things the postage costs and fees make it pointless, even a guaranteed loss, while for high-value things the anxiety due to the risk of being ripped-off by a scam (and also the anxiety about just getting something wrong about the process yourself, even with an honest buyer) makes it not worth it.

There's like a very narrow range of things that one might successfully sell on there (things that are simple to test that they work, low-value, easy-and-cheap-to-post) and I've sold all those sort of items that I had surplus. Lots of things I just give to charity shops instead (I can quell that pang of pain at the 'waste' of not getting any money for it by telling myself I'm doing good by donating to charity!).

 

[Muse]

I can't be bothered with it any more (for selling). For low-value things the postage costs and fees make it pointless, even a guaranteed loss, while for high-value things the anxiety due to the risk of being ripped-off by a scam (and also the anxiety about just getting something wrong about the process yourself, even with an honest buyer) makes it not worth it.

There's like a very narrow range of things that one might successfully sell on there (things that are simple to test that they work, low-value, easy-and-cheap-to-post) and I've sold all those sort of items that I had surplus. Lots of things I just give to charity shops instead (I can quell that pang of pain at the 'waste' of not getting any money for it by telling myself I'm doing good by donating to charity!).

Thanks for confirming my thoughts and feelings about ebay selling. Your post here pretty much sums up my experience and thinking. Even so, there's a lot of ebay sellers and I have to wonder where they're coming from when I order from them. By and large I do very well. I figure a great many do it for supplemental income, not their major source. I just received what seem to be great hose end shut off valves at a good price from someone who evidently runs a Shell gas station!

 

[pmv]

Thanks for confirming my thoughts and feelings about ebay selling. Your post here pretty much sums up my experience and thinking. Even so, there's a lot of ebay sellers and I have to wonder where they're coming from when I order from them. By and large I do very well. I figure a great many do it for supplemental income, not their major source. I just received what seem to be great hose end shut off valves at a good price from someone who evidently runs a Shell gas station!

Well an increasing proportion of them seem to be Chinese-based manufacturers of low-value items direct selling their products (some of it bad-quality or outright fake stuff e.g. memory cards, some of it perfectly OK for what it is - though I do wonder about the safety of some of the electrical things like chargers). I wonder if that's what Ebay now looks to to support the site?
For non-China-based sellers, it seems some large ones have deals with courier companies that make it economical for them to sell things that a private seller would make a loss on. The small private individual seller really doesn't seem to be something that Ebay cares about any more.