What Kind of Scam is This?

[Zadillo]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help me figure something out here. I listed my laptop for sale on eBay, and unfortunately didn't put any restrictions on it (i.e. ship worldwide, no buyer restrictions). Someone used "Buy It Now", and their address said they were in Florida (although their listed phone number was in Plano, TX and caused a "fast busy" signal when I called it). Their eBay account seemed to be brand new (registered 7/27/06) and had 0 feedback.

Immediately after this they sent me the following e-mail:

Hello,
Compliment of the season to you. I am Mark Smith from FL USA,but Presently in London,England for a church seminal. I saw your product item below on ebay and i am really intrested in buying it for my Daugther as a surprise gift for her in school(university of lagos)at nigeria and i will handle the shipment expenses.i will send you my fedex account so you will not pay no money for shipping.
i will be sending you payment via PayPal,so kindly send me your PAYPAL EMAIL ADDRESS so as to immedaitely make out your payment.make sure you get the package ready for shipment,you can ship the item as soon as you recieve the paypal confirmation.Expecting your reply so as to immedaitely make out the payment.
Thanks,
Mark Smith
N.B....... If terms are acceptable.send me your PAYPAL EMAIL ADDRESS and i will make out your payment immedaitely and you will receive the payment comfirmation from paypal.

I told him I was suspicious of this (particular about having it sent to Nigeria), and he replied with:

Hello,
I am out of State for a Business Trip and there is Nobody in my House to receice the Item for me That is why i want the Item to be ship to her Direct to Nigeria,I will be Handling the Shipping myself to my Daughter there in nigeria With my Fedex Account Number so there is no Need of you Paying for the Shipping ok i will made out the Payment of the items via Paypal,So i will Need your PAYPAL ACCOUNT for me to send you Payment and i will like to Know if you want fedex to come Pick the item or you will drop it off at a Fedex outlet nearer to you there Pls let me Know so i can Send you the Fedex information and Address to Send the Packages Ok...Thanks.
Regards

Now, this sounds really fishy to me, but I'm not sure what to do at this point. I went ahead and relisted the auction (this time with some buyer restrictions, and only shipping to the US), but eBay apparently won't let me report it as an unpaid item for 7 days.

I am generally curious about what the scam here might be. Don't these kinds of Nigerian scams normally involve funky stuff like fake cashiers check, or things where they are supposed to wire you a large sum of money and then you are supposed to send a certain amount back?

If this guy were to actually do what he claims (that is, pay me via PayPal, and provide me with a FedEx account number to use for shipping), could that actually be legit? It sounds incredibly fishy to me, but I'm not sure how this scam might work. I'm inclined to not deal with it at all, but I'm wondering what would happen if I did. Is it possible for a scammer to pay you via PayPal and then somehow retrieve the money after the item has been shipped?

I'm also not totally sure how or if I can report this guy to eBay (I'm kind of nervous about him leaving me negative feedback or something).

If anyone has any information or ideas about this, I'd definitely be curious to hear them. Thanks!

-Zadillo

 

[Spineshank]

Looks fine to me.






/sarcasm

 

[imported_LoKe]

Q and /Q

 

[purbeast0]

its a scam.

 

[Zadillo]

Originally posted by: LoKe
Q and /Q

Thanks, sorry about that...

 

[Ayah]

That screams a scam to me. I wouldn't go through with it.

 

[Kyanzes]

That's not a scam... nahh...

You send the stuff to Nigeria and receive payment later. Please expect a long time delay. A very long time.

 

[ViviTheMage]

its fake.

paypal doesnt send confirmations, they only send money.

 

[Zadillo]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
its a scam.

Yeah, I already pretty much can tell it's a scam.... my question is more about how this particular scam works - that is, if the seller were to actually pay via PayPal, how would the scam be pulled off? I was thinking maybe they would dispute the PayPal transaction or retract it after they confirmed I had shipped the laptop or something, but I don't know how this kind of thing normally works.

-Zadillo

 

[Darthvoy]

it is a scam...everytime I list something on ebay I always put in big bold letters WILL NOT SHIP TO NIGERIA OR UK! DON'T ASK! and the scammers leave me alone

 

[Skiddex]

s to the cam

 

[Zadillo]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
its fake.

paypal doesnt send confirmations, they only send money.

Ahh, I see. So this guy would do something where I get an "official looking" e-mail confirming that some funds had been sent to me, and I'm supposed to fall for it (I guess this would not involve me taking the time to login to my PayPal account to verify if the funds were there) and send the laptop to him?

-Zadillo

 

[Zadillo]

I guess my other question is how do I report this to eBay (so his account gets suspended and I don't have to worry about any fallout like getting negative feedback)? I looked through their security center, but this kind of thing didn't even seem to come up.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: Zadillo
Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help me figure something out here. I listed my laptop for sale on eBay, and unfortunately didn't put any restrictions on it (i.e. ship worldwide, no buyer restrictions). Someone used "Buy It Now", and their address said they were in Florida (although their listed phone number was in Plano, TX and caused a "fast busy" signal when I called it). Their eBay account seemed to be brand new (registered 7/27/06) and had 0 feedback.

Immediately after this they sent me the following e-mail:
...

-Zadillo

Text

 

[Kyanzes]

Originally posted by: Zadillo

Originally posted by: purbeast0
its a scam.

Yeah, I already pretty much can tell it's a scam.... my question is more about how this particular scam works - that is, if the seller were to actually pay via PayPal, how would the scam be pulled off? I was thinking maybe they would dispute the PayPal transaction or retract it after they confirmed I had shipped the laptop or something, but I don't know how this kind of thing normally works.

-Zadillo

Guess they would withdraw the transfer stating the package never arrived. Just as you described. Then you can go to Nigeria and sue them. If you manage to find a courthouse in the dancing light of the main campfire.

I think this picture was taken near the municipal building. You can't miss it.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Hello, I donot see a Problem with anything in hims Offer. I said you should Probably Go For it as soon as Humanely possible...Ok Thanks.

 

[marvdmartian]

99% chance it's a scam. Tough to tell from the writing, since (unfortunately) quite a few high school grads wouldn't be able to write any better than he did, but I'd have a hard time trusting him.

Besides which, with his paying via paypal, all he has to do is wait until you ship, then claim to paypal that you were fraudulent in your dealings with him, and he'd get his money back. And you'd be stuck. Bad news.

Definitely stick with shipping to US only, or if you're going to ship overseas, make it a form of payment where they send you the money in a secure, non-refundable (once it's paid to you) form, and for exact amount only (since, as you pointed out, their old scam was to overpay and get some cash back as well).

Good luck!

 

[BlancoNino]

Tell him to send the money through paypal...and once you get it...ship it wherever he wants.

How could he report it's fraudulent? Show paypal your e-mails.

 

[pinion9]

He could also use paypal with credit card and then do a chargeback.

 

[funboy6942]

Direct to Nigeria=SCAM

 

[Firebot]

It's not a scam. Now if you will kindly ship the product to Nigeria quickly, as I am a very busy businessman from FL USA, but living in London, England for a church seminal. Please do not make my Daugther an unhappy Daugther.

Compliment of the seasoned hamburger to you!

 

[pontifex]

how many friggin times do we have to go over this?

Hello,
Compliment of the season to you. I am Mark Smith from FL USA,but Presently in London,England for a church seminal. I saw your product item below on ebay and i am really intrested in buying it for my Daugther as a surprise gift for her in school(university of lagos)at nigeria and i will handle the shipment expenses.i will send you my fedex account so you will not pay no money for shipping.
i will be sending you payment via PayPal,so kindly send me your PAYPAL EMAIL ADDRESS so as to immedaitely make out your payment.make sure you get the package ready for shipment,you can ship the item as soon as you recieve the paypal confirmation.Expecting your reply so as to immedaitely make out the payment.
Thanks,
Mark Smith
N.B....... If terms are acceptable.send me your PAYPAL EMAIL ADDRESS and i will make out your payment immedaitely and you will receive the payment comfirmation from paypal.[/quote]


Hello,
I am out of State for a Business Trip and there is Nobody in my House to receice the Item for me That is why i want the Item to be ship to her Direct to Nigeria,I will be Handling the Shipping myself to my Daughter there in nigeria With my Fedex Account Number so there is no Need of you Paying for the Shipping ok i will made out the Payment of the items via Paypal,So i will Need your PAYPAL ACCOUNT for me to send you Payment and i will like to Know if you want fedex to come Pick the item or you will drop it off at a Fedex outlet nearer to you there Pls let me Know so i can Send you the Fedex information and Address to Send the Packages Ok...Thanks.
Regards[/quote]

any mention of nigeria means its a scam.
any mention of being in multiple places is a scam.
any mention of buying it as a gift for a family member in another country is a scam.
using his own fed ex/ups account is a scam.

 

[Ausm]

Forward it to spoof@ebay.com


Ausm

 

[PELarson]

"Compliment of the season to you. I am Mark Smith from FL USA"

Scam.

 

[randay]

Compliment of the season to you. I am a 1337 PH1SH3R from Nigeria and I have recently stolen some paypal and fedex accounts. If you would be so kind to ship the item to Nigeria I will send you stolen money immediately to your paypal account. I away you PAYPAL ACCOUNT INFORMATION so that I can send the money and you can ship the item to me immediately. Once I get your PAYPAL ACCOUNT INFORMATION I will immediately send money and then you can immediately ship your laptop to me in Nigeria. Please give me your PAYPAL ACCOUNT INFORMATION quickly so that I can immediately send the money and you will recieve it then you will immediately ship your laptop to me in Nigeria. Immediately. PAYPAL ACCOUNT INFORMATION. money. Nigeria. ship. Immediately.