Avoiding a scam | Buying

westhill_watches · 2026-01-03T09:26:54.797000Z

A couple of months ago I brought a camera on eBay, but I ignored the golden rule: 'If it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is'. In my defends this was a relatively old camera (released in 2019) and I assumed that it was being sold off ahead of a new model. The camera was being offered for £260.00 but was available from other eBay sellers for an average price around £800.00, this should have been enough to stop me! The other red flags were the camera was being sold by a Chinese seller (not necessarily a problem as I have brought a number of items from China and have been very happy) with zero feedback and they were only offering 4 identical cameras and no other items. The reason I went ahead with the purchase was down to eBay's buyer protection. I've been buying and selling on eBay for over 20 years and have only had half a dozen times when I have needed the buyer protection guarantee and so far I have always received a full refund when things have gone wrong. I therefore went ahead and paid for the camera via eBay (very important, never use 'off site' methods like direct bank transfer etc.), for a couple of days I heard nothing from the seller, then I received the following message via eBay: Hello, I have added the tracking information for your product. The reason the system shows "delivered" is that the product needs to be first shipped from China to Hong Kong, and then forwarded from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom . The correct tracking number for the shipment from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom is: JCEYK************, which I have also updated in your order. You will receive the product in approximately 20 working days. Please wait patiently. Wish you a pleasant life! At first I was reassured by this message, however a few days later I noticed that the seller was no longer a registered eBay user and at this point I began to thing I might have become a victim of a scam and so I opened a case with eBay as I was becoming less confident that I would receive the camera I had purchased. Within a few hours of opening the case eBay had given me a full refund and closed the case, so all ended well for me. After further investigations I found that if I entered the tracking number, given in the seller's email, on the China Post web site, I could 'track' the parcel (see below). From receiving the tracking information to the so called 'Delivered' status took 45 days (nothing was every delivered to my house). I assume that the scammer has found away to trick the tracking system so it looks like the parcel is on its way. The other trick they use is the so-called internal transfer from China to Hong Kong which generates a valid 'item delivered' on eBay and triggers the return window which for me was set to 2nd December, long before the parcel was due to arrive and thereby preventing me from raising a 'not delivered' case with eBay. Like all scams, this one relies on the customer hoping to get a bargain, I was lucky that I spotted the seller was no longer registered on eBay, which made me contact eBay and receive a full refund, if I hadn't seen this, I suspect I would not have done anything until it was too late! So learn from my mistake and don't fall for this scam. Delivered Leicester,,LE3 6GB JCEX29 Dec 202514:34The courier has received this parcel for delivery and will set a delivery time shortly Leicester, JCEX26 Dec 202521:46Arriving at the destination city,about to distribute to the post office Leicester, JCEX23 Dec 202518:10Leave the transit hub,transport to the destination cityUnited Kingdom JCEX21 Dec 202512:10Arriving at the transit hub,waiting for distributionUnited Kingdom JCEX18 Dec 202519:22Leaving transportation partner department,sent to the transit hubUnited Kingdom JCEX15 Dec 202504:58Arrival at transportation partner department,waiting for processingUnited Kingdom JCEX12 Dec 202522:58Relased from export customsUnited Kingdom JCEX10 Dec 202506:10Arrived at destination portArrived at destination portUnited Kingdom JCEX06 Dec 202515:46Arrived at destination portUnited Kingdom JCEX03 Dec 202522:58Departed from origin portDeparted from origin portHong Kong JCEX01 Dec 202516:58Departed from origin portHong Kong JCEX29 Nov 202500:10Hand over to airlineHand over to airlineHong Kong JCEX26 Nov 202518:10Hand over to airlineHong Kong JCEX24 Nov 202501:22Departed from sorting centerDeparted from sorting centerChina JCEX21 Nov 202519:22Departed from sorting centerChina JCEX20 Nov 202500:10Shipment inbound in sorting centerShipment inbound in sorting centerChina JCEX17 Nov 202518:10Shipment inbound in sorting centerChina JCEX

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