Scam

[hils*yensen]

I think that someone is trying to scam me. They haven't succeeded but I want to report this to ebay so that they can investigate. How do I do that?

[redwick1]

How are they trying to scam you?

Is it the high value item that you sold yesterday/

Come back and tell us more and we may be able to help

[hils*yensen]

Thanks. I'll try to keep it short. I advertised 2 lenses for sale, and one has sold successfully, so forget that!

About 2 days into the auction, I received a message from ***** asking if he could pay me £1500 and would I ship the lens to his son in the UK. (He is in the USA). I said I couldn't go outside ebay rules, so if he made me an offer of £1500 on the auction, I would accept it etc.
He came back with excuses twice - he found that the offer toggle didn't work, he found he couldn't bid... I stuck to my guns and said that I must do everything through ebay. He then sent me his email address all mixed up with ((?>)) symbols to get it past ebay. Again I refused to go outside ebay.

Last night, the lens didn't sell. (I have not relisted it)

This morning I got a message from a 'different' ebayer, using exactly the same phrases as the first one, and also in the USA. And surprise! he wanted the lens posted to the same postcode address as the first one!

So, something is going on. I can only think that they want me to not use ebay, then claim the item did not arrive and demand their money back. I really don't know.

All I do know is that this is all very odd/ strange/ deceitful and I will not be dealing with him/ them,and I want to alert ebay. Your views??

[redwick1]

You are right that you have to go through ebay and even then with items of that price you need to be careful
You could forward the emails to spoof@ebay.co.uk

Put them on your blocked bidders list
https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/setting-buyer-requirements?i...
Go back then scroll down to Stop blocked bidders from contacting me.
Block all countries you dont sell too
You have UK postage on your listings only so even if they bought on ebay they would not be able to pay and you can open non payment disputes
Other than that there is nothing much you or ebay can do.
High value items are always a target for scammers and you do have to be aware and it seems you are
Make sure you check any payments are there before sending that item.

You need to check your postage
£8.70 for 2nd class
You need to send any item over £50 by special delivery with the appropriate compensation for loss of damage

[papso22]

IT is an attempt to scam you, generally the scam is not using the MBG, but creating a fake payment email from Paypal, so you send it without receiving payment. Just ignore all these attempts, it's not worth reporting to ebay as they are usually hacked/disposable accounts.

[hils*yensen]

Thanks all. I just wanted to let ebay know so that they could take action. I never post anything out until the money is safe and sound in my bank account.
Your support is very much appreciated. Happy Christmas and stay safe

[red_magpie]

If you don't tell us in what way you think you're being scammed it's hard to suggest what to do.

You can try reporting it here: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/report-trading.html

[john1297576]

You sold yesterday and relisted today!! What have you done about the selling fee you have been charged?

I doubt there is anything to report to ebay as you deal with this sort of thing yourself, with an unpaid case. It is not wise to relist until you have completed an Unpaid Case, which cannot be opened after two days and then closed after another 4 days. No feedback can be left.

It is also very unwise to cancel a sale as you could still be charged the selling fee, and the buyer can leave feedback and many do leave negatives.

You are inviting scammers by showing you have no idea of postage,1st Class Postage is for items up to £20 in value. If you want any protection you need SPECIAL DELIVERY with added insurance for the FULL VALUE.

[hils*yensen]

Sorry John, but I don't quite understand your reply. I was selling two lens. One has sold absolutely fine and the postage has been sorted between us. No problems at all - happy seller, happy buyer.
It's the other one that is having the 'fake' offers. (I didn't know it had automatically relisted).