Heads Up Out There for a Scam on eBay

[Ranger Bob]

Just wanted to let everyone know there is someone with pics of mandolins who has figured out how to put up what looks like a legit listing on eBay. The starting bid is $16. The pictures that I saw today were of a pretty beat up Gibson F5, but from the '20s. The other was for a fairly decent looking '25 F4 (based on the serial number provided). When you went to the item description a drop down menu came up which showed more pictures and said that you could buy it now for $1,100 including shipping. It smelled like either someone was ignorant about what they had or it was a scam. Just for kicks I tried the buy it now to see what would happen (I figured I wasn't going to complete anything and send $). A short time later I got an invoice which looked to be from eBay but didn't look like anything I had ever received for an eBay transaction ---- but, it really looked like it was from eBay. I even went to the address line and it seemed to be from eBay. Smelling a rat I went back to eBay and there was no history of this transaction listed. I had originally put it on my Watch List and it wasn't there. I called eBay and verified with them that this was NOT a legitimate eBay transaction. I have to say that scammers are getting good. So, it pays to be wary. I also have to say that the folks at eBay are great in helping with this sort of thing. I might add that the invoice I received had the eBay masthead and "guaranteed" this transaction. If it looks too good to be true...................................

[MikeEdgerton]

Was it on eBay or in an e-mail you got? It's not real hard to fake this stuff. Anybody with a computer and a small amount of knowledge can do it. If it's on eBay's site it legit to them until they get enough complaints to take it down.

If you go down to the eBay section and go back through the threads there are probably thousands of messages about scams on eBay.

[Ranger Bob]

Was it on eBay or in an e-mail you got? It's not real hard to fake this stuff. Anybody with a computer and a small amount of knowledge can do it. If it's on eBay's site it legit to them until they get enough complaints to take it down.

If you go down to the eBay section and go back through the threads there are probably thousands of messages about scams on eBay.

The original listing was on eBay. The invoice was sent to my personal email and not listed on eBay. So, the whole thing smelled from the beginning. And, eBay had no record of the seller by the email address that they provided. So, yes. That someone with a computer and a little knowledge did fake something. But, my message is that it appears on eBay and REALLY looks legit unless you have some experience with eBay's invoicing. And this one (as legit as it looked) wasn't like anything eBay has ever sent to me.

[Northwest Steve]

These same ads pop up every few weeks, months. Same picks low starting price, free shipping and the seller lists maybe a hundred items. Not really that hard to figure out any more.

[Folkmusician.com]

This sometimes happens from the buying side as well. If your listing does not require immediate payment, a buyer purchases, then asks for a PayPal invoice. Then they reply with a fake Payment confirmation email. It is a copy of the actual email PayPal does send so it is not obvious that it is fake until you see that there is no payment in PayPal.

I imagine this stuff works on a small percentage of transactions. If you are in Africa, or wherever, you could quickly earn a month (or 6 months) worth of income.

[pops1]

I have seen these auctions several times on Ebay. I think they have been reported, but keep showing up.

[Cliff Seruntine]

Back when we had a musical instrument store, we had to deal with fake buyers all the time. PayPal was a favorite payment venue so to this day I am extremely wary of PayPal and don't even maintain a PayPal account. Of course, there were the cashier's cheque scams, the wire transfer scams and many others. The last was a woman who wanted to buy a hammered dulcimer from us, but she demanded we send her the original receipt from our wholesaler, too. She wasn't going to accept our ordinary retail receipt. I don't know what she was up to, but it was obvious some kind of scam.

When it got to where we had to spend an hour confirming the validity of each transaction, we finally decided the business was more trouble than it was worth.

[Folkmusician.com]

When it got to where we had to spend an hour confirming the validity of each transaction, we finally decided the business was more trouble than it was worth.

I quit eBay for many years, and still haven't fully embraced it again. I keep a few listings up, but it is 10x the percentage of problems for the exact items, with the exact setups, shipped the same way. If I ship 10 packages at the same time, why is it that just the ones for eBay end up not being received? hmm...

In many ways eBay can't meet expectations and sets themselves up for fraud. You have buyers looking for the best deals possible, and sellers having an extremely high cost of doing business on the platform. There is no way for sellers to meet the buyer expectations of a good deal, so questionable practices start to come into play on both ends.

eBay isn't all bad, just more difficult.

[MikeEdgerton]

Paypal isn't bad you just don't ship until the money is really in your account. If I can't logon to Paypal and move that money it doesn't exist.

[Jeff Mando]

In addition to all the online scams, the "in-person" cash scams are still alive and well. I remember this one from the from my retail days -- just saw it repeated at Walmart last week -- by an elderly couple and their grandson -- no less! (although, I don't hold the grandson responsible at 2 years old!) Anyway, they are in front of me checking out and it comes to $85.26.......the cashier comments on what a cute grandson they have, the "customer" hands her a $100 bill, .....before she gets her change she says "oh, wait, I've got the $5.26".....then like clockwork, just before the change is being counted back, the customer says "gimme back that $100 bill, here's the exact change, I found some $20's........they exchange the bills (again)....the cashier is still looking at her grandson like he is the Gerber baby....hand's the lady her receipt, she puts it in her purse, and here it comes, "Oh wait, I gave you a $100 bill remember, plus the $5.26?" The cashier realizes she was distracted by the baby, hands her a $20 bill. There are different versions of this scam, all having to do with distraction and a somewhat easy-going cashier. I've seen it done with the guy's wife wearing a skimpy top and picking a male cashier. If the cashier tries to challenge them, the man will say, "I saw you looking at my wife!" There is also a racial version of this scam, "I can't believe you folks are trying to cheat people like that!" where the customer starts crying and the cashier feels guilty.....

[Folkmusician.com]

"Yes, as through this world I've wandered. I've seen lots of funny men; Some will rob you with a six-gun, And some with a fountain pen."

[pops1]

When I was tending bar decades ago we laid the cash on the ledge of the till until change was made, then after the transaction the bill was put away. I have had that tried several times and always picked up the bill and said here is what you gave me. Since the bill was not in with the rest of the cash there was never a dispute. Today folks don't know how to make change without the register telling them how much to give.