ebay scam anyone any ideas?

[Bickle79]

I recently sold an item on ebay. Upon my auction ending I sent the winning bidder an invoice for the winning amount. Shortly after I received an email asking if they could pay with a company called bidpal (maybe bidbay) and could they have my name and address as the money would be delivered to my door where I would have to sign for it.

Now my first impression was of course SCAM and I went on to doing a bit of searching in to the bidpal and found it to be a part of Western Unions company and that convinced me to not accept it. I replied to this persons email saying I would only accept payment by my preferred payment as displayed on my auction listing (paypal) and that I would not be giving out my name and address for obvious reasons.

I have also done some further checking since then and found out that my private details like my address are unbeknown to this user as the seller sees the buyers address and the buyer sees the buyers address but the sellers address is never shown.

Do you think I did the right thing and do you think I am completely safe from any kind of fraud this guy was trying to pull off? Also what kind of fraud would he of been able to pull off with my name and address? He wouldnt of had my credit card details from this or from paypal at all would he? Sorry if I sound a bit naive Im new to ebay and new to paypal so Im a bit unsure

Luke

[Spud1]

your fine, i've had the same problem in the past. More than likely he will try to pay still and you'll get a few emails from bidpal/bidpay/western union

Inform ebay, inform bidpal and keep all emails. [send them on to ebay etc]

you'll get a refund for your final value fee off ebay and he will be banned from ebay O.o

happened twice to me now

[Bickle79]

Thanks for the reply Spud

Im not really too fussed about the fees I could claim back from ebay as it was only pennies. Was really worried about being scammed though. Ive got all the emails sent and received. This whole things kind of put me off using ebay

[Spud1]

dont let it put you off, ebay is still a great place to trade. All you have to do to protect youself is to only accept cash, cheques and paypal. never use an escrow, and dont use bidpay etc

Paypal offers you protection, cash is cash, you can pay that into a bank and know its real and cheques are the same (aslong as you wait for them to clear)

only accept those payment methods and the scammers can't touch you

[Jimmy Little]

yeah i only take bank transfer, cheque, postal orders and cash..... paypal can be scammed, don't use it!!!! and don't worry mate your safe! you done the right thing!

[Spud1]

paypal can be scammed, but they have a pretty good protection policy

[Jimmy Little]

na they don't! i lost £200, as did many others...... they can suck the money back whenever they want if it turns out the buyer paid with dodgy funds.... use bank transfer.... UK only and your 1005 safe

[aeonf242]

paypal and e-bay are generally OK, but Paypal protection policies have holes in them you could get a bus through, all in Paypals favour...

I'd advise claiming back your fees from e-bay as this will make sure that other ebayers might not get scammed by the same person.

[5cupa]

if u think paypal is ok u should read this thread

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=30594

[Jimmy Little]

yeah i always say NO to paypal! not worth the bother, a bank transfer is the safest way

[jimborae]

It really winds me up the amount Nigerian scammers operating on eBay at present. I've tried to sell a phone twice and despite me saying UK only, paypal, no shipping to relatives abroad, members with feedback etc they still keep trying to buy. Can't eBay do anything about this, although it's probably not in their interest to do so as they still keep some money back even if you can prove its a scam.

[Ferral]

I have used paypal a few times on eBay now and have had no probs at all, a few I have paid directly with my debit card (through Paypal) and other items have been paid by funds I have transferred into paypal. Thankfully I have had no probs and only been buying things like the Bash Street Kids annuals from the 80's so its been the odd 5 pound here and there. Also only been buying off people that have really high positive feedback, one of my buys was from a first time seller and hed forgot to put the amount for postage on the invoice so I sent him a quick message via Paypal and the following day he actually called me and let me know the exact amount of the item including the postage, he is a really decent guy and I would buy from him again.

Its the same case everywhere now though. You get the idiots that ruin it for everyone else that manipulate a system for ill gotten gains.

Everyone I have bought from has been great to deal with, just watch who you are buying from and if it looks iffy in any way give it a wide berth

[Mblaster]

Also what kind of fraud would he of been able to pull off with my name and address?

No-one can do any kind of fraud just by knowing your name and address, you know your neighbours name and address, you can't steal their money All they can do is send you junk mail, and that's unlikly.

[Daymonkey]

i got one of these once nearly filled it in before i felt it wasnt right checked the email address was some odd yahoo address, this was back when i was a n00b to these things.

[5cupa]

No-one can do any kind of fraud just by knowing your name and address, you know your neighbours name and address, you can't steal their money All they can do is send you junk mail, and that's unlikly.

with clever social engineering you would be suprised what can be done

[wedge22]

So are you saying that Paypal can take money straight from your bank account too?