eBay Fake Winner?

[Matt1eD]

I've just sold my M400 on eBay; the winning bidder came in fifteen minutes from the end with zero feedback rating. I've just got an email from 'it'! What should I do - I don't trust 'it' at all?

Hello ,
l am very happy to win this bid and i will like to make the payment immediately but i will like u to help me in this way .....My Husand called me and inform me his birthday is fast approaching and i will like to make a suprise package for him ,that why i bid on this item ok Pls presently he is not in the country he is working on this contractor with UNICEF in africa and i will like to ship this item to him ok
So pls i will like u to assist me in sending the item to him ok and pls i will like u to package it for me .i don't mind the cost of packaging and shipping i will make the payment as soon as u get back to me with the shipping cost through www.royalmail.comThanks. your i will be expecting ur reply now ,And hope to do more business with u

Mrs. *BLOCKED FOR PRIVACY*

I stated I would not ship it outside the UK and 'it' didn't contact me before hand so should I assume it's fake? Also anyone wanting a really quick transaction wouldn't of bid on an item specifically stating I can't take PayPal on it.

"Member since: Oct-11-06
Location: United States"

[jamin]

Sounds like a 419 scam matey, inform ebay and get the auction voided. You stated that you would not ship outside UK and this bidder agreed to this by bidding. Steer clear mate. Maybe next time put "Any bidders with less than 10 feedback will have bids cancelled unless they contact me prior to bidding to confirm ID" in your auction.

[davidstone28]

Hahaha!

Anyone who can't spell, asks you to send it to Africa (without saying where), as well as asking for the costs of postage (again, without stating where it supposed to be sent), drops in the name of a legtimate organisation (to try and add credibility to the scam) and then tops it all off with a 'lure in' of "and hope to do more business with u" would set alarm bells off in my head. Also is someone who doesn't understand the concept of "ask Seller a question" before bidding and ruining all your other bids, even without confirmation that you would ship out of the UK, really someone that you want to be dealing with? If they're going to mess with you once, they're going to mess with you again....

Don't touch it with a barge pole mate.

Not 100% sure about this, but I think there's a way offering the item to the next highest bidder (I was an unsuccessful bidder and the seller offered me an item at the winning price, saying the winning bidder had pulled out. Didn't take him up on it though).

[chuckskull]

Unless you said you'd ship worldwide. Tell them you can only ship to the UK. They can ship it to africa themselves.

[Matt1eD]

Thanks guys; am going to send this:

Dear *BLOCKED FOR PRIVACY*,
I’m somewhat confused by your email; naturally I’m slightly concerned regarding your zero feedback rating but appreciate that we all have to start off somewhere!

As stated in the listing I will ship only to the UK – and were you seriously interested in my item you would have previously consulted me for an alternative mailing arrangement.

Unless you can provide me with a UK address, a contact at that address and a bankers draft for the total amount within five days I shall consider your bid void. Due to your suspect credentials, if a satisfactory reply is not received within twelve hours I shall be reporting you to eBay and offering the item to an alternative respectable member.

[Clunk]

thats far too polite, just report them anyway and relist it immediately. it is a scam.

[Mike Fishcake]

Definitely positively a scam. These things happen all the time.

[jamin]

Nice, should do the job mate.... If they dont reply (And they won't! Unless its a sob story about their dad who was king of Namibia who only has 2 chests full of diamonds and no bank account so can't send a bankers draft!!) report them! And do a second chance offer to the next highest bidder!

[geezerone]

Don't use ebay much nowadays as not as good as it used to be and too many scum sellers etc to deal with.

[mp3c]

thats far too polite, just report them anyway and relist it immediately. it is a scam.

yes it is to polite just send a email saying "i stated that i cannot post outside uk" and relist. SCAMMER!!!

[Spud1]

nice reply mate - to those saying it's too polite? There is no point in getting 'arsey' or being rude in emails, even if it is to someone who you are 99.9% sure is trying to scam you. It's not big, or clever, and it won't help in the slightest. Yes these people are trying to scam you, but there is no point in sinking to their level.

I've had a couple of similar situations on ebay in the past 2 years..in each case ebay voided their bids and I used the 'second chance offer' system to offer to the next highest bidder...had no problems then

[Clunk]

nice reply mate - to those saying it's too polite? There is no point in getting 'arsey' or being rude in emails, even if it is to someone who you are 99.9% sure is trying to scam you. It's not big, or clever, and it won't help in the slightest. Yes these people are trying to scam you, but there is no point in sinking to their level.

I've had a couple of similar situations on ebay in the past 2 years..in each case ebay voided their bids and I used the 'second chance offer' system to offer to the next highest bidder...had no problems then

I never mentioned emailing them or being arsey, just reporting them and relisting immediately.

[Nick]

Just refuse the winning bid and offer it up tie the next highest bidder using the Second Chance option.

Stop all this faffing, this is so obviously a scam. Personally, I wouldn;t even waste my time writing a mail, just ditch it and go to the next guy.

[jms45]

LOL i think the "My Husband called me and inform me his birthday is fast approaching" bit is quite funny, i dont know of any woman who has to be reminded of they're husbands birthday, usually it's the wife phoning the husband to tell him how dissapointed she is in him forgetting.

[bledd]

LOL i think the "My Husband called me and inform me his birthday is fast approaching" bit is quite funny, i dont know of any woman who has to be reminded of they're husbands birthday, usually it's the wife phoning the husband to tell him how dissapointed she is in him forgetting.

i'll never forget the day when my mum goes "i thought i'd make you breakfast in bed today for your birthday", dad "wtf, its my birthday??!"



100% a scam

[BigBry]

It's pretty common on certain high tech items (mobile phones etc), although I've no idea what a M400 is You'll find that seller will be banned in a day or two since it will no doubt be one of several going through. Try listing with a requirement of having a number of positive feedbacks. There should also be a setting where only UK registered members can bid. If you relist it as it is there's a high chance it will happen again (I've had a mobile re-listed 3 times for that reason until I changed the requirements).