FRAUD EBAY ALERT: Complex EBAY scam explained! (Reason for all those email hoaxes)

[Greg03]

Originally posted by: AmericasTeam
I'm sorry but LAME POST.

Who would be dumb enough to buy computers from overseas?
The Western Union thing is a give away, but so is the fact the seller is in Germany.
You don't have to buy American, just buy in America.

Yes there is a lot of fraud on ebay, but there would be a lot less if people would buy (bid) with intelligence.

Agreed, this thread is really off off topic and I get a chuckle out of the people who post off topic with the disclaimer "I know this is off topic, but I knew it would get more traffic here..."

 

[minidanas]

Great! Now I'll have some fun.

I'm gonna email them asking for details, then asking more dumb questions, then dumbly asking about obvious details, then pretending to have forgotten some things he had already told me, then asking for just a little more discount (I'm a poor student from Mexico, my dad gave me $350 for laptop), and in about 10 emails I'll talk them down from $478 to $350; then saying that by a horrific accident I had lost $50 of that money (oh, poor sucker! Of course I'll give it to you for $300 for the sake of our future deals), then somehow my computer crashes, and I lose all the emails he had sent before, so I ask everything all over again and so on and so on... Still, I'll never cut him off - always maintaining the hope that I'll fall for his trick.

Remember Columbo? He tortures his suspects who almost lose patience when he is about to go, but keeps coming back with ugly questions. I'm gonna do that to them. What a sadist I am!

 

[bentwookie]

take this to ot and let them mess with this guy like they did with that romanian ebayer.

 

[kl001]

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami

its as if ebay stopped caring about fraud. i notified their safeharbor department about a $5k refurbished xbox/ps2 scam and they did absolutely nothing. i even specifically stated why the auction needed to be removed (pre-selling items before having them with 2-3 month lead times); that is the fake seller with low feedback selling 200 xbox/ps2's at less than $25 each (can't beleive that many morons fell for it though) and then they actually expect to receive an xbox after 2+ months, well beyond paypal's 30 day limit. i guess safeharbor is a decoration when your stock is at 52 week highs.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ecn?s=ebay
(that's $108 split adjusted from aug)

Kapitalizm! Ebay is making a pretty penny off these posts as well. THAT'S why these "fraudulent" posts are not removed in the timely manner!

 

[CZroe]

One of the tricks is to use a log-in syntax to hide the url. To log into an FTP without using the IE dialog you would type ftp://Username:Password@DomainOrIPAddress[ortnumber]
Similarly, a password-protected http server accepts the same syntax. I HAVE seen this:
http://www.PayPal.com:blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah@SomeOtherDomain.com
Luckily for scammers, Outlook's status bar truncates this to "http://www.PayPal.com:blahblahblahblah..." and the average user who is savy enough to check the domain is none the wiser (Unless they realize that they should never use a message's links ).

People need to understand that they are many tricks to making an alternate domain appear legit. That's why it makes me so mad when I see the standard advice "Make sure the link is to XXXXXX.com. XXXXXX.com would never send you to a third party." That advice simply isn't good enough.

 

[gkwok]

Thanks everybody for the good information.

Last week I got one somewhat official looking scam e-mail asking for name, address, CC#s, etc. from securityy@ebay.com [sic]. I dissected the HTML e-mail and extracted the e-mail address dropbox (jenny12345@hotmail.com something like that), and the e-mail was basically a CGI form mailer. I whipped up a quick Python script to have my SMTP server send thousands of e-mails to this account, using the same field names as this person was expecting, but with totally random bogus information. I even took the time to format it right to, so that the randomly generated SSNs were in ###-##-#### format, for example. I figure, if this person has to *hand sort* through hundreds or thousands of e-mails just to get one valid victim, I've at least wasted a load of their time. I kicked off the script and left for work. Unfortunately the account had been shut down by the time I got home, so my real inbox was filled with thousands of "undeliverable, this account does not exist" bounce messages. Oh well. I hope this person got to read at least some of my counterspam.

 

[Valour]

>>> Originally posted by: SinMen (partial quote)

>>> All scam is based on people's greed. If you are not trying to be greedy, you would not even have emailed this >>> guy. Who in the world would have sell you a high end lappy at an unblieveble low price?[/quote]


That seems like a silly statement to me, especially coming from someone who is frequenting a "Hot Deals" forum. I've purchased items at unbelievably low prices in the past, thanks to others finding these great deals. I'm curious how you distinguish between greed and being a savvy buyer? All things relative, I have found products for less than 1/2 the cost currently at the store due to this forum (example: $299 Staples DVD-RW for $129, etc).

I for one appreciate the heads up, but would never buy anything of that kind of value from eBay.

 

[nitesbane]

Originally posted by: MrBond

Originally posted by: SinMen

Originally posted by: guinea101
I justify this post because a) plp here use ebay a lot b) its good to give a headsup on something that all inter-relates and show how complex and sophisticated these scammers have become.

I do not justify this post because it's way too easy to spot this as a scam. When something is too good to be true, it usually is. All scam is based on people's greed. If you are not trying to be greedy, you would not even have emailed this guy. Who in the world would have sell you a high end lappy at an unblieveble low price?

Maybe you see it as a scam right away, but a lot of people don't. There was a post in OT asking if it was a scam the other day. Not every one is as paranoid as us

Agreed. Sure, most people can pick up most scams easily if they've been using the Internet for at least a few months, like the great majority of Internet users out there, but there are new users each day. This is not to mention the flat naive people as well!

 

[IshmaelLeaver]

Originally posted by: nitesbane

Originally posted by: MrBond

Originally posted by: SinMen

Originally posted by: guinea101
I justify this post because a) plp here use ebay a lot b) its good to give a headsup on something that all inter-relates and show how complex and sophisticated these scammers have become.

I do not justify this post because it's way too easy to spot this as a scam. When something is too good to be true, it usually is. All scam is based on people's greed. If you are not trying to be greedy, you would not even have emailed this guy. Who in the world would have sell you a high end lappy at an unblieveble low price?

Maybe you see it as a scam right away, but a lot of people don't. There was a post in OT asking if it was a scam the other day. Not every one is as paranoid as us

Agreed. Sure, most people can pick up most scams easily if they've been using the Internet for at least a few months, like the great majority of Internet users out there, but there are new users each day. This is not to mention the flat naive people as well!

There's a reason the other post was in Off Topic.

Where's the Hot Deal?

 

[VezZiE]

Okay.. so we've heard many experiences about being scammed..
Can anyone suggest what's the SAFEST method if we really have to finish an oversea transaction?


Some safe transactions that I can think of:

1. Using Discover One-Time number or similar. I think Discover One-Time number is pretty safe, and Discover'll be most likely on our side, when you need to dispute cases related to this.

2. Using Legit Escrow Service. Hoping that the other seller would accept it.


Any other idea of safe money-transfer?

 

[MogyBear]

I got scammed using the Western Union service last year through a company on www.alibaba.com. It was extremely stupid for me to send the money, but oh well. I desperately needed a destkop for cheap to perform my science research project on, so I sent $300 to this guy and he said he would send me this nice Dell desktop with P4 2.2GHz, 512MB RDRAM, nice vid. card, the works. He sent me the UPS tracking number before I sent the money. But there were two strange things. It was being shipped from New York, and the weight was only 15lbs. He tried to explain his way out of this, and I didn't really buy it. But like I said, I was desperate for something so I stupidly sent the money. I actually got a reply email from him after I did this, but then after like a week I emailed him several times and he wouldn't respond. Looking back on it, I can't believe how stupid I was. Like mlrtime said, Western Union overseas means SCAM. You would think that these scammers would sell the products for more than like $300, because at that price, they are either stolen or are a scam. However, people like me send them money everyday. I bet all this money is funding terrorist groups or something. My guy lived in Romania-- and Italy? Oh yeah, he claimed his dad lived in New York or something and that is why the package was being sent from NYC. He said not to call that house because it would "disturb his dad" (I looked the # up on the internet). He gave me some other number to call, but I could never get through to it.

Oh and he also gave me a reference email to prove that he was legitimate. This address came only after he accused me of being "dishonest businessman" and that I should "just trust him" because it "insulted him" that I was asking for a reference. Anyway, this reference emailed me back, using the SAME grammar mistakes as the seller did. It was clearly the seller using that email. With all this going against him, I STILL sent the money, and well, that's probably the dumbest thing I'll ever do in my whole life. Well, at least it wasn't more than $300; when I am out of college and have a real job $300 won't really seem like that much money.

The guy that guinea101 is talking about sounds a lot like Spiridon Papanikolau, the guy that I got scammed from. He has the same form of flawed English and says the same kinds of things about trust and responsibility, etc. So, just don't be an idiot like me and fall for this crap.

 

[teKillah]

Well scamming has been going on everywhere, not only ebay. I use to avoid ebay and buy stuff locally thru craigslist etc. where at least I could meet people personallly and do the transaction.

Then one day I saw this guys ad. for a couple of good phones and I mailed him and bargained the price down to a very decent price, and bought those phones off this Guy ( who claimed he worked for a phone service shop and he had lots of other phones for sale). As I had planned to gift these to my folks abroad, I decided that probably they wouldnt like them and in turn sold them off.

Then about 3 weeks later cops come at my work with a search warrant for my house/car and ask me all sorts of questions as to where I had gotten my stuff from. I was $hit scared as to what was happening, as I had never dealt with any cops in my whole life. Apparantly these phones were stolen and this guy was selling them over the net. I still have a bunch of my stuff (computer, hard drives etc. ) confiscated and I really dont know when they would be returning it.

Well, buyers beware, never trust someone untill you have good references and yeah if probably you haggeled the price down then "maybe" the guy is fishy. Then again I cannot generalize because I have gotten so many deals by haggling down the prices from genuine sellers.

 

[QueHuong]

This new guy sold me a $50 item on FS/FT and wanted me to send money through WU. I remember reading people saying that it's a scam, so I offered to pay him half first, have him ship it, and I would pay the 2nd half. Since he was new, he just offered to ship it first, which he did and I paid him WU. But why is Western Union considered a scam?

 

[Flexicon]

<Claps for gkwok>. That was a good effort!

Western Union doesn't offer you any protection if the person you're dealing with turns out to be a fraud. I'm all about the one time use credit cards whenever I buy anything online.

 

[micnn]

Originally posted by: nitesbane

Originally posted by: MrBond

Originally posted by: SinMen

Originally posted by: guinea101
I justify this post because a) plp here use ebay a lot b) its good to give a headsup on something that all inter-relates and show how complex and sophisticated these scammers have become.

I do not justify this post because it's way too easy to spot this as a scam. When something is too good to be true, it usually is. All scam is based on people's greed. If you are not trying to be greedy, you would not even have emailed this guy. Who in the world would have sell you a high end lappy at an unblieveble low price?

Maybe you see it as a scam right away, but a lot of people don't. There was a post in OT asking if it was a scam the other day. Not every one is as paranoid as us

Agreed. Sure, most people can pick up most scams easily if they've been using the Internet for at least a few months, like the great majority of Internet users out there, but there are new users each day. This is not to mention the flat naive people as well!

Chance is if you are here reading this post, you have the ability to sniff a scam from miles away. Thus it makes the topic kindof useless...

 

[ReiAyanami]

Well, at least it wasn't more than $300

you just made him a turkish billionaire.

you just funded a trillion more e-mails-to-naive-aol accounts. sorry about your lost but, 2.4ghz DELL p4, 512MD RDRAM?!

i say next time send the fraud guy a single penny thru western union and then he'll go thru all that trouble for a single penny

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami
Well, at least it wasn't more than $300

you just made him a turkish billionaire.

you just funded a trillion more e-mails-to-naive-aol accounts. sorry about your lost but, 2.4ghz DELL p4, 512MD RDRAM?!

i say next time send the fraud guy a single penny thru western union and then he'll go thru all that trouble for a single penny

Actually, WU would have a ridiculous transaction fee for that...

 

[imported_Pablo]

Originally posted by: CZroe
One of the tricks is to use a log-in syntax to hide the url. To log into an FTP without using the IE dialog you would type ftp://usernameassword@domainoripaddress[ortnumber]
Similarly, a password-protected http server accepts the same syntax. I HAVE seen this:
http://www.paypal.com:blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah@someotherdomain.com
Luckily for scammers, Outlook's status bar truncates this to "http://www.paypal.com:blahblahblahblah..." and the average user who is savy enough to check the domain is none the wiser (Unless they realize that they should never use a message's links ).

People need to understand that they are many tricks to making an alternate domain appear legit. That's why it makes me so mad when I see the standard advice "Make sure the link is to XXXXXX.com. XXXXXX.com would never send you to a third party." That advice simply isn't good enough.

You said assword...

 

[CZroe]

Thnx. Damn smiley's and auto URLs need disablin'

 

[Quixotic]

Originally posted by: Bad_Dude
I was bidding for the Swiftech MCX4000 two days ago and I was winning with $20 bid. Then the last 5 seconds, my bid was beaten by some one else. In 5 seconds. This is a scam too I would say. I contacted the guy and he's said the thing is brand new. But he had no box, he also said he's not liable for bend pins and scratched bottom. So I asked him does it come in the box, then he said no, but they all come clean and polished. So if it's new why does he needs to clean and polished them.
Scam dude.

I don't understand how this is a scam.

 

[TekDemon]

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami
Well, at least it wasn't more than $300

you just made him a turkish billionaire.

you just funded a trillion more e-mails-to-naive-aol accounts. sorry about your lost but, 2.4ghz DELL p4, 512MD RDRAM?!

i say next time send the fraud guy a single penny thru western union and then he'll go thru all that trouble for a single penny

LOL just tell your family to send it to the place after you arrive in his city...then you camp out around the WU and beat the crap out of him when he shows up to pick it up(bribing the WU guy to tip you off might help). Ah the beatdown would be so satisfying.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: mlrtime
I think people need to make it clear that WESTERN UNION / ESCROW OVERSEAS = SCAM. I didn't even read your whole post, I just looked for those words, and as soon as I saw it i knew it was a scam. I don't care if he was selling them for $100.

Now, if they say they take all major CC's, then I would probably would have been drawn in. I can't believe people actually think about this anymore, the WU gig is old. Even paypal would be more secure if you follow the buyers guidelines.

I never fell for the trick, but i have pulled countless people away that will literally about to call WU to setup the transfer.


my .02
mlr

 

[willboxer]

Originally posted by: Greg03

Originally posted by: AmericasTeam
I'm sorry but LAME POST.

Who would be dumb enough to buy computers from overseas?
The Western Union thing is a give away, but so is the fact the seller is in Germany.
You don't have to buy American, just buy in America.

Yes there is a lot of fraud on ebay, but there would be a lot less if people would buy (bid) with intelligence.

Agreed, this thread is really off off topic and I get a chuckle out of the people who post off topic with the disclaimer "I know this is off topic, but I knew it would get more traffic here..."

Who are these idiots? Probably the same ones who send money to the nigerian email scam...they deserve the scam as a warning.

did anybody twist your arm to come in here and read this?

 

[willboxer]

Originally posted by: minidanas
Great! Now I'll have some fun.

I'm gonna email them asking for details, then asking more dumb questions, then dumbly asking about obvious details, then pretending to have forgotten some things he had already told me, then asking for just a little more discount (I'm a poor student from Mexico, my dad gave me $350 for laptop), and in about 10 emails I'll talk them down from $478 to $350; then saying that by a horrific accident I had lost $50 of that money (oh, poor sucker! Of course I'll give it to you for $300 for the sake of our future deals), then somehow my computer crashes, and I lose all the emails he had sent before, so I ask everything all over again and so on and so on... Still, I'll never cut him off - always maintaining the hope that I'll fall for his trick.

Remember Columbo? He tortures his suspects who almost lose patience when he is about to go, but keeps coming back with ugly questions. I'm gonna do that to them. What a sadist I am!

hey i like that idea, i think i will be doing that too just to annoy the sh*t out of them

 

[vsspam]

If you are thinking about using Western Union, read this:

http://www.auctionguild.com/generic.html?pid=65