Big Ebay Scam

[luvindisneyworld]

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...r71&items=25&page=1&frompage=-1&iid=-1&de=off

I posted this on the budget board also,but I thought I would post it here to.

This is Sad.I cannot believe how much money he has stolen from people.

 

[Papa Deuce]

It is a shame, and yet, people really oughtta know better. There isn't a chance in the world I would place a bid on an iPod, at a lower than retail price, on ebay.

Hmmm. I gotta go buy me one of them XBOX 360's for $279.

Common sense need to prevail.

 

[Brianne]

Oh my. You know what they say though: if it seems too good to be true, it usually is. That's why I'm personally afraid to bid on anything on ebay--it's a shame that a few can ruin it for so many.

 

[Stitchfans]

He isn't the only one doing this. I 've been ripped off several times myself. Luckly though I was/am smart enough to never bid as much money as those people. There are many people using Ebay to cheat people out of their money. Meanwhile Ebay just laughs all the way to the bank. they are no help in any way.

 

[LoraJ]

I wonder if that persons ebay account was stollen. They had good feedback for a while. then out of no where people started complaining about payment methods. And then suddenly everyone was scammed.

 

[bunnyfoo]

He isn't the only one doing this. I 've been ripped off several times myself. Luckly though I was/am smart enough to never bid as much money as those people. There are many people using Ebay to cheat people out of their money. Meanwhile Ebay just laughs all the way to the bank. they are no help in any way.

I'm recently discovering this. I've found out that sellers can charge more for express shipping but then just ship the package through regular service. This happened to me recently, I didn't lose a huge amount of money but my package took longer than expected. I was also upset when I realized that there's nothing in place to protect buyers. I can only imagine if this seller did that to every bidder they'd be making an extra $10 per auction and there's very little anyone can do to recover those funds.

 

[Pugdog007]

I wonder if that persons ebay account was stollen. They had good feedback for a while. then out of no where people started complainging about payment methods. And then suddenly everyone was scammed.

That's what it looks like to me too. My identity was stolen a few months back and someone listed a bunch of electronics for sale under my username with perfect feedback. All high dollar items. Luckily I was able to get the security team at ebay to shut it down within hours. But I ended up losing my name

 

[Papa Deuce]

I wonder if that persons ebay account was stollen. They had good feedback for a while. then out of no where people started complaining about payment methods. And then suddenly everyone was scammed.

See, that whole "NO PAYPAL or ANY TYPE of online payment" is a dead giveaway that this is bad news in one way or another.... you are probably correct that it was a stolen account.

When I saw the opening line of the ad, I just shook my head and said, sometimes people are dumb enough to get what they deserve. People need to use their noggins on ebay.

 

[N.Bailey]

I don't think anyone has stolen their user name. There is a blog linked in the feedback section for people to post on to get everyone united in catching this person. The Naples police have been to the residence, but no one answers the door. I guess this person had over 1000 auctions listed from the end of November till the beginning of December.

 

[N.Bailey]

See, that whole "NO PAYPAL or ANY TYPE of online payment" is a dead giveaway that this is bad news in one way or another.... you are probably correct that it was a stolen account.

When I saw the opening line of the ad, I just shook my head and said, sometimes people are dumb enough to get what they deserve. People need to use their noggins on ebay.

Well, he had over 400 positives and I seen one posting on the blog site that when they bid, he only had 1 negative. They were scammed, that's for sure, but these people used every precaution that eBay offers. When buying on eBay, that's the risk you take. Personally, I'd never bid that amount of money for anything there, but I don't feel these people got what they deserved. They deserve the item they paid for.

 

[jamzots]

Oh My Gosh!!! How did e-bay allow this to get so out of hand?? Surely they had to start seeing the negative feedback after the first couple of posts and they didn't shut the guy down?? There has to be some liability in that!!!

 

[va32h]

Surely they had to start seeing the negative feedback after the first couple of posts and they didn't shut the guy down?? There has to be some liability in that!!!

Ebay does not guarantee any of the sellers or goods on the site. They are strictly a venue. And they do not police their users - it is up to ebay users to research the sellers and assess the risks for themselves. This is all spelled out in the ebay user agreement, so in terms of liability - no, ebay has none.

With millions of users, and many more millions of auctions and fixed-price listings at any given time, it is logistically impossible for ebay to monitor all users and all transactions.

Ebay does have certain security measures in place, like requiring sellers to register with a credit card or otherwise verify their identity. But when credit card numbers are stolen, or legitimate accounts get hacked, the fraud still happens.

See, that whole "NO PAYPAL or ANY TYPE of online payment" is a dead giveaway that this is bad news in one way or another..

Yep. Paying via a credit card or PayPal gives you some recourse in cases of fraud. PayPal allows you to file a claim of non-receipt, and will virtually always side with the buyer if the seller does not have a tracking number showing delivery to the buyer's address.

I'm recently discovering this. I've found out that sellers can charge more for express shipping but then just ship the package through regular service. This happened to me recently, I didn't lose a huge amount of money but my package took longer than expected. I was also upset when I realized that there's nothing in place to protect buyers. I can only imagine if this seller did that to every bidder they'd be making an extra $10 per auction and there's very little anyone can do to recover those funds.

If the auction specifically stated one shipping method and the seller used another, you should contact the seller for an explanation. However, Ebay cannot control what shipping methods a seller uses.

As far as protections, on the whole, buyers have far more protection than sellers. As I said above, any buyer can get a refund from PayPal by claiming no delivery, and if the seller doesn't have a tracking number, the buyer wins. There are buyers who receive their goods, note that there is no delivery confirmation on the package, and falsely file for (and get) refunds.

Other buyer frauds include claiming damage, but substituting an older or damaged identical item that they already own in their claim. This happens a lot with collectibles, books, records, purses. Or threatening to leave negative feedback for the seller unless they receive a partial refund.

I make a significant part of my living on ebay, and it depresses me when any of these frauds occur, because it doesn't do any good for ebay's image, and thus my sales. But scammers are everywhere, not just on ebay.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Well, he had over 400 positives and I seen one posting on the blog site that when they bid, he only had 1 negative. They were scammed, that's for sure, but these people used every precaution that eBay offers. When buying on eBay, that's the risk you take. Personally, I'd never bid that amount of money for anything there, but I don't feel these people got what they deserved. They deserve the item they paid for.

That may be true. But red flags are all over that listing. All you need to do is use your noodle and "you" ( the collective bidders ) wouldn't have made a bid. What makes people think that they can buy an iPod at Christmas time for less on ebay than they can in a store? Apple pretty much dictates the prices that Ipods can be sold for. Liek I said THE VERY FIRST line of that ad is a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE red flag.

I have bought about 300 - 400 items on ebay. I was scammed one time. However, as it turned out, that person was a certified ebay selling assistant. She had the ebay provided logo. Turns out tha she had a medical condition and turned to scamming people. She scammed about $5000 from people. She was arrested. One of the people who was scammed tracked her down and had her arrested.

Ebay requires due dilligence. It requires trust. It requires using your noggin.

 

[Free4Life11]

This is why I stay away from eBay. It's a hassle to sell and a hassle to buy from.

 

[bunnyfoo]

If the auction specifically stated one shipping method and the seller used another, you should contact the seller for an explanation. However, Ebay cannot control what shipping methods a seller uses.

Oh I did They were kind enough to tell me after I had already paid that they no longer express shipping. When I asked them to refund the difference, my e-mails were ignored I will go through Paypal to try and recover the funds but I doubt I will be able to. Ah well... lesson learned.

 

[N.Bailey]

Oh My Gosh!!! How did e-bay allow this to get so out of hand?? Surely they had to start seeing the negative feedback after the first couple of posts and they didn't shut the guy down?? There has to be some liability in that!!!

The negative feedback started coming in all at once. These auctions were run from the very end of Nov into the very beginning of Dec (over 1000 total). By the time the negative feedback started showing up, they were long gone. eBay doesn't suspend accounts for bad feedback though. You must file either a non paying bidder form, or a non performing seller form. Once you get 3 of those against you, you're outta there.

I checked some of the auction listings and take notice, everyone who bid from this seller is no longer a registered user either. Why would eBay suspend them all? Are they again being punished because they were scammed? It just doesn't make sense.

Oh and he was a power seller. A power seller is someone eBay puts a mark on to say he can be trusted! His account was pulled on the 19th, but today they pulled the power seller logo. I have a feeling they know if it can be proven, these people may have a class action lawsuit against eBay.

 

[N.Bailey]

That may be true. But red flags are all over that listing. All you need to do is use your noodle and "you" ( the collective bidders ) wouldn't have made a bid. What makes people think that they can buy an iPod at Christmas time for less on ebay than they can in a store? Apple pretty much dictates the prices that Ipods can be sold for. Liek I said THE VERY FIRST line of that ad is a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE red flag.

I have bought about 300 - 400 items on ebay. I was scammed one time. However, as it turned out, that person was a certified ebay selling assistant. She had the ebay provided logo. Turns out tha she had a medical condition and turned to scamming people. She scammed about $5000 from people. She was arrested. One of the people who was scammed tracked her down and had her arrested.

Ebay requires due dilligence. It requires trust. It requires using your noggin.

On his auctions though he's stated exactly why he will no longer accept Paypal. Whether his story is true or not is anyone's guess, but it sounded like a legit reason to me and one that's been repeated many times by many different people. This guy was a power seller with over 400 positive feedbacks, 1 negative, and had been a registered user since '03. IMO, the signs weren't there on this one.

As for price, video games are set at $50 on release day, but I've gotten them for $35 on ebay already. I bought 2 new Gameboys (years ago) off a yahoo auction and got about a 30% savings on them at the time.

People to go eBay to save money. If they didn't, they'd just buy it in the store. That's what makes it a win, win situation for everyone most of the time. I'm sure if you'd run a search on completed auctions, you'd find that other people had bid around the same amount of money and did get their items delivered.

 

[Papa Deuce]

On his auctions though he's stated exactly why he will no longer accept Paypal. Whether his story is true or not is anyone's guess, but it sounded like a legit reason to me and one that's been repeated many times by many different people. This guy was a power seller with over 400 positive feedbacks, 1 negative, and had been a registered user since '03. IMO, the signs weren't there on this one.

As for price, video games are set at $50 on release day, but I've gotten them for $35 on ebay already. I bought 2 new Gameboys (years ago) off a yahoo auction and got about a 30% savings on them at the time.

People to go eBay to save money. If they didn't, they'd just buy it in the store. That's what makes it a win, win situation for everyone most of the time. I'm sure if you'd run a search on completed auctions, you'd find that other people had bid around the same amount of money and did get their items delivered.

1. I believe the whole story was a sham.

2. Apple sets the price on iPods. If you don't sell for what they tell you to, and they find out, you won't be selling iPods anymore.

3. I do too. I just do it with tons of scepticism, and knowledge before I make a bid on anything over $25. I have bought items for as high as about $200. And I just sold an item for $1100.

These people weren't thinking clearly, IMO.

 

[2BigKIdz]

He had excellent feedback before this. I'm guessing he was either a legitimate seller who for some reason decided he could get away with this scam or he was setting this up for the past 2 years, establishing himself as a power seller. I saw somewhere he got $130,000!!!

I wouldn't have bid because I rarely ever bid if PayPal is not accepted (and if I do it is for something for a very small amount). I feel really sorry for those that have lost money and are in for a big pain trying to get it back. But I have to agree with PD, those I-pods are hard to come by and he's got 200 of them he's willing to sell at a loss????

Probably those that were scammed are not registered users anymore because they have quit e-bay. I was reading the blog listed and all of those posting said they would never use e-bay again.

Really sad situation right before Christmas!

 

[N.Bailey]

He had excellent feedback before this. I'm guessing he was either a legitimate seller who for some reason decided he could get away with this scam or he was setting this up for the past 2 years, establishing himself as a power seller. I saw somewhere he got $130,000!!!

I wouldn't have bid because I rarely ever bid if PayPal is not accepted (and if I do it is for something for a very small amount). I feel really sorry for those that have lost money and are in for a big pain trying to get it back. But I have to agree with PD, those I-pods are hard to come by and he's got 200 of them he's willing to sell at a loss????

Probably those that were scammed are not registered users anymore because they have quit e-bay. I was reading the blog listed and all of those posting said they would never use e-bay again.

Really sad situation right before Christmas!

Check the completed auctions of the IPod 30 gig. These people paid no less than the others did (from other sellers that are still selling today). I averaged 5 of those auctions and it came to an average of $276 a piece. The thing retails at Amazon.com for $299.00 or $299.99. IF he'd have sent them, it would not have been a loss for him in any way, shape, or form.

If it is, there are about 100 people on ebay as I type willing to take the same loss.

A few years ago I tried selling a Pokemon (for Gameboy) that I had bought overseas. I think it was Jade, but wouldn't swear to it. Within 2 days, my auction was pulled and I had a letter directly from Nintendo informing me that I was selling illegal merchandise. It was made overseas and had the Nintendo trade mark as well as the Pokemon trade mark on it.

If Apple had a problem. These auctions would be history as well.

Edit: and that amount did not include S&H. It looks like the standard for this item is roughly $15. This means, you save around $9.00 on average to buy it on eBay.

It's certainly not enough that I'd ever risk it!!! Of course I'm always amazed that $50 gift cards to various restaurants/store sell for like $48. Why bother? Lots do though!