eBay buyers...keep a heads up - UPDATE AT END :(

[AdventurerKat]

I just came accross this and I wanted to let my fellow eBayers know as I am not sure if this is an attempt to scam people or what but I had a buyer buy a referral from me. After doing a search for the referral I was selling, I noticed he had bought others and had bids on others as well. This didn't make any sense raised a red flag in me.

I looked through the rest of his feedback (he is a new user, less than 30 days and had over 25 feedback in the last WEEK) and had bought several items, all under $1.00. But when I looked at what he was selling, he was selling $300.00 gift cards, an $1800.00 computer, etc. My suspicion is that he was trying to get his feedback up so that he could sell these items as most people would not bid on an $1800.00 computer from someone with zero feedback...at least I hope not! I just had to wonder if he was planning to send the items he was selling out at all. They also had pictures that were obviously not OF the item itself, but of "store versions", that sort of thing.

So while this may all be innocent, to me it was a bit suspicious. So I just wanted to warn anyone buying a big ticket item, be sure to check the feed back of the seller, even if it looks like they have quite a few. I personally, would not feel comfortable buying something so expensive from someone who only has this type of feedback.

 

[Ozymoe]

<I>I am not sure if this is an attempt to scam people or what but I had a buyer buy a referral from me. </I>

? I have never heard of "buying a referral" on ebay. Could you please explain this to me? I would be very grateful.

 

[AdventurerKat]

Basically, I belong to a bank that pays people to open an account with them and also pays the people who refer them.

The reason I am posting this was a buyer beware though because sometimes you just look and see "oh, 99% feedback, they have had 30, o.k. good to go" This person is obviously stacking their feedback. I don't know if they are a scam artist or not but it seems suspicious that you would just be buying penny items and a few at 30 cents, 99 cents, etc, especially items of the same kind, like a referral you could only use once, and then turn around and sell high priced items.

The guy may be on the up and up and found a loop hole, I don't know, but it certainly sounds like it could be the making of a scam and I just wanted to put this out there for people to be aware.

 

[Ozymoe]

Thanks, Kat!

btw, what banks pays when you open an account with them? I was under the impression that banks don't even like to provide free checking, much less pay you to bank with them! lol

 

[DMRick]

Heck, I didn't even know you could sell referrals on eBay..I would have thought that would be like selling URL's to buy something off ebay. I learned something new today LOL!

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by Ozymoe
Thanks, Kat!

btw, what banks pays when you open an account with them? I was under the impression that banks don't even like to provide free checking, much less pay you to bank with them! lol

That would be the INGDirect Savings Accounts. They pay your referral $25 when they sign up thru your email link and they pay you $10 for each referral who signs up. It's a nice little incentive to tell others about their service.

AdventureKat, thanks for the heads up. I would never have thought of that. I usually check feedback before I buy but I never even considered that someone would go to such extremes to build up their feedback before pulling a scam. You learn something new everyday.

 

[AdventurerKat]

I know it seems far-fetched but seriously, when looking at it, you could tell exactly what was going on.

As stated, the bank is ING and it is for a savings account. We are not allowed to solicit referrals here but if you look for the ING facts thread on the Rewards board, you will find alot more info and several people who would be happy to send you a referral if you inquire of them.

 

[CheapMom]

Another good tip- when you check feedback makes sure they have excellent feedback AS A SELLER- not just as a buyer-
You are pretty sly selling referrals- so they pay you and then you also get your $10- Whoa baby- pretty clever!
hey- I wonder if we could put our referrals on Dis Auctions and give them out at no charge that way?

 

[magiroux]

This is exactly how I was ripped off on Ebay. Being a newbie, I only checked the number of feedbacks which were all positive.

Not until 2 days after I paypaled the funds, and started getting messages from other people who had not heard back from the seller for weeks, did I go into the detail only to find that these were $1 & $2 items he had received feedback on and all within a 6 week period. This was several years ago and I have not used Ebay since. If I do I will be more careful to do my "due-diligence". Ebay is a very "pro-seller" website and offers no security to buyers, only sellers.

 

[AdventurerKat]

Cheap Mom, since Dis does not want us soliciting referrals, I am not sure how they would feel about that. I just decided to try it since I saw someone else doing it. I am only going to spend a couple bucks to do so. If I don't get any referrals, then I will just hold on to them and hope to get rid of them some other way.

Magiroux, sorry that happened to you. That's too bad. As long as you take precautions, I think eBay can be a positive experience for both selling and buying.

 

[CheapMom]

Cheap Mom, since Dis does not want us soliciting referrals, I am not sure how they would feel about that.

They don't want us offering Q&C vouchers on the boards but they will let us sell them on DisAuctions so I was wondering if the referrals might be the same.

 

[DMRick]

Ebay is a very "pro-seller" website and offers no security to buyers, only sellers.

If you pay by Paypal, you can do a charge back. Some sellers feel eBay doesn't help them enough when they allow their partner, Paypal to allow such easy chargebacks. Guess both buyers and sellers get stung : (

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Originally posted by AdventurerKat
I just came accross this and I wanted to let my fellow eBayers know as I am not sure if this is an attempt to scam people or what but I had a buyer buy a referral from me. After doing a search for the referral I was selling, I noticed he had bought others and had bids on others as well. This didn't make any sense raised a red flag in me.

I looked through the rest of his feedback (he is a new user, less than 30 days and had over 25 feedback in the last WEEK) and had bought several items, all under $1.00. But when I looked at what he was selling, he was selling $300.00 gift cards, an $1800.00 computer, etc. My suspicion is that he was trying to get his feedback up so that he could sell these items as most people would not bid on an $1800.00 computer from someone with zero feedback...at least I hope not! I just had to wonder if he was planning to send the items he was selling out at all. They also had pictures that were obviously not OF the item itself, but of "store versions", that sort of thing.

So while this may all be innocent, to me it was a bit suspicious. So I just wanted to warn anyone buying a big ticket item, be sure to check the feed back of the seller, even if it looks like they have quite a few. I personally, would not feel comfortable buying something so expensive from someone who only has this type of feedback.

This sounds very similar to an experience I had 2 years ago with an eBay seller. He had 500 positive feedbacks...all within a month....and all for items $1 or less. He was selling laptops, big computers, stereos, etc. My bf at the time purchased a laptop from him after I warned him not to...but he paid $1800 via PayPal for it.

Of course, the laptop never came. The seller had numerous excuses. He refused to meet us in Orlando (where he lived) to deliver it. I began speaking to another couple who had the same problem and scared him into meeting them (they were going to WDW oddly enough!)...she was apparently a lawyer and was threatening to sue.

I eventually hounded him enough that we received the money back, but in 3 split payments over a few days...I realized that he was still running auctions and paid us back via those.

Last I heard about him, he was actually arrested for mail fraud. The actual FBI came knocking on his door one day and that was the end of that.

Lesson to be learned....check out ALL feedback before bidding!!

 

[AdventurerKat]

Interesting. This guy lived in Florida too!

 

[floridagirrl2]

Originally posted by AdventurerKat
I know it seems far-fetched but seriously, when looking at it, you could tell exactly what was going on.

Not far-fetched at all--this is a common way for scammers to build feedback on Ebay. I first learned about it when I used to read the Ebay Usenet newsgroup. There are thieves and scammers everywhere, but geesh....Ebay seems to have more than its fair share! (Speaking as someone who has bought and sold on Ebay for almost 6 years!)

 

[AdventurerKat]

Now this person is "no longer a registered user" I feel so bad for the people who were most likely scammed by this person!

What should I have done? I mean, do you e-mail someone and say "hey, I think this guy is suspicious" or should I have said something to eBay? Technically, he wasn't doing anything against their rules. He was buying, he was paying. And NOW of course, I expect he has scammed people out of thousands.

 

[tcwitt]

How can I get one of these referrals? Thanks, Christine

 

[mad4themouse]

You can get a referral by sending a PM with your first and last name and email address to anyone who has an account already. They can then send a referral link thru ING to your email address.

 

[bearsmomma]

FYI to anyone doing the ING deal, there is also one at virtualbank.com where you get $20 for opening an account with $100 minimum and $20 for referrals. DH opened an account, and refered me so we got $60 total free and are using the account as our "trip account "since it offers over 2% interest... its worth a look if you like these sorts of deals.

 

[mad4themouse]

bearsmomma,
I had looked into the virtualbank.com website and the savings accounts didn't offer interest rates as high as 2%, required a minimum $1000 deposit and charged a $10 monthly fee for balances that went below $1000. Where can I find information about the type of account that you're describing?