eBay scam- is this new?

[crazymomof4]

A guy DH works with was the second highest bidder on a boat being sold on eBay. After auction end he recieved an email saying that the winning bidder backed out and he was offered the boat as the second highest bidder. This and subsequent e-mails looked to be right from ebay! (I'm sure they were not)
I lose the exact sequence of events of the story here, but apparently the email gave the location where he could view the boat. It was requested that he pay via Western Union. (that would have been a red flag for me!) He viewed the boat and decided to go through with the offer. The next day he sent the $$ via Western Union. At lunch he took a friend to go see the boat and it was GONE! A man on the property said that the winning bidder came to pick up his purchase. At this point, DH's co-worker realizes he's been scammed and calls West. Union to stop the transfer of $$. They stopped it and 5 mins later someone came to try to pick it up! Not enough time for the authorities to be there waiting so the guy walked.

 

[ckckc2000]

Well at least they didn't walk with the money too

 

[sunie]

That is so crazy! Do you think the man selling the boat was trying to double his money? It's a shame there are people in this world like that. Situations like this make me so mad. What some people will do for money.

 

[poody1]

I read somewhere that this type of thing is con artists scamming people

 

[whois figment]

Same type of thing happened to me on digital camera. The email comes through as a second chance offer. I actually received it a couple of times. Here is a copy of the email (the graphics didn't come through but it definately looked legit. The first thing that I noted was the email adress is different then what ebay has listed. I then emailed the seller directly and this was definately not from them.

Second Chance Offer -- Buy The Item You Recently Bid On





Dear *****

Good news!

After verifying the trustworthiness of the seller and the availability of the merchandise for immediate shipping, we have approved this second chance transaction and offered you, as the buyer, full purchase protection for the bid amount you placed on the eBay auction.



Nikon Coolpix 8800 Digital Camera + 4GB Kit NEW USA
Item number: 7501670834

Your Price : US $875.00
Offer end date : 01-04-2005

Ask seller a question



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Chance Offer

The seller, is making this Second Chance Offer because the high bidder was either unable to complete the transaction or the seller has a duplicate item for sale.

The selling of this item through Second Chance Offer is in compliance with eBay policy; you will be able to exchange Feedback with the seller and will be eligible for all eBay services associated with a transaction, such as fraud protection.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Act Now !! - This Offer Expires Soon

To take advantage of this opportunity, please act quickly, click here to contact the seller of this item.
You may purchase this item by copying this Second Chance Offer and send it to the seller so he/she can identify you.

Seller's e-mail address:
fircupedala@yahoo.com

Thank you for using eBay!
http://www.ebay.com/


*Please do not respond to this email with information regarding your case, as it can only be processed through the seller. If you have other questions, please contact the seller and he will present us your concerns.



eBay Protected Purchase







Copyright © 1995-2005 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
eBay and the eBay logo are trademarks of eBay Inc.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Wow! That's terrible, considering there are such things as second chance offers! Does anyone have a legitimate one that could be posted so we can compare?

 

[ChrislovesMinnie]

Ebay has evolved into a shady business nowadays.

 

[crazymomof4]

The first thing that I noted was the email adress is different then what ebay has listed. I then emailed the seller directly and this was definately not from them.

You see, there were things that you saw that made you a little skeptical and so you investigated before taking any action. I told my DH that I'm sure there were red flags along the way that his co-worker (the victim) didn't catch.
I am SO grateful to the people on the budget board who take the time to post info about scams. By reading these I have been made more aware of what should appear "fishy" to me. The coworker is an intelligent person. I think that he was just so excited about getting the boat, after thinking that he had lost the bidding, that he allowed his excitement to cloud his judgement.

 

[WDW_DV]

Folks, a real second chance offer consists of an actual listing that you will see when you log into "My Ebay". As someone who has sold an item legitimately through a second chance offer, let me explain the procedure. It is basically a buy it now auction, that only you have permission to view. Everything works the same as a regular listing. It has an expiration date, a buy it now button, and when you complete the transaction it shows up in the "Items I've won" section on My Ebay.

If you as a bidder are offered a second chance, the email notifying you of the offer will include a link to the actual listing. It will NOT explain how to pay for or collect your item, as this only happens when a purchase is completed.

The above characteristics will help you identify a real second chance offer from a scam.

Hope this helps someone out there!

 

[WDW_DV]

Wow! That's terrible, considering there are such things as second chance offers! Does anyone have a legitimate one that could be posted so we can compare?

A legitimate second chance offer is an actual ebay listing that's only viewable by the person to whom it was offered. See my above post on how it works.

Below is an actual second chance offer email. However, it is a year old so it may look different now. Note the link to an actual ebay auction that is included, and an expiration date. As a seller, you can choose for an offer to be valid for 1,3,5,7, or 10 days IIRC.

--------------------------------------------------

Dear XXXXXXXXXXX,

You expressed interest in an item titled XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXX by bidding, however the auction has ended with another
member as the high bidder. In compliance with eBay policy, the seller,
XXXXXXXXXXXX is making this Second Chance Offer to you at your bid
price of $XX.XX.

The seller has issued this Second Chance Offer because either the
winning bidder was unable to complete the transaction or the seller has
duplicate items for sale.

If you accept this offer, you will be able to exchange Feedback with
the seller and will be eligible for eBay services associated with a
transaction, such as fraud protection.

This offer expires Friday, Feb 20, 2004 19:49:46 PST. To purchase this
item, click the "Buy It Now" button located at the bottom of the
following page:
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewPersonalOffer&item=XXXXXX3560.

If you want to ask the seller a question before making the purchase,
follow the link above and click the "Ask Seller A Question" link on the
item page.

To learn more about Second Chance Offer go to:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/personal_offer.html

Thank you,

eBay, Inc.

 

[HayGan]

I recently received a second chance offer for a item for my son. I noticed that the person who beat me in the bidding was very questionable. The price for my second chance offer was the highest bid that I put in. No way am I going to pay the highest bid on something when the bids were run up by questionable means.

 

[tinan]

I have purchased things in the past on second chance offers. Sometimes it's that the high bidder backed out and sometimes it's that the seller had multiple of the same thing. In my case, I think it was the latter.

I, have on the other hand, had a problem with a computer that we tried buying on Ebay. I don't recall the exact price now, but in our case it was less than $500. The seller was someone who originally was selling computers on Ebay as a legit business. He had great reviews, everything looked on the up and up. Well I tried emailing him several times on the multiple email addresses I had. No response! I then asked for his details through Ebay in which I got his phone number and address. At that time, I also did a phone lookup number to see if he had any other telephone numbers. Again, no response from any of it! I then started contacting others who had won his auctions and they too hadn't received any response. When you added all of our cases up it literally ran in the thousands upon thousands of dollars. I then contacted his local police department to see what could be done. It eventually escalated to the MD. State Police Computer Crimes unit and he was arrested. By the time I was done with him he had several felony counts, tons of misdemeanors and I believe child services ended up being called in. Not only was he neglecting his business, but his children were living in unbearable conditions!

 

[BethR]

I am SO grateful to the people on the budget board who take the time to post info about scams. By reading these I have been made more aware of what should appear "fishy" to me. .

Me TOO!

 

[seashoreCM]

The scam you described is not limited to second bidders.

It could happen equally well with the high bidder.

If you can go see the item and/or pick it up in person, you as the buyer have a lot more protection against most scams. You simply pay when you take the item!

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[jjbblue99]

I've learned to NEVER click on links from Ebay or Paypal email. I close the email, and go to the website and login to my account and in Ebay's case go to My Ebay. You can see Second Chance offers that way and that's where I make payments from and check for messages from ebay, etc. I've received too many scam emails.

The other big red flag now is the request for payment via Western Union. All the auction sites warn you against making payments via this service.

 

[mtblujeans]

That's really too bad! I use the Second Chance option if someone DOES back out or if I have more than one item to sell and I find the second runner up to have bid an acceptable amount to sell that second item! I can understand if people don't want to take advantage of the 'second chance' to purchase! That's really too bad!!