eBay Fraud Alert

[jbennardo]

I wanted to inform you that I was just the victim of an
eBay scam. Somebody contacted me via email, using really official-
looking correspondence, and said I had won an item using second-
chance. That's when a high bidder can't pay for the win, so the item
goes to the next highest bidder.

The emails looked official and I was assured that a Western Union
money transfer was secure and safe. Don't be fooled. I'm normally
pretty good about this kind of stuff and I can't believe I got ripped
off. I feel like an idiot.

The point is, DON'T EVER USE WESTERN UNION or an eBay seller that
insists on wire transfer. There isn't any recourse and I'm out 800
bucks. Not sure how many of you use eBay, but no matter how official
it looks, check it out further.

I was bidding on an iMac. I thought I'd post this here since some of you bid on high priced items. I've had good experiences on eBay and this isn't really an eBay problem. I'm here to warn you that someone is parading around as an eBay seller. He claims that the merchandise is in the US and he's in the UK and that his wife would arrange shipping. I know, I'm an idiot.

At the time, I was so excited about the purchase, I jumped at it. Looking back, I realize how foolish I was. It's been a LONG time since anyone has gotten over on me like that.

Your newly-fleeced, recently bent-over, slightly poorer TB'er,
John

 

[Vorago]

this must be on of the first times I hear of phishing in action.

 

[stedtale]

Thanks for sharing...and the heads up. There sure are lots of people who'll do anything to scam people. :scowl:

 

[Tony G]

Ouch. Sorry to hear man.

But from your post, I can't really tell how you got scammed? Is he not sending you the item? Was there never an item in the first place?

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

This is a well-known fraudsters' technique - Police in the UK busted an organised gang from Romania who were doing exactly the same thing!

There have been a few threads on here about it as well - but it's alway good to remind people about how much fraud there is out there!!

 

[Maverick Blues]

John, I'm really sorry to hear you got burned like this.

And thank you for stepping up to the plate, swallowing the embarassment, and speaking out to remind others that this does happen and that even normally-careful people can get caught up in it.

Please remember (this is to everyone) that anything that is supposedly from eBay can be handled and verified through eBay. If you get a notice that seems legitimate, go to your eBay page (on your own, NOT by clicking any links that might be in the email) and verify it before taking action.

And if you get something that isn't legit, don't just ignore it. Send the email (with full headers) to eBay for them to investigate. I send stuff like that (plus Nigerian scams and phishing attempts) to the feds as well.

Again, John: My regrets that you got caught up in this. May it never, ever happen to you again (or to anyone you care about).

'rick

 

[jbennardo]

Ouch. Sorry to hear man.

But from your post, I can't really tell how you got scammed? Is he not sending you the item? Was there never an item in the first place?

First off, thanks for the thoughts. The 'Ferris Beuller' in me is quite impressed at the lengths and attention to detail of this scam.

Regarding the scam, this person got me to wire them 800 bucks via Western Union and ended email contact. Upon pickup of the money, he emailed one last time and said he would transmit tracking info.

his email is [email protected] if anyone wants to drop him a line

As I said, looking back I can't believe I went through with this!!!!!!!!

 

[AxtoOx]

I don't want to rub salt into the wound, but this is a common scam, I've seen it posted here. Bruce is right.
Sorry about you loss. I have a bunch of stuff to sell and after reading what I have here, I'm scared to deal w/ E-bay, especially if it's not PayPal.

 

[Maverick Blues]

his email is [email protected] if anyone wants to drop him a line

Hmm. "coreaol.com" has nothing set up Web-wise; there's just an empty directory listing. AFAIK forced take-downs usually kill the domain, so this may be sort of a "mail drop" domain.

Definitely "kick this upstairs" to both eBay and the feds if you haven't done so already.

'rick

WHOIS information for coreaol.com:

Domain Name.......... coreaol.com
Creation Date........ 2005-11-17
Registration Date.... 2005-11-17
Expiry Date.......... 2006-11-17
Organisation Name.... Carolyn Leavitt
Organisation Address. P O Box 99800
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. EmeryVille
Organisation Address. 94662
Organisation Address. CA
Organisation Address. US

Admin Name........... PrivateRegContact Admin
Admin Address........ P O Box 99800
Admin Address........
Admin Address........ EmeryVille
Admin Address........ 94662
Admin Address........ CA
Admin Address........ US
Admin Email.......... [email protected]
Admin Phone.......... +1.5105952002
Admin Fax............

Tech Name............ PrivateRegContact TECH
Tech Address......... P O Box 99800
Tech Address.........
Tech Address......... EmeryVille
Tech Address......... 94662
Tech Address......... CA
Tech Address......... US
Tech Email........... [email protected]
Tech Phone........... +1.5105952002
Tech Fax.............
Name Server.......... yns1.yahoo.com
Name Server.......... yns2.yahoo.com

P.S. A look at their MX records might be interesting reading...

 

[threshar]

Be sure to send this info to eBay if you have not already.

And remember, eBay will NEVER email you stuff like this. (And any official ebay commucation can be seen on your my ebay page, go there yourself, don't click a url in an email).

Never pay with a wire transfer.
Never use an escrow service.
There are no 'second chance' auctions or things of that nature.

Also, if it is a somewhat pricey item have them take various pictures of it. Ask for bizzare angles or parts. If they are not legit you are less likely to get pictures you ask for. (especially on a musical instrument, but in your case it was a computer).

 

[rockoncamel]

ouch sorry to hear man, i got caught out once for £150 , i wouldnt of minded loosing £150 but it was for a leeds festival ticket and all my mates already had tickets and i didnt get to go which was a right killer, it was the same with me, i did a western union money transfer. Also i got an email offering me an effect pedal for my bass for 20 quid, which i brought and payed for by cheque, though i dont think theyd rip me off for 20 quid, any thoughts???

 

[Maverick Blues]

Just to clarify...

eBay will NEVER email you stuff like this.

Untrue. eBay will, in fact, email you stuff pretty much exactly like this. The difference is, eBay also includes information a scammer wouldn't know... like your actual real name (as opposed to just your eBay ID). Also, eBay emails come from eBay. Scammer emails don't. Learning to read email headers is worth the investment of time and effort; it's a valuable skill... especially these days!

There are no 'second chance' auctions or things of that nature.

Incorrect. There are in fact "second chance" offers, they have legitimate uses, and they do occasionally happen. I've even used one myself, as a seller, when the winning bidder was an obvious scammer (who I turned in to eBay). I offered the item to the runner-up bidder, since he was legitimate and was unfairly bumped out of the winning slot.

The rest of what you said, threshar, is right on the mark and good advice. I just wanted to clear up those two points.

Cheers,
'rick

P.S. Just to clarify my clarification : When I say eBay will send you stuff like this, I'm not saying they will urge you to use Western Union or what-have-you... I'm referring to winning notifications, second-chance offers, etc. Scammers mimic the "eBay look" as closely as possible to suck people in. The "use a wire transfer" emails usually come later.

 

[wateroftyne]

Sorry to hear this, John.

FWIW, eBay banned the use of Western Union transfers a few weeks ago for this very reason... I know it doesn't help you, though.

 

[Herman]

I'm also sorry to hear that you taken by these *******s but don't beat yourself up about it - they're very clever and it just takes one slipup to let them in.

My wife runs an online business and has a store on eBay - she get's e-mails from phishers all the time. The other day, she wasn't paying attention, got an e-mail apparently from eBay, and clicked on a link within the message. The link took her to what looked like a legit eBay login screen. She entered her username and was about to enter her password when she happened to glance at the URL. Instead of reading "..eBay.com/...", it had just an IP address and she realized that she had come very close to revealing her logon info to some phishers.

I guess the moral to this story is to not take anything for granted, always be on the alert when transacting on the internet, always use PayPal for eBay transactions, and report all frauds or suspected frauds to eBay.