Hi,

I’ve got a vehicle listed on ebay its been on for 24hrs now and I’ve started getting emails with offers from people but one stands out he’s wanting to pay via paypal (the price is in the thousands so not a cheap option) and his email looks as dodgy as they come… this is one of the emails he’s sent me from Andrew Smith <cnzvdfgnfg@*****.com>

Thanks for the mail, i am buying this for my son as his birthday gift because i would not be around to celebrate with him i am a petroleum engineer currently on a rig offshore in UK and due to the nature of my work,phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. In case if you will want to call me to talk to me on phone you can easily call me on this number +44*********. I really want this item to be a surprise gift for my son so i wont let him know anything about the item until it gets delivered to him , i am sure he will be more than happy with the item.I insisted on paypal because i don’t have access to my bank account online as i don’t have internet banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address so i can make the payment as soon as possible for the item and pls if you don’t have PayPal account yet,it is very easy to set up, go on http://www.paypal.com and get it set up ,after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to put the money through.I have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up immediately you have receive the payment in full.what is your final price including the paypal charges?.

I’m new to this whole ebay thing but it just sound abit suspicious to me? i have no problem selling it to him but the paypal cost would be in the hundreds

tom

“item”

’nuff said.

If it seems even slightly suspicious, it probably is – especially when talking about “price is in the thousands”

Yes, it’s a scam, quite a common one by all accounts.

Google it, I bet you find the exact same letter elsewhere with a similar question attached. In fact, someone on here asked the same question a few days ago I think.

EDIT, HERE IT IS.
Clicky back to singletrack.

i am a petroleum engineer currently on a rig offshore in UK

I think he’s more likely to be working in the Nigerian oil fields.

is it better to leave it until the auction to end or if a good offer comes up take it?

A google search for

i don’t have access to my bank account online as i don’t have internet banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address so i can make the payment as soon as possible for the item and pls if you don’t have PayPal account yet,it is very easy to set up, go on http://www.paypal.com and get it set up ,after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to put the money through.I have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up immediately you have receive the payment in full.what is your final price including the paypal charges?.

should answer your question. 😕

Well known ebay scam. Walk away.

http://www.scamdex.com/ScamTipReport.php?num=1666

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1696818

https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/How-to-use-PayPal/Is-this-a-scam/td-p/15200

So its open season to get into a long conversation with your favorite new fried for a cash only deal and how much he is missing out….

Thanks

Stinks.

I had a very similar email when selling my car. it’s without a shado of doubt a scam. I know for certain as when the sent the ‘money’ to my paypal account, the invoice was sent to my hotmail account when my paypal is linked to my Gmail account.

ignore and do not respond unless you want to have a laugh with them.

Oh and if you have to ask if it’s a scam, it usually is!

higgo, tell us a story with a happy ending !

😀

Scam totally ,my son recently had duplicate email when seliing acar on auto trader.
plus similar ones regarding cheque to cover pick up ,thought we would take one of these guys for a ride so he sent us huge chq 3 times value of car to cover courier, ,1 day later he’s asking us to pay his courier,didn’t seem to comprehend chq clearance times.
sure enough his chq came from bank of rubber chqs.
Chq was posted in manchester,
agent was saying in east london,but payment was to be sent to Cairo.

Reported to auto trader, n police fraud dept.

Waste of auto trader add fee as they just closed ABDUL RUBBER CHQS ac.

another one I’ve just got this time from mark smith

Thanks for the mail, i am buying this for my son as his birthday gift because i would not be around to celebrate with him i am a petroleum engineer currently on a rig offshore in UK and due to the nature of my work,phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. In case if you will want to call me to talk to me on phone you can easily call me on this number +447024041070. I really want this item to be a surprise gift for my son so i wont let him know anything about the item until it gets delivered to him , i am sure he will be more than happy with the item.I insisted on paypal because i don’t have access to my bank account online as i don’t have internet banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address so i can make the payment as soon as possible for the item and pls if you don’t have PayPal account yet,it is very easy to set up, go on http://www.paypal.com and get it set up ,after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to put the money through.I have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up immediately you have receive the payment in full.what is your final price including the paypal charges?.

higgo, tell us a story with a happy ending !

Sold my car on Ebay last Tuesday.
Chap asked about payment.
I asked for a PayPal deposit and some cash to keep fees down.
He offered PayPal gift outside Ebay.
I said “Ooh, I’d rather not, can we just do normal PayPal?“
He said “Makes no difference to me, I can bring cash on Thursday”
I said “Fair enough“
Hora got her knickers in a twist about it not being Wednesday but offered to buy me the ‘best pint of my life’ if he turned up with the cash.
Chap turned up with cash on Thursday.
I banked some of the cash on Friday and spunked the rest over the weekend.

its fine, no really its not fine

I have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up immediately you have receive the payment in full

Completely chicken soup…everyone has a ‘pick up agent’ on standby for those ‘secret’ ebay purchases dont they???