I have two things I am selling at the moment I stupidly put my e-mail address on there as a contact detail in case anyone wanted to chat about the items, this is a mistake.

I have had quite a number of odd e-mails asking me my buy it now etc all of which is clear on the listing, the main thing they seem to be after is my Paypal e-mail ID.

I know there is a scam going on but cannot work out how they benefit from this ID, am I being really dull?

I have refused to deal in any other way than through eBay this I hope is enough to protect me, or do I need to change all my details in Paypal to be on the safe side?

I’m guessing they’d probably just try and brute force your password, based on how powerful password cracking software is these days, and lots of people having “qwerty123” or stuff even simpler than that, means they can crack passwords in seconds.

lots of people having “qwerty123”

damn, I’ll have to change mine.

Can you change mine too while your at it. Post up the new one here and I will check back tomorrow.

Surely they wouldnt be able to brute force it on paypal, as they’re restrict access after a certain number of failed attempts.

WCA, I changed yours yesterday to pay my Uncle in Russia. 🙂

Latest e-mail do you think her daughter really nedd an old MX bike?

Thanks for getting back to me and i appreciate your prompt reply..I am
presently out of town now..am in Ireland Now …but i am buying this
for my Daughter Who live in Russia..my mover will come for the
pick-up…also send me your address for the pickup with your phone
number..am new to online sells…I want you to remove the item on ebay
now so that NO buyer will bid on it again….so send me your pay pal
e-mail so that i can pay soon…

Was that really him though Tinsey?

and this is the other item its an MX bike but its in 1000’s of peices… imagine his sons little face when he sees it!

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?.

another

Thanks for the quick response, can you
assure me it’s in good condition ??
,I need you to understand that I am
willing and ready to purchase it right
away, put it off the AD site, consider me
as your favorite buyer, I’m seriously interested in buying this 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.i would be glad to pay for it as
soon as possible though i will not be available to come for an
inspection due to my tight schedule. Kindly get back to me with the
following questions below:
1) What is the condition?
2) Are you the Owner?
3) Pick up Location?
4) Your PayPal Email ID to effect the payment
5) How much is your buy it now price
I would be glad to make the payment
immediately through PayPal so kindly
get back to me with your PayPal ID. You
need not to worry yourself about
title transfer and shipment,i will instruct the shipping company to
handle that therefore in order to complete the transaction do get back
to me with your PayPal ID and total cost so that I can make the
payment asap. I will
be waiting for your reply!
Thanks and God bless

andrew just changing your now, what password would you like?

Is this not just the scam where they pay you for it, send someone to pick it up then reverse the PayPal payment as there is no proof that they actually picked it up?

I sold a bass amp to a chap in Poland who gave me the ‘I’ll send my mover to pick it up with payment’. Fair enough I said, but unless I’ve got cash in my hands it won’t be going anywhere.

The day we’d arranged arrives, 5 mins past 9 knock on the door, bemused Polish chap with a van, a picture of the amp and a envelope with the correct money in it. One of the easiest ‘big’ transactions I’ve done on ebay but YMMV.

Get them to pay using PayPal gift?

I had this selling a bike on ebay before said they would pay 200 MORE than buy it now price and would pay with paypal and arrange courier to collect. I said no ta very much!

May i add he also clamied to work over seas etc lol

Is this not just the scam where they pay you for it, send someone to pick it up then reverse the PayPal payment as there is no proof that they actually picked it up?

Yup, and:

In case if you will want to call me to talk to me on phone you can easily call me on this number +447024041070

… that’s same again along with a “personal number” scam – looks like a mobile number but costs 50p/minute to call.

ask them what them what kind of terrain it will be used on ?

Then give advice on tyres and pressure…its the STW way.

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/153651-scam-scam-scam.html

dazz, & all, thanks for that I thought it was a hack thing so that worried me, thanks to all for clarifying how it worked.

all posters passwords re set to your usual qwerty123. So carry on & keep on with “what tyre”

two words – phone jacker

enable two factor authentication and then it doesn’t even matter if they have your password – they’ll need your phone too.

(Although there may be a way for them to socially engineer someone down the phone to get access by pretending you lost your phone etc, but they may need all sorts of details like postcode etc.)

Is this not just the scam where they pay you for it, send someone to pick it up then reverse the PayPal payment as there is no proof that they actually picked it up?

if you’re really smart you can scam them out of their scam money, its been done.

tinsy I have had the petroleum engineer email for a a bike I am selling

sofaking, dazz’s link is the same too.

I learnt a lesson though, putting an e-mail on the advert opens you up for hassle & of course its totally unnecessary.