Possible Ebay scam, how to warn the seller?

89911 · 02-22-2006, 05:33 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-2405FPW-UltraSharp-24-Flat-LCD-Display_W0QQitemZ8770489022QQcategoryZ74936QQrdZ1Q QcmdZViewItem

I've been looking for a monitor and this price is too good to be true. Plus, it is only a 24 hours sale. I checked the other items the seller is auctioning and they are all the same, high priced electronic items with 24 hour sales and no reserves. When I checked out the sellers 100% feedback, all the previous items were baseball cards for a few bucks each. I tried to contact the seller, buy no replies. Something doesn't seem right. Notice how he doesn't want to use Ebay for email contact. What to do?

FrayAdjacent911 · 02-22-2006, 05:38 PM

I don't see what's wrong with it, except that he didn't set a reserve?

89911 · 05:44 PM

You don't think it looks a little strange? These monitors usually sell for $850. He is offering to ship worldwide for free and offering full refunds, all with just a 24 hour auction and $5 reserve. Seems Odd.

FrayAdjacent911 · 02-22-2006, 05:45 PM

well, yeah, large font, copy of the spec page from dell.com (I work for Dell, and have been checking out monitors recently, that's how I recognized it).

The 'before bidding contact me urgent ' comment stands out, followed by the 'BUY IT NOW...FREE SHIPPING.....2 YEARS MANUFACTER WARRANTY......YOU WILL RECEIVE A SURPRISE GIFT......

ONLY 700 USD....'

Looks like he meant to put a $700 'buy it now' price, but missed it.

djmcmath · 02-22-2006, 05:48 PM

Well, it's possible that a baseball card collector who knows nothing about computers stumbled into a rare collection of expensive monitors which he has no interest in. It's possible that he's really a philanthropist, intent on bettering the Good of the Common Man by practically giving away such fine equipment.

Or maybe, if it smells like something my dog left in the neighbor's yard, and has the texture of crunchy peanut butter, and the color of .... well, you get the idea. Can you tell ebay management? They get upset about this sort of thing, I think.

FrayAdjacent911 · 02-22-2006, 05:52 PM

Looks more like to me the guy forgot to add the 'buy it now' to his auction. Yeah, it would be the good samaritan thing to do to email him to advise he left it out, and to pull his auction...

FrayAdjacent911 · 02-22-2006, 05:54 PM

Of course, you look at his other auctions.. .he has a lot of the same. Some high dollar items starting at $5 on a 24hr auction... I'm looking at them now to see if they have a Buy It Now on them...

FrayAdjacent911 · 02-22-2006, 05:57 PM

All of his auctions have a $5 starting bid and no Buy It Now, but the start of the description looks like he meant to put on there.

Likely he could be trying to skirt Ebay's charge for putting in the Buy It Now.

Of course, you could bid low on something, and if he cancels your bid, or backs out of the deal, complain to Ebay.

Something is fishy.

89911 · 06:02 PM

I just checked, and about another 10 items where added, (Xbox, plasma tv's, etc), all the same, 5 dollar reserves with a 24 hour auction. I emailed Ebay and gave them his ID stating that his history of feedback didn't match what he is selling now. I hate to see someone taken. How much you want to bet if you email the seller, he is going to want a money order sent? Something stinks.

TerryH · TerryH's Garage

Not to sidetrack this thread, but have others been getting the latest eBay spoof emails? I've gotten 3 so far and they are pretty slick.

They consist of an emailed question asked by a potential buyer about the item you have for sale. Of course the email looks very much like the email from eBay in this situation. When you click on the link of the item for sale, it of course brings up the eBay log-in, which in this case is a spoof site. If you sign in you have surrendered your account.

If you never sell on eBay you probably won't even be tempted to look, but as an occasional seller, I was tempted and caught myself the first time. I instead copied the item number and found the item to be an old auction.

FrayAdjacent911 · 02-22-2006, 06:03 PM

Could be the guy's account got hijacked, and someone's throwing up a bunch of high dollar stuff as sort of a different type of phishing... seeing who will email him, and if he can sucker someone into sending money.

Anyone want to play 'stupid interested person' and email him?

89911 · 02-22-2006, 06:06 PM

I would if I was at my work email. I like to keep my home email clean. Any other takers.

real550A · real550A's Garage

This is the (now) age old "Bobcat scam". Will ship from London,etc.
They've been doing this for a couple years.
If it seems too good to be true......

89911 · 02-22-2006, 06:10 PM

Matt, I've been trying to get the 2405 FPW for about a week on Ebay, thats how I came accross this. The lowest I've seen it online is $879 shipped from SamsClub online. All the Ebay sales seem to always go for about $850, so not much less. Any recommendation on where to shop other then this guy of course!

FrayAdjacent911 · 02-22-2006, 06:23 PM

I'd recommend trying to find some of those sites that people post coupon codes and rebates on. I've seen some pretty sweet deals on things on a few of those sites, but for the life of me, can't think of any names of any.

Otherwise, check the Dell Outlet. Refurbished monitors, heck, anything we sell as 'refurbished', MOSTLY means it was ordered by a customer, then cancelled. Items that are cancelled are sent to the Dell Outlet, and sold, usually for a good cut under what they go for new. I've got a 'refurbished' 1704FP at home that I've had for probably 2 years. Works great. I'd definitely go through 'em again.

89911 · 02-22-2006, 06:24 PM

Thanks, They just cancelled all the auctions this guy was trying to pull. Maybe I had something to do with it.

FrayAdjacent911 · 02-22-2006, 06:27 PM

Yep, they're gone!

Probably was a hijacked account, and Ebay caught on to it.

89911 · 06:55 PM

If you come across any of those codes, let me know. I've got about 17 Dell workstations at my office, you would think they would sent me one someday. Got this email just a few minutes ago, they got on it pretty quick:

Hello,

Thank you for writing eBay.

We are concerned about violations on the site and thoroughly investigate every report. Please be assured that we take appropriate action in accordance with our site policies.

As you may know, we are unable to provide specific information regarding the result of our investigation to third party members. Please understand that this is for the protection of all eBay users.

I appreciate your interest in the well being of our site. It is assuring to know that we have members who are concerned about the safety of our other users. I encourage you to continue to report all questionable behavior to eBay. This will give us the chance to look into the situation and take action where warranted.

Thank you for being part of the eBay community.

Regards,

Martin C.
eBay SafeHarbor
Investigations Team

EdT82SC · 09:53 PM

For Dell coupon codes I use gotapex.com. You may have to wait a while for a really good coupon code to come up for whatever you want to buy, but there are new ones at least once a week.