Another eBay Thread

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Hey guys,

Just a quick question, my mate has stuck his old laptop up on eBay and had a Buy It Now price available. About 3 hours into the auction it was immediatley snapped up by someone called john_smith etc and then the standard set of fake PayPal emails arrived and a message from John Smith telling me to ship it out to his daughter in Lagos, Nigeria.

So, obviously he's trying to con us, but who do we contact to get his purchase erased and let us relist the item without having to pay the fees already incurred by the "completed" auction so far?

Thanks :)
 
Contact eBay customer support.

You shouldn't have to pay the listing fees, and my advise is don't use Buy It Now next time :)
 
DJLOREY said:
Contact eBay customer support.

You shouldn't have to pay the listing fees, and my advise is don't use Buy It Now next time :)

Cheers pal, you can guarantee we wont be using it next time :P
 
Don't contact them, they take ages to reply.

Mark item as unpaid, wait till you can send a payment reminder and the account will probably be closed by then and you get your fees back
 
Aghhh I wish people would use common sense and configure their auctions so only UK native bidders can bid and that immediate payment via PayPal is required!
 
yourmomma said:
List it as buy it now but require imediate payment.
Richdog said:
Aghhh I wish people would use common sense and configure their auctions so only UK native bidders can bid and that immediate payment via PayPal is required!
That's what I do, and I've sold a good few hundred pounds worth of stuff on the bay and not had a problem. I always seem to get a better price if I list as 'buy it now', too - and they usually sell within 24 hours.
 
John Smith eh? :D

Here's one I got last night:

JOHNSMITH AND ASSOCIATES
SOLICITORS AND ADVOCATES
22 ROAD FEDERAL GRA IKEJA
LAGOSNIGERIA. POST CODE 23401
PHONE# 234-7031568024

Dear Friend,
How are you today? And how are your family? Hope you are all doing fine?, if so glory be to God.

I am Barrister John Smith, an attorney at law based here in Lagos Nigeria, A deceased client of mine, by name MR ANDREW and who here in after shall be referred to as my client, died as the result of a heart-related illness but before his death ,his entire family was involved in the last bomb explosion in Ikeja Lagos part of Nigeria, so this means that after the death of his children and wife when he returned from a business trip and was told about the bomb incident, he went straight into sickness and developed a heart related illness until he finally died at the Saint Nicolas Hospital here in Lagos Nigeria .

I am contacting you to assist in transferring the money left behind by my client before it is confiscated or declared unserviceable by the SECURITY COMPANY where this deposit valued at $10,000,000.00 million dollars was lodged. This SECURITY COMPANY has issued me a notice to contact the next of kin, or the account will be confiscated.

I have tried all my possible best to locate any of my late client extended family or relation in your country through your embassy here in Nigeria, but all my efforts was abortive since the embassy was not able to provide valuable information's to this, again i received another letter from the security company which states that i should present to them the next of kin of my late client , so that they can pay the $10,000, 000.00 to him as the beneficiary of the funds or the money will be converted into their company treasury and will be regarded as unclaimed bills ,which after then the funds can not be paid to any body and they also make this clear to me in the letter .

The reason i am contacting you is that i want us to do this business together , i will guarantee your security since i am also a lawyer and i want to also assure you that this transaction will not take more than 7 working days and so it is possible for you to use your own share to finance your present business over there in your country .
My proposition to you is to seek your consent to present you as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my named client, since MY CLIENT DIED WITHOUT ANY NEXT OF KIN OR CHILDREN, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you AS THE NEXT OF KIN . Then we can share the amount on a mutually agreed-upon percentage. 50% TO YOU AND 50% TO ME AS PARTNERS.

All legal documents to back up your claim as my client's next-of-kin will be provided. All I require is your honest co-operation to enable transfer of the funds into your account over there in your country, and understand that the late man is a foreigner and since you are also a foreigner, the security company will transfer to you the funds as the next of kin ,and then i will meet with you in your country to take my share of 50% ,i will prepare the legal backups , and understand that everything will be done legally and as soon as the whole funds are transferred to your account in your country, I will fly in to meet with you for sharing which i have indicated to you already in this proposal that we will share the money 50% to you and 50% to me.

This will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law of my country or your country and understand that this transaction will not take your time ,will be complete in estimated time of 7 working days upon your acceptance and co-operation with this proposal.

My late client was not a Nigerian and in this a Nigerian can not stand as his next of kin ,this is the reason i am contacting you since you are also not a Nigerian it will be acceptable by the security company to pay to your account the funds as beneficiary and next of kin to my late client .

If this business proposition offends your moral values, do accept my
apology, but i must indicate that this transaction has nothing to do with crime or risk , it is completely risk free , do not be afraid .

Please contact me at once to indicate your interest.

Send to me your

MOBILE NUMBER _________________

FAX NUMBER _____________________

ADDRESSS ______________________

i am expecting your mail immediately.

Best regards,
Barrister John Smith
PHONE# 234-7031568024
 
Richdog said:
Aghhh I wish people would use common sense and configure their auctions so only UK native bidders can bid and that immediate payment via PayPal is required!

I know - it's not exactly difficult either.
Only people in the UK can buy anything I list on EBay - be that auction style or BIN.
If anything sells BIN I demand immediate payment.

Not had any kind of problem since I made this my policy.
I'm happy to lose that small percentage of potential legit foreign purchasers for a sale that will 99.9% of the time go through without a problem.
 
Oh, ****. I got the same thing happened to me - Xbox 360 snapped up by some "embassy worker" who wants me to ship it to Nigeria. I wasn't aware about the selling restrictions you can place on your auctions. Now I am after having a search of help. I must admit, I did rattle through the listing rather quickly as I don't normally use BIN.
 
Let eBay support know, they should get back to you quickly on this issue.

If you can afford the time and money I'd honestly play along, once you get the fake paypal email send him a box with a brick or something heavy in it. Let him pay the duty and you'll never hear from him again!

Some guy did that and it worked pretty well!
 
Sending poo in the post is perfectly legal. The term is 'faecal sample' and doctors/vets have to do it all the time. They put it in a test tube and then in a jiffy bag and off it goes!
 
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