Nokia N97 (new) for £180...do i risk it?

[Flare]

*EDIT* NEWS FLASH! Its a scam.......unsurprisingly :rollseyes:

Im about to send this email back to him, anything else i should add?

Give it up and stop trying to scam people you sneaky ******* rat.
How do I know its a scam? Say thank you to my fellow detectives over at OcUK.

So to begin with:

1. not even a complete moron would sell a brand new £500 phone for £180
2. the phone network is MTN which is the biggest service provider in South Africa.
3. the weather shown on the phone says "Johannesburg 13 degrees C". Hmmm, Johannesburg is in South Africa is it not? and with it being a smart phone the location automatically updates its self.
4. the date on the phone is fri 29/05/2009 (which is not today over here in the UK...) and the time is 8.14.
5. the name on the facebook widget is of Paul Jacobson, googling this name brings up a technology blog and searching for "Nokia N97 29 May" brings up.... http://pauljacobson.org/2009/05/29/i-found-n-first-impressions-of-a-nokia-n97/ . Now i know where you got the pictures from or maybe you just have the same name and took the pictures at the exact same time as he did and on the same desk...? (look at the pictures under the video on that page)
6. in this modern world, most things that look too good to be true are too good to be true. Have a sarcastic internet cookie (http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/2009/06/chocolate_chip_cookie.jpg) for further demolishing what very little trust there is in the modern day towards complete strangers.



Go get a real job.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ive been after a Noki N97 for a while and found this

Nokia N97 Brand New Unlocked (£180)

HI I HAVE A NOKIA N97 OPEN TO ALL NETWORKS, I AM WILLING TO POST IT ANYWHERE, I AM SELLING FROM THE UK.
I WILL ONLY TAKE PAYPAL AS WAY OF PAYMENT TO PROTECT BOTH MYSELF, AND THE BUYER.
PLEASE CONTACT ME VIA EMAIL FOR DETAILS OF PAYPAL.
THANKYOU

I have emailed him asking for a picture so i could see the condition of it and this is the reply:

Hi it is still available here is your pic that you requested. it is brand new! it has never been used it still has its protective film covering!

Its good that he will only take paypal but my only concern is if the phone is black listed so could be cut off at any time.
*edit* If i ask him for the phones serial number and he gives it me would i be able to ring Nokia and check that everything is alright with the phone?

What do you lot reckon?

p.s. I just sent him another email asking for a picture of the phone turned on to be sure. (scroll down for reply)

Thanks,
Flare

 

[Flare]

*edit* If i ask him for the phones serial number and he gives it me would i be able to ring Nokia and check that everything is alright with the phone?

If its too good to be true, it usually is.

hmm

be very carefull with it.... it seems to good to be true to me

Not always...


here is the reply to the last email i sent:

Hi, sorry I didn't think of that, I am an elderly Gentleman losing his marbles...
here are the switched on pictures.
with thanks

 

[Flare]

Thats a South African phone running on MTN.

ITS A SCAM

thanks for the info.....whats MTN?

 

[Flare]

Africa's biggest cellular network operator

Maybe ask him why its on MTN?

Just sent him this

"Thanks for the quick replies and pictures but I have one question; If you live in Oxford why is the phone on the network MTN?

Thanks"

To be fair you asked what we thought, we've said.
Found this on the bay? whos to say the photos in the photos is what your going to get? Just because its on paypal doesnt fully 100% cover you in the event of conflict
and do you want to risk the phone being black listed, making it unusable?
If your having to ask other people for your opinion your obviously not that sure yourself, but why brush off what other people are advising you when youve asked.
Just my two cents.

i know you have said and at no point have i questioned your replies have i?
And nope i didnt find it on the bay. And yes i have considered that about the pictures.
I have not brushed off what other people have advised me at all.


some people

 

[Flare]

Say you live close to Oxford and are willing to pay £180 in cash at a place of his choosing, if he accepts much more likely to be credible (can always change your mind and say actually can you post it please).

Thanks for the idea.
Although since sending him an email questioning him about the phone being on MTN i haven't had a reply back yet, all my other emails he replied back to pretty quickly

p.s. rossw good spot, i appreciate it

 

[Flare]

Aha, thanks guys!

Noticed the date and time on the Phone?
Ask him for his email address - 100% sure it wont be a Gmail as it is in the picture.
Edit: Is his email address a Gmail?

I should really learn to take more notice.
and no its a hotmail address

No probs man
BTW, If you look closer at the Facebook widget you will see a name of Paul Jacobson
Put that into Google and the results will be a technology blog
I put in Nokia N97 29 May in the search bar and found this - http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&so...D5UHq51BynQPuy54g&sig2=tTrFi2cdCy2RWMHi_bOIfw
Check out the pics under the video...

Very well noticed as well!

Pic:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IaUvBgmtxX4/Si0mGst8zcI/AAAAAAAAE0w/TQ8SYK1foUg/s400/e71-n97.jpg
Now, same time and table in above pic.

You guys are very good, im impressed

It's a scam. Through and through. Don't get suckered and report it to ebay ASAP so some other poor sod doesn't either.
How much do these phones normally go for on the ebay?

Its not on ebay, its on www.gumtree.com
and they retail for ~£450 new

Also on the slid open view it has the weather, that is done on the phone's location, and is in Johanesburg. :/

Edit: The photos are from Flickr on the blog linked above.

getting bored of saying this now.....very good!


oh and to my last email which i sent to him asking why the network was MTN, he said:

Hi, the phone was a gift from a my son, and i don't need it! i don't know where he got it from? i never thought to ask! as far as i am aware it is a uk model! but if you think there is something wrong with it? then ok, you don't need to buy it!
I am happy to wait for someone interested in it.

HMMM!

 

[Flare]

Im about to send this email back to him, anything else i should add?

Give it up and stop trying to scam people you sneaky ******* rat.
How do I know its a scam? Say thank you to my fellow detectives over at OcUK.

So to begin with:

1. not even a complete moron would sell a brand new £500 phone for £180
2. the phone network is MTN which is the biggest service provider in South Africa.
3. the weather shown on the phone says "Johannesburg 13 degrees C". Hmmm, Johannesburg is in South Africa is it not? and with it being a smart phone the location automatically updates its self.
4. the date on the phone is fri 29/05/2009 (which is not today over here in the UK...) and the time is 8.14.
5. the name on the facebook widget is of Paul Jacobson, googling this name brings up a technology blog and searching for "Nokia N97 29 May" brings up.... http://pauljacobson.org/2009/05/29/i-found-n-first-impressions-of-a-nokia-n97/ . Now i know where you got the pictures from or maybe you just have the same name and took the pictures at the exact same time as he did and on the same desk...? (look at the pictures under the video on that page)
6. in this modern world, most things that look too good to be true are too good to be true. Have a sarcastic internet cookie (http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/2009/06/chocolate_chip_cookie.jpg) for further demolishing what very little trust there is in the modern day towards complete strangers.



Go get a real job.

 

[Flare]

aw but i thought the cookie bit was good

 

[Flare]

Go for it then

did you click the cookie link? its a pretty amazing cookie

 

[Flare]

and his reply is...

I'll have you know Mr Phillips that firstly? I do not have a camera to take pictures of the phone! so I lied and googled some! secondly my son did get it for me, but as I am not into modern technology I don't want it! and thirdly? I am a police officer! so if I choose to sell it at 20 pounds? its of no loss to me! you wanted pictures of the phone and I couldn't provide them! so if I had of said I had no pictures you would have said I was scamming still?
at the end of the day? it can sit in its box on the shelf and I would not give a damn!
I don't have to answer to you.
But I will tell you something for nothing sunshine? I dare you come say that to my face? easy to call someone and a liar and a cheat hiding behind your computer screen? but you would not have the balls to come say it to my face! I doubt it very much, because I would arrest your sorry ass.....I have now chosen not to take paypal, and collection in person! so you are the one who has lost out, not me! good day

hmm...
a few things still a tad 'fishy'
1) He lied on the off.
2) If he didn't want it im sure he would have just given it back to his son or actually checked to see how much it's worth. even if you dont want something you don't sell it for the 3rd of the price you could get for it.
3) "I am a police officer! so if I choose to sell it at 20 pounds? its of no loss to me!" how is it of no loss to him just because he is a police officer?
4) He really needs to learn how to use question marks
and to him saying "I dare you come say that to my face"......keyboard at the ready!

 

[Flare]

I emailed Gumtree telling them about it, this is very response:

Hi there Max,

Thanks for your email reporting this to us.

We take matters like this very seriously. I have removed this ad and taken further steps to try and prevent this from happening again in the future. However, should you come across any ad that should be brought to our attention, please report it to us by clicking the "Report this ad" link. We check these reported ads as soon as possible.

We always advise our users to be careful when using Gumtree. If you haven’t seen it already you might want to take a look at our Stay Safe information under Help:
http://www.gumtree.com/help/stay_safe

Thanks,
Duvall
Gumtree.com

Very good