Sold my phone - Am I being scammed?

5tephen · 15 Jan 2006 at 16:49

I posted a thread a week ago because I was wary of selling my phone on ebay, but no-one replied. Hopefully I get a reply to this

I listed my XDA Exec yesterday afternoon, and have sold it just now. Check the item here .

I was surprised that it sold so quick, because after I listed mine I noticed that it wasn't the cheapest. But check out the winner's feedback here - he's got 7 positive - one is a cheapo book, 5 more are 'do not pay' items and 2 more have been withdrawn from ebay despite not being over 90 days old.

He's paid by Paypal - does that not mean that the money is on its way? I notice that it takes 3 -5 days for the money to transfer successfully, can I expect this to go through correctly? Note that I have 100+ feedback but have only ever sold one item, and it was apparently lost in the post and I had to refund the guy £60 :rolleyes:

Your suggestions would be appreciated. I've got the guy's phone number if I need clarification.
*EDIT - his phone number doesn't work. "Number error". Great...

5tephen · 15 Jan 2006 at 17:08

I am not going to post anything until I see the line on my online bank statement showing that 400-odd quid is mine. But yes I will definitely be going for as much insurance and recording that I can get

I am in the process of emailing him now, hopefully I get something useful out of it.
Anyone who has received payment via Paypal - how long does it normally take to transfer into your actual bank account?

5tephen · 15 Jan 2006 at 17:25

I am assuming that just because I have received money into my Paypal account that the money is not yet mine?
I'm wondering this because I have bought 130+ items on ebay, and most people post items a day after receiving my Paypal payment, which surely means that they haven't actually received my money yet?

5tephen · 15 Jan 2006 at 21:09

jhmaeng said:
Alternatively, if you feel he's dodgy then just risk a negative and don't sell it to him. The Exec is quite a lot of money and I personally wouldn't risk it with a buyer who I wasn't 100% sure about.

Also remember that even after you withdraw the money into your bank account from Paypal, if the payment turns out to be fraudulent or from a stolen account, Paypal will then try to pull the corresponding amount from your bank account through direct debit. If they can't pull any money through DD, they will likely forward the amount to a collection agency as far as I know.

It's looking more and more like a stolen account, I have just noticed. The postage name & address is totally different to the actual ebay registered address.
If I was to cancel my Paypal account immediately after the money made its way into my account, would this stop Paypal taking any debits back?
Otherwise, what would happen if a debt collection agency was to be called in? I could make the point that I am 1 x XDA Exec (=£400) worse off because of something that wasn't my fault. I shouldn't be forced to give back £400, because it belonged to me. (Wouldn't be afraid to go legal if it came to it mind you)

5tephen · 16 Jan 2006 at 12:41

I have sent an email to the other address on the account, and requested a delivery and read receipt (not that that means a lot I guess). Just received note of successful delivery as I write this.
I have withdrawn money to my bank account, but I am considering just refunding the payment. I'll leave it 24 hours before I do anything, although I think I'll give Paypal a shout now.

5tephen · 16 Jan 2006 at 13:30

I've emailed him, I've also reported the account to eBay. Also relisted the item already.

I also talked to a girl at Paypal who seemed to prefer to say that everything was OK, the payment was successful and all would be ok whether the account was suspect or not. She was about to say "thanks for phoning Paypal" when I told her I wasn't done, and only then did she properly explain what would happen if the payment was fraudulent. Seems they don't mind these scams - nothing to lose on their part, shower of ****"$%^$^*** 's

5tephen · 16 Jan 2006 at 18:11

Tis a good idea that

But it's just one of the many other drawbacks of being from Northern Ireland

(That's assuming he's at least half-witted enough to see where I'm from)

5tephen · 16 Jan 2006 at 21:56

Well, an update - I phoned the guy, he gave me his mobile number which was nice of him I guess.
It's sounding not as bad any more. He is 19, and the account is 'shared' - it seems as if he is using his own ebay account but a friend's paypal account which is not out of the ordinary - I have done that before for a colleague who didn't have a method of setting up a paypal account. And this guy maybe has no money because he is 19, I'm only guessing :confused:

I am posting to the paypal address, not his.

But to be sure, I am still going to wait until the funds have made their way into my bank account; the paypal transfer is marked as 'completed' now so it should be another day or two. Then I'll post the item off with good insurance etc, then cancel my Paypal account a couple of days after. Just to be sure, just to be sure.
Will keep y'all updated anyhow.

5tephen · 18 Jan 2006 at 13:01

Another update - the guy is a scam

He bought another XDA a day after I talked to him. Must have been getting confident, and I admit I was nearly won over.
The seller of the other XDA Exec (why did he buy the same phone?) sent me an email wondering if everything was OK with my side of the deal. Obviously something was up.

As I was replying to him, I got an email from Paypal saying I was the recipient of unauthorised funds, and that a temporary hold on the funds would be put in place until the investigation was complete. It would have been a couple more days before the funds made their way into my bank account, but I must admit that if the other XDA Exec seller didn't contact me, I would never have known and would have considered posting the item off once the funds transferred to my bank.

So there you go. Thankfully I haven't really lost out on big money, just extortionate ebay fees, and I have since relisted the Exec.
Also, does anybody want to have a chat with this guy? An ambitious 19 year old who somehow needs two XDA Execs. Tom Mayer - 07766 601884. Scum.

5tephen · 18 Jan 2006 at 15:54

jhmaeng said:
Ooh ooh, can I be the first one to say "Told you so!"? (just kidding)

Consider yourself lucky - at least you haven't shipped the item yet. Even worse, if somehow Paypal credited your account immediately from the Paypal account, you would have probably shipped it by now

I always wondered by myself why on earth a 19 year old (okay, there are some serious gear-head 19 year olds but they're far and few) need an XDA Exec? That should have sent alarm bells ringing already.

PS. You can get a refund of the auction fees if you report for "unpaying bidder" (or something like that - haven't done it myself before) on your auction.

You are right in everything you say.
I was partly brought round because I suggested that I refund the Paypal payment to him, and then get him to send a cheque. That was OK with him, but then I thought that he was honest enough and decided that I would just continue going the current route to get it over with.
You are right though - I probably would have shipped already if the bank transfer was instant

I will indeed get a refund for the non-payment, but can't do that until after the 22nd, the ebay page says. It's just that I relisted the item as an auction, phoned him, then thought he was genuine, so cancelled the listing. A day later I found it was a scam so I've relisted it again :mad:

Oh and already I had a*hole from Portugal bidding on my current listing, 0 feedback, joined 2 days ago. Cancelled his bid obviously, but ghawd the place is rife with them. 0-feedback people from Malta, Thailand, Lithuania and Vietnam I have noticed in the last 4-5 days, and that's on XDA Execs only.

5tephen · 18 Jan 2006 at 15:57

jhmaeng said:
Just had a look through his history - if the list of items he bidded on previous didn't set alarm bells ringing, I really don't know what would.

How could you have overlooked such gems as

- Find 101 ROMANTIC IDEAS EBOOK VIA GMAIL RESELLER BUY IT NOW
- Window XP EBOOK 1P TROBLESHOOTING GUIDE
- Find Great Ebay REMARKS - Free Shipping --Do Not Pay

?? As I said earlier, consider yourself lucky!!

I know, but it was because he freely gave me his mobile number, we chatted, and then it seemed a bit better - he said that he was wary of there being so many 0-feedback bidders out there, but wanted to get some built up quick because he wanted a phone but didn't want to be turned down.
I'm still lucky that the other seller contacted me when he did

5tephen · 21 Jan 2006 at 22:05

matt100 - that is not on. I'm thankful that I don't get involved much in the selling end, because Paypal and eBay combined totally fleece you in percentage charges. Even selling this phone of mine makes me resent the fact that Paypal are taking a good healthy 15 quid for the luxury, and eBay another tenner or so. Disgusting. If it was any other phone I probably would've ended up keeping it instead of selling, but the xda exec is so impractical that the thought never even crossed my mind :-s

djbenjo - did you phone him? Did you ask to speak to any particular person? The person who he bought the other exec from got told he had the wrong number after asking for Tom or Chris. Strange.