Beware of Ebay scams

You know what, I always ask questions. More often than not anything that seems too good to be true usually is. It's just crazy how some people operate and try to cheat you out of a buck. Well I was one of those people who got hit on by an eBay scammer.


I'd listed a mobile phone on eBay recently. What shocked me was the immediate response I got from it. Here is the email below

Hi, would you accept £240 for it inclusive shipping today, am sorry for the offer, I couldn't wait until the bidding ends ,once you provide to me with your PayPal it will do for sending the payment.

Pls, Write me back asap.

You have got to be kidding me!!!!! I'm not sure what attracted this person to me but there must’ve be something I said that made the person think I was an easy target. Not!! First of all why would someone offer me £240 on a mobile that is used and you can get the very mobile brand new for £199. No, no no, I dooo not think so. That doesn’t make sense to me. Alarm bells went off immediately. So I wrote back and told the person that if they really wanted the mobile, I'll put a buy it now offer on my eBay account for £160 and will ship it tomorrow.

This is the response I got back

Thanks for the email, there's bank holiday today, but I can still send the payment today once I have your PayPal email, it will do for sending the payment today and then ship it tomorrow morning.

Hope to hear from you soon.

What is it with this person wanting my email address? So I just wrote back what I'd said before. Click on the buy it now.

The person responded to say that the button was not working. Oh c'mon, tell that to my backhand. So I just told the person that if they are unwilling to use the buy it now button I'm not prepared to sell them the phone. So there. That was the end of it.

Apparently there is a scam going around that asks you for your papal address so they can make payment into your account. You will then get an email to say that funds have been put into your account and that you should please send the item to some place in Nigeria. The thing is, the email is so well duplicated that if you don't pay attention you could almost fall for it. It also claims that it will hold onto the funds until you've sent a tracking number of the item posted. Seriously??????

Never click on such emails. To make sure that money has been sent to your PayPal account go to the PayPal website directly and log on from there. So many people have been caught out by this scam, sending items to addresses in Nigeria and are never to able to track the item to get it back or get the money.

Always listen to your instincts. Never ever doubt yourself and always ask questions. It's your right to protect yourself first.

Be blessed.