Author Topic: Am I paranoid, or is this a scam ? (Read 690 times)

wipass · « **Reply #15 on:** July 30, 2004, 05:12:46 AM »

People always say go with your first impression, well I cancelled the delivery and emailed the purchaser telling them why and asking that they call me. They didn't !

wipass

Meatwad · « **Reply #16 on:** July 30, 2004, 06:26:39 AM »

Easiest way to do that is to NEVER ship outside the USA. Anyone that asks me to sell my items outside the USA just gets told pretty much no.

Staga · « **Reply #17 on:** July 30, 2004, 06:39:29 AM »

I've bought and sold some stuff in local Auction site and guess I'm a bit schitsophrenic but I want to see the stuff before I buy it and I also want to have cash on my hand before I give anything away.
If the buyer/seller doesn't like it it's his/her problem; not mine

Gunslinger · « **Reply #18 on:** July 30, 2004, 08:42:09 AM »

I'm not sure if any of you guys remember my post about motorcycles and CA emissions regs.....

But my buddy got screwed on that. The guy asked for half the money up front...the seller was in romania and the bike was "at his parents house" in florida. He even talked to him over the phone a few times. The seller even sent him a shipping statement as well.....ups said that's not one of their forms.

The worst part about it is this guy is still popping up pretty regular in cycle trader mags selling the same phoney bike. My buddy got taken for 1500$. Consider yourself fortunate when selling a laptop.

capt. apathy · « **Reply #19 on:** July 30, 2004, 09:59:19 AM »

first, trust your gut. if it doesn't seem right, it probably isn't.

finding out those addresses are genuine means nothing. all it proves is that there is a house at that address, which would seem obvious since they would have to have a legit address in order to receive the CC in the mail. the card still could be stolen or the account opened using stolen identity info.

even if you take the money out of your paypal before shipping you could still lose. since it's linked to your CC, if the payment is canceled they will just charge it to your card.

what is the buyers history like? if either the buyer or the paypal account are very new, or have a lot of new activity be worried.

in the future, when listing an item put in the details "shipping address must match billing address", it's not a 100% safety net, but at least your shipment and the bogus accounts can be traced to the same spot.