" I am writing this post about 43 minutes after one of the most uncomfortable things in my relationship with the internet just happened.
I got scammed.
Please deal with my lack of better words or deep meaningful statements that I may usually have.
Here goes.
And remember - Hindsight is and always will be 20/20
I have recently landed some jobs that have pushed me as a photographer to move into the digital realm.
I have lost the proverbial "chip" on my shoulder about the whole Digital vs Film thing about a year ago.
It is old news people. Film is exactly what it is. And so is digital. Get over it.
With that said, on May 25th I went looking for my first digital camera I would own since 2007. I knew I wanted a Canon 5D Mark ii. I knew my price range and I even knew what the going price was.
That was painful. But considering that he has done a lot of transactions on eBay, he should have seen the many red flags from the beginning. Scary how sophisticated the thieves are.
Poor you - that sounds horrible. A friend of mine bought an expensive camera "cheap" on ebay as well and never got it and neither a refund. That person had hacked into a valid seller's account to get the good feedback. Horrible story but thanx for warning all of us.
Exactly what @chriswang said, ebay emails generally carry the opposite message regarding Western Union, taken from my last email from Ebay.
"Keep your money safe - never pay for items with cash or instant money transfer services, such as Western Union or MoneyGram. In the past some sellers have exploited these payment methods in order to defraud buyers, so eBay has banned them from the site."
Also look at the URL for the chat room he was connecting to, its harsh but only himself to blame.
Wow... full on how far they'll go now! I'm the same though.. you mention Western Union and no way will I take one step further with it.
@chriswang You would think so, wouldn't you... and if you had red flags flash up ... I think that is a gut feeling... however, that said... he did follow that feeling and investigate but yep, one step ahead, weren't they/he.
this is disgisting, it is one of many reasons I hardly use ebay, I dont trust it, I prefer face to face, which is how I paid for my 5D from a recognised reseller, anything else I will look at amazon or gumtree
Yep - the seller's requesting payment by Western Union was a huge red flag. The fact that the item was removed from eBay immediately was another. I'm sorry the buyer got taken.
If you're going to use eBay, use PayPal to pay. They cover you if things go south. And make sure you go through the eBay site to conclude the transaction - don't click on the links in someone's email.
I hate scammers. Buying or selling electronics on eBay is challenging at times- I've done both countless times. I've found Amazon market to be more secure, especially with electronics. Luckily no $ were exchanged in your transaction so you are okay.
@dmortega Ummm, OK...now beings that I am such a skeptic... the first thing that entered my thoughts were, what if, just what if perhaps... This guy is tryig to scam us all to donate to his "loss" and push traffic to his site to purchase prints.. Sorry, but these days it is hard to trust anyone.
@dmortega Oh my gosh, this makes me sick to my stomach. This world is getting so corrupt that you have to check everything you do twice. I had something similar happen with UGG boots, their is a terrible scam going on with buying these on E-bay, Amazon, etc. I'm so sorry this happen to you. I can't believe that they can't prosecute this person, as I've seen it done before?
@shirljess Agree wih you there...i would never think to ask people to donate for my mess up. Something is fishy. My rule is, if it sounds too good to be true it probably isn't true.
Oh, and somethin else...is this guy going to keep the donations open indefinetely?? Is he goig to close it down until he gets his $2500???? And what kind of a person agrees to pay $700 for shippig costs?!?!?! That makes no sense.
The very first thing that i saw that this was a scam was the amount of stuff he was selling for a ridiculously low price. Use common sense. No one would sell all of that for that little of money period. If its too good to be true.... lol. And second look at email address where the fake buyer protection email came from: ebay-verify.com. That sounds totally like a fake domain which it is. Thats the classic phishing scam that have been around forever. A little common sense would prevent this from happening. And asking people for money because of your poor common sense is just as bad. hard lesson to learn though.
Wow- that is a nightmare with a capital N. I've been told it's best to use PayPal. If I buy anything on the internet now, I will be going that route. I'm glad this person decided to share his story. I hope it helps to prevent it from happening to others. Thanks for sharing it here @dmortega Dorrena.
Thank you for posting the warning. It's incredible to what lengths they go, and how authentic it looks. I noticed the email address with the verify, but for the rest didn't see a difference. Always go through paypal.
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"Keep your money safe - never pay for items with cash or instant money transfer services, such as Western Union or MoneyGram. In the past some sellers have exploited these payment methods in order to defraud buyers, so eBay has banned them from the site."
Also look at the URL for the chat room he was connecting to, its harsh but only himself to blame.
@chriswang You would think so, wouldn't you... and if you had red flags flash up ... I think that is a gut feeling... however, that said... he did follow that feeling and investigate but yep, one step ahead, weren't they/he.
If you're going to use eBay, use PayPal to pay. They cover you if things go south. And make sure you go through the eBay site to conclude the transaction - don't click on the links in someone's email.
http://christopherwilocki.blogspot.com/