Sellers Beware

Preface: Not sure if I'm posting this in the right area but just wanted to put this out there so that we all stay vigilant as the scammers never rest. I rarely sell items online but I've listed a "few items for sale" http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/few-items-for-sale.102376/#post-1202172 (shameless plug). I decided to post the Raymarine Gear on Facebook as they have a forum for older units for sale. Facebooks algorithm picked this up and also posted it to "marketplace" which opens it up to a much bigger audience.

The scam: Someone reached out to me that they were interested. We go back and forth and agree on a price and method of payment is "PayPal". One would feel safe and secure sending/receiving payment via PayPal right? Here comes the rub, he's out of country but I can ship to cousins house in FL. He's quick to send money via PayPal however PayPal "shipping address" is different. His plan was to have me ship the hardware to "his cousin", since payment was made and deposited into my account. Once I give him tracking he fudges the delivery address and reroutes. He would then complain that he didn't receive the items and PayPal refunds his money from my account and my hardware is "lost in the wind" while he reroutes to his address. I have no leg to stand on as far as his dispute since PayPal shipping address doesn't match. I told him I'm happy to hold on to his money until he sorts out the shipping address but I'm not shipping to any address outside of what's listed in PayPal. He was very quick to ask for a refund.

It sounds to me like you just got taken by the classic old Nigerian Scam.

Sorry, but you got screwed and they didn't even kiss you when they were done with you.

I don't think he got screwed in the end, did he? He refused to send to an alternate address and the scammer asked for their money back. Or did I miss this completely?

I tried to return a product on eBay the other day. So I sent the request to the seller. He responded that I must have the wrong person. That response closed the refund request and you can’t start another

copb8tx said:

I don't think he got screwed in the end, did he? He refused to send to an alternate address and the scammer asked for their money back. Or did I miss this completely?

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Nope, once i saw he was trying the address switch i nipped it in the bud. Would have love to tie up his money but didn't want paypal turning the table on me and blacklisting me or something like that.

Wow First class... you have an Uncle in Nigera? I just found out I have one too....LOL Got to love those emails, just amazes me how people actually fall for that stuff.

I sell my big stuff on ebay and do my shipping from there also. Had a package go missing once but since I used their shipping I was covered. I never ship out of country, just too much BS to deal with.

Irie 308, Good catch! As a victim of recent ID theft, I certainly appreciate the heads up about these new ways to get scammed using a trusted platform. If it wasn't for the buyer claiming to be out of the country(red flag), I wouldn't have even given the change of address a second thought.

Blueone said:

I tried to return a product on eBay the other day. So I sent the request to the seller. He responded that I must have the wrong person. That response closed the refund request and you can’t start another

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You can still push the issue through eBay. I have not done it, but my wife had a similar scam and was able to get the money refunded. Maybe dig a little deeper to see the alternative way.

I have found paypal to be good at getting your money back if you have been scammed.

Avenger said:

Irie 308, Good catch! As a victim of recent ID theft, I certainly appreciate the heads up about these new ways to get scammed using a trusted platform. If it wasn't for the buyer claiming to be out of the country(red flag), I wouldn't have even given the change of address a second thought.

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Exactly, definitely a red flag which he saved until we were wrapping up the transaction. I guess the key take away is to make sure that shipping address lines up when using paypal. Honestly if he was located in VA for example but asked to ship to FL with a paypal address of VA the scam would still apply and my guard would have been down.

Irie308 said:

Exactly, definitely a red flag which he saved until we were wrapping up the transaction. I guess the key take away is to make sure that shipping address lines up when using paypal. Honestly if he was located in VA for example but asked to ship to FL with a paypal address of VA the scam would still apply and my guard would have been down.

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This is 100% accurate and a great safety tip. I had heard about this and I now send a message to the buyer asking them to verify the shipping address that is attached to their paypal and will not ship until they confirm the information.

Yup - had someone try this same scam on me for a windlass I had listed