Scam or no?

[miketsp]

PayPal initiated a program for sellers to give them some protection against chargebacks. It's critical you follow the program to a T if you want to be covered by the plan.

PayPal Seller Protection Policy
A guide to PayPal's Seller Protection Policy can be found online at http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/protections-outside.

Be a Verified Premier or Verified Business Account
Ship to the buyer's Confirmed Address
Timely Shipment
Retain reasonable proof-of-shipment that can be tracked online
Ship tangible goods
Only accept single payments from single PayPal accounts
Ship to domestic (U.S.) buyers at U.S. addresses
Timely Response



Just ask for a direct deposit/transfer into your bank account before shipping. Then ship anywhere the buyer wants after the payment has cleared.

 

[OceanObsessed]

I do alot of buying and selling on ebay. You should only ship to a confirmed addresses otherwise you will likely lose your money and the merchandise and there is nothing you can do about it. Paypal will not cover it under buyer protection because you did not use a confirmed address.

It is likely that the persons account has been hijacked (stolen) and they are trying to convice you to ship to an alternate address. If you do they will get the merchandise, the person with the hijacked account will contest the charges via their credit card company and you will end up with a chargeback. You will lose the merchandise and the payment. This is a very common scam technique on ebay. There is absolutely no reason to ever ship to an unconfirmed address.

Also, never pay with a money gram, or western union or any other money wiring services. Never click on an email that takes you to an ebay login screen, it is easy to fabricate an email that looks like it came from ebay and it is easy to create a website that looks like an ebay login screen... when you type in your password you account is then stolen and the theif uses that account to purchase merchandise and try to get sellers to ship to their address instead of the confirmed papal address.

Always type in ebay.com in your browser and log into ebay to reply ebay related email.

 

[El Orans]

Don't do it.

 

[Web Monkey]

I just sold an iPod on ebay. Lady that bought it emails in semi-broken english asking that it be shipped to....wait for it....Nigeria. Great. Claims it's a B-day present for her daughter. She claims she lives in Houston but is on a business trip.

What do you guys think? I only accept Paypal and she's agreed to that. What to do, what to do.

Forget it.

Aside from the obvious, that it's a scam, there's are all sorts of customs BS you would need to deal with (duties, paperwork, "expiditing fees" from the shipper for shiping internationally), etc., And they're not all up front.

Before it's over, you'll have been well hosed.

The most likely scenario is that the CC is stolen and hasn't been reported yet, so once you ship the iPod, you'll never see it again, and the CC company will get it's money back from Paypal, who will chanrge you back, leaving you with no money and no iPod.

The only way I would touch it is if she sent you a certified check drawn on a US bank for the full price of the item, plus an extra $50 for shipping and handling, plus whatever duties there are.

Terry

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Thanks guys. I replied back and told her that "my auction plainly states that I will ship only to addresses within United States. These are you shipping options:". Hasn't replied back yet.

 

[Zeeman]

Seller beware, this is one of my favorites where the scammer gets scammed,
http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/

that one is a classic.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I checked her feedback, she's never bought or sold anything before. Definitely a scam.