Odd Situation, Need Advice

YIKES!!!

that sounds soooooooo bogus... first of all, if she wants to wire them money, let her do it herself!!!(himself, whatever...) is your ebay auction business to help people transfer funds? i doubt it. if she wants to buy something you're selling, that would be one thing.. and i would REALLY make sure you have received money from her before sending ANYthing, cuz viz other threads i've seen, people can make it LOOK like they've paid your paypal acct. when they haven't. and if that email's cut/pasted, whoever wrote it, IF they DO live in the usa, probably wasn't born here, the phrasing sounds awkward. i personally would forward the email to spoof@ebay.com just to be sure, and if it is an actual email, i would prob. say, too bad, so sad, i don't do international.

and there's my 2 cents, hope it helps!! but whatever you decide, BE CAREFUL!!

edit//// and also, she says she doesn't want them to know it's from her... ever?? she doesn't want them to find out when they get it? even weirder...

This one isn't even close. This just screams FRAUD!

SCAM. No doubt about it.

Thanks for all the replies. I thought the exact same thing, but wanted to see what my fellow Auctiva members thought. I think I'll reply and tell her that she can buy the item that she inquired about to begin with, but she's on her own for the rest.

Buffy - Personally, I wouldn't even go that far. If she's a scammer, why would you have ANY dealings with her at all? You're just setting yourself up. You are under no obligation to proceed with a suspect transaction. I wouldn't even do a domestic transaction with her at this point. Just tell her sorry, but you can't accomodate her requests, and she will probably disappear from your radar. I think many folks on this board would advise you to DON'T DO IT - PERIOD!

Thanks ninth_wave. I took some previous advice and sent the entire message to spoof@ebay.com and they cautioned me against communicating with her at all. I think I'll take your advice and theirs and tell her I don't ship international. But is it even safe to respond via a reply at this point? Is there any way I'm compromising the safety of my computer or anything in doing that? Also, when she contacted me at first, it was with a standard eBay question form, the second one was through AOL, which seemed strange. That's why I hesitate to even respond at all. Any thoughts?

Yes, Protect yourself and do not communicate further, ignore her at this point. Why take a chance? You owe her nothing. Remember, a lot of these people are real pros.

The eBay message system is being used by scammers, it is not 100% secure, in spite of what eBay would have us believe. Her email is just too bogus for words. Do not give her the benefit of the doubt.The probability of a total scam here is 99.9%. Assume 100% from this point.

Edit - I also would block this specific bidder from bidding on your auctions.

Thanks ninth-wave. I really do appreciate your advice, and all the other sage words of wisdom! You guys are awesome.

Aw shucks.

Yeah, these get to be REAL easy to spot after awhile

Those types of scams take no effort at all on the part of the scammer. They're working on the assumption that, if they send enough of these out to enough people, odds are, someone will fall for it sooner or later.

It's the slick people that you have to be careful with - the ones who have obviously put some effort into it, and are targeting YOU specifically.

Also, don't forget to put these crooks on your blocked bidder list!

http://cgi1.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?bidderblocklogin

Thanks Biscuit. You have all been so helpful to me. Auctiva rocks!!

Do these people think we're nuts or what? (sorry to get on my soap box - but for Pete Sakes ya'll) I'm glad to see you took the safe route - I was afraid I was gonna have to lend you my "handy dandy ray gun" - dawn

Dawn-ROFLMAO!! Put your gun away. Thanks to the aid and assistance of great people like you and the my Auctiva posse, I don't need an intervention! Thanks.

You also need to take the time to turn them into ebays trust and safety to help protect others from this kind of thing.

Sigh - well Buffey if you're absolutely sure that you don't need my "handy dandy ray gun" then I'll put it away - (darn it) - Glad all worked out well - Dawn

Please DO report this activity to eBay, simply because any suspicious "scam" related activity does need to be reported.

quote:

You guys are awesome.

I'll second that

I also work as a music teacher and get loads of internet enquiries along the lines of the one I've copied below. I thought it might make some of you chuckle. I think it's great how they've even left in the brackets where they must add in the specifics for what they're trying to scam.

Dear Sir/Ma,

Complement of the day. I am writing in response to your advert (Teaching) I came across while surfing through the Internet. I want you to be aware that I need a tutor for my son (Ares) for the month of April 2007. I really want my child to be taught by you. Ares is 14 year old and easily catches up. Although, I’ve arranged with my client son Nanny living there that my Son is coming to stay with her for his period of tutoring and she has agreed with me. I based in Athens, Greece, with my son, and also a nationality of Greece.. You will teach him all about (Music,flute), which I want him to learn, also I want you to teach him for 2 hours in a
day.

1. CHARGES FOR AN HOUR THAT I WILL BE PAYING YOU IS FIFTY (£50) PER
HOUR.

2. YOU WILL TEACH HIM 3 TIMES IN A WEEK (MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY)



3. TOTAL CHARGES FOR 1 MONTH FEE WILL BE, ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED GBP (£1,200.00)



I contacted my son concerning the arrangement of the tutoring which he told me is ok by him and I want you to know that I am going to pay for 1 Month which is £1,200.00, also I want you to know that my client in Europe will issue you a cheque of £4,600.00, which you will deduct your fees, and then send the rest, which will be used for my son flight to your location and any other arrangement. If you agree with these terms, get back to me with the following details for payment:


Your full name...???
Contact address...???
Postal zip code...???
Country .............???
Home phone #...........???
Cell #..............???

All these in which I would forward to my client in Europe to issue
out
the payment (cheque).

Regards,
Mark

Classic scam: They send you a bad check (or some other form of payment) for more than the amount, then you "deduct" your share (sometimes more of course), then send the excess on to somewhere else (in the form of your GOOD funds), then after your good money is gone the original check bounces, and you just got royally screwed. A classic scam in many forms. Thanks for posting.

It never fails to amaze me what people will do to attempt to get money - amazing!

What amazes me is that there are actually people stupid enough to fall for the really obvious scams at all. Were they raised by wolves? On Mars? Dumb as a rock! Who in their right mind would send their life savings to some emailer from Nigera who can't even put a proper sentence together! Sorry if I seem harsh, but COME ON, WAKE UP!

I had no idea that my little old post would generate such buzz. I hope it helps some people out. Incidentally, I never did respond to the email I received from that no good scammer, and I never received anything more from her. I did report it to ebay and all the other forums so no one else would become a "victim". It's sad that people don't want to take the time to make $$ honestly so they prey on others. Thanks to all the Auctiva members out there who "got my back" so to speak. I really do appreciate it. I'm new at this but I try to follow the old adage "If it looks too good, it probably is" and I came to the place where I knew I would get sound advice.

Hi Buff! - Rest easy, don't think I was talking about you. You immediately recognized that something didn't seem right. I was referring to those folks who will gladly send $50K off to someone they don't know on the promise of making a few easy bucks, you know the ones I mean. They are in the news all the time. I like this forum because the more we talk about this the more we all become educated against this stuff.