NIgerian scammers are rather notorious now, and as they take up the majority of the Secret Service’s time with 419 scams, they are a major pain in the ass. But not for me this past week.
I had put my camera up for sale to move to the new Canon HV20 HD miniDV camera. I used Ebay despite the fees because I wanted less fuss. Craigslist, despite its utopian ideals, has never worked for me. I spent more time weeding through badly written Nigerian scams involving money escrow accounts and fake wire transfers. So, I posted it and let the auction roll.
Well… seven days later I watched the last few minutes of the auction and man, it went higher than I ever expected. Woo Hoo. But, goofy me was watching from the geeky, little badge I posted on my blog. Much quicker refresh and easier to see, I was missing the issue that came up in the last few minutes. See, it doesn’t give the real deal on the buyer. It just says bidder [#] to identify the current highest bidder. It also doesn’t give their location like the full page does. Uh oh.
I had limited my shipping to Canada and US. Shipping to Europe requires goofy stuff if the buyers is trying to avoid the customs fees. They want it under priced on the declaration which means no insurance because you can’t insure the real cost and if something does go wrong they can deny it due to fraud. I have played along and refused. Talking them into going legit can take three times longer than the original auction. Asia is a pain and they are miserably impatient. Africa, see NIgerian Scammers. I will stick to local rip off artists.
My buyer had a Nigerian address. Dammit. I should have noticed earlier. I drop a line the minute I realize it. “No way jose, not shipping ther bud”. Add to the weirdness was the fake emails that then came. Fake Paypal receipts, a story about being in South America and he was buying this for his friend so I shouldn’t contact him through the Ebay messages. I nearly get fooled by the fake Paypal email by clicking on the link to check the buyers info. Doh!
First thing I do is close it all out, reset all passwords and then punch off a second chance offer to the next guy. I know you aren’t supposed to do it that way. You are supposed to be nice and wait the proper number of days, dispute through Ebay. Screw it, I was looking for instant gratification. It also helped that this guy was actually local and if I got him before he won another auction I wouldn’t have to deal with shipping.
Next, I get on the live chat with an Ebay person. At first they were towing the are you sure stuff but then I laid out the “Fake Paypal receipts, a story about being in South America and he was buying this for his friend so I shouldn’t contact him through the Ebay messages.” bit, the response was “Oh, yeah. Nigerian scammer biatch”. Actually, they didn’t say biatch or refer to a Nigerian scammer but it was the polite, corporate version. I send the junk emails to spoof@Ebay.com and spoof@Paypal.com.
Then I am supposed to wait.
The second chance guy writes, wants to make sure I am not scamming him. He got ripped off by a local in something similar. I give him the secret code phrase. Well, I call the number and talk to him. He is hip. Pays that night and we arrange a drop off the next day. But still no word from the Ebay folks.
Paypal cha chings with the cash. I meet Second Chance after work, refund the shipping that rung up accidentally, throw in a bogen tripod (good deal) for the high price and gratitude and I head home.
Here is were the Nigerian bastards pay off.
Waiting in my inbox is a handy note from the Ebay folks. The winning account was highjacked by the Nigerians and it was being taken back. To protect us both they are erasing all auctions and actions based on the original submission, including the now finished second chance bid. Bad news is Second Chance can’t give me a good rating. Good news, they refund all of my fees. Cha ching.
Hell yeah, Nigerian bastard scammers made me an easy hundred bucks. Plus with all this talk of Ebay reporting to the IRS, it is as if I didn’t sell anything.
Disclaimer: I have to admit, I have had three total auctions yanked. The first two I sold “promotional” software received as fodder at conferences. No scams, the man didn’t me selling their unsold goods. Something about end user agreement or something. Oh Well. I still am a Ebay citizen in good standing with a 12 rating. Woo Hoo.
Technorati Tags: 419, auctions, ebay, nigeria, paypal, fraud
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