Selling item on Ebay - does this sound fishy?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3477659796

I put up a laptop last night for a 1 day auction and this morning I received this email:

Dear damir831,

My name is Nina, I work as the manager in Nioba Soft company. Recently we have opened new office in Moscow (Russia) and now we are interested in purchase of the new equipment. We are ready to buy laptop, submitted on your auction if you accept the following conditions: 1. we are ready to make the full advance payment including payment of delivery of the goods to Russia 2. we carry out payment only through PayPal system as it is the most convenient and safe way, also we make transactions only with Verified account 3. you send laptop during 48 hours from the moment of payment, with use of service USPS 3-5 days (EMS). If you accept our offer, we can bid on auction, or agree upon the mutually advantageous price, with immediate purchase of the laptop. Let me know ASAP. Sincerely, Nina Sandler

To view the item, go to: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3477659796



Thank you,
nioba_deals



Has anyone heard of people getting screwed over with people from other countries? I'd be more than willing to sell this laptop to her, but I don't know if I should trust this offer. I mean, once the paypal payment is accepted and I have a tracking number to moscow, there's nothing she can really do to take the money back out of my account, correct?

And on top of that, I just checked out her "nioba_deals" name on ebay and she just joined the website today. Does anyone else think she's about to screw me over somehow?

I dont think she is out to screw you over, do u know how many people join E-bay every day?? Thousands

I have heard of people getting screwed by people from other countries, especially on computer related stuff.

I just send her an Email:

Hello Nina,

Could you please give me your user name on Ebay just to make sure you're a safe trader? I can't just send you a laptop half way accross the world without knowing how reliable you are. Please send me your contact information. Shipping to Russia will be a lot more, so I won't pay for all the shipping costs like I would for U.S. buyers if you buy it right away.

Thank You

Damir


IntegraBoy - have you heard of how many people have gotten screwed over on Ebay? I bought an engine last month and the seller never shipped it. I filed a police report and as soon as I called and told the seller, he was willing to give me my money back. I'm expecting my money back by the end of this week so I put the police report on hold. If I don't get it, the police will be dealing with him from that point on.

Some people were selling "BRAND NEW PLAYSTATION 2 ORIGINAL BOX AND RECEIPT" and the buyer only received an empty box after paying $425. I know most people are honest, but not everyone is. It could happen to anyone.

http://www.auctionbytes.com/pages/abn/y01/m02/i02/s01

Actually, I just checked out this website. Her email ends in "@niobasoft.com" so I figured they'd have a website.

http://www.niobasoft.com/about.html

seems pretty reliable.

yeah go for it man :) good luck too

Sounds very fishy to me. Watch yourself. Paypal can be paid with a credit card and then she could cancel the charge through the credit agency. She'll have the lap top, and you'll be left paying Paypal.

Be very very very very cautious.

Yes, I thought about the same thing, but the fact that she works for a programming company makes me think. I didn't think the credit card company could just take your money like that, not through paypal. I think paypal has their own thing going for that type of stuff and only they can remove someone's money. That's why, as soon as I get the money, I'll withdraw it from my paypal account. Plus, if the credit card company has something to say, all I have to do is show that the buyer won the item on ebay and show, whoever wants to see, the tracking number and that the item was delivered. The main thing though, I wouldn't have sold it to her if she wasn't working for that company.

Does anyone from Moscow post on this forum? Can someone from Moscow call (095) 431-6210 and ask if a Akolzin Konstantin works for that company and if the company is trying to purchase laptops?

What is the area code from Russia? What would I have to dial to get out of the U.S. and call that number?

I freakin knew it!!!!

http://jcs.org/paypal/

those russian bastards can suck ** ****! I'm gonna take the money out and not send them the laptop!!!

try to see if you can get UPS to let youborrow a fake tracking number or something, make it seem like the item is on the way, and have them hold the lap top as collateral. random idea, but it may work.

That's why I've always said:

Fuck e-bay

Too late, I tried to scare the shit out of them. I said that they have 24 hours to send me a Western Union payment. If I don't receive the payment by tomorrow, I'll contact the FBI and my lawyers, who will deal with the Moscow police department. I said that I have their address and that I'm very rich, and that if I don't receive the payment, I will spend my last penny to put them behind bars.

To be continued...

I can't believe this! I didn't sell the laptop to that person and I relisted it yesterday morning.

Take a guess what happened? I received an email this morning!

Dear damir831,

HELLO, I AM MRS SER A BUSINESSWOMAN AND A CONTRACTOR BASED IN UK.I HAVE OFFICES IN EUROPE,ASIA AND AFRICA.I JUST GOT A CONTRACT TO SUPPLY 12 PIECES OF THIS PRODUCTS IN MY OFFICE IN AFRICA BUT I NEED JUST 1 PIECES NOW IF IT OK.I HAVE PARTICULARLY CHOSEN TO GET THIS PRODUCTS FROM YOU.I WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SHIPPING INCASE YOU DO NOT SHIP OUTSIDE COUNTRY AND AFTER SENDING YOU THE PAYMENTS OF YOUR PRODUCTS.I WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SHIPPING BECAUSE ITS RISK FREE AND I WILL BE REST ASSURED THAT THE PRODUCTS ARE IN SAFE HANDS WITH MY COURIER SERVICE AND IT DOES NOT TAKE MUCH TIME.I WILL BE PAYING VIA MONEY ORDER FROM WESTERN UNION BECAUSE I TRUST WESTERN UNION AUCTION PAYMENTS.SINCE THIS IS A CONTRACT I WANT IT TO BE TRANSACTED URGENTLY AND I WANT YOU TO PROMISE ME THAT IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE CONFIRMATION AND APPROVAL LETTER FROM BIDPAY,YOU WILL RELEASE THESE ITEM FOR SHIPMENT IMMEDIATELY.KINDLY,SEND ME YOUR FULL NAME, CONTACT ADDRESS, PRICE OF ITEM IN ORDER TO SEND YOU THE PAYMENT IMMEDIATLY OF THIS ITEM AND I PROMISE TO ADD $50 TO THE PRICE OF EACH ITEM IF THIS TRANSACTION IS DONE DUE TO THE URGENCY NEED AS SAMPLE FOR AN FOR NOT LOOS THE REMING SUPPLY. THANKS REPLY REGARD, SER

To view the item, go to: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3477910755



Thank you,
ser22324

Never respond to an unsolicited email that includes incentives to buy or sell an item off the eBay Marketplace. If you get such an email, please report it to eBay.

Never pay for your eBay item through instant cash transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram -- such services offer Internet shoppers no protection against fraud.

For more safe trading tips, please visit the eBay Security Center.

:lol2:

Man, you're attracting them like flies! :p

I've only used Ebay once, and I got exactly what I wanted, and it was perfect.

well usually i wouldn't be afraid, because its paypal and its pretty secure, but if you keep getting emails about people that keep opening companies in different countries, i would just let the item get bid on by the people out there, dont touch it till the end when its won, and give it to the winner

Laptops are the perfect fraud item, they usually cost bundles, more than a desktop computer, but they're about a fourth of the weight to ship.

I feel sorry for that jcs guy, not only did he lose his laptop and not get the money, he now OWES paypal the money. Ouch.

:rofl:

A while ago I almost got screwed. I had a truck of mine listed on auto trader for sale. This lady from Africa e-mails me that she wants to buy it. I figure she is probably an honest person. She even called me on the phone. Any way she tells me that I would have to arrange for shipping. She said she would send me a corporate check for the amount plus some extra to cover the cost of shipping. She then wanted me to send the remaining amount to her by western union. So I figure what ever. Anyways like a week later I get a check in the mail from the lady for $48,000. Yeah right this is BS. Anyways I took the check and the e-mails to the police. The feds ended up extriditing them back to the US because the check came from a US company. The charged like 20 people with fraud from a whole lot of other things as well. So anyway I would beware.

wow ill never sell on ebay again

wow ill never sell on ebay again
Don't let a couple bad experiences out of the tens of thousands of exchanges that go down everyday on ebay deter you. I've bought and sold over 100 things with ebay over the course of 3 years and I have never had any problems except for one person backing out of an auction.

A while ago I almost got screwed. I had a truck of mine listed on auto trader for sale. This lady from Africa e-mails me that she wants to buy it. I figure she is probably an honest person. She even called me on the phone. Any way she tells me that I would have to arrange for shipping. She said she would send me a corporate check for the amount plus some extra to cover the cost of shipping. She then wanted me to send the remaining amount to her by western union. So I figure what ever. Anyways like a week later I get a check in the mail from the lady for $48,000. Yeah right this is BS. Anyways I took the check and the e-mails to the police. The feds ended up extriditing them back to the US because the check came from a US company. The charged like 20 people with fraud from a whole lot of other things as well. So anyway I would beware.


I heard that exact same story happen to a lot of other people, that's why that laptop story sounded so fishy to me. One guy who was selling a car actually knew that the buyer was about to screw him over from the beginning, so he played along. After he received a $10,000 check for a $5,000 car, he told the guy from Africa that he shipped the car even though he of course didn't cuz he knew what was going to happen. He deposited the $10,000 check into his bank account and the bank actually took the check because the routing and check numbers were valid. After about a month though, the check came back and it had a "invalid check" stamp on it. It takes the bank about a month to send the checks out and be %100 sure that the checks are valid, that's why all these scammers want you to act quickly so the bank doesn't find the mistake before you send them the money. The African guy kept writing the guy who was selling the car nasty emails for a month and when the guy finally scanned and emailed him the check with the "invalid check" stamp on it, the African guy shutup.

Think about it, these guys can totally screw you over.

You receive an Invalid $10,000.
You send them your car for $5,000 shipping included and he tells you to send him the other $5,000 CASH back and those $5,000 are really your money because you'll deposit $10,000 and withdraw $5,000 - Checks can always be rejected and tracked, cash can't.

So you think you have $5,000 in your bank account but...

The car is gone
The $5,000 that you supposedly got for your car are gone
Another $5,000 of CASH that YOU send HIM are gone. You basically send him your OWN money for that invalid check.

So you're left with no car and a $5,000 cash loss....those bastards

Oh btw, I sold the laptop. The buyer didn't have a varified paypal address so I sent her paypal payment right back because if she said that she didn't get it, she would have gotten her money back and I would be left without anything. She then shipped me a money order. Now I check the buyers out 5 times before doing any business with them.

I do a lot of buying on e-bay. I find it pretty safe, especially if you use paypal. I wouldn't do something like that out of the blue again. But I feel safe using e-bay. Besides there will always be bad situations no matter what.

Yes, if you're buying you can always use your credit card and get your money back if you're not satisfied. If you're selling, you always run into difficult situations. If you ship to an unvarified address, they can take your money and your item away if they want to.

Does anyone else think that it is slightly odd that a large business like that would go to eBay if they needed to buy computers and not straight to a manufacturer where they could get a warranty?

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m03/i03/s01
They usually run this scam out of Nigeria.

Alright, someone please answer my question because I'm supposed to ship my laptop out tonight. The buyer of my laptop tried to send me money through paypal but her shipping address was not verified because you have to add a credit card that has the billing address the same as the shipping address. After she sent me the $825 I sent it right back and told her to verify her address by adding a credit card number. She said that she didn't have one but she'll try to get her friend to sign up for paypal and add her credit card so that she would have a varified address. By shipping to a varified address, I woud be protected through paypal even if it was a scam. Later she emailed me and asked me if we could complete the transaction with a money order. I called my bank and my bank told me not to send her anything until I receive the money order and cash it. I received the western union money order check in he mail within a day and a half because she sent it through express mail. I got a $500 check and a $325 and went to my bank to check it out and they said that I should go to Western Union to cash it since it might take the bank some time to be %100 sure the this money order is valid. I cahsed it at a currency exchange yesterday and I'm about to send her the laptop tonight. They can't really scam people through western union, correct? I mean they have to pay for that money order with cash and once they do it's pretty much gone. This person is from New York. She didn't email me asking me if I could ship it internationally, she just won the bid just like anyone else would. I'm really not trusting anyone right now. Can they scam people with money orders? It seems very unlikely to me, but do any bank people here know if it can be done?