Scam alert

[danielb9665]

I just noticed what I think is a new scam, hopefully someone on this board can put a stop to it before anyone gets hurt but you only have a few hours.

Perhaps I am wrong about this but it is setting off a lot of red flags for me, what do you guys think?

The gist of it is there are a series of 3D printers on auction that are suspicious for the following reasons:

- Seller name is a random string of letters and numbers (one seller per item)

- Seller a meber for less than one week

- Seller has no other items for sale and no history in general.

- Item add is a direct copy from other more reputable sellers

- Auction starting price hundreds of dollars less than the cost of parts and only 3 days long

Items I've found so far that match this pattern:

321493591029

251618979442

251618969822

171421716779

321492772826

151383577686

251618219701

321492728896

121411292740

181496511019

[cq_tech]

Probably fewer than 3% of eBay members come to these boards so I'd imagine that the number of buyers who fail to act within the 45-day Paypal cutoff period could be fairly high and when you add those to the number of buyers who pay via direct debit, I'd hazard a guess that these scammers are doing a hell of a lot better than you or I would expect.

Given how eBay are always going on about how much they value their buyers, It's a bit of a shame that eBay isn't a bit more proactive in protecting those "valued buyers" by keeping these mongrels from listing their non-existent wares, because once a buyer is ripped off on ebay, the chances of their returning are slim to none IMO.

[audistarelectronics]

Yes, guess you're correct, as the old saying goes, there is one born every minute. Shame that people obviously don't read the conditions on their paypal account, which would then alert them to the protection available.

[bigbrickshop]

Buyers do not even have to read through pages of policy on the PayPal site. The 45 days info is on the bottom of PayPal payment receipt emails.

Issues with this transaction?

You have 45 days from the date of your PayPal payment to open a dispute for eligible transactions in our Resolution Centre. Learn about Buyer Protection

[audistarelectronics]

No excuses then. Plain as the nose on their face. Hard to believe buyers fall for these things, then come to the forums bleating for help that is under their nose.

[cq_tech]

No excuses at all, but then we all know that the majority of buyers are their own worst enemies because so many of them simply don't read listings in their entirety, and you only have to look at the number of buyers who come to the boards asking for help to realise that very few of them read the Paypal Payment Advice either.

[phorum_junkie*]

Getting a payment that is not cancelled in time is a bonus, what they are really after is the email addresses which they can target at a later date with lookalike phishing emails from ebay and Paypal.