Scam??

[trevorjcarr363]

I had a buyer purchase my item but was asked to ship to west africa. Is this a scam i dont feel right shipping this a lil help pleas.

[amber-eyed-girl]

Don't ship it to any address other than the one on file with eBay.

You might want to talk to customer support (top right, contact us) and let them know what's happened.

I'd do that before shipping it at all.

It could be a hijacked account.

For the future, put buyer requirements for all your listings in place, such as blocking bidders with unpaid item strikes, or in other countries.

"By adding buyer requirements to your listing, you can stop members from bidding on or buying your items based on certain criteria. You can block buyers who:

Are in countries you don't want to send items to.

Have a negative Feedback score.
Have unpaid item strikes recorded against them.
May bid on several items and not pay for them.
Have breached eBay policies.

To add buyer requirements:
Go to Site Preferences in My eBay.
In the Buyer Requirements section, click Show, and then click Edit.
Select your requirements, and the click Submit."

so that's in MyeBay, Account, Site Preferences.

[phorum_junkie*]

Yes it is a common scam, do not contact them again, do not send anything, report the account to ebay for false contact details and possibly as a hi-jacked account.

Be very careful over the coming months that you do not fall for any phishing emails, that is what these scammers are interested in, harvesting email accounts, if somebody actually sends them something then that is a bonus.

If you did fall for it the next thing that would happen is you would receive what looks like a genuine Paypal email saying the funds were available and would be released on proof of shipping, of course once you sent it and contacted Paypal they wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about!

[lace-not-want-not]

So what happens when you have supplied your account details, such as paypal address...? what happens next?

[davewil1964]

If they go through checkout they won't see your Paypal details. Unless it's the same as the email address you use for eBay, which they do get, I think.

What is the context? Have you sold? Have you provided your account details in order to sell off-eBay?

Bottom line is Nigeria = scam. Asking the price and availability for a live listing = a scam. Any mention of wire transfers, oceanography/oil rigs, paying the picker upper in cash or Western Union that the 'buyer' has paid into Paypal especially coupled with any mention of payment being in escrow = scam.

The generic answer is change your passwords, run anti-virus and anti-malware scans, don't click on links in emails, always login to the relevant account and see if the alleged transaction has occurred.....

[go-tazz]

This is the basic way they work,how to prevent them,how to contact eBay and how to get your fees back,

http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/nigeria-is-a-scam/10000000016952077/g.html

Ps: If any one is interested this also contains the short cuts to Live Help via the first two links,