Phoney eBay auctions

Yes I have had a couple of similar ones claiming that the money had been paid into my Paypal account, I had 2 of these from different people, again Like your friend I was not selling anything on e-bay but they provided a link on thier e-mail to go to paypal (allegedly)....I was already suspicious so did not clink on that link.
I logged into paypal the proper way and there was nothing showing there at all (surprise surprise), Just shows what lengths they will go to, to try and rip you off.
Mark.

I sure hope that your friend continues with his quest for justice. He has both criminal and civil grounds on the perpetrator.
Aside from sending the phoney to jail he could also net a bit in civil court if he has the time and patience.
Good luck.
Tom

Problem with prosecution is that most of these scammers are out of Lagos, Nigeria............................LOL. Jim

Accoreding to my friend, he logged into eBay, checked under his username and found that he WAS selling a digital camera. That's why he took the stewps that he did. He claims that he figured that eBay would blow him off.

Accoreding to my friend, he logged into eBay, checked under his username and found that he WAS selling a digital camera. That's why he took the stewps that he did. He claims that he figured that eBay would blow him off.

I had a similar "adventure" with Ebay. Someone else was using my name and profile info (now deleted, screw their community). Ebay gave out my unlisted phone number without prior consent. And Yes, you must provide a phone number to establish an account with Ebay. I don't recall about PayPal, but since they have your financial data to make and recieve payments the phone number seems to be a minor item. I believe, that even though the rip off artists may be off shore, they can be prosecuted if they use the USPS to operate their scam. Ebay probably doesn't give a flying fig, however mail fraud is another animal, one with real teeth. To be fair, Ebay did call me at home and advised that they had investigated the complaints and that my account had not been compromised. 3 days later, I received a similar notice from paypal. I came out Okay, and I hope the other chaps do too. R/S Bruce

I've gotten a number of those emails from both eBay & PayPal & I just forward them to the respective folks. However, I have a car on eBay right now with a Reserve & a BIN & I've gotten 2 strange emails. Don't know if they're just stupid or up to no good. One guy said he had a client ready to buy it & wanted to know if I'd take a Postal MO that I can cash at my bank (DUH! It's POSTAL!) & what my price is (DUH!, I have a BIN!) & wanted my address so they could send payment. Also, to rest assured he had a shipper to get it. Hey, I don't care if they pay for it & don't come get it, I'll sell it again! I told him to feel free to use the BIN feature & that would give him my info. The next day, I got an email from another guy, a "business man stationed in England" asking if I'd accept a MO. Now, why would someone in England want a '94 Mazda Protege with a blown engine??? Is it really worth it??? I looked at the guy's FB, he had 0, had just signed up on eBay the day he emailed me & according to eBay, is in Singapore! Hmm, a Singapore business man stationed in England wanting a non-running car & wants to pay by MO. Of course, he wanted my price (again, DUH!, It's a BIN option!) & my addy. I never responded to him.

Bet your bottom Dollar he wasn't English or in Singapore either, you have just described another well known varaint on the Nigerian #419 scam.
Mark.

the nigerians are branching out. i was selling a motorcycle in a socal publication and 3 different guys wanted to send me pomo's for the bike with a "little over" that i should forward to their "shipper". they were in a hurry and wanted me to forward the "little over" the same day i got the mo's. the overage was $3000. i said sure, and in all three cases, took the mo's to the po. they weren't even goof forgeries, so the po got all the info and all were in nigeria. i wouldn't be surprised if china becomes the new nigeria. and why do i never have nuclear weapons when i want them?

I received an odd e-mail from someone a week or so ago, written in a rather threatening tone, who claimed that he had won one of my eBay items (and provided an item number - of course it was a bogus auction number). He also said that if I didn't take PayPal, we have no deal and he won't pay (I'm not selling anything on eBay, or anywhere else, at the moment).
The "hook" was that, he was kind enough to include a link to PayPal in his e-mail so I could sign up for it and accept his payment. Of course I did not click on it but would not give odds against the fact the url would have taken me to a bogus PayPal sign up page where I would have had to enter my credit card and bank account info. These thief wanna-be's must think we're all brain-dead or something.

too sadly, there are enough brain dead out there to keep the scum in business. people fall for the damndest scams. a guy sold the eifel tower for scrap, not once, but twice and got away with it. hey beel, you van to buy ze breedge?