BUYER BEWARE, EBAY SCAMMER

[johngm]

Just to let you all know, if you see this add on EBAY, Avoid at all costs

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/used-celestron-telescopes/224046265973?hash=item342a32b675:g:AWcAAOSwsnpe52tN.

The Guy is a scammer. It was first brought to my attention on UK Astronomy Group on FB. So, people started asking him questions about the scope, which he couldn't answer. I then asked the ultimate question, can i pay Cash on collection, in which he responded, he would only accept Bank Transfer prior to collection. Dead give away to me. Plus the postage £3.70 !!! 😂😂

Please Pass this on if you know anyone interested in this. You have been warned

John

[Pixies]

Did you report it to eBay?

[johngm]

Iv'e Just this second reported it Pixies👍

John

[johngm]

As another clue, he does not have any history, although it say hes been a member since 2011 !!

John

[barkis]

Some half wit tried to get me to reveal paypal  details in order to verify my credentials.
The clown is still waiting. I sent some info to PP  security, who subsequently confirmed  it was bogus.
The would be thief obviously has the brain of a Nit
Ron.
(I think I'll start a campaign to introduce  death by firing squad for all convicted thieves.)

[johninderby]

I vote for being hung, drawn and quartered.  Just need four horses and we’re set. 😁

Edited June 20, 2020 by johninderby

[heliumstar]

1 hour ago, johngm said:

Just to let you all know, if you see this add on EBAY, Avoid at all costs

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/used-celestron-telescopes/224046265973?hash=item342a32b675:g:AWcAAOSwsnpe52tN.

The Guy is a scammer. It was first brought to my attention on UK Astronomy Group on FB. So, people started asking him questions about the scope, which he couldn't answer. I then asked the ultimate question, can i pay Cash on collection, in which he responded, he would only accept Bank Transfer prior to collection. Dead give away to me. Plus the postage £3.70 !!! 😂😂

Please Pass this on if you know anyone interested in this. You have been warned

John

Interesting. Let me be the devil's advocate here....None of these things pointed here would make me suspicious at first. These days some might not like cash in hand and bank transfer before collection makes sense if picking up the item - transfer on the spot via app would be sensible for both I think. I would for example pay via Ebay's system (Paypal). As for a person not being able to answer questions. Maybe they don't know anything about the telescope? The ad is a little thin, almost like ignorant. The user actually has a long standing account with a few ratings as a buyer.

I agree buyers need to carefult but do we have a definite proof here that this is a scam?

[Davey-T]

35 minutes ago, heliumstar said:

The user actually has a long standing account with a few ratings as a buyer.

Too easy to fake.

Dave

[tooth_dr]

56 minutes ago, heliumstar said:

Interesting. Let me be the devil's advocate here....None of these things pointed here would make me suspicious at first. These days some might not like cash in hand and bank transfer before collection makes sense if picking up the item - transfer on the spot via app would be sensible for both I think. I would for example pay via Ebay's system (Paypal). As for a person not being able to answer questions. Maybe they don't know anything about the telescope? The ad is a little thin, almost like ignorant. The user actually has a long standing account with a few ratings as a buyer.

I agree buyers need to carefult but do we have a definite proof here that this is a scam?

It doesn't immediately shout scam to me either.  He is selling a drumkit also, and the description is equally short.   Maybe he doesnt want COC due to CV-19?  Also the postage is a mistake on the ad too.  What proof is there that this is a scam?

Edited June 20, 2020 by tooth_dr

[Tenor Viol]

1 hour ago, heliumstar said:

Interesting. Let me be the devil's advocate here....None of these things pointed here would make me suspicious at first. These days some might not like cash in hand and bank transfer before collection makes sense if picking up the item - transfer on the spot via app would be sensible for both I think. I would for example pay via Ebay's system (Paypal). As for a person not being able to answer questions. Maybe they don't know anything about the telescope? The ad is a little thin, almost like ignorant. The user actually has a long standing account with a few ratings as a buyer.

I agree buyers need to carefult but do we have a definite proof here that this is a scam?

This kind of scam appears all the time on Ebay. I play saxophone amongst other instruments. On sax forums reports of these kinds of scams of non-existent or fake equipment constantly appear. The usual modus-operandi is a legitimate Ebay customer's account has been hi-jacked (hence the 2011 date). The owner of the account won't be aware of it. The non-existent kit is then 'sold' and the money disappears before your delivery date. PayPal end up settling. If you pay outside of PayPal then you're sunk. 

Yes, it may be a naive seller and It may seem harsh, but in such schemes assume it is fake until proven otherwise.   

Edited June 20, 2020 by Tenor Viol

[johngm]

5 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

It doesn't immediately shout scam to me either.  He is selling a drumkit also, and the description is equally short.   Maybe he doesnt want COC due to CV-19?  Also the postage is a mistake on the ad too.  What proof is there that this is a scam?

£3.70 for postage as well seems a bit iffy

John

Edited June 20, 2020 by johngm
typo

[AstroTim]

Playing devils advocate also. UPS postage via eBay packlink is £3.69 for a 5 to 10kg parcel. Not sure if the scope would fit within the UPS package dimensions, but the postage might not be that far off the mark and might have been discounted by the seller. I advertised free postage, even though it cost me £3.69, would free postage have made the advert suspicious too?

[tooth_dr]

I think this thread should be removed unless there is legitimate proof it’s a fake ad. 

[JamesF]

I don't sell stuff on ebay, but I thought you were required to accept Paypal, so demanding a bank transfer payment before collection sounds iffy to me.  The seller's account only has four items of feedback, all as a buyer, one from more than a year ago and the rest from over five years ago.  To suddenly offer two relatively high value items with no history of sales, very limited descriptions and no activity for such a long time would ring alarm bells with me whether it were legitimate or not and I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole as things stand.

James

[dweller25]

I gave up on Ebay and Paypal when someone got access to my credit card details - that only PP had - to steal £1500 from me.

I got it all back but it was worrying.

I did report it to the Police fraud department who told me that despite all the safety nets, all it took was a dodgy employee at PP with access to customer accounts that they could simply copy.

I never heard anything back from the Police though.

Edited June 21, 2020 by dweller25

[bf79]

5 hours ago, dweller25 said:

I gave up on Ebay and Paypal when someone got access to my credit card details - that only PP had - to steal £1500 from me.

I got it all back but it was worrying.

I did report it to the Police fraud department who told me that despite all the safety nets, all it took was a dodgy employee at PP with access to customer accounts that they could simply copy.

I never heard anything back from the Police though.

Once the bank refund you the money, they then become the “complainer” and its up to them whether they want to refer it to police for investigation or deal with it themselves. Most of the time they have a limit where if the fraud is under that amount then they dont bother. I had a similar experience a few years ago where I had about £2000 disappear from my account, and they had the account details of where the money went, and they just refunded us and left it at that. Wasnt worth their effort to investigate further. 

Made me wonder just how much money they must lose through what they consider low level frauds that they write off 

[banjaxed]

1 hour ago, bf79 said:

Once the bank refund you the money, they then become the “complainer” and its up to them whether they want to refer it to police for investigation or deal with it themselves. Most of the time they have a limit where if the fraud is under that amount then they dont bother. I had a similar experience a few years ago where I had about £2000 disappear from my account, and they had the account details of where the money went, and they just refunded us and left it at that. Wasnt worth their effort to investigate further. 

Made me wonder just how much money they must lose through what they consider low level frauds that they write off 

If that is how the banks work it is little wonder so many try ripping people off as they know they will get away with it. 

[DeathWarpedUp]

44 minutes ago, banjaxed said:

If that is how the banks work it is little wonder so many try ripping people off as they know they will get away with it. 

I used to work for a major UK bank in their credit card disputes dept. It happens all the, time, there is a bottom line limit where they simply just let it go as it will end up costing more investigating than the claim itself. However they keep a database of those claiming of course and will investigate if there's a persistent offender. However since chip and pin it's a lot harder for people to prove they have been scammed, still happens though.

[ian2]

I’m selling a telescope on gumtree and I was shocked to see a listing for the same scope using all of my photos on eBay. The fraudster also copied my listings blurb from gumtree.

As usual, the eBay account was an apparently old but dormant account. I reported it and they took it down 

[Carbon Brush]

Well just for interest/fun I have asked a couple of questions.
First about the missing tripod spreader plate. Then the electrically wired finder scope?

I will be surprised if the seller responds.

The odd thing is that this is an expensive scope, not well presented for sale.
If it was 'stolen' photos (as Ian2 above) they would be better pictures.

Puzzled and curious. But defintely not reaching for my wallet.

[johngm]

13 hours ago, Carbon Brush said:

Well just for interest/fun I have asked a couple of questions.
First about the missing tripod spreader plate. Then the electrically wired finder scope?

I will be surprised if the seller responds.

The odd thing is that this is an expensive scope, not well presented for sale.
If it was 'stolen' photos (as Ian2 above) they would be better pictures.

Puzzled and curious. But defintely not reaching for my wallet.

Did you hear anything back ?. Others have stated he may be genuine, but, i for one, wouldn't chance my arm with something around a Grand.

John 

[Chaz2b]

Well it seems to have been sold, so did anyone get answers to their questions? James, you don’t need to have a PayPal account to sell or buy on EBay but it’s usefull.

Last year when I sold my Telescopes and stuff, I also requested payment by bank transfer, I got the money and it was picked up days later, the rest was sold on trust that I got paid in stages, which I did.

I had money stolen from my bank account a couple of years ago, so it’s not just PayPal who get targeted.

Just because he had an old account doesn’t give justice to the accusation it’s a stolen account, my account has been open since 2008.

One could have asked to view the scope before purchase, did anyone ask that? Any refusals to that would make you wonder.

Like it was asked earlier, was it a genuine scam? Or someone with little knowledge of what they were selling, could’ve simply been that it came from a deceased relative!

chaz

 

[Carbon Brush]

No response to my question. If he can't even say 'sorry I don't know' it puts me right off. Viewing with a 330 miles round trip was nver on the cards.
If I had parted with the money, I would be very worried now.

[Davey-T]

Having purchased stuff on EB with PP and then followed it supposedly being despatched then delivered and signed for according to the seller, who supplied a bogus tracking number, I received a refund via PP eventually so not sure what the point of the whole exercise was 

Dave

[Stuart1971]

First of all as per EBay rules cash on collection is NOT an option anymore, eBay state clearly that the transaction must be either PayPal or bank transfer, so although what the OP reported may well have been a scam, you are not supposed to buy anything from eBay and pay cash on collection anymore, if you do it’s not covered by eBay whatsoever, even if you get home and the item is completely useless, if you have collected and paid cash, they will turn you away, and the seller wins...it’s to protect the buyer...

so just an FYI... 👍

Edited June 22, 2020 by Stuart1971