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So I listed my iPhone on eBay this past Monday hoping to sell it and buy the new iPhone 3G S. I went to bed that night and when I woke up, I checked my email to find that someone had committed to “Buy it Now” for $450.
The buyer, whose alias was kammanns828287, had a 0 feedback score on eBay. After contacting this person all day and receiving no reply, I received an email the next day from a so-called “Stella Jones” claiming to have paid me via PayPal and asking me to ship the iPhone to her son in Nigeria:
Greetings to you. I am Stella Jones from US. I’m contacting you concerning your item on EBay, I’m presently in London on a business trip and intend sending this item to my son who works with the United Kingdom Embassy in Nigeria as a gift, I checked through USPS (WWW.USPS.com) website and found out that the postage cost to Nigeria is $100, so i have just made a swift payment to you via PayPal.
Read the full iPhone scam e-mail here.
After that, I received a fake PayPal email, with subject PAYPAL PAYMENT CONFIRMATION ID#30688737FG3075722, claiming “You have an Instant Payment of US $550.00 from Stella Jones to your account for an eBay item through PayPal.”
There was, in fact, no money in my PayPal account. So I have relisted the iPhone and reported the user who scammed me so that eBay doesn’t charge me the fees I have been billed.
It concerns me that on my current iPhone auction on eBay, there are a couple of persistent bidders with 0 feedback scores. I want to sell this iPhone already, because I’m leaving on a trip tomorrow for a week, but I have little confidence that I won’t be scammed again.
A search on Twitter confirms that I’m not the only one who has been scammed on eBay trying to sell/buy an iPhone.
Has anyone else been scammed on eBay when trying to sell OR buy an iPhone? Please share if you have had a similar experience.
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10 Comments So Far...
Alright your story checks out.
Good work identifying the scam.
heh, nothing wrong with a little skepticism, Pepe
thanks for reading.
I was scammed buying a computer but after a few eeks ebay gave me back my money. Unfortuneltly not everyone who was scammed got theirs back.
I saw your phone on ebay as I was goign to buy it for my husband but I dont like ebay since being scammed.
Greetings.
As an eBay powereseller for many years I’d like to offer up a few points relavent to scams. As a buyer using paypal you are covered. As a seller using papal you are also covered if you follow paypal terms. I have sold upper end jewelry all over the globe under one of my accounts without incident by practicing common sense. If you are listing the iPhone as an auction you can set buyer requirements preventing 0 feedback buyers from bidding or requiring all potential buyers to contact you before being allowed to bid on your item. You can also list it so that international buyers can not bid on your item as well. Many of these measures will eliminate much of the hassel with bogus bidders.
I have sold iPhones on eBay before and am about to list my old iPhone (upgraded to 3GS). eBay is one of the best places to sell an iPhone. Demand is high. Prices are good. Buyers plentiful. Keep in mind you often hear about sales gone bad but rarely hear about the many sales without incident. My living is made by selling on eBay, amazon, and my websites. eBay was my main source of income for many years and it wouldn’t have been possible if transaction were not for the most part secure.
@Darth Great tips for avoiding eBay scams, thanks!
I sold my 1st gen BROKEN iphone on eBay recently. A 0-feedback bidder in Thailand closed it out at $220. I was very wary at first, but payment came via Paypal, with a hold on it mind you. They held the funds for 21 days to give the bidder time to recv and verify the product. Since I was very clear in my auction that the product was not functioning, I figured I was safe, so I sent it.
Bidder left positive feedback and I got my $220, it all worked out great.
Same thing happened to me, they sent me a fake pay pal form and an address to the “UK Embassy in Nigeria”. Of course I immediately went to paypal.com and found no funds, like I expected.
I am not going to sell anything to anyone that claims they have anything to do with Nigeria.
Period.
I was caught hook, line and sinker this past week. Same idea, except it was for a grandson in Nigeria. I swear the money was in my Paypal (maybe I read it wrong), but then the buyer claimed fraudulent activity on their account and the bank pulled their payment. This was just a few hours after I dropped it off at USPS.
Still trying to get the package back. Last I heard it was in NJ. If it leaves the country it’s gone for good.
@Andrew Oh no! Sorry to hear that. I hope you get your iPhone back.