Does this look like an ebay scam to you?

[Nos4r2]

Something doesn't look right about these ebay outboards... Anyone else suspicious? Look at the language,spelling and payment instructions...

http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZ3454jane

[prairie tuber]

"I accept payment by BANK TRANSFER ONLY. 50% deposit is supposed to be made within 3 days of close of auction. Please make sure you provide me with your details to be submitted, once deposit payment has cleared I shall send the unit. Then you make another 50% deposit and we complete the deal. Good luck and happy bidding."


It reeks of scam.

[stan_deezy]

good spot Nos!

anybody know where "Obana" is?

Perhaps the ribbing is even better there than Oban? :-))

[eupa]

OBAN (A) is in scotland with Argyl & Bute. but this comes straight off
Microsofts Autoroute Express

It may not be a scam. Ebay have tightened up a lot.
The motors look about 1995'ish compression at 140-150 psi about 10 bars
looks normal.However terms of payment look crap.

I presume they must have fallen off a "lorry" - does that term still exist??

Jonathan

[Stuart M]

In my experience of credit card / Mail order fraud (14 years). Things to look for are:

1) Is it too good to be true - People are greedy and want to believe that it is true so overlook the obvious

2) Lack of product knowledge - not knowing what they are selling / buying - although there maybe some genuine reasons for this.

3) Person - Over the last 14 years 98% of our attempted fraud has been from people with an african dialect (when we have spoken to them on the phone). Although using ebay doesn't facilitate phone conversations, look for mispelling of obvious words and bad grammar. A classic is people even getting their name the wrong way round and trying to sound english. In some countries the surname is first following by the first name. So they would use Williams John as a made up name for example. If you get the opportunity to talk to them engage in conversation and all should become clear.

4) Try and ask for a phone number and then check the person on BT's directory enquiries. Say that you need to ask then some technical details and can talk them through how to find them on the engine over the phone for example. If they phone you then see if they withhold their number.

REMEMBER: Decent people don't mind giving details - fraudsters always have something to hide.

Credit Card fraud (like auction fraud) is soooo easy it is frightening, we had one person who was doing it at the same address for 4 years! - Police were notified in 2001 and arrests made finally in 2005. The police only took action as there were so many cases that it was affecting their figures!!

As there is no way of a merchant reporting a suspect or fraudulent card transaction to the bank in the Uk (Yes that is correct!) fraud is rife. I'm sure a large percentage of ebay goods are stolen / fraudulent goods be resold.

IMHO I would not trust ebay at all - they may have tightened up their procedures but like the bank they have no real incentive to sort out the problem.

These people may help http://www.reportauctionfraud.co.uk/ - its a new site but for a couple of quid it may help you - NOTE: if the person isn't on the list it doesn't mean they are genuine - just not a KNOWN frauster.

Hope this helps.

[ollyit]

after reading this thread there are some very valid points made there, this isnt directly related at the outboards mentioned above but about ebay antics,

I recently introduced two friends of mine to ebay as they both wanted to sell a mobile phone each one about a year old the other other brand new and boxed (free upgrade from phone service provider)

It would appear that such fruadsters definitely are watching items like mobile phones with the builtin cameras,mp3 video etc

within 3 hours of my mate listing 1, he had an email direct to his hotmail account from a person with no feedback spilling out a loada rubbish about he's in asia and wants it shipped to nigeria and a load of other rubbish, my mate replied no Im afraid it clearly states "UK" shipping only, royal mail 1st class recorded, another email came back saying, I will pay you £300 gbp over the online "worldpay" system, which Ive never used, - and to send the unit out first, after hearing this we told him to get knotted! - my other mate got similar questions on his phone to turning down offers of ridiculous money for a phone thats worth about £60!

I do have faith in ebay, I think you just need to know and learn the signs - as theres always some money trying to take the pi**, I just feel sorry for the new innocent people who get sucked in...

[stan_deezy]

Originally Posted by eupa

OBAN (A) is in scotland with Argyl & Bute. but this comes straight off
Microsofts Autoroute Express

I know where it is: I used to have to visit it (in fact it still has a defective pager of mine in the harbour!). I just wondered if the seller knew where it was?


Must admit I thought the evinrude looked a lot older than a 90's model but I could be wrong (that is usually the case!)

In any event, I wouldn't touch it without being able to physically see it first and checking it over myself.

The only thing that makes me wonder about the genuine side of it is the feedback score.........

[Nos4r2]

Lets cast a hypothetical situation here. A CLEVER-possibly UK fraudster (they do exist) decides to have a go. Usual points I pick up on for an ebay scam are:-
The ebay ID-the numbers seem to crop up in that format in a lot of the frauds I've seen.
Different countries mentioned.
Vegetation looks wrong.
Bad english ("you are a right mariner" in the ad...)
Odd method of payment.
Specifically mentions "bass boat" in this ad-thats a US thing, as are most of the boat types mentioned.
Low feedback score. Previous items he's got feedback for include a 25hp merc-but that's a relatively low value engine and probably not bolted to the boat when left... see where I'm coming from?

From where I'm sat it looks to me like a scammer has got clever. The inital 50% on the bank transfer will be quite a lot of money-specially if he gets 50% of the end price of all the engines...
This one for a change doesn't look too good to be true price-wise but people will bid on it and they'll reach a fairly high price...It makes no difference what the start price is-it's the end price that matters...

[Stuart M]

The thing to remember is often people "steal" product details from other sites, if this guy purchased these engines in a job lot and didn't know what they were then he may use someone elses description - I don't think that alone would worry me, although other things about the person would.

[prairie tuber]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

From where I'm sat it looks to me like a scammer has got clever. The inital 50% on the bank transfer will be quite a lot of money-specially if he gets 50% of the end price of all the engines...

You can be pretty sure is only looking for the first 50%. Once again;

"I accept payment by BANK TRANSFER ONLY. 50% deposit is supposed to be made within 3 days of close of auction. Please make sure you provide me with your details to be submitted, once deposit payment has cleared I shall send the unit."

This is classic 419 scam formula. Once he has the 50% 'deposit' in his (probably Nigerian) account, he cashes it, closes the account & vanishes. The product was never in his possession, the description was likely cut & pasted from some marine dealer's website.

The fact that he says "50% deposit is supposed to be made" tells you right there that he is simply hoping to get that deposit money and not expecting it.


Here is a link to an interesting story about Nigerian 419 scammers;

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/interne....ap/index.html