Is this another ebay scam ?

[printcom]

I just brought a phone on ebay, within a minute of the auction ending I receive this message.

"hi plz do not pay for the phone with this paypal account as I am having problems with ebay holding my money through a dodgey buyer so cant get my money if you pay BUT if I use my sons paypal you can pay into there could you let me know if this is ok and then I will send you email address to pay into that account instead many thx BEV"

What do you think?.....

 

[Shedendman]

Smells off,report to ebay see what happens

 

[marlinspike]

Sounds dodgy. I would think you would have no come back with eBay or Paypal if the phone doesn't turn up as the Paypal account will not be linked to the eBay account.

 

[printcom]

I replied saying that I would only pay into the linked paypal account, the reply was:
Hi please don't pay into linked account as ebay have put a hold on it so can't do no transaction so what do you want to do?"

If this is a scam its got to be the worst thought out one I have ever come across.
As its only £50 I am tempted to take a punt.

 

[Shedendman]

Get them to contact you by phone,if no reply then its a no no

 

[rtbcomp]

Get them to contact you by phone,if no reply then its a no no

See if they say they haven't got access to a phone

 

[lchris21]

plenty more phones in the sea............

Its your £50, if it goes pear shaped you've lost it..........ebay will not lift a finger to sort it out for you......

 

[rtbcomp]

If what they say is true you have to ask why Ebay have but their PayPal account on hold.

 

[pedrobedro]

It's only £50 ? Ask them to send you the phone on trust same as they are asking for the money and you will send them the money when you have the phone.

 

[outofthefire]

I stopped using my paypal and ebay account a few years ago when I sold a laptop on ebay. I got good feedback that it had arrived safely then almost 50 days later I got a message from paypal saying that the buyer was claiming that he hadn't received it and if I couldn't provide proof of postage they would refund the money. They wouldn't listen to anything I had to say so I told them to get f****d and started to use the wifes ebay and paypal account.

She might be genuine but I think i'd err on the side of caution. Was the phone a ridiculous bargain, what's her feedback like can't you get someone else to collect the phone and pay cash?

 

[atomant48]

I bought something recently (after a couple too many red wines) but on the same day had to put my phone into a repair shop in Spain as I was travelling with work and had dropped it... (Not related to the red wine). When I got it back the next day it appeared to have been "played with" - my online banking etc was locked out and I got a couple of strange texts from the "banks". So I cancelled all my cards including the one linked to PayPal. This led to a lot of to and fro with the eBay seller, but we got there in the end. I guess he thought I was a scammer, but it was genuine. There are a few genuine cases out there (but I was extremely naive to trust a dodgy phone repair booth in the first case!!)

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Just buy another phone. Go to Cash Converters or similar, the places are full of them.

 

[ford34/2]

My opinion--- DODGY.--stay clear or loose your money. Loads and loads of Phones available from trusty E bay sellers and other sources. Paypal is there for a reason, and you are it -- the BUYER - if you dont use it -- NO protection. You will have double checked their feedback??
Stan

 

[the snooper]

If you use the other PayPal account no doubt they will want it sent as a gift I'd stay clear of it, I think if it was genuine why not use her sons eBay account to sell it then there would be no doubt at all, tell her to cancel the sale and put it on her sons account with a buy it now price

 

[Istayinalot]

I agree, if its genuine why list something linked to a blocked PayPal account.

 

[cumbriasteve]

If they are a new seller then ebay can put a hold on the account for 21 days I think it is, the money is then released or if positive feedback is received it is also released then.

You could ignore their request and pay, they have the option of sending or not and your money would be safe but as mentioned for the sake of £50 is it worth the hassle.

BUT: If you don't pay she could make a case against you as a non payer bidder and you will get a black mark that's on your account for 12 months.

Tell her if she does not send you a cancellation request you will pay, expect the phone and /or leave appropriate feedback...don't mention the word negative

 

[rtbcomp]

Ask Ebay for their advice, if they say don't pay they can't put a black mark against you.

 

[oddbob]

Ask Ebay for their advice, if they say don't pay they can't put a black mark against you.

I'd definitely contact ebay. I had a (sort of) similar thing a fair while back and Ebay opened a 'case' on my behalf.

These things could soon get more difficult to sort now that Ebay and PayPal are separating.

 

[Gareth J]

Phones, gadgets and the like are prime scamming material. If it smells fishy, there's a much higher chance it is than if the item is some old, obscure tool or widget. See what eBay say

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Seller has probably had PAYPAL repay a previous unsatisfied customer hence his account being suspended if there were insufficient funds to do that. If you now pay him to that account PAYPAL will simply get what they are owned from him !
Personally, as others have said, avoid dealing with such a person.