So... Who got scammed?This is a variant of the Romanian Laptop Scam.
What makes this unique is that it was designed to make people think it was just a typo, £30 isn’t that much to get upset about losing. The 21 days clause in the T&Cs is there to guarantee that disputes through eBay or PayPal are raise after the 7-9 days that it takes for PayPal to transfer the cash.
The mistake they made (apart from being found out or messing with me) which could have netted more cash was to omit the requirement for immediate payment.
I looked up the seller’s name in the phone book and found that it was different to the address in the Payment Confirmation email from PayPal. I guessed that the scammers had set up an account in his name at an old address then somehow (selective Phishing/found passwords at his old address/got access to his email) gained access to his eBay account either also got his PayPal password or linked his eBay account to the new account.
I phoned the number listed in The Phone Book and ended up talking to his dad who confirmed some of this and said that eBay had traced the scammers down to 4 or 5 PCs and would send emails about this to all paying buyers, I haven't had one yet. I don’t trust anyone so if you get any emails that look like they’re from eBay be careful not to get phished.
It sounded like they had spoken to eBay but not PayPal so I recommend that any of you who bought one raise a dispute and post this on to anyone else you know who bought one.
(,
Thu 15 Nov 2007, 12:59,
archived)
What makes this unique is that it was designed to make people think it was just a typo, £30 isn’t that much to get upset about losing. The 21 days clause in the T&Cs is there to guarantee that disputes through eBay or PayPal are raise after the 7-9 days that it takes for PayPal to transfer the cash.
The mistake they made (apart from being found out or messing with me) which could have netted more cash was to omit the requirement for immediate payment.
I looked up the seller’s name in the phone book and found that it was different to the address in the Payment Confirmation email from PayPal. I guessed that the scammers had set up an account in his name at an old address then somehow (selective Phishing/found passwords at his old address/got access to his email) gained access to his eBay account either also got his PayPal password or linked his eBay account to the new account.
I phoned the number listed in The Phone Book and ended up talking to his dad who confirmed some of this and said that eBay had traced the scammers down to 4 or 5 PCs and would send emails about this to all paying buyers, I haven't had one yet. I don’t trust anyone so if you get any emails that look like they’re from eBay be careful not to get phished.
It sounded like they had spoken to eBay but not PayPal so I recommend that any of you who bought one raise a dispute and post this on to anyone else you know who bought one.