Shoofin

...and he's got a feedback rating of 0, and his user name is abdalla - Not trying to racially profile or anything, but the user name and fact that he's got 0 feebacks and has been a member since May 2007 have me thinking "SCAM" all over it. Should I be worried?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=190359688103

black label

Were you planning on shipping him the car before the money hits your account? I've never heard of anyone selling a car and letting the customer take delivery before the funds were in the sellers hand.

CocheseUGA

Why didn't you exclude zero feedback bidders?

Shoofin

No, I do not plan on shipping before being paid in full. I didn't say that I would, did I?

Shoofin

I could have sworn I did, not sure though..

Shoofin

The dude is from Ohio, and a $500 deposit was paypal'ed to me... hmmm..

FiftyFive

^Well that should relieve some of the skepticism.

I've sold two cars on ebay, both smooth transactions. One of them had 1 positive feedback. I got the deposit and he came with the rest as a certified bank check. Hopefully your transaction is as painless.

2K2SilverTL-S

So because he is Arabic he has to be a scam artist? You racially profile right after you say you dont mean to?

Be skeptical because of the feedback but not "because of the user name":thumbsdow

Sorry, but I dont think you would appreciate that post if you were of Arab decent.....

BTW, Arabs love Bimmers if you want to stereotype....

charliemike

There are plenty of Nigerians who follow Islam ...

Crazy Bimmer

I'd be more worried sending you 10k. You dont seem to have much feedback either.

Just saying. Its part of what you have to deal with when buying/selling on ebay.

2K2SilverTL-S

Abdalla is not necessarily a Muslim name. I know plenty of Christian Arabs (being one myself) who are named Abdalla. Its a name of middle eastern Arabic origin

black label

Then I don't understand the concern. What does it matter if he has zero feedback? What does it matter that his name is abdalla? All I would be concerned with is the $$$ showing up, if it doesn't give him some negative feedback and relist the car. If it does then sign the car over and move on.

mrmako

Money talks........ walks.

As long as you receive certified funds, give the guy the benefit of the doubt. You did get the deposit immediately via Paypal, right? So you have at least a $500 fallback if it were a scam.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

I would keep a close eye on this transaction, and, if necessary, tell the guy that he needs to keep the funds for a certain period of time to make sure this is not fake. Either that, or ask for his phone number and call him directly. Establish contact with him, and he may be a very nice guy!

einsatz

If the buyer follows all the terms/conditions, then I don't see a problem. eBay goes both ways - they have to follow the rules, but so do you.

I like gatrhumpy's suggestion - try to get a contact # and call under the pretense of wanting to get details about how the final payment is being made, when, pickup/transport, etc... Just get a feel for the guy.

F23A4

That said, too bad that clean 525iA did not go for about $3k less; I might have taken it off your hands.

1StGenCL

I can see the worry here. I have sold tons of unlocked iPhones on ebay and people from Nigeria have tried all sorts of scams. Everything from fake paypal emails to fake "certified bank checks."

I would be real worried if I were you as well. Def. get the contact info but I have talked to people on the phone that sent me fake checks and they never let up.

dannyboy10

Shoofin,

Try to close the deal with the buyer paying you via a bank wire, not a certified check. This will minimize the chance of a fake "certified" bank check. The buyer's bank can do this for a small fee....not much more than a certified bank check.

The 525iA was a good buy....I wish I was in the market for a car.

majin ssj eric

No worries. Worst that can happen is he no-pays and you have to relist.

And whats with this outrage over profiling? Maybe "Abdalla" is on the up-and-up, but my red flags would be going off too....

Shoofin

OK then, let me clarify my background. I am of Middle Eastern descent. My father is from Syria, my mother from Lebanon. I am American Born. My parents speak Arabic, I speak Arabic. Still think I am directing this towards racism? Heck, my user name is an Arabic word (although it was modified slightly).

majin ssj eric

^^Everythings racism these days, didn't you know??

Shoofin

I agree with you. I just got started using this account for my company because I've always used my personal account, and I have a TON of feedback on that account. Keep in mind, my eBay account is a dealer account, not just a regular account. eBay has ALL of my dealer information, including bank account info.

dallison

i would be spooked and concerned esp with a 1st purchase being a car. too many scams out there.

vas25tl

I smell a scam.

Shoofin

Soo I had a litle bit of a worry today....I log into paypal and I don't see the deposit there. I open up the e-mail that says "you got cash" saying I received the $500 deposit but I didn't see anything in Paypal. Scrolling through the e-mail, I see it saying something like his e-mail address isn't verified, but it's asking me to click a link to enter my username and password to confirm my e-mail address. I'm like WTF?!?

So I do what everyone says to do, and that's call paypal. They weren't much of a help. They werent sure if the e-mail was legitimate or not, but leaning more towards saying they never ask me to enter my user name or password in a link. OK then...So I call eBay to make a claim that I've been scammed. They keep telling me to be optimistic and it's probably legit and not a scam. Then, once I click back into paypal and go to the home page, my balance goes from $0.00 to $485 like POOF (they deducted $15 for their "fee" ) I have no idea what happened, but it could possibly be me just signing into paypal verified my e-mail address, I have no idea (It's a relatively new account I set up for my company). OK then, I forward the e-mail that said "You have cash" the the ebay dude and he looked it over and said it looks legit but also told me not to click any links to enter my email address or password in any e-mails. So now i'm wondering, the money went from not being there to magically being there, paypal has no idea what i'm talking about, to forward the e-mail to them as it being a spoof, and they never ask for username/password verification. Then eBay says it's legit but paypal never asks to confirm a username/password in a link either. Is it real? Is it fake? I have no fkn clue.

Anywho, I start looking into the dude's info based on his name/address and e-mail address. A website comes up showing the same address he entered when setting up the paypal account. I call the number on the site and go through a voicemail system. He calls himself "Al" on the voicemail, that's his way of Americanizing "Abdalla". Left a message at about 11am this morning (to Ohio), he called me about 5pm today. He gave me his cell#, asked me a few questions about the condition of the car, asked me if I was a dealer and can issue a temp on it so he could drive it if he wanted to pick it up (I can), and also asked how much I think it would be to ship it if he didn't want to pick it up. He also asked me how to pay the balance, I told him either a wire or a bank check. He said he will either overnight the check to me or drop it off to me if he comes to pick up the car.

So we left off with me finding out how much it's going to cost to have it shipped to Ohio from me. I suggested he wait until after New Years, as it's VERY tough to get a transporter this week (I've been trying to ship a car down to FL since last week and still have not gotten a transporter to pick it up yet).

And here I am now.

So what do you think?

I'll post the e-mail that was sent to me if you want to see it..

Shoofin

I don't know if this e-mail was directed to me, or if they sent me a copy of the e-mail they sent him - I edited some of this to protect some identities...

-----Original Message-----
From: "anime@[edit].com" <anime@[edit].com>
Date: Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:05:20
To: eddie@[edit].com<eddie@[edit].com>
Subject: Notification of an Instant Purchase Payment for Item #1903596[edit]
- Received from abdalla[edit] (anime@[edit].com)

Hello eddie@[edit].com,

You've got cash!

This email confirms that you have received an Auction Instant Purchase Payment
for $500.00 USD from Abdalla [edit] (mailto:anime@[edit].com)

-----------------------------------
Payment Details
-----------------------------------


Purchased From: auto[edit]leasing
Receipt ID: 5147-0573-5247-[edit]

Item #: 190359688103
Item Title: BMW : 5-Series
Item URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=190359688103
Quantity: 1
Price: $500.00 USD
Subtotal: $500.00 USD


----------------------------------------------------------------


Total Deposit:$500.00 USD





-----------------------------------
Abdalla [edit] confirmed address
-----------------------------------

Abdalla [edit]
[edit]
Litchfield, OH 44253
United States





-----------------------------------
Receipt Number:
-----------------------------------
5147-0573-5247-[edit]

Our records indicate that this email address is unconfirmed. In order to receive
these funds, you must first confirm your email address.

You can complete the Email Address Confirmation process by clicking on the
following link and then entering your password:

https://www.paypal.com/ece/cn=155577...m=eddie%40auto[edit]leasing%2ecom


If your email program has problems with hypertext links, then you may also
confirm your email address by logging into your PayPal account at PayPal.com. On
your My Account page there will be a link Confirm Your Email Address. Click on
this link and when requested, enter the following confirmation number:

1555-7728-0162-4162-[edit]

Sincerely,
PayPal



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PayPal Email ID PP754

Jiggy2dmax

iTrader: (1)

I do a ton of Paypal (run a Ebay/Ecommerce business).

I can't say if the email itself is legit but if your addy was unconfirmed you do need to confirm it before you would be able to see the payment.

You'll notice or already notice that if you send a payment to someone that is not verified, they actually have to log in, verify there email and accept the payment before it actually shows in there account so that part is legit.

I would say never log into Paypal except directly from the Paypal site though, some of those phishing emails look incredibly real.

Shoofin

BTW, AFTER I saw the money magically appear, I went into my account settings to check on my e-mail address and it said that it was already verified.

tmikityuk

how would he pay you the rest all through pay pal? or money order cause if its a check and you put it in the bank, the bank would accept it but if its a fake one it would be all against you and not the buyer, be careful, world is full of scams today

Shoofin

Bank/Cashiers Check or Wire Transfer ONLY.

DISRUPTV

Dont sweat it...you know how sensitive everyone gets when its anything muslim and arabic pertaining...trust me I know 1st hand...im muslim

Ed, I think you should have the rest of the money wired to you...If you take a certified check, have your bank verify it and then deposit it and give it 2 days to make sure it cleared

GOOD LUCK W/EVERYTHING!!!

dannyboy10

Shoofin,

Proceed with caution since he is a out of state buyer and try to get paid via a bank wire. A certified bank check is risky since he is from out of state. Think about how much trouble you would have to go through if the check bounced days or even WEEKS later !

If it has to be a certified bank check, find out in advance what bank will be issuing the check. When you have the bank name, find out yourself the phone number of the bank and call the bank in advance to find out who you can call once you have the check in your hand to confirm the authencity of the certified check.

Do not trust the phone # on the check ! Also do not trust the buyer if he gives you the bank's phone number.

Also Google the bank's name if it's not a big regional bank like National City Bank, Fifth Third Bank, KeyCorp, Huntington National.

Good luck and keep us updated.

probmxstyle

I would not click that link. I would right click it and copy the link location then paste it into a address bar. The link might not be the same as what is written.

BaByBlAcKtYpE-s

iTrader: (2)

I would say just get a cashier's check and let him know that the car won't be released until the check has cleared the bank. So you wouldn't have to worry about the check bouncing and him having the car. Just a thought.

dallison

i would call the bank to verify funds and the check and if the buyer is willing, don't release the car until the funds have cleared. But, i don't think that is really possible.

einsatz

You can ask the bank to tell you how long till it clears and then hold the car until then.

And never, ever log in from an email or click on a link (especially anything from paypal/banks/etc) on an email.
If paypal says you have money and you want to log in to see it, go to paypal.com, log in, and navigate from there.

As a matter of fact, if you have the choice to receive plaintext (non-html) emails from paypal/ebay/etc, do that.

phil2

interesting...I hope its real though for your sake!

Rock2534

I don't really see the issue here, it sounds like your email was the one that needed to be confirmed( i know you said it was already), but the email even states that you can do so by logging in from the paypal site directly. If it was a scam they would not advise you to do that. Sometimes wierd things happen with new accounts.

As far as how you should go about handling the sale, you should use the same process you use for any other sale. If your normal process doesn't protect you than that is an issue, as a dealer you should have a way to verify if the funds are available right?

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

Because you can't. You can only block negative rated bidders.

1StGenCL

Just curious, did the paypal email address you by your first and last name or just you email addy as you posted? Pretty sure PP always uses your name

quick link on spoof emails
http://www.aboutpaypal.org/how_to_sp...e_paypal_email