Yet another ebay scam

lonesome.whistle · February 5th, 2006, 11:41 AM

Just in case any of you have bid (or are thinking of bidding) on this 1968 telecaster, don't!

The dodgy one is ebay item #7387739400
and the real one the scammer lifted the description and photo from is #7383399079.

23 bids on the fake so far depite the 'sellers' zero feedback. I've alerted ebay but I'm very aware of the timeit takesfor them to deal with these issues.

Bones · February 5th, 2006, 11:43 AM

Did you alert the seller of the legit one? Sometimes the the best way to get some positive action on these things.

lonesome.whistle · February 5th, 2006, 05:16 PM

I have alerted the original seller and I've also sent messages to some of the bidders on this auction telling them of my suspicions. From the correspondence I've had with some of the bidders it seems that the scammer is sending out pictures of the guitar's serial number that he has taken from the original listing. Unfortunately ebay now say that I can't send any more messages as I've exceeded the maximum. I'm a big fan of ebay but they have to clean up their act otherwise people are just not going to use them.

Telenator · February 5th, 2006, 05:57 PM

I sent the scammer an e-mail and the top bidder with the listing number of the real Telecaster this one was scammed from. Rotten bastiges. I hate scammers.

slack · February 5th, 2006, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonesome.whistle

I have alerted the original seller and I've also sent messages to some of the bidders on this auction telling them of my suspicions... Unfortunately ebay now say that I can't send any more messages as I've exceeded the maximum. I'm a big fan of ebay but they have to clean up their act otherwise people are just not going to use them.

Well, while your intentions are good, your methodology is flawed. You aren't handling it properly, per eBay guidelines.

There is a mechanism in place for reporting listings TO EBAY. Contacting the seller or bidders is simply passing the buck to them. Why don't you take the steps to potentially shut down the listing? If your concerns are valid, that is exactly what eBay will do, and often quickly.

Start here:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_us/_base/index.html

RelicStrat · February 6th, 2006, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Well, while your intentions are good, your methodology is flawed. You aren't handling it properly, per eBay guidelines.

There is nothing flawed about his methodology. If you go back and read his original post, he plainly stated that he contacted ebay.

lonesome.whistle · February 6th, 2006, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RelicStrat

There is nothing flawed about his methodology. If you go back and read his original post, he plainly stated that he contacted ebay.

Thanks. :)

slack · February 6th, 2006, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonesome.whistle

Quote:

Originally Posted by RelicStrat

There is nothing flawed about his methodology. If you go back and read his original post, he plainly stated that he contacted ebay.

Thanks. :)

Oops, I missed the last line of the first post. Sorry lonesome.whistle.

Still, contacting the eBay members is a flawed methodology, though well intentioned (as I acknowledged), in that it is technically a violation of eBay guidelines. He can end up being the bad guy, in the eyes of eBay (and maybe other users), while trying to be the good guy.

Again, I overlooked his having contacted eBay, so please take my earlier post in that context.

lonesome.whistle · February 7th, 2006, 09:39 AM

Well....

I guess you're correct in that it is technically a violation of ebay policy (and it's cost me a fair bit to build up the feedback I have so I don't particularly want to risk losing that) but what else can you do in these cases? Report it to ebay and then watch the auction come to a close before they've investigated it?

It's in every genuine ebay trader's interests to see this kind of criminal activity minimised as in the end everyone will be tarred by the same brush. I'm wondering if any of this stuff ever gets investigated by - or even reported to - the police as, in circumstances other than an online auction, it would be regarded as criminal activity.

February 5th, 2006, 11:41 AM	#1 (permalink)
lonesome.whistle TDPRI Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 80 4 Photos	Yet another ebay scam Just in case any of you have bid (or are thinking of bidding) on this 1968 telecaster, don't! The dodgy one is ebay item #7387739400 and the real one the scammer lifted the description and photo from is #7383399079. 23 bids on the fake so far depite the 'sellers' zero feedback. I've alerted ebay but I'm very aware of the timeit takesfor them to deal with these issues.

February 5th, 2006, 05:57 PM	#4 (permalink)
Telenator Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 4,674	I sent the scammer an e-mail and the top bidder with the listing number of the real Telecaster this one was scammed from. Rotten bastiges. I hate scammers. __________________ Dogs have the right idea!

February 5th, 2006, 11:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
Bones Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 1,921 1 Photos	Did you alert the seller of the legit one? Sometimes the the best way to get some positive action on these things.

February 5th, 2006, 05:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
lonesome.whistle TDPRI Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 80 4 Photos	I have alerted the original seller and I've also sent messages to some of the bidders on this auction telling them of my suspicions. From the correspondence I've had with some of the bidders it seems that the scammer is sending out pictures of the guitar's serial number that he has taken from the original listing. Unfortunately ebay now say that I can't send any more messages as I've exceeded the maximum. I'm a big fan of ebay but they have to clean up their act otherwise people are just not going to use them.

February 7th, 2006, 09:39 AM	#9 (permalink)
lonesome.whistle TDPRI Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 80 4 Photos	Well.... I guess you're correct in that it is technically a violation of ebay policy (and it's cost me a fair bit to build up the feedback I have so I don't particularly want to risk losing that) but what else can you do in these cases? Report it to ebay and then watch the auction come to a close before they've investigated it? It's in every genuine ebay trader's interests to see this kind of criminal activity minimised as in the end everyone will be tarred by the same brush. I'm wondering if any of this stuff ever gets investigated by - or even reported to - the police as, in circumstances other than an online auction, it would be regarded as criminal activity.