Suspicious eBay buyer

Windows7forever on 13/10/2020 - 06:45

I sold an ipad on ebay to a zero feedback new ebay customer.
The customer has paid for the item with paypal and it is ready to ship.
I noticed that the buyer has three completely different names - one name associated for the ebay user ID name, a different name for the delivery address name, and a different name again for the paypal name.
This is raising alarm bells in my head.
I will definitely send the item with registered post and tracking but I'm wondering what should I do to not get scammed?
The inner detective in me is thinking that they might be using fraudulent credit cards or stolen details and makes me want to back out of the sale entirely.

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Comments

  • garetz on 13/10/2020 - 06:57

    message them about your concerns, and see what they have to say. I would follow your gut.

    • Windows7forever on 13/10/2020 - 08:25
      +1

      This is the reply I got from the buyer which has only served to heighten my suspicions:

      "Hi
      Address to the name on account. Don’t worry about email account which is my friends as she was having trouble with her email.

      XXX XXX is her name and correct address that is written.

      I will pass the message on to her. Sorry about this it’s just emails to help out with communication. The mobile is my friends on the account too not mine.All good now.

      Thank you now."

      • jayboi on 13/10/2020 - 09:05
        +17

        Yeah nah, Please DONT do it, Its not worth getting scammed from a valuable item such as a iPad, Cancel the sale. Thats a scam, especially with that response. Cancel and relist it as an auction or buy it now again

        • Windows7forever on 15/10/2020 - 06:34

          Thanks mate. I've been selling on ebay long enough to spot a scam a mile away but it's good to get a second opinion :)
          Also, they paid full price via BIN when I offered "Best Offer". That is not a rational consumer buying decision. 99% of people will try to get the item cheaper if possible.
          I'll just hold the funds until they chase it up and then I will let them know this sale has been reported to ebay fraud department and let ebay deal with it.

      • Thrift on 13/10/2020 - 10:19

        Address to the name on account… XXX XXX is her name and correct address that is written.

        Is the buyer asking you to ship to the PayPal address or a different address?

        • Windows7forever on 15/10/2020 - 06:36

          Same address (paypal). But there are different personal names being used for paypal and ebay.

      • Seraphin7 on 13/10/2020 - 10:26
        +4

        That response sounds dodgy AF.

        "I'm just helping out" … hmmm, OK.

        "All good now" … yeah, mate, no worries.

        "Thank you now" … just get in the post and then you're ass is mine.

      • foxmulder on 13/10/2020 - 10:49
        +3

        There is high chance of unauthorized accounts. Message buyer that you have concern over unathiirized account. Cancel the sale and block the buyer.

  • Hithere on 13/10/2020 - 07:28
    +8

    If in doubt, and I don't blame you, just cancel the sale.

    Even sending the item registered mail with tracking won't protect you against a scammer who can just say item was damaged when it arrived and eBay will automatically find in their favour and refund them.

  • Presence on 13/10/2020 - 07:33
    +11

    Zero feedback!! Don't do it. This is a scam.

  • whooah1979 on 13/10/2020 - 08:06

    All our user ID are random letters. Is that more or less suspicious.

    Judging a buyer's intention based on their user ID is silly.

  • vikvance on 13/10/2020 - 09:09

    It can be legitimate or it can be a scam.

    The "legitimate" reason is to take advantage of eBay's new user discounts. So, the Paypal name is the person's 'real' name, the eBay name is whatever name they made up or the name of a relative at the same address, and the eBay User Id is whatever gets randomly created by eBay.

    That said, it's very unusual for the person to then use the newly created account to buy a used iPad. Usually, they'd go for something like an eBay plus item on which a discount code can be used. (I'm assuming here that you aren't running an eBay plus business. If you are, then the reason for the different names is in my second sentence above.)

    • Windows7forever on 15/10/2020 - 06:38

      That's a minefield I don't want to walk through!
      I'm not running a business. Private seller.

  • Earl of Lemongrab on 13/10/2020 - 09:38
    +3

    Ah yes… the old "having trouble with email" excuse.

    Don't do it.

  • capslock on 13/10/2020 - 10:29

    Even if they have used a stolen credit card, will you be out of pocket or will it be Paypal?

    • vikvance on 13/10/2020 - 12:32
      +3

      Paypal is never out-of-pocket. They wouldn't have become a multi-billion dollar company if they had started taking on this risk.

      In cases of stolen credit cards, the seller always ends up out-of-pocket. For normal merchants, the banks will make it the seller's responsibility to do the appropriate checks before sending the goods (and decline the transaction if it looks suspicious). If the credit card is stolen, then the money is taken back by the bank, but the goods are, of course, lost if they've already been sent. For Paypal, in a similar way, the funds will be taken back by Paypal, but any goods already sent will be a loss to the seller.

      • Windows7forever on 15/10/2020 - 06:40

        This was my concern that they may be using stolen credit card details and then once I ship the item I will be left out of pocket.

  • subywagon on 13/10/2020 - 10:34

    That sucks. I'm too scared to sell anything on eBay due to scamming. In saying that though I have about 4 or 5 different eBay accounts with different names etc but it's only to get various eBay vouchers and for eBay plus offers etc. If I was you I wouldn't risk it.

  • LordSydney on 13/10/2020 - 11:00

    Don't do it. Reeks of scammy. Report them to eBay.

  • mreddie on 13/10/2020 - 11:03
    +2

    It's smells of a scam, cancel it.

  • resisting the urge on 13/10/2020 - 12:19
    +1

    Send a msg to the scammer so they can be sure to improve next time:

    "Thank you for taking the time to try to convince me to complete your dream transaction. You lack of language makes it clear you are conducting this activity at an industrial scale, else you wouldn't be blatantly burning your opportunities on the off-chance that I might fall for such a dismissive missive. It does nothing other than tell me you are assuming that everything is 'good now' despite me making the effort to explain that it most certainly is not."

    And add the obligatory "Please be sure to contact me if you are unhappy with any aspect of your experience, or are considering giving me anything less than 100% good, 5 star positive feedback'

    • Windows7forever on 15/10/2020 - 06:45

      Haha that's a good one. I would like to catch out the scammer red handed and point the finger at him. I'm just worried what personal details he can obtain of mine or request my mobile number linked to the account. I don't want things to escalate.

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