Question
I was an underbidder on this auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5929332789
A couple of days after the auction, I get an email from the seller saying that the high bidder pulled out and wanted to know if I wanted to buy the item. They said to get in touch with them if I did... and they offered it to me at my bid. I replied that I was interested. They sent back a message saying that they'd like to have a cashier's check and could I please send it Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. I figured that was OK, but first I wanted to make sure it was on the level, so I emailed the high bidder and asked if it was true that he pulled out of his bid, and he replied that he had some medical issues, that the seller was very nice to let him out of it, and that it was legit. SO I sent the money.
Tonight I get a call... from the person who received my check. It seems that he had a resume out on some website to pick up some extra work, and he was contacted by a firm in London. They told him that he would be receiving a check for $1125 and directed him to deposit it and wire the funds to them. But he can't get ahold of them, and when he went to their website today, it had been shut down.
He said he smelled a scam of some sort, so he emailed me to find out more, and I called him, he lives in the midwest.
Seems like a fairly complex scam, if the high bidder is in on it too~! I don't know whether he is or not.
Sheesh!
Answer
So... you are publically accusing the seller (99.8%) of attempted fraud? Or are you suggesting someone hijacked the email info? What?
Answer
Good point. Someone should email a link to this to the seller.
Answer
No, hijacked account.
Answer
what was the duration of the auction?
Answer
Originally Posted by commentary
what was the duration of the auction?
Ended: Oct-30-04 19:00:00 PDT
Start time: Oct-23-04 19:00:00 PDT
Answer
This is a rare item and I think it's odd that the same Marx Hootin Hollow Haunted House with the box sold on eBay sometime before Oct. 15 for $1,414.88. Unfortunately, the auction is no longer in eBay's database because it would be interesting to compare the pictures.
The eBay sale is mentioned here: http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/sc...ai=6537&si=123
Blanche
Answer
Originally Posted by Toy Ranch
Ended: Oct-30-04 19:00:00 PDT
Start time: Oct-23-04 19:00:00 PDT
Seems weird that the scammers would chance a 7 day auction. You would think 1 day auction or a BIN.
Answer
Blanche~
I recall that auction when it was running, and the pictures and description are different. The toy is "rare", but not so rare that yet another might not have been sold some weeks back.
Commentary~
This is the email I received yesterday afternoon:
Bobby,
Hello my name is xxxx xxxxxx (the name I was given to use in making out the check) and yuo have sent me a Check today for $1125.00. I don't know where to start but I was contacted by a comapnay out of the UK inregards to working for them the comapny name is ITradingCompany I have been trying to get in touch with this company for awhile now and can not get anyone to return my calls and there interenet site has been shut off I don't want to get into any trouble with this so please callme so we can talk and find out waht is going on with this company.
xxxxxx xxxxxxxx
(phone number)
When I called he said he had posted a resume on jobline and was looking for some extra internet work to supplement his income. He was contacted by this UK company and told they needed him for some work and to await instructions. Next they told him he was to be receiving a check for $1125, and to notify them when it had been received. He received the check and tried to contact them, then noticing that their website (which I can't find) was "suspended" and he couldn't get in touch with anyone there. He was looking over the check and the supporting documents I sent and got a whiff of a scam, so he got in touch with me.
Soooo..... how is a check made out to this guy and sent to his home address for an eBay transaction, awaiting instructions about where to send the money, associated with a seller called "gypsywomantrader" in Minneapolis (accoding to the "from" info in the listing) when he is a couple states away, and he has absolutely no clue what it's about NOT a scam?
Answer
can you pull gypsywomantrader's contact info and give her a call ?
have you taken this to safe harbor ?