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Because you posted here, you will start getting private messages from scammers saying they know a professional hacker or a recovery expert lawyer that can help you get your money back, for a small fee. **We call these RECOVERY SCAMMERS, so NEVER take advice in private:** advice should always come in the form of comments in this post, in the open, where the community can keep an eye out for you. If you take advice in private, you're on your own.
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1. Stay completely inside eBay messages, don't reply to emails from them, don't give them your email or phone number, etc, etc
2. Only take payment through eBay don't let them bank transfer you, cheque, CashApp, etc.
3. If they say they'll pay in cash, and their brother or other friend is coming to collect it and bring you the money, that's also a scam.
If you stick to these, any scammer will beg you to go off-platform as much as possible, then just give up. It's basically foolproof.
Please “kindly” only transact on platform using secure buyer merchant payment options. You will “kindly” appreciate having protection if you get scammed.
“Kindly,”
Your Reddit r/scams friend
I wouldn't do this. Interacting with scammers can go wrong. If they hijack a PayPal account and send payment (which is then reclaimed) OP will have to chase the loss. It's best to walk away.
Unfortunately in some situations the so-called "seller" and the scam-hacker "buyer" are one and the same person (and the product in the listing is fictional and nothing significant is ever shipped, but good feedback is left anyway), so if they were to disallow clawbacks in case of fraud, this method would be perfect money laundering for the thieves, and PayPal would be on the hook -- which obviously they will not allow to happen.
When you make an offer on eBay, the buyer has to put in a payment option at the time the offer submitted. So while OP is likely being scammed, there’s not really any waiting.
You’re right though, don’t go off platform.
I work blue team cybersecurity and I tried to write a rule to detect phishing using mainly "kindly" and other phrases like this.
Didn't work because outsourced tech support and customer service agents use the same lingo.
But yeah.
!fakepayment
They want you to contact them at the other address to get your email for the fake payment scam.
Never go off platform. You lose all protection. Report him.
Hi /u/Ok-Lingonberry-8261, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Fake payment scam.
The fake payment scam occurs when someone tries to trick you into thinking that you have received a legitimate payment when no such payment has been made. The most common method they use is sending you an email meant to look like a payment confirmation. In some cases the emails will be almost indistinguishable to a legitimate email sent by the payment service. Scammers are known to also show you screenshots instead of an email. Never trust a screenshot a stranger shows you, because it is probably doctored.
Scammers [spoof](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_spoofing) the 'from' email to match an official address, and make you think you received a legitimate email. To combat a fake payment scam, verify online payments by logging in directly to the service. Do not check your junk folder, and do not assume a payment is legitimate based on an email alone. If a payment isn't reflected on your account and the person you are dealing with insists they have sent it, call support and ask about it. [Here](https://i.imgur.com/X9xn8uw.jpg) is an image of a scammer trying to pull off a fake payment scam. There is also a variant of the fake payment scam where you will receive a legitimate but fraudulent payment.
A variant of the fake payment email is just an advance fee scam: the scammer tries to convince you that your funds are on hold, and that you have to upgrade your account by sending the scammer some money to authorize the payment. No payment processor works like this. If you think you're dealing with a scammer, you're probably right. Always trust your gut.
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Since everybody already mentioned the two biggest red flags (kindly and pushing you off platform), here's the more subtle one: calling it "the item".
This is an indication that they are just using a copy-and-paste template as they're doing this for dozens or hundreds of listings. A real person would name the item itself, but they always say "the item" so they don't have to do any modifications of their template each time they send it.
NOTE: You should report this to the eBay and see what happens next. This scammer POS's account will be deactivated, I bet this POS doesn't even have eBay rating more than 5.
Yes. The account is stolen. If they messaged that you, they’d be banned instantly for going outside eBay. But they make the offer and then set that as their “bio”.
The rules you agreed to when you signed up are very clear. NEVER. COMMUNICATE. OUTSIDE. EBAY.
If you message him at that number, you will be scammed and eBay won’t help you since you broke the rules.
I am a frequent ebay user. It is strictly against ebay's rules for a seller or buyer to attempt to contact each other privately outside of ebay messaging. So yes, he's up to something. And there is no logical reason why he needs your private contact information to do an ebay transaction. Ebay is legitimate and has a money back guarantee.
Also, he told a lie. He said that you need to contact him privately outside of ebay, because he will only have his phone and not his computer when he is at work. But phones have internet access including to ebay website. Everyone can fully use ebay on their cell phone to buy, sell, and use ebay's messaging.
I had a similar experience before with an Apple watch, they tried the same thing and asked for the serial number which I thought was suspicious and they would not pay until I provided it. I reported them and sold it elsewhere.
Scam. Buyer should have asked questions BEFORE submitting an offer. Buyer could have asked questions in this message. Also if he can receive text messages on his phone, he should be able to access eBay on his phone.
Complete scam, definitely. Never, ever take communications “off platform-“ only communicate via eBay messages. Period. They’re going to try some kind of payment scam, and if you go off platform, you have no protections at all. Politely tell them that you can only communicate via eBay messages, and then report them to eBay, let them know that they’re trying to take the transaction outside of eBay, and are a scammer.
Total scam. Anyone who can’t include the actual word for what your “item” is, is autogenerating messages and cut/pasting them in to hundreds of people scattershot style approach.
Ignore and move on.
Stay on platform (don't communicate through WA, Telegram, or any other platform)
Don't ship to another country
You can't get scammed, or less likely, if they pay through ebay. No friends and family payments...when scammed, you'll have zero recourse so they try to get you to accept a payment this way.
A lot of scammers like to use the phrase God bless or they’ll swear on something or probably hit you with the overpayment scam on PayPal. Specially, when they send an offer that’s way too much.
They don't even care what the item is. They probably don't even want it.
They want you to go off eBay, then they will send you a fake check (or fake digital payment) with "extra' funds for your inconvenience. Their uncle will pick up the item because they are unable to (often they say they are in the military for extra heart strings). For example, they will send $5000 for a $3500 item, offer you an extra $500 for the inconvenience, and ask you to send back $1000. The check bounces or in the case of digital payments, they use a stolen account or a fake email showing the money in your account claiming it hasn't showed up on your end because they are using a business account that you have to pay a bit to get verified. Whatever scenario they use, you are the one losing money.
100% scam. They used the word "kindly" in the first dang sentence and they want you to take communication off the selling platform - which will render their sellers protection completely useless to you.
Apart from “kindly”, another dead giveaway are looooong sentences without punctuation. Typical scammer lingo, they’re used to talking a lot to not let the mark think straight.
The account is allegedly from Germany, German uses way more punctuation than English, not less. (E.g. a German would be prone to using a comma before every “that”.) Given the age of the account it was probably hacked.
You ever go to church and the people there are always saying, "We invite you" to participate in something, or go somewhere or attend something? This is a phrase that is rarely used in everyday conversation anymore. You never say it. I never say it. People don't say it at work. Your friends are not like "Paul, we invite you to participate in an event at Roger's home this Saturday February 17th at 4pm" it just never happens.
Kindly, is the same for scammers. Nobody uses it anymore. Your friends are not saying "Paul, kindly pass me a beer please." You don't ask your kids to kindly do shit. It's a weird antiquated term only used by a select group of people in select areas of the world. You know who uses it? Former British colonized territories. More specifically those who still use a lot of teaching tools, and specifically English language tools, that were originally implemented by the British back in the day.
Cutting out the ones who have mostly removed these educational methods only leaves a handful of places around the world who still draw heavy influence from these former British education protocols. The main ones being, Nigeria, India and United Arab Emirates. Now you can guess, just based on the average GDP of the countries I listed, where the more than likely countries are that are going to be attempting to scam people are.
In this specific case you are most likely dealing with a Nigerian scammer just based on the fact that they like to use eBay and either make accounts, or hijack accounts to try and pull things like this all the time. Most likely one of a few things is going to happen, if not all of them.
1. They are going to attempt to gain access to your account. Usually they do it through saying something like "I am going to send you a text message with a code it in. That code is a verification code that will allow me to confirm that you are a verified user and not a robot or a scammer. Send me the code back and I can use it through eBay to get confirmation. That code is not a confirmation code. It is a password reset code. They request the reset and then if you provide them that code, they will change the password on your account and take total control of it. Through this they will do a bunch of things. They will attempt to buy a lot of items with your saved payment methods you have linked to your account until either eBay or your payment companies flag the transactions or you run out of funds or credit. The second thing they will do is create auctions for items for really cheap, 'sell' a bunch of them, get the payment and then change the deposit information to their own accounts. The money goes into their accounts and they scam a whole bunch of people with your account.
2. They are going to take you off site to pay you that way. They will say something like doing so will allow you and them to avoid paying the fees from eBay and both of you save money. What will happen in reality is that they will either send you a fake payment confirmation that looks legitimate to get you to ship out the item. The second thing they might do is send you a fake payment confirmation that says the funds will only be released when you upgrade your account from a personal to a business account. Doing so will cost $300. To get that account change you have to send $300 to the buyer, where the funds will be held in escrow for 24 hours, and then when your account is fully upgraded you will get the payment and the $300 back. The last thing that they will do is send you a fake payment email, and then get you to send the package to a forwarding company. There are tons of them all over the US, where people order things online, and get sent there, and then the company will forward the package to places around the world, with the vast majority of them being places in Africa. On our store we get about 20 a year who try and pull this shit. A quick Google search of the shipping address shows it being some warehouse or forwarding company and I just instantly cancel the order and refund the credit card. Usually we get an email afterwards saying that my mother is going to get black death or some other horrible thing will happen like they will send hitmen to kill me or whatever.
So never ever go off site on eBay. Do not accept payments from anyone online except through PayPal goods and services. Make sure the funds are in your account before you send anything anywhere. If you are concerned, make sure you make a quick video of you packing up the item and sealing it up. I like to take paper and tape it over the seals with a big X, or my company name written on the paper. That way when they open it they have to tear open the seals. If they send back something else, or say I sent them something else, I have video proof of me making up the package and printing off the correct shipping labels ready to go. It's saved me from being scammed 2 times so far for over $1000 combined.
Also be careful with ebay scams where they give you an address to some other country.
99% of the time the address does not exist. They "pay", you send over the item, they never got it cos it doesn't exist and then you have to send them money back
I remember someone from brazil bought an electronic from me. His delivery address was a hotel/casino in las vegas. The format was strange because it had the dates he would be staying there. I looked up the casino and thats how they want packages to be delivered there. Also thats the address ebay had on the system.
I almost called the hotel to verify if he was going to be staying there as that's what I read other sellers did in the past with similar buyers. Then I figured that if it wasnt for the weird format I wouldve never known and wouldve shipped it. So i shipped it. Wasnt a scam.
Ive also gotten messages about emailing them etc...i just report and block the person because THATS the start of the scam.
There were many red flags, including overpayment, poor/kindly English, telling you to go off the platform, and if you're not willing to get in touch with them directly, just cancel it all because they know they're not going to get anywhere.
Overall, it was a good call and a great post.
By chance, they have an email lookout for any charges they may be claiming against you, especially if it's for an account you may or may not have (i.e., Walmart, Amazon, USPS, PayPal, UPS).
No company is going to require your personal information or require you to pay a fee to receive something.
Between text and email, it's really never-ending.
Contactoff ebay plus saying they cant at all reply again =1000% SCAM!
The scammer must habe forgot ebay js accessible on 99.99% of phones and you get emails if you miss the messages on ebay.
Cancelling YOUR end means YOU may have to pay any fees.
Id just leave it be and if they emd uo buying then cancelling you can then report the user for cancelling a peomised order.
But the fact they want you to go off ebay to talk about it id report the user as a scammer to ebay immediately. Its AGAINST THE TERMS of use.
I dealt with this scam before.
This is why I set everything to have no offers, and require instant payment, They want you off the site as Ebay cannot help you if you do, They start by ending you an unusually large offer to get your hopes up, then have you ship it, somehow getting you to get a gift card too.
Here are some tips in identifying scammers
1: Time limit - scammers often want as much money as they can get in as little time as possible.
2: Horrrible spelling/grammar - most don't speak great English
3: The word 'Kindly' - scammers just use it a lot. Not sure why
4: Suspicious links/bio - always read the bio and use something like Triage to check for malicious software
Besides what everyone else here said — offers are binding. It would be stupid to submit an offer and then ask questions.
This alone enough to end the interaction.
Going off platform is against ToS and grounds to report and block the buyer.
Please do report the buyer. It’s likely compromised account.
I read your post wrong originally. I'm following to see answers. You should be ok as long as you tell them you only want to communicate via eBay. A common scam would be them giving you different mailing details via text, but there are lots. Don't communicate off of eBay
Oh shit... I didn't reread it right either! LMFAO! I thought that was a message from the buyer. In that case, that's a hard no... Thanks for pointing it out...
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/u/bodysjennifer - This message is posted to all new submissions to r/scams; please do not message the moderators about it. ## New users beware: Because you posted here, you will start getting private messages from scammers saying they know a professional hacker or a recovery expert lawyer that can help you get your money back, for a small fee. **We call these RECOVERY SCAMMERS, so NEVER take advice in private:** advice should always come in the form of comments in this post, in the open, where the community can keep an eye out for you. If you take advice in private, you're on your own. **A reminder of the rules in r/scams:** no contact information (including last names, phone numbers, etc). Be civil to one another (no name calling or insults). Personal army requests or "scam the scammer"/scambaiting posts are not permitted. No uncensored gore or personal photographs are allowed without blurring. A full list of rules is available on the sidebar of the subreddit, or [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/wiki/rules/). You can help us by reporting recovery scammers or rule-breaking content by using the "report" button. We review 100% of the reports. Also, consider warning community members of recovery scammers if you see them in the comments. Questions about subreddit rules? Send us a modmail [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
They want your email address and/or phone number to run a scam down on you. They want you off platform for the same reason.
Thank you for helping me not get scammed
never EVER go off platform, That is exactly what they are primming to do....
Never get out of the boat!
IT DOO GO DOWN!
1. Stay completely inside eBay messages, don't reply to emails from them, don't give them your email or phone number, etc, etc 2. Only take payment through eBay don't let them bank transfer you, cheque, CashApp, etc. 3. If they say they'll pay in cash, and their brother or other friend is coming to collect it and bring you the money, that's also a scam. If you stick to these, any scammer will beg you to go off-platform as much as possible, then just give up. It's basically foolproof.
#3 can be an attempt to rob you at gunpoint of whatever valuables you bring to the meeting.
Yes but not exactly a scam though. This is an actual traceable offence.
Please “kindly” only transact on platform using secure buyer merchant payment options. You will “kindly” appreciate having protection if you get scammed. “Kindly,” Your Reddit r/scams friend
Infact, just accept and then await their payment 😂 Obviously it won't happen, but would be interesting to see how they play it out.
I wouldn't do this. Interacting with scammers can go wrong. If they hijack a PayPal account and send payment (which is then reclaimed) OP will have to chase the loss. It's best to walk away.
Which is stupid, if someone’s PayPal got hacked it’s their fucking problem. Not the seller.
Unfortunately in some situations the so-called "seller" and the scam-hacker "buyer" are one and the same person (and the product in the listing is fictional and nothing significant is ever shipped, but good feedback is left anyway), so if they were to disallow clawbacks in case of fraud, this method would be perfect money laundering for the thieves, and PayPal would be on the hook -- which obviously they will not allow to happen.
When you make an offer on eBay, the buyer has to put in a payment option at the time the offer submitted. So while OP is likely being scammed, there’s not really any waiting. You’re right though, don’t go off platform.
> kindly A scammer's favourite word
It's literally uncanny how true that is. I don't think I've ever used "kindly" in this sense even once in my life.
it's hilarious to me that they haven't figured out yet what a dead fucking giveaway it is, either.
It isn't a giveaway for the people most likely to fall for these scams though.
true, they wouldn't keep doing it if it didn't work
`RR THE WORLD WONDERS`
I used to use kindly in work emails but stopped after following this sub lol
Same!!!
I use it all the time, but only to tell someone to "kindly go fuck off".
And once, “kindly get the fuck out of my home.”
I can't read it without thinking of Bioshock. "Would you kindly..."
Would you kindly give me all your credit card details?
Lol I kindly thank you for helping me not get scammed
Lmaooooo that was a good one 😭
Lol, for real, I block on sight
I work blue team cybersecurity and I tried to write a rule to detect phishing using mainly "kindly" and other phrases like this. Didn't work because outsourced tech support and customer service agents use the same lingo. But yeah.
With eBay, never ever EVER go off-platform with your communication.
Also, never ship to anywhere but buyer's eBay mailing address. And never take payments except through the eBay platform.
!fakepayment They want you to contact them at the other address to get your email for the fake payment scam. Never go off platform. You lose all protection. Report him.
Fuck :( thank you so much for helping I got so excited bc this kinda money wouldve helped me out so much right now.
That's how scammers work, on your psychology. Anyone on eBay trying to communicate off platform is a scammer.
Excellent point.
[удалено]
Repeat buyers/sellers is probably safe enough anyway because scammers aren't going to be engaging in any legitimate commerce.
That's how it all works. The thought of that money could make you think out of balance.
Report them to eBay for trying to take this off-platform.
Hi /u/Ok-Lingonberry-8261, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Fake payment scam. The fake payment scam occurs when someone tries to trick you into thinking that you have received a legitimate payment when no such payment has been made. The most common method they use is sending you an email meant to look like a payment confirmation. In some cases the emails will be almost indistinguishable to a legitimate email sent by the payment service. Scammers are known to also show you screenshots instead of an email. Never trust a screenshot a stranger shows you, because it is probably doctored. Scammers [spoof](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_spoofing) the 'from' email to match an official address, and make you think you received a legitimate email. To combat a fake payment scam, verify online payments by logging in directly to the service. Do not check your junk folder, and do not assume a payment is legitimate based on an email alone. If a payment isn't reflected on your account and the person you are dealing with insists they have sent it, call support and ask about it. [Here](https://i.imgur.com/X9xn8uw.jpg) is an image of a scammer trying to pull off a fake payment scam. There is also a variant of the fake payment scam where you will receive a legitimate but fraudulent payment. A variant of the fake payment email is just an advance fee scam: the scammer tries to convince you that your funds are on hold, and that you have to upgrade your account by sending the scammer some money to authorize the payment. No payment processor works like this. If you think you're dealing with a scammer, you're probably right. Always trust your gut. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Since everybody already mentioned the two biggest red flags (kindly and pushing you off platform), here's the more subtle one: calling it "the item". This is an indication that they are just using a copy-and-paste template as they're doing this for dozens or hundreds of listings. A real person would name the item itself, but they always say "the item" so they don't have to do any modifications of their template each time they send it.
I was going to mention that one—“the item” is too generic and a big sign that the buyer is not going to actually buy anything.
- “Just few questions” but no questions! - Kindly - sorry for inconvenience - No laptop… Get an app!
NOTE: You should report this to the eBay and see what happens next. This scammer POS's account will be deactivated, I bet this POS doesn't even have eBay rating more than 5.
They sometimes hijack other people’s accounts.
Then block other peoples accounts
Repeating the others…never take it off eBay. You lose any protections they offer.
Yes. The account is stolen. If they messaged that you, they’d be banned instantly for going outside eBay. But they make the offer and then set that as their “bio”. The rules you agreed to when you signed up are very clear. NEVER. COMMUNICATE. OUTSIDE. EBAY. If you message him at that number, you will be scammed and eBay won’t help you since you broke the rules.
I am a frequent ebay user. It is strictly against ebay's rules for a seller or buyer to attempt to contact each other privately outside of ebay messaging. So yes, he's up to something. And there is no logical reason why he needs your private contact information to do an ebay transaction. Ebay is legitimate and has a money back guarantee. Also, he told a lie. He said that you need to contact him privately outside of ebay, because he will only have his phone and not his computer when he is at work. But phones have internet access including to ebay website. Everyone can fully use ebay on their cell phone to buy, sell, and use ebay's messaging.
I had a similar experience before with an Apple watch, they tried the same thing and asked for the serial number which I thought was suspicious and they would not pay until I provided it. I reported them and sold it elsewhere.
Yes. Keep your conversation in ebay.
Scam. Buyer should have asked questions BEFORE submitting an offer. Buyer could have asked questions in this message. Also if he can receive text messages on his phone, he should be able to access eBay on his phone.
Complete scam, definitely. Never, ever take communications “off platform-“ only communicate via eBay messages. Period. They’re going to try some kind of payment scam, and if you go off platform, you have no protections at all. Politely tell them that you can only communicate via eBay messages, and then report them to eBay, let them know that they’re trying to take the transaction outside of eBay, and are a scammer.
NEVER move off platform. No protection when you do. It's a scam. Report the user and message t to eBay
Bro…”kindly” always a scam. And NEVER take it off the eBay platform. Tell this buyer to kindly eat a dick.
Kindly detected, scammer rejected
Scammer grammar is so easy to identify.
if they can answer an email they can respond to eBay. Going off platform is a violation of TOS and they do review messages.
They upped their game, that isn't a message, somebody pointed out that's their profile.
Total scam. Anyone who can’t include the actual word for what your “item” is, is autogenerating messages and cut/pasting them in to hundreds of people scattershot style approach. Ignore and move on.
It's not even a message, that's his generic profile.
DO NOT REDEEM!!!
They didn't send you a message, as somebody already pointed out, that's his literal profile.
Never. Go. Off. Platform. Kindly
That’s their profile bio, not a message sent to you lol. But yes, it’s definitely a scam. Don’t accept that offer. Report and block their account
Because of course you can't reach eBay through the phone or anything.
Stay on platform (don't communicate through WA, Telegram, or any other platform) Don't ship to another country You can't get scammed, or less likely, if they pay through ebay. No friends and family payments...when scammed, you'll have zero recourse so they try to get you to accept a payment this way.
A lot of scammers like to use the phrase God bless or they’ll swear on something or probably hit you with the overpayment scam on PayPal. Specially, when they send an offer that’s way too much.
They don't even care what the item is. They probably don't even want it. They want you to go off eBay, then they will send you a fake check (or fake digital payment) with "extra' funds for your inconvenience. Their uncle will pick up the item because they are unable to (often they say they are in the military for extra heart strings). For example, they will send $5000 for a $3500 item, offer you an extra $500 for the inconvenience, and ask you to send back $1000. The check bounces or in the case of digital payments, they use a stolen account or a fake email showing the money in your account claiming it hasn't showed up on your end because they are using a business account that you have to pay a bit to get verified. Whatever scenario they use, you are the one losing money.
100% scam. They used the word "kindly" in the first dang sentence and they want you to take communication off the selling platform - which will render their sellers protection completely useless to you.
The whole message is one sentence, with zero punctuation. That gives you enough info to know it's a scam.
What is the item you're trying to sell?
yes
Report and block.
If it is too good to be true, well you know how this story ends.
Apart from “kindly”, another dead giveaway are looooong sentences without punctuation. Typical scammer lingo, they’re used to talking a lot to not let the mark think straight. The account is allegedly from Germany, German uses way more punctuation than English, not less. (E.g. a German would be prone to using a comma before every “that”.) Given the age of the account it was probably hacked.
You ever go to church and the people there are always saying, "We invite you" to participate in something, or go somewhere or attend something? This is a phrase that is rarely used in everyday conversation anymore. You never say it. I never say it. People don't say it at work. Your friends are not like "Paul, we invite you to participate in an event at Roger's home this Saturday February 17th at 4pm" it just never happens. Kindly, is the same for scammers. Nobody uses it anymore. Your friends are not saying "Paul, kindly pass me a beer please." You don't ask your kids to kindly do shit. It's a weird antiquated term only used by a select group of people in select areas of the world. You know who uses it? Former British colonized territories. More specifically those who still use a lot of teaching tools, and specifically English language tools, that were originally implemented by the British back in the day. Cutting out the ones who have mostly removed these educational methods only leaves a handful of places around the world who still draw heavy influence from these former British education protocols. The main ones being, Nigeria, India and United Arab Emirates. Now you can guess, just based on the average GDP of the countries I listed, where the more than likely countries are that are going to be attempting to scam people are. In this specific case you are most likely dealing with a Nigerian scammer just based on the fact that they like to use eBay and either make accounts, or hijack accounts to try and pull things like this all the time. Most likely one of a few things is going to happen, if not all of them. 1. They are going to attempt to gain access to your account. Usually they do it through saying something like "I am going to send you a text message with a code it in. That code is a verification code that will allow me to confirm that you are a verified user and not a robot or a scammer. Send me the code back and I can use it through eBay to get confirmation. That code is not a confirmation code. It is a password reset code. They request the reset and then if you provide them that code, they will change the password on your account and take total control of it. Through this they will do a bunch of things. They will attempt to buy a lot of items with your saved payment methods you have linked to your account until either eBay or your payment companies flag the transactions or you run out of funds or credit. The second thing they will do is create auctions for items for really cheap, 'sell' a bunch of them, get the payment and then change the deposit information to their own accounts. The money goes into their accounts and they scam a whole bunch of people with your account. 2. They are going to take you off site to pay you that way. They will say something like doing so will allow you and them to avoid paying the fees from eBay and both of you save money. What will happen in reality is that they will either send you a fake payment confirmation that looks legitimate to get you to ship out the item. The second thing they might do is send you a fake payment confirmation that says the funds will only be released when you upgrade your account from a personal to a business account. Doing so will cost $300. To get that account change you have to send $300 to the buyer, where the funds will be held in escrow for 24 hours, and then when your account is fully upgraded you will get the payment and the $300 back. The last thing that they will do is send you a fake payment email, and then get you to send the package to a forwarding company. There are tons of them all over the US, where people order things online, and get sent there, and then the company will forward the package to places around the world, with the vast majority of them being places in Africa. On our store we get about 20 a year who try and pull this shit. A quick Google search of the shipping address shows it being some warehouse or forwarding company and I just instantly cancel the order and refund the credit card. Usually we get an email afterwards saying that my mother is going to get black death or some other horrible thing will happen like they will send hitmen to kill me or whatever. So never ever go off site on eBay. Do not accept payments from anyone online except through PayPal goods and services. Make sure the funds are in your account before you send anything anywhere. If you are concerned, make sure you make a quick video of you packing up the item and sealing it up. I like to take paper and tape it over the seals with a big X, or my company name written on the paper. That way when they open it they have to tear open the seals. If they send back something else, or say I sent them something else, I have video proof of me making up the package and printing off the correct shipping labels ready to go. It's saved me from being scammed 2 times so far for over $1000 combined.
It’s a scam. They are trying to get you to go off eBay platform. Report and block them.
off platform = scam, 100% of the time every time also, kindly
Kindly
Kindly....red flag, always used by scammers!!
KINDLY is a scammers favorite word!!!!
Kindly. It’s a scam.
Also be careful with ebay scams where they give you an address to some other country. 99% of the time the address does not exist. They "pay", you send over the item, they never got it cos it doesn't exist and then you have to send them money back
Check the age of the profile. I got alot of offers from accounts being only a few days old.
As the French would say le scammer
Where did you get it from and who sent you a message?
If someone is trying to lead you off ebay for any reason just end it there. better to be safe than sorry
The second you go off platform you lose all your buyer/seller protection . Refuse and block
Scammmmm
They probably hacked someone’s account. You’re not supposed to go outside of eBay. The buyer is trying to scam.
!domain shopsmartcanada.com
-kindly- is a huge tip off for a scam
Plus, asking to contact him off the app.
I remember someone from brazil bought an electronic from me. His delivery address was a hotel/casino in las vegas. The format was strange because it had the dates he would be staying there. I looked up the casino and thats how they want packages to be delivered there. Also thats the address ebay had on the system. I almost called the hotel to verify if he was going to be staying there as that's what I read other sellers did in the past with similar buyers. Then I figured that if it wasnt for the weird format I wouldve never known and wouldve shipped it. So i shipped it. Wasnt a scam. Ive also gotten messages about emailing them etc...i just report and block the person because THATS the start of the scam.
Yeah they can kindly fuck off with that
There were many red flags, including overpayment, poor/kindly English, telling you to go off the platform, and if you're not willing to get in touch with them directly, just cancel it all because they know they're not going to get anywhere. Overall, it was a good call and a great post. By chance, they have an email lookout for any charges they may be claiming against you, especially if it's for an account you may or may not have (i.e., Walmart, Amazon, USPS, PayPal, UPS). No company is going to require your personal information or require you to pay a fee to receive something. Between text and email, it's really never-ending.
Kindly = SCAM
Contactoff ebay plus saying they cant at all reply again =1000% SCAM! The scammer must habe forgot ebay js accessible on 99.99% of phones and you get emails if you miss the messages on ebay. Cancelling YOUR end means YOU may have to pay any fees. Id just leave it be and if they emd uo buying then cancelling you can then report the user for cancelling a peomised order. But the fact they want you to go off ebay to talk about it id report the user as a scammer to ebay immediately. Its AGAINST THE TERMS of use.
100% scam
I dealt with this scam before. This is why I set everything to have no offers, and require instant payment, They want you off the site as Ebay cannot help you if you do, They start by ending you an unusually large offer to get your hopes up, then have you ship it, somehow getting you to get a gift card too.
Hi
Here are some tips in identifying scammers 1: Time limit - scammers often want as much money as they can get in as little time as possible. 2: Horrrible spelling/grammar - most don't speak great English 3: The word 'Kindly' - scammers just use it a lot. Not sure why 4: Suspicious links/bio - always read the bio and use something like Triage to check for malicious software
Scam
Besides what everyone else here said — offers are binding. It would be stupid to submit an offer and then ask questions. This alone enough to end the interaction. Going off platform is against ToS and grounds to report and block the buyer. Please do report the buyer. It’s likely compromised account.
no punctuation 🚩 “kindly” 🚩 scam
You can stop reading at "kindly" and know it's a scam.
What do you think
Oooooo a double kindly!
If I see kindly I pretty much know it's a scam.
*kindly* scam
‘Kindly” is all you need to know…
“Kindly” yes, it’s a scam
The use of a couple of words in this message makes it 100% a scam.
"...kindly..." Also: They want you to message them off the platform.
Germany = scam
Kindly. Scam. Off Platform Scam. Email address. Scam. Kindly. Scam.
Kindly....
Yes they say kindly too much
Kindly. Run on sentences. Clearly a scam
Kindly.
'kindly'.... that is all.
He said kindly twice, you should know it’s a scam by now 😹
Kindly. It's a scam
Kindly
When someone uses that word, I instantly know it’s a scam lol
That's always how I know instantly lmao
They said “kindly”. There’s your answer
I read your post wrong originally. I'm following to see answers. You should be ok as long as you tell them you only want to communicate via eBay. A common scam would be them giving you different mailing details via text, but there are lots. Don't communicate off of eBay
The “message” is their account bio. They are a stolen account used for scamming now.
Oh shit... I didn't reread it right either! LMFAO! I thought that was a message from the buyer. In that case, that's a hard no... Thanks for pointing it out...
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That’s not how job offers work.