Consumerist on elaborate eBay Scam

[martin s]

From Consumerist:

A fraudster cracked a high-value seller's account and posted a fake listing for a camera and tried to make Grace pay for it using Western Union, a huge warning sign of a scam. That's typical, but these criminals went the extra mile. "Above and beyond," if you will. When she tried to ask some questions about the transaction, they directed her to a live online chat that was mocked up to look like a real eBay customer service chat and tried to assuage her concerns by telling her it was okay to use Western Union because she had "buyer protection!" Here's her story and the chat transcript so you can learn and not get burned:

The article is here: http://consumerist.com/2010/04/ebay-scammers-evolve-use-live-chat-customer-service-reps.html

martin

 

[user237428934]

It's a little scaring how professional they do those scams in the meantime. And it's sad that people still don't know that western union is to avoid on ebay.

 

[oftheherd]

That is taking it up a level. If some of these folk would do honest work with the same enthusiasm, they could be richer than with their scams. Really a shame.

 

[user237428934]

That is taking it up a level. If some of these folk would do honest work with the same enthusiasm, they could be richer than with their scams. Really a shame.

Never thought about it this way, but you are right.

 

[dmr]

LOL! Biggest tell: "Everyone knows it's impossible to get a human with Ebay!" 🙂

 

[mark-b]

That experience is one reason I stopped going to Ebay. The other one was when an expensive item never got to my door, and they ruled in favor of the seller.