Could that be a scam? Advice needed.

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telenous

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Hello friends,

I need your lights on a very recent auction of mine on you know where that took place last Sunday. In short, I auctioned a back-up Nikon FM3A I have and the winning bidder is apparently a newcomer (has received one feedback - but that's for a rather expensive Zeiss Ikonta lens from a seller with a stellar nine hundred plus 100% positive feedback).

Until today (three days later) the buyer had not made payment so I contacted with a so-called 'friendly reminder'. Sooner afterwards he came back saying that he didn't want to pay via Paypal (my description made clear that I only accept Paypal, but never mind that) but rather via Western Union (for which he wanted my address, telephone and email address). I replied, courteously, that I could accept a cheque to the value of the highest bid or cash both in registered mail; but that Western Union, or Escrow for that matter, were out of the question since so many scams are based on them, and are to be avoided like the plague anyway.

He hasn't replied yet. I guess what worried me was the request to pay via Western Union and that the email address was from Qatar while the sender said that he wanted the camera to be sent in a UK address.

Does any of you see something suspicious on this? I know you can scam someone by asking payment via Western Union but can you scam someone by sending (or alleging to have sent) payment by Western Union?

I will appreciate greatly any thoughts on this.
 
Right. I 've just received an email from him and he refuses to make payment either by cheque (says he doesn't have a UK account) or cash (will not be accepted by courier firms). He urges me to accept Western Union or make a bank to bank transfer and after I receive the money I can send the camera (either to the UK address or Qatar). Apparently I have to let him know by tonight (Friday and Saturday are not working days).
 
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I have received 1 payment from Western Union for all my dealing on the "bay during the last 7 years. Here in the USA, you go to your nearest WU office, give them your name, address and Identification card and they either give you a check or cash your check on the spot. BTW the one transaction I mention was from a buyer in Pakistan!
I don't see anything fishy as long as he pays before you ship and make sure he is not overpaying and wants some money back!
If he is really in Qatar, it would be a difficult process to have a check in Pounds Sterling(I think).
But be aware that if you receive a WU payment, you will not be eligible for the 'bay's buyer protection!
Hope this helps,
Kiu
 
Kiu and Stephen,

thanks loads for your answers. I will go ahead asking for WU payment - the exact amount - and I will despatch only with the money safely in my pocket. What could go wrong (famous last words?)?
 
Could that be a scam? Advice needed

Could that be a scam? Advice needed

As already mentioned do not send anything until you have the cash in your hands and for extra protection, get your shipment insured for full value and save your documents and correspondence...

Above all, do not send him any of your bank information and, if you already did, talk to your bank quickly...

Qatar is a very rich Arab country with funds in every major currency...This could be either a real deal or a scam but if you insure your shipment and get the cash in hand, that seems to me to be a safe procedure...
 
While this situation does set off some alarms I really can't see any way you can get scammed. Let us know what happens, I am curious.
 
telenous said:
Kiu and Stephen,

thanks loads for your answers. I will go ahead asking for WU payment - the exact amount - and I will despatch only with the money safely in my pocket. What could go wrong (famous last words?)?
Click to expand...

If it's a scam (which it probably is) you will recieve an email that looks like it came from WU telling you that you need to ship via registered mail and send them the shipping info and then they will release to money to you.
No matter how it looks like a WU email it isn't so don't ship till you have the money in hand. Also DO NOT send any bank info such as routing, account, pin, etc numbers..otherwise you will wake up tomorrow broke... 😱
 
Thanks very much for your replies lads. I 've been doing some reading the last couple of hours on Western Union related scams and I am beginning to have an uneasy feeling about this. Perhaps I 'd do better to call the whole thing off, and even if I go ahead, I will not be despatching until I see the colour of money.

I 'll update the thread accordingly but please do post if you have any further thoughts on the matter. Many, many thanks again.
 
telenous said:
Thanks very much for your replies lads. I 've been doing some reading the last couple of hours on Western Union related scams and I am beginning to have an uneasy feeling about this. Perhaps I 'd do better to call the whole thing off, and even if I go ahead, I will not be despatching until I see the colour of money.

I 'll update the thread accordingly but please do post if you have any further thoughts on the matter. Many, many thanks again.
Click to expand...

One thing you might want to look into when you post your next auction is a new set of tools ebay offers while listing the auction.
Under Payment & shipping look for buyer requirements. One of the options lets you block bidders who don't have a paypal account. This way people like this can't bid otherwise they get a message saying they are not allowed to bid because they don't have a paypal account..
 
I have actually sold items on a few occasions to buyers in Qatar and it has always been through Western Union.

I got a notification in the mail from the people and I took it to a Western Union office in a grocery store - I had to show an ID and sign off, but they gave me the cash and that was it.
 
telenous said:
Hello friends,

I need your lights on a very recent auction of mine on you know where that took place last Sunday. In short, I auctioned a back-up Nikon FM3A I have and the winning bidder is apparently a newcomer (has received one feedback - but that's for a rather expensive Zeiss Ikonta lens from a seller with a stellar nine hundred plus 100% positive feedback).

Until today (three days later) the buyer had not made payment so I contacted with a so-called 'friendly reminder'. Sooner afterwards he came back saying that he didn't want to pay via Paypal (my description made clear that I only accept Paypal, but never mind that) but rather via Western Union (for which he wanted my address, telephone and email address). I replied, courteously, that I could accept a cheque to the value of the highest bid or cash both in registered mail; but that Western Union, or Escrow for that matter, were out of the question since so many scams are based on them, and are to be avoided like the plague anyway.

He hasn't replied yet. I guess what worried me was the request to pay via Western Union and that the email address was from Qatar while the sender said that he wanted the camera to be sent in a UK address.

Does any of you see something suspicious on this? I know you can scam someone by asking payment via Western Union but can you scam someone by sending (or alleging to have sent) payment by Western Union?

I will appreciate greatly any thoughts on this.
Click to expand...


Walk away from this one. You can easily sell an FM3A any day.

Bob
 
telenous said:
Hello friends,

I need your lights on a very recent auction of mine on you know where that took place last Sunday. In short, I auctioned a back-up Nikon FM3A I have and the winning bidder is apparently a newcomer (has received one feedback - but that's for a rather expensive Zeiss Ikonta lens from a seller with a stellar nine hundred plus 100% positive feedback).

Until today (three days later) the buyer had not made payment so I contacted with a so-called 'friendly reminder'. Sooner afterwards he came back saying that he didn't want to pay via Paypal (my description made clear that I only accept Paypal, but never mind that) but rather via Western Union (for which he wanted my address, telephone and email address). I replied, courteously, that I could accept a cheque to the value of the highest bid or cash both in registered mail; but that Western Union, or Escrow for that matter, were out of the question since so many scams are based on them, and are to be avoided like the plague anyway.

He hasn't replied yet. I guess what worried me was the request to pay via Western Union and that the email address was from Qatar while the sender said that he wanted the camera to be sent in a UK address.

Does any of you see something suspicious on this? I know you can scam someone by asking payment via Western Union but can you scam someone by sending (or alleging to have sent) payment by Western Union?

I will appreciate greatly any thoughts on this.
Click to expand...
You are probably OK. Western Union will give you CASH my friend! He is the one taking a risk, not you. I've taken occasional payments for ebay items over Western Union -- no problem. eBay likes to dis these remittance payment schemes since they don't make money off them like PayPal.

Qatar is a developed and rich country incidentally (and a US ally even). Buyers do this because PayPal is not operational in many countries and some people don't use credit cards, etc. Remittance transfers are just a normal tool for payment in much of the world.

Just do not ever give strangers your bank account info for a wire transfer. Gangsters ask for this to transfer your money *out*, not in 🙂
 
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Thanks again for all the input.

At the end of the day it was a judgement call. I sent an email and said that Western Union is not acceptable.

To be fair, the buyer showed in our communication a level of articulacy that far exceeded the familiar samples of writing of various scammers. In addition to that, Western Union does seem safe from my end of the deal. And yet I did have this queasy feeling, perhaps because he only contacted me with all these requests only after I sent the 'friendly reminder', perhaps because he was based in Qatar but wanted the item to be sent in the UK, and most of all because he didn't respect the instructions on my item description, that I wish payment to be made through Paypal only.

Whether an honest buyer or not, he did nothing to make me feel safe as a seller in this transaction. And so I had to take the risk averse option.

Well, anyone for a Nikon FM3A?😉
 
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I think that you made the right call Telenous. I probably would have done the same in your shoes. Good luck with your sale. I'm sure the FM3A will move quickly.
 
telenous said:
Whether an honest buyer or not, he did nothing to make me feel safe as a seller in this transaction. And so I had to take the risk averse option.
Click to expand...

This is precisely the reason I hate Ebay.

You don't get to pick who you sleep with 😉

good luck, I hope he doesn't leave a retaliatory neg, fingers crossed.
 
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