Two highly questionable M9-P "auctions"

[Keith]

This scam has been going on for many years. I was first made aware of it when the scammers stole pictures from one of my auctions. They have no product to sell, they steel images from other auctions, and then they make the instructions to bypass eBay as a jpg, instead of entering in the text fields of the auction. See below:

By making the instructions a jpg, instead of entering the text in an eBay text field, it doesn't raise red flags with eBay's scam software.

And if you look, the scammers have hijacked that user's account, which is common. They find an account that has been dormant for a while, hack it, steal photos of high dollar items, create a bunch of auctions with that jpg above attached, and even if they only get one or two responses from the hundreds of auctions they list on each hijacked account, they are still making big cash.

Best,
-Tim

My account got hacked about a week ago ... and it has been dormant for a while. I got a notice from eBay letting me know it had happened and that they had changed my password and de linked my paypal details. 🙁

 

[peterm1]

It is more than "questionable", it screams crooked.

Odd things do happen though. The other day I noticed an early Leica Nokton f1.0 on sale on eBay. It had no reserve and no bids and there was only a few hours left. So I figured "nothing ventured, nothing gained" and dropped in a bid for something under a hundred bucks or something like that without any expectations of (a) getting it or (b) the deal being honored if I was the winning bidder - I thought if honest he would just refund me. The seller certainly did look absolutely honest - a long time seller, a store, the seller having a lot of positive feedback (although there is always the possibility of the account being hacked and hijacked). The slightly odd thing was that the ad said the seller was away for a month and that any purchase may be delayed. This set some alarm bells ringing.

Shortly after me bidding, the item was withdrawn. So clearly someone was monitoring the eBay store even though the owner was away, and most likely realized someone had screwed up by failing to put in a reserve price. I certainly had no hard feelings and in fact am a bit relieved he did as I did not really wish to screw someone over.

But for a time I was scratching my head wondering what the scam was other than the obvious - that the guy could take the proceeds of my small bid and disappear. But I was willing to take the risk. As it happens it just seemed to be a foul up. But I would not say the same thing for the situation in this thread.

 

[maddoc]

My account got hacked about a week ago ... and it has been dormant for a while. I got a notice from eBay letting me know it had happened and that they had changed my password and de linked my paypal details. 🙁

Why does it seem so easy to hack eBay accounts? 😕

 

[papaki]

It is not easy. Sometimes attacks happen and when not sure about how far things got, it is better to notify the users just in case. Better save than sorry.

 

[Dan]

well dressed, civil ..white wine drinking executives

We know this is a description of just another set of criminals who have better 'cover'.

 

[valdas]

I would describe the group, other than the booing, as very well dressed, civil ..white wine drinking executives.

What? I am shocked! White wine???

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...e-fans-shy-ros-drinkers-Facebook-addicts.html

 

[PKR]

What? I am shocked! White wine???

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...e-fans-shy-ros-drinkers-Facebook-addicts.html

Catered by an expensive group. Red wine spills will soil the Gucci / Armani clothing.. I'm around these folks a lot. It seems the big executives, heads of divisions, are the nicest and most polite. Anyone in upper management is usually distasteful, regardless of gender. They will cut each others throats for a step up.

 

[valdas]

Catered by an expensive group. Red wine spills will soil the Gucci / Armani clothing.. I'm around these folks a lot. It seems the big executives, heads of divisions, are the nicest and most polite. Anyone in upper management is usually distasteful, regardless of gender. They will cut each others throats for a step up.

I was just kidding... I trust your judgement and agree that nobody has the monopoly of bad taste.

 

[Rob-F]

It is more than "questionable", it screams crooked.

I know, but I didn't want to say "crooked." Calibrating my words Obama-style, I decided on "highly questionable," stronger than merely "questionable." 😀

 

[Timmyjoe]

My account got hacked about a week ago ... and it has been dormant for a while. I got a notice from eBay letting me know it had happened and that they had changed my password and de linked my paypal details. 🙁

Yeah, it's scary. eBay really has lax security.

Best,
-Tim

 

[PKR]

It's interesting that this thread came up. I want to buy a couple of Nikon N80s and they are cheap on EBay ..$30-40ea. I searched Craig's list and local or loco people are asking $250-350 for them. A bit out of touch. The expensive CR123 batteries make the camera undesirable for many people. The aux AA battery pack makes this light camera big and heavier. So, maybe I'll venture into eBay scam hell for a $40 camera?

Would someone take the time to scam for $40?

 

[Timmyjoe]

Probably not. No money to be made with $40 auctions. If you look at the scammers, they're listing all high dollar items.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Corran]

So, maybe I'll venture into eBay scam hell for a $40 camera?

Probably 0.001% of auctions on eBay are "scams," and most probably fail. Of course you can buy as many cheap SLRs as your heart desires on eBay in an afternoon with BIN purchases. If you receive a defective camera (not a scam, just someone who has no idea how to test a camera - much more common!), you can do a return instantaneously and as has been said, the seller can pretty much do nothing about it.

 

[PKR]

Probably 0.001% of auctions on eBay are "scams," and most probably fail. Of course you can buy as many cheap SLRs as your heart desires on eBay in an afternoon with BIN purchases. If you receive a defective camera (not a scam, just someone who has no idea how to test a camera - much more common!), you can do a return instantaneously and as has been said, the seller can pretty much do nothing about it.

Yeah, I understand. The biggest problem with this particular camera is that they go untested because of the expensive batteries. Lots in Japan but, expensive shipping to the states.

 

[jaapv]

It is more than "questionable", it screams crooked.

Odd things do happen though. The other day I noticed an early Leica Nokton f1.0 on sale on eBay. It had no reserve and no bids and there was only a few hours left. So I figured "nothing ventured, nothing gained" and dropped in a bid for something under a hundred bucks or something like that without any expectations of (a) getting it or (b) the deal being honored if I was the winning bidder - I thought if honest he would just refund me. The seller certainly did look absolutely honest - a long time seller, a store, the seller having a lot of positive feedback (although there is always the possibility of the account being hacked and hijacked). The slightly odd thing was that the ad said the seller was away for a month and that any purchase may be delayed. This set some alarm bells ringing.

Shortly after me bidding, the item was withdrawn. So clearly someone was monitoring the eBay store even though the owner was away, and most likely realized someone had screwed up by failing to put in a reserve price. I certainly had no hard feelings and in fact am a bit relieved he did as I did not really wish to screw someone over.

But for a time I was scratching my head wondering what the scam was other than the obvious - that the guy could take the proceeds of my small bid and disappear. But I was willing to take the risk. As it happens it just seemed to be a foul up. But I would not say the same thing for the situation in this thread.

A Leica Nokton? That is indeed a very rare lens, given that the total number of examples is zero...😛 😉

 

[PKR]

Another eBay scam
https://petapixel.com/2017/09/28/almost-lost-nikon-d850-scam-ebay/

 

[Corran]

Another eBay scam
https://petapixel.com/2017/09/28/almost-lost-nikon-d850-scam-ebay/

Pretty clever on the PayPal / eBay emails. I have seen spoofs before and they were pretty blatant. That one looks fairly real.

Any big-ticket items I sell on eBay I check in my PayPal account just to be sure that the money is there. Even if a "hold" had been initiated, as the email suggests, it would show up in the account info.

I wonder what the response from eBay would have been if he had indeed been duped and sent the camera.

I just last month made a sale on eBay of almost that amount, and so I was very careful to look at all emails and my accounts to check for authenticity.

 

[PKR]

A scam I remember, from my eBay days, was hatched by a computer liquidation co. They bought over stock or new hardware from failed startups. They built up about 300 sales with 100% positive feedback.

They announced, a buy of 1,000 new high end laptops they secured from the bankruptcy of a silicon valley co. They put these on EBay at $1000/ea plus shipping.

They said, that due to the quantity, their small staff and the demand, there would be a delay of a week or two in shipping. These sold out quickly, being new with warranty and about half the cost of the current retail. This was before PayPal or just as pp was being used a lot. So, $1000 x 1000 = 1M, and they vanished. No laptops were ever shipped. I read about it in my local paper. EBay would not comment, except saying they were looking into the sales. EBay stonewalled, using withdrawal of local ad placement with the papers and lack of other media interest.

 

[peterm1]

A Leica Nokton? That is indeed a very rare lens, given that the total number of examples is zero...😛 😉

Yes you are right. Noctilux would be the one. The old grey mare she ain't what she used to be!