About Andrew Wee
Andrew Wee | Blogging | Affiliate Marketing | Social Traffic Generation | Internet Marketing

BizExcellerated Internet Marketing: Achieve mastery in blogging, affiliate marketing, social traffic generation at Andrew Wee

4/09/2007

eBay Nigeria Scam Exposed

It’s easy to focus on the $6 billion money train that is the eBay “digital marketplace” (or auction site in everyday language – “Internet Marketers, Are you on the eBay Money Train Yet?” But if you’re not careful, you could fall prey to scam artists.

With a worldwide audience, that set of Pez dispensers could evoke a fierce bidding war between collectors in Belgium and Thailand, and the tussle could boost your sale price quite substantially. But again, beware the sharks out there.

Last week, I put up a cell phone for auction on eBay and within 4 hours, a buyer took up the “Buy It Now” option, purchasing the phone at the price I specified. This certainly was a bright prospect for my eBay plans. What’s more I got a PayPal payment notification from the UK buyer, along with an email that read:

Hello,
I just sent the payment for the item. I also included
an estimated cost of shipping to Nigeria for my son
company. Please let me know when you get a
notification from ebay that Slong Girl sent you a
payment. Send me the tracking number via auspost as
soon as you ship the item. I am having difficulties
getting across to my son that manage her father
company over there. I gave his address to paypal for
verification and it has been confirmed so it should be
in the payment notification.
His correct mailing address again is:

Atolagbe Agbede
03 Ijaiye Road
Opp Mobil Filling Station
Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos
Nigeria 23401

Thanks and I hope to read from you as soon as possible
cos I want this to get to him at the shortest period
of time.
Slong,
girl

–

A UK buyer asking for a cell phone to be sent to Nigeria?

Plus the PayPal “payment notification” looked dubious. The payment amounts were all wrong and it came from “Services@Paypal.com” instead of the regular “service@paypal.com” (a hallmark of scam artists = poor spelling).

Even better, the email was sent from: “pp.notification.status@post.com” and “pp.notification1@gmail.com” – pretty poor email spoofing if you ask me.

-

As if these weren’t bad enough, the “bidder” had the audacity to send more fake email:

Dear andrew wee,

We hereby notify you of the transaction that was effected by Slong Girl for the

payment of the item(s) purchased from you on eBayand provide guidelines on how your funds

would be released.

A notification of this transaction on PayPal as been sent to you immediately the payment

was effected, and we are yet to read from you. Please be informed that the money has

been deducted from Slong Girl account and is pending on PayPal database.

This money will be released into your account as soon as the tracking number for the shipment

has been sent to us at pp.notification.status@mail.com for verification. You are adviced

to ship this item and send the tracking number you recieve from the post office to us at the

above email address.

We will send you an email as soon as the funds has been released into your account, until then

we wait for the tracking number for the shipment. Ship the Item to the address included in the

email used to you notify you of the payment for your item(s) ONLY!

Thank you using PayPal.

Chris Campbell

PP Email ID 936

This was sent from the same mail.com and gmail.com emails.

-

So the scam works in this way:

  • They do a bait and switch on you: A US or UK eBay buyer will request for the item to be sent to Nigeria.
  • They’ll mail you saying the payment is “held” pending shipment of the item and for you to send them the tracking number.
  • If you fall for this, you’ll ship the item.
  • They’ll disappear.

If you’re unsure, mail eBay’s customer service and get assistance.

Other telltale scam artist signs:

  • The account was created a few hours or a few days ago
  • Yours is the first item they have bought (they seem to like cell phones, PDAs and small electronic equipment they can presumably offload into the black market easily)

Checking the eBay site a day later, I found the person’s account had been suspended.

They are persistant though, here’s a followup email I received:

Hello,
I just sent the payment for the item. I also included
an estimated cost of shipping to Nigeria for my son
company. Please let me know when you get a
notification from ebay that Slong Girl sent you a
payment. Send me the tracking number via auspost as
soon as you ship the item. I am having difficulties
getting across to my son that manage her father
company over there. I gave his address to paypal for
verification and it has been confirmed so it should be
in the payment notification.
His correct mailing address again is:

Atolagbe Agbede
03 Ijaiye Road
Opp Mobil Filling Station
Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos
Nigeria 23401

Thanks and I hope to read from you as soon as possible
cos I want this to get to him at the shortest period
of time.
Slong,
girl

—

If you’re newer to eBay, do realize that the protocol is to receive payments BEFORE you ship items to the buyer.

PayPal provides some level of consumer protection for buyers, but you need to be savvy if you’re a seller.

-

Update: A buddy who is an eBay powerseller recommends listing items at the Bidz marketplace (which has some similarities to eBay – take note, it’s primarily focused on jewellery auctions).

If you’re interested in checking it out:

Related Posts

Zemanta
« Older Comments

982 comments on eBay Nigeria Scam Exposed

  1. jackpot mega 645 ket qua vietlott
    January 8, 2017 at 4:18 am (1115 days ago)

    Great beat ! I would like to apprentice at the same time as you amend your site, how could i subscribe for
    a weblog website? The account helped me a applicable deal.
    I have been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered vibrant transparent idea

  2. Craigslist Phone Verified account
    January 14, 2017 at 10:01 pm (1108 days ago)

    Really no matter if someone doesn’t understand
    then its up to other visitors that they will assist,
    so here it occurs.

  3. Pure Luminance Review
    February 25, 2017 at 6:05 am (1067 days ago)

    Rattling clean internet site, appreciate it for this post.

  4. hvem tilhører dette gratis mobilnummer
    March 7, 2017 at 5:48 pm (1056 days ago)

    I pay a quick visit everyday some blogs and information sites to read content, however
    this web site gives quality based posts.

  5. Werbeaktions-Gutscheine
    March 7, 2017 at 6:27 pm (1056 days ago)

    Good way of explaining, and pleasant article to obtain information regarding my presentation focus,
    which i am going to present in academy.

  6. Nitro Grit Supplement
    March 14, 2017 at 7:56 pm (1049 days ago)

    Good web site you have here.. It’s difficult to find excellent
    writing like yours these days. I honestly appreciate individuals like you!
    Take care!!

  7. quidoncgratuit
    April 9, 2017 at 4:42 am (1024 days ago)

    Hmm it appears like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything.
    Do you have any tips and hints for rookie blog writers?

    I’d really appreciate it.

  8. protector solar nivea 50
    April 29, 2017 at 4:30 pm (1003 days ago)

    Hi my fam?ly member! I wishh to s?y that this article is aw?som?, nice
    written and includee approximately all important infos.
    I’dlike to lo?k extra posts like this .

  9. vacuna perro
    May 3, 2017 at 7:01 pm (999 days ago)

    Realmente ilustrativo, lo cierto es que me has abierto a enseñarme al respecto.

    Muchas gracias.

  10. Clarevita Review
    May 19, 2017 at 4:10 am (984 days ago)

    Thank you so much for giving me personally an update on this theme on your website.
    Please realise that if a new post becomes available or in case any alterations occur on the current
    submission, I would want to consider reading more and finding
    out how to make good utilization of those methods you discuss.
    Thanks for your time and consideration of people by making your blog available.

  11. Bisou Cream
    May 24, 2017 at 12:01 pm (978 days ago)

    Hurrah! In the end I got a website from where I can genuinely take valuable facts regarding my study and
    knowledge.

  12. my nba 2k17 cheats
    July 6, 2017 at 6:19 pm (935 days ago)

    Hi there it’s me, I am also visiting this website regularly, this website is in fact nice and the people are truly sharing nice thoughts.

  13. buy ugly houses st louis
    July 16, 2017 at 2:36 am (926 days ago)

    Fairly rustic at the beginning, the houses bought nicer and nicer as time went on. Friends got here…and got here back…and introduced their mates.

  14. real estate agent salary ohio
    July 21, 2017 at 8:07 pm (920 days ago)

    My mom passed away in October 2009 My sister and
    I had been the the only beneficiaries of her estate.

  15. Pure Male Power Pills
    August 11, 2017 at 4:41 am (900 days ago)

    I like the helpful info you provide to your articles.
    I’ll bookmark your blog and take a look at again here regularly.
    I’m somewhat sure I’ll be told many new stuff right right here!
    Best of luck for the next!

  16. ctesnet
    September 1, 2017 at 9:07 pm (878 days ago)

    I do not know whether it’s just me or if everyone else experiencing
    issues with your website. It appears as if some of the written text on your content are running off the
    screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let
    me know if this is happening to them too? This might be
    a problem with my browser because I’ve had this happen before.
    Cheers

  17. stiker dinding
    September 1, 2017 at 10:51 pm (878 days ago)

    I don’t even know the way I stopped up here, however I thought this put up used to be good.

    I do not recognize who you’re but certainly you’re going to
    a famous blogger if you aren’t already. Cheers!

  18. domena testowa
    September 3, 2017 at 9:59 am (876 days ago)

    An intriguing discussion is worth comment. There’s no doubt that that you need to write more on this subject, it
    may not be a taboo subject but typically folks don’t speak about
    such topics. To the next! Best wishes!!

  19. signupbox
    September 3, 2017 at 10:42 pm (876 days ago)

    Thanks for a marvelous posting! I certainly enjoyed reading it,
    you will be a great author. I will make
    sure to bookmark your blog and may come back later on. I want to encourage that you continue your great writing,
    have a nice morning!

  20. pokemon rpg
    September 12, 2017 at 2:26 am (868 days ago)

    Hurrah! Finally I got a weblog from where I can truly take helpful facts
    concerning my study and knowledge.

  21. Name
    October 12, 2017 at 5:49 pm (837 days ago)

    It is a scam if the email from colony bank? The buyer use automobilen money transfer. I want to sell my to get money but he said he already made the payment. Then the money is pending bcs i need to pay to transport company first then the colony bank will release the money to my bank account.
    Should i trust him? Bcs he said like im gonna do something bad bcs i dont want to pay the transport company. He said the money tht he transfer has beeb deducted from his bank.
    What should i do guys? Help me please

  22. Rose
    October 12, 2017 at 10:45 pm (837 days ago)

    I have been give my bank infirmation to the scammer from USA, what should i do?

  23. C
    December 5, 2017 at 3:12 am (784 days ago)

    Fing Scammers. I just got an email today from someone who created an account this morning so they can buy our $700+ camera from ebay. That mofo got my phone number from Ebay and texted me directly. I thought he was a legit buyer and was working with him to ship the item AFTER he pays my PayPal account. This is the email I received:

    Hello Seller,
    It is my pleasure to inform you that I have carried out the payment via PayPal. I want it sent to my daughter who is living and working in West africa for her birthday gift.I would have asked you to post it to my eBay address in the[UNITED STATE].But I am presently on a business trip,here is the delivering address of my daughter.I did added the sum of 200 dollars for the shipping cost too i want you to send it to her for her birthday gift when you get to the post office use USPS Priority Mail post International service which the tracking number start from EH, EZ, CH,CW, so the item can get to her very fast okay nice doing business with you

    James Adewale
    14,Church Street
    Iju Road Agege
    Lagos State
    23401
    Nigeria

    I want you to ship the item Today to Lagos Nigeria via USPS Priority Mail post,EH, EZ, CH,CW first class SIGNED-FOR so that the item will get there ASAP,and Please get back to me ASAP with the shipping tracking number of the item shipped.NOTE: Please wrap the item carefully, write GIFT on the paper. Please don’t use any other postage service except USPS Priority Mail post International SERVICE DELIVERY.I’m very sorry for the inconvenience I may cause you Thanks

  24. Modern Imprint
    February 19, 2018 at 11:53 pm (707 days ago)

    ?ight now it sounds ?ike WordPress ?s t?e preferred blogging platform out there r?ght now.

    (f?om what ?’ve read) Is that what you’re us?ng on your blog?

  25. tutorial
    June 4, 2019 at 4:59 pm (237 days ago)

    Aw, this was an exceptionally good post. Spending some time and
    actual effort to produce a top notch article… but what can I say… I put
    things off a lot and never manage to get nearly
    anything done.

7 Pingbacks & Trackbacks on eBay Nigeria Scam Exposed

  3. Scam Warning | Mr Bunny Chow
    December 1, 2011 at 4:39 pm (2979 days ago)

    [...] Oh lookie here.  Someone else has mentioned the scam on the web. [...]

Leave a reply

© Copyrighted Andrew Wee | Blogging | Affiliate Marketing | Social Traffic Generation | Internet Marketing 2020.Powered by WordPress.