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:
- Bidz US and Canada
- Bidz Australia and New Zealand
- Bidz Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Chile, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Mexico)
- Bidz Spain
- Bidz Middle East (Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates)
HEY NICE PAGE
Omg, my heart is racing I just saw this right before i sent it out there. I will no longer be shipping to nigeria.. thanks google. BTW scam address is
Engr J Anthony
150 Oluyemi Avenue Ajaka Makun
Sagamu
Ogun State
121101
Nigeria
Tel :(234)-8076-614631
Engr J Anthony
150 Oluyemi Avenue Ajaka Makun
Sagamu
Ogun State
121101
Nigeria
Tel :(234)-8076-614631
WOW… F***ing Scamers
Thank you for this post. I would like you to know I have just been a victim of this scam, but since I read your post, it prevented me from mailing my $1,250 camera set up to the man in Nigeria. After reading your post I matched all the tell-tale signs to the scam artist and re-posted my camera back on eBay. Here is the e-mail he wrote me:
“Hello,
I just want to let you know that I have made the payment via Paypal and I’ve included sufficient funds for quick shipment to the paypal confirmed shipping address.I want it ship out today as I’m buying it as a birthday gift for my friend that was transferred to work abroad (Nigeria) last month, shipping via post office international sighn for shipment. Check your email very well for the payment confirmation slip from Paypal
Below is the shipping address once again:
Name: Afeez Lawal
Address: 10, Olanrewaju St,
Ilaje-Shomolu
Bariga
State: Lagos
Code: 100007
Country: Nigeria.
phone 07051134933
will be waiting to read from you soon with the shipment tracking number. Make sure you post it out via post office international sighn for shipment
ASAP
Regard…….”
What an idiot. I’m so glad I did not ship my item because I am new to eBay and I actually believed it for a second.
Here is what I wrote back to him before I re-listed my item on eBay:
“Your request and direct quote from PayPal: “The payment will remain pending until shipment tracking number is sent to our customer service department for verification before money is remitted into your account.” I must receive payments BEFORE I ship items to the buyer.
I know how your scam works and I will not sell or ship this item to you. So try to find someone else to scam. It looks like your “friend” will be having a shitty birthday, idiot. Goodbye.”
Yes, i experienced the exact situation! These scammers are everywhere! Ebay, Craigslist, and local ads. They asked you to ship the item to Nigeria or somewhere international. They started out by a corny story such as shipping to their good daughter/son or a friend. Why would a person who claim to live in US and asked for the item to ship out of country? A few years back the scammers used Western Union or Money Order, and now Paypal? LOLZ
I got scammed this week for my phone on eBay. and yes, it was a nigerian person. im so f**king pissed. this person did the exact same thing, ‘buy it now’ for a much larger price that would be put in my account after the shipment of my item. i did it. great. As if that wasnt enough, they messaged me saying that the NIgerian customs confiscated my item, and a sum of 200USD was need, they gave me a print screen of the receipt of my ‘funds’. that point i found out it was a scam. and now there is nothing, no way to get back my item. >< careful guys, this world is full of horrid people. Id hate to revert to racism, but i am so angry, Nigerians are the scum of the earth.
that seriously sucks
swuck my dick
Here’s the 2 emails i recieved less than 15 min’s after posting…
I didn’t reply to either of them!
You and Harry Smith
Harry Smith July 15 at 9:50am Report
How are you doing, I was just browsing through the Classified site (facebook) to see if i can get a very good and nice item for my best friend who has just been posted to West Africa on a training course on Environmental pollution.i want to know if this lovely item is still available for sales,get back to me if the item is still available for sale.I am willing to offer you $340.00 for the item,including shipping cost via USP Express Mail to west Africa,will be paying you through PayPal because it’s the safest way to pay online.Hope to hear from you reply me at(harrysmith@in.com)
thanks…………..
Hello Seller.
My name is morris Simeon,I am model.I am interested in buying you item for a friend who went on a seven month(7month)program in western Africa so as to ease is work and enhance communication.I am willing to offer $250.00USD if you are willing to sell this item to me.
Please note that the money i am given to you will cover shipping and handling to him in western Africa and i am willing to pay via PayPal.so please get back to me with your PayPal email address so that i can transfer the money into your account.You can contact me at morrissimeon125@yahoo.com
same thing.. a business partner birthday gift. the PayPal Transaction ID as 5TB46738R0457834N and soo many other similar things.
also address:
Salami Taofeek
No 5 nawairudeen road oke ijeun
Abeokuta
Ogun state
110001
Nigeria.
apparently he doesn’t have a PayPal account. so look like a spoof..
oh boy I finally get to play with a nigerian scammer – this is gonna be fun!
Thanks for the reply.. i will like to know the present condition of the item, also i will pay through paypal and I will add $80 for the shipping fee to my store in Nigeria… so kindly get back to me with your paypal acct email so i may make the payment right away….
Thanks
Dan Bros
Thank for the info. I also tried to sell my used iphone on facebook market place. Lucky my to see this info before I send out the item:
NAME:SAMULE AYO
ADDRESS:21,ITELORUN STREET IJESHATEDO
CITY:SURULERE
STATE:LAGOS
COUNTRY:NIGERIA
ZIPCODE:23401
Thankyou everyone, you’ve saved me from a min. 300USD loss.
TY 😀 !
Same scam except mine was via a Craigslist posting. Address was:
May Dare
#28 Isale-agbowa
Makun Sagamu
Ogun state.
Nigeria,121101
Lesson: check directly with your paypal account!
I tried to sell my old iphone 3GS on Ebay. 3 times in a row I had the Nigeria scammed pulled on me. These animals are pretty stupid in their scam but it blocks me from selling to real buyers. Ebay seems to do nothing to prevent this. I am confused how they are not legally liable for anything??
I am done with Ebay. I am not going to pay those clowns high commissions for doing such a horrible job managing their auction business. When is Ebay going out of business or j getting a class action law suit against them? That’s the real question. They really, really, really suck.
I tried to sell four times a Nokia E90 on Ebay and each time the buyer was a Nigerian scammer… I was not fooled by them but I couldn’t sell my phone and later I’ve received an invoice from Ebay of 40 USD for their… “services”. The only way to escape from this situation was to delete my Paypal account so Ebay could not take the money from my account, even if I didn’t sell any item… I think Ebay is a better partner with the Nigerian scammers than with their honest clients!
I was nearly scammed today,i had a laptop for sale,not on ebay::The forwarding address was as follows:-
samule mayo::
21 itelorun street::
ijeshatedo::
surulere::
lagos::
nigeria::
zip::23401::
Thank god i did a bit of research:
Please do not fall for this scam,always make sure you recieve payment before you ship your goods:
these scams have been going on a long time:
please be aware.
I have long known about these scams, never knew it was on eBay also but mostly knew of them on Craigslist. When selling something on Craigslist I HIGHLY recommend only dealing locally, the furthest to deal with is within an hour drive of your home but that person interested must come get the item and do not ship anything. As we speak I’m dealing with a COMPLETE idiot that is trying to scam me, so I made another PayPal account that is not connected to any of my bank accounts. As I proceeded to have PayPal open in one window, my regular email in another window and my fake email open on the iPod touch I get 3 emails from “PayPal” stating funds have been deposited but being held in escrow and blah blah blah. I am a avid online shopper and always use PayPal so I know what they do and don’t do. So far I have wasted my entire day dealing with this idiot but I am finding it funny because my very last email to this person is quite long and full of insults, which may be immature to do but at least I’m letting the stress out, of him or her wasting my time. What I found funny is they were willing to pay 3 times the amount I was asking for my old 5mp camera, right then I knew it was a scam. Also with the emails sent I had about 4 different names they used. First it was a Derry Dayem for email but John was the closing name, mail to address was his daughter which clearly was not an American name, the fake emails from PayPal said Jerri Weaver has sent you money. It goes to show how dumb they really are when it comes to being a criminal. So I just sent a message saying I never got the money, I get a reply “What the hell, blah blah blah sent you money blah blah blah I’m going to report you to PayPal Security…” What a joke, so I sent him a tracking number from an item I bought a while back on eBay, lets see what he says now…..
Well I sent an email with the fake tracking number, he/she replied by calling me an idiot and they didn’t see the tracking number in the email. What a waist of a day, oh well I had a good laugh about it all.
As my mama says “If its too good to be true, then it’s most likely not true.”
I was selling a Clarinet but not on ebay. Through a local classifieds website. again a gmail address. Something has to be done about these people.
i also almost got caught but thanks to your article I notifyed paypal of the scammer. heres what my email stated:
Name: Oluwasogo A.F
Address:28 adegbayi street agbowo UI
City:Ibadan
State:Oyo State
Country:Nigeria
Zip code:23402
sadly I’ve recently been subjected to this scam and feel mighty stupid for not clocking on sooner. my story is very similar to that of everyone else, i was selling an item on ebay for around 300GBP and was e-mailed by someone from Nigeria wanting to buy the item for 420GBP so of course i obliged thinking about the money and rushing into it.
tried to sell my laptop I happen to call paypal about something else and they told me not to send anything to nigeria
Thanks for your quick respond i will like to buy this item for my friend’s son in overseas
country as birthday gift. i will offer you $2,050 for the item $150 for shipping ok.So
kindly get back to me with your paypal email address to proceed with the transaction because paypal is the most secured and fastest means for online transaction.Regards
(1)I want to know condition of the item
(2)why do you want to sell it.
Address : # 50 UI AGBOWO,
City : IBADAN
State : OYO STATE
Country : Nigeria
Zip Code : 23402.
I have a similar story.
Someone put a bid in on my dads car (nice old thunderbird) he was going to bye it without viewing it.
Again poor English, again asking for paypal details…
Here is the twist though, we’re in Sweden and he is supposedly American, so he was proposing sending his friend (that by some luck was in Sweden this week) to pick up a car that you can get for 10% cheaper in the states an import it back in to the US.
I’m just glad my dad asked me to have a look at it before he went ahead with the deal 🙂
Same here. He’s currently threatening to report me to eBay for not shipping his iPad, which hasn’t been paid for, of course. I said, “Go ahead. I already reported you.”
NAME : Proversor Oladele
ADDRESS :U I Gate, U I
CITY : IBADAN,
STATE : OYO STATE,
ZIPCODE : 23402,
COUNTRY : NIGERIA
As soon as I saw the winning bidder was from Nigeria, I Googled “Nigerian ebay scam,” and sure enough there was one. Thanks for the article.
I know. I’m very frustrated by the time wasted as well. Luckily when I told friends about it, they were interested in buying my item outright. EBay needs to come up with something or no one will sell electronics on there.
You can request a refund of the fees after you file the Unpaid Item claim.
hi,
i am a nigerian and i reside in lagos. Plesae i will like to advise that it is dubious. please do not sent. This is not to say that all Nigerian are dubious. There are so many genuine ones.but always confirm before engaging in any business.
There are good-spirited Nigerian.
Thanks
Wow, I almost fell for this scam. I was selling hockey equipment. The guy gave a heart felt story about buying it for his daughter is West Africa. I was a little sketchy about this, especially for hockey equipment in Africa. Oh well.
I was really exciting to finally sell it, but it hit me to do some research. First, his daughter wasn’t under his facebook account and neither was the guy of where I was sending it was. Almost I check the name of the school his daughter was attending and it was in Johannesburg.
This guy was so convincing, it’s sick. I have a 8 month old and I am trying to save to buy a house. And this guy or how ever they are, are trying to rip people off. It pisses me off.
same guy tried to get my blackberry
Oh my god!
Been dealing with this guy named
Name – John williams
Address – #162 Oke-Ado
City – Ibadan
State – Oyo state
Zip code – 23402
Country-Nigeria
Here’s what he emailed me.
Hello i am Mr T Williams from United State Of America how are you today and how are your families ? hope all is good ? well i am interested in buying the item for my daughter because it my daughter that need it and i hope she would like it , so kindly get to me with the total cost of the item including the shipping cost to her address below with ,FED X,UPS,TNT.DHL i pay through either Paypal or Bank transfer ok reply soon.
Name – John williams
Address – #162 Oke-Ado
City – Ibadan
State – Oyo state
Zip code – 23402
Country-Nigeria
Thanks and have a blessed day.
To bad i give him my bank account details.
Please reply to me asap what should I do.
Luckily since it’s Friday I haven’t shipped his item. Because EMS are closed on weekends.
Whoa! That was too close.
Thanks to your blog entry
Person that posted last….
HURRY AND CONTACT YOUR BANK ASAP!!! Let them know you were scammed, they will work with you, however you may have to authorize every transaction on your account by phone for a while. GOOD LUCK!!!
Hi Amanda,
As early as 4am I rushed at the ATM to withdraw all the money on my account before he can hacked it and transferred to his account. I’ll be reporting it later at 8a.m. to my bank office. Funny he already sent me an email confirmation regarding his payment through bank transfer using his CITIBANK account. I’m really thankful that it’s Friday and almost no EMS office. Now I should say Thank God It’s Friday.
It’s me Lovely Miki
Wow. I received almost those exact emails that you posted today. Almost word-for-word. I was immediately skeptical, so I did a search and this blog came up. Thanks for saving me from losing my phone!
Hi Jon,
I’ve replied to his email because he kept on sending me that I have to shipped the item going to nigeria because her daughter is waiting for it. I told him that his a scammer and I already reported him to yahoo mail and citibank particularly. i also said that i will the item if i get a clear cash payment from him.. from then on, no emails received from him.
Thank God were saved!
love miki
I have received two emails regarding items that I am selling on ebay, both offered more money than i was asking for my psp and xbox, as I have an internet shop i told them to visit the shop, but they came back and wanted to buy through ebay, so i asked some questions and found out that they were from nigeria, same scam, my family live there and please send to them, etc etc, heres a copy of the reply
Dear seller, Am from US i have agreed with the price you gave to me i am willing to buy this item for my Daughter in Africa so immediately i saw this item on site i have contact my friend working in Post Office for the shipping cost to Africa he told that the shipping cost will be €50 euro so i will want you to get back to me with your PayPal Email with the total cost and your full name for the payment.here is my daughter shipping address below
Name Adekola Owolabi
Address No 1,2b Agbeke Hotel Under G
City Ogbomosho
State Oyo State
Country Nigeria
Zip Code 23402
i will wait to hear from you back.
Thanks.
there ebay user ids are mary williams beaker1979dank and robert marton, i checked ebay it says good people but i think there fake, so dont be fooled, lucky enough i was not
THANK GOD FOR GOOGLE! I just had the same scam try to get me, it was my first time selling on Ebay, but when i got a paypal.uk.co email when he was from “Florida” the red flag went up! thanks so much!
if u do gt scammed is there anything you can do about it???
i always buy the latest cellphone accessories that i can find on ebay, i am addict on cellphone accessories’;`
Be on the lookout for a CONFIRMED eBay scammer. He will base himself as being “in” the United States or United Kingdom. Typical give away is odd capitalization in sentences, run-on sentences, and multiple other grammatical errors that a serious buyer interested in spending $600 wouldn’t make. Take note and WATCH OUT for this user on eBay!
Kelechi Okafor
52 unity road
Ikeja, Lagos 23401 Nigeria
Once again he is a CONFIRMED scammer and has been trying to get my paypal information for several days even though they are supposed to pay through the site. He is also trying very hard to get me to ship the item to Nigeria even though I specifically told him countless times that I will ship to a United States address ONLY. Scammers are dumb sometimes.
To day I also got contacted by one Linda benson
some how she found that I am selling my nikon 55-200 lens on quickr india
so she sent me mail to ship it to nigiria to his client
I told her why not you buy from US which is u r current location (she told me she is from canada)
so I went to DHL asked the rate and told her and she agreed on all the rate after that same i am transferring the amount to bank of canada yuo ship the item send the tracking number to bank and bank will remit the amount in 2 to 72 hrs
the moment i got the mail in spam folder i understood every think that this is spam , Than without wasting a single second I google and came to this blog
and than i gave her what she wanted (fuck) now she/he will think twice before contacting any indian
this was the address she was asking to ship
Name :-A.0 JOHN
Address :- no 15 Ekotedo idi oro
City :- Ibadan
State :- Oyo State
Zip code :- 23402
Country :- Nigeria
Phone :- +2348022970845
So damn lucky I just read this as was about to go out and post my phone to that very address!!
So it is a definite scam?
they have to do something about this scammers..
Thank you for posting this… I almost fell for this because I didn’t think ebay could have scams. It’s bad enough craigslist has tons of scams but now they found a way to scam ebay?? That is just crazy… I got someone who bought my laptop with the instant buy button… they just created they’re account today and they sent me an email saying they live in MD and want me to send the item to their friend in Nigeria who is getting married. I was a little worried about the idea of sending it to Nigeria because I know craigslist has weird scams like that too, so thats when I decided to look it up and see what I could find about this. The address they gave me to send it to was:
Kunle Badmus
112 Yaya Abaton collage road
Ijaiye Ogba, Lagos State 23401
Nigeria
+234860168567
And they asked that I send them an invoice for a quote for to send to Nigeria. Is this along the same lines for the same scam you found?
thank god. i receive same kind of email yesterday. i sell clothes in mudah.my. suddenly i receive an email from Mrs Janet from UK saying that she want to buy those pairs for her boss’s child in Nigeria.
I ask for the full address and she gave me this :
Name- Dele charles.
Address- No 45 Akar paint Eleyele ologunerun road,
City- Ibadan
State- OYO
Country- Nigeria
Zip Code- 20001
Phone no-+2348052620065.
You get back to me with the total cost of the shipment via ems post and your full bank details which include your contact number for the payment to your account.
Thanks
she insist me to give my account number n total cost…
luckily i google about this and found this web..thanx..
Yes…I just got the same thing. I got scammed as well
Its bull crap I have someone from the UK trying to buy a phone for his son in the states unless your paypal account says the money is pending dont beleave anything. E-mails are false leading. The guy who emailed me said that it was complete in a e-mail if I sent the item but it is not associated with paypal and it was marked spam although it looked very real. Hope this helps someone out there.
Emeka John
Address: 8 Olowu Street Agbowo U I
City : Ibadan
State: Oyo
Zip code: 23402
Country : Nigeria.
Is one of the new addresses for the scammie just ran into them he wants me to send him i phone beware. Anyone from nigeria is trying to rip you off.
Yeah, this same thing happened to me. Luckily this isn’t my first rodeo so I was awaiting payment and looking up scams and this came up.
I wish I knew where this person was because I would beat their ass for wasting my time and patients.
This same thing happened to me she even used the same exact address as yours wow thank god I looked up the address, I was a bit suspicious since I had a best offer option but instead she did buy it now and she had zero feed back.
This is what she said
“Am the person who won your item on eBay.Am out of the country for a Church program and i want the item shipped to my grandson school Address in NIGERIA..all i need from you is your PayPal Email Address so as to make out the payment,you could contact me at (ty_mryanx77x@yahoo.co.uk) Please i need your PayPal Email Address:
I would like to have the item shipped to the address below:
Ola Oluwafemi
33 Bank Anthony Way
Ikeja, Lagos 23401 Nigeria”