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)
Did you get scammed by the nigerian? cause I think I just did too. Is there anything I can do?
Had a similar issue with a “mike moris”. i was selling a Nokia and he made an offer, i accepted. He offered to pay thru paypal so i sent my email address and he “made a payment” but it was suspicious. I’ll provide the info so that others may find it easily and not fall into the scam.
This is the address info they provided:
Name:Oluwatosin Raji
Address:No 34 Alogi Obadina Street,Obatoko,
Town:Abeokuta.
Ogun-State
Country:Nigeria
Zip Code:23439.
They said they were purchasing the phone for an overseas girlfriend and they’d add $100 to the requested amount for international post. Do not fall for this scam!
wow you are talking about phone scams.
I am selling my vehicle here in Zimbabwe, and this guy called Lenny Sama emails me and says he is interested, i give him all the details ,images , e.t.c.
We negotiated on a price , then yesterday shipping agents from Nigeria email me saying there is an amount of $729.00
that will be sent to my acc for shipping costs. that is the stage i am at now. What to do ?
I have just had a similar email. Iv emailed back saying yes i will ship the item on reciveing payment. If they try the “send tracking number to release payment” trick ill send a letter saying “item pending payment” muhahahah they can track that all the way to nigeria
Even 3 people tried to scam with similar story.
Here is the first one(my item was listed for 100 pound on gumtree):
Hi,
i will offer you £150.00 for the item including the shipping cost Via
Royal Mail to ABROAD, so i want you to get back to me with your paypal
full name and email address or paypal money request to
(cockbushblue@gmail.com).
His name and address:
Salami Taofeek
No 5 nawairudeen road oke ijeun
Abeokuta
Ogun state
Nigeria
110001.
Anybody who lost money on Ebay should report it as loses then fill tax declaration.
This scam is world wide. There is no need to justify to justify your self my friend!
Ghehe “Before I ship an item to Nigeria, I will first check in Google if it’s a scam”
Let’s make it really simple NEVER EVER do ANY business with Nigeria
Never do biz without seeing money in ur account.
I agree with you man, thats why their need your shipping receipt for it, because they need to track it and take before shipping it to the address, holy crap Nigeria Postal Service
I experienced it, I’m in Taiwan, I am smart enough, poor blacky
i have just had this problem getting emails from paypal stating they will release funds when posted!!! this is not real paypal it was a scam!! if they had my paypal email address it could of been alot worse. making out he was a church goer as thats why he hadnt paid yet !!
I heard that these scams come out of Africa. What a real pain in the royal … Thanks for sharing about your experience with a scam.
I have no seller rating on ebay, because I have just bought 3-4 items before.
BUT, I have listed a camera lens (expensive one) and someone has bought it without any question 3-4 hours later. The buyer is registered on the same day and has no other record, haven’t buy anything else. No questions in order mail as well, and he has called the lens just “item”. It is an expensive lens, I would not buy without any question (more than 600 GBP). Another thing: I would post it from Hungary, what might not be so trustworthy if I were living in GB.
The buyer name is “olajide”, but the delivery address is in Dorset, England not Nigeria.
I have not sent the paypal money request yet. What do you think, should I procceed with sending money request? If he is not spoofing paypal e-mail, and would pay in real, he would still be able to get the lens, and asking for refund telling e-bay it is broken or something like that.
Could anyone please help me? Am I going to be charged by paypal or ebay if I proceed with money request?
NEVER, EVER SEND ANYTHING NO NIGERIA.. I just got the same fake pay pal statement. It looks genuine, but when you log into your pay pal account you will discover that no money were deposited. the next fake address is:
Sikiru Oyedepo
22 Funso oginin rd Ejigbo
State Lagos
Country Nigeria
Zip/Postal Code: 23401
Thanks such much for your great forum.
I hate this, its so dissapointing!!! how can people do this when the seller is new… despicable thing to do !!!! Im new on ebay and didnt think much of it then someone wanted to buy my laptop and saying that he would pay me 260 i thought he was in englad then the next day he went that he just got to nigeria and asked if i could send it to him! so i did and got scammed seriously im so angry right now and very ashamed that i fell in this disgusting trap! and i hope that person should come up and say that they did wrong!!! I CANT FIND WORDS TO DESCRIBE HIS/HER BEHAVIOUR!!!!!
I fell in the scam. I sold my wedding dress, a ‘lady’ living in England wanted to send it to her daughter in Nigeria. They sent me a confirmation email from ‘PayPal” saying the funds had been taken from this lady’s account and were on hold until I supplied a shipping tracking number. I stupidly did. Paid for an extremely expensive shipping and lost my dress.
I have just had the same problem in Germany…
I recently had a scam via ebay.
claims it is his daughter he wants it shipped to. Asked for invoice which I sent.He sent me a fake paypal email and even filled it out(prices were not even correct). Also messaged me asking for my paypal address “to send payment” and emailed me several more times. Like everyone else said NEVER send it unless you see the money in your account!
address:
KELECHI OKAFRO
16 UNITY ROAD
IKEJA, LAGOS 23401 Nigeria
do not send the item until it is paid for and you see the money in your account!
why arent paypal doing anything??
Hi – I got the same address:
Hello seller,
How are you today?Hope everything is going on well with you as it is here with me.i am very sorry for the delay……i felt ill few days ago but now It’s my pleasure to inform you that the full payment of 355 pounds has been made via paypal which i believe you should have received notification from paypal regarding the payment via mail…i made 100 pounds shipping cost and i want the item sent via ROYAL MAIL Int’l Signed for to my lovely son who is in Nigeria presently for business purpose.
Am buying this item for him as a gift and to show appreciation for all he has done in the development of my company……immediately the item is sent kindly notify paypal with the shipping tracking number given to you at the post office for payment verification.
Below Here is the postal address again:
PAMILERIN PHILIPS
olowu street,
Ikeja,
Lagos-State,
Nigeria.
23401.
Note:
============
Please make sure the item is well package and sent today to the confirmed address given to you by paypal in Nigeria via ROYAL MAIL Int’l Signed for due to urgent need of the item. and i promise to leave you a good feedback after the end of the Transaction.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Am sorry for the inconvenience that i may have caused you.
God Bless you.
Glad I checked this forum before sending off! Many thanks!
I had the same story yesterday!
I think this person is trying to scam me.
Jack Scott
>
Name: Williams Dre.
Address: No52,Mayowa str,Onikolobo,Oluwo,
City: Abeokuta.
State: Ogun State.
Zip Code: 234037.
Country: Nigeria
the Jack Scott was sending me email from marcellinasmith01@gmail
Here is an email I recieve and it sacred me… they said they would sue me if I didn’t send the item?? What should I do??
am so fortunate to hav read this, was about to send my iphone 3gs to nigeria!
This has also happened to me, but I would never send anything I don’t receive payment for. My old Blackberry Curve 8520 was put on ebay the beginning of September this year, by my fiancee. Within hours, it had been bought for the buy it now price (Seventy pounds, sterling)… The buyer had set up their account that very day, just a few short hours before purchasing the phone.My fiancee was then contacted by the buyer, asking for the item to be shipped to Nigeria, and that the payment had been made. However, no payment via paypal had been received by us, so it has not been sent. The emails from paypal were dodgy, and the best way to check whether or not it is a genuine email, is to click ‘reply’. If it is a different email address, generally, it’s not from who it says it is. My fiancee phoned paypal, who told us the emails must be fraudulent, and they had no record of the so called transaction (the buyer gave us the reference number or something), and he then contacted ebay, alerting them to the buyer. Luckily, we didn’t send the phone off, because ebay has told us we probably will not receive payment from the buyer.
These guys came to Poland too. Here is conversation about my auction in biggest polish site (allegro.pl):
“””
Hello Seller,
Am highly interested in your item. Is it Available for sale at the moment?….. Let me know the final asking price for the item.get back to me soon.
Regards”””
After my reply about my action:
“””
OK Thanks.. Am very much okay with the price and condition of the item and i can pay to your bank account via money transfer.. i will also like you to stop all auctions on the item and end it now and also prevent other bidders from getting the item..So all i want you to do now is get me the shipment cost of the package by REGISTERED LETTER to the receiver in Nigeria and also send me your full bank details so that i can be able to commence with the payments to your account.
Below is the receivers address so you can calculate the shipment cost plus item cost and also send me your full bank details for payment. here is the receiver’s name and address.
Name: Micheal keith
Address: #15,Saheed Onila street,
City: Shomolu
State: Lagos
Zip code: 23401
Country: Nigeria
Also provide me the following details for payment:
Account Name :
Address :
Account Number :
Swift Code :
Bank Name :
Phone number :
Total Estimate to be sent to your account including shipping cost :
I await your soonest reply
Regards.
“””
Some tags to easy google searches from Poland:
Polska, Allegro, Nigeria, spam, scums, oszustwo
Just got stung by these people. A canon eos 5d mk 2 and 17-40mm L lens. i caught on right away and went back to lift my item from the post office. they would not give it back as it is against the law. I also got the police in and they had the same problem, wanted to help but its against the law to lift the items as the fraud happened in Nigeria. Sick to my stomach.
Hey, I just almost got caught out by something similar.
I was chuffed to bits when someone bought my Canon Powershot G10 mere minutes after my listing of it, and the buyer was in the UK in Luton, and seemed legit. No feedback yet, but I presumed this was just an honest new buyer.
No such luck! A few hours later, he emails me asking for me to ship it to Nigeria for his son’s birthday, and that he is away there doing HIV/AIDS relief work and he’s provided extra money to do so.
Alarm bells ringing straight away. Then the paypal emails turn out to be fake. I email him saying that unfortunately I can’t mail to nigeria owing to the appearance of similar scams, and that I was going to report him for impersonating paypal.
These dicks arn’t coming within a hundred miles of my money >:c
Same here. Sent a PS3 out yesterday. Probably got stuck. Will try post office tomorrow anyway.
darren and all other greedy white pple tryin to reap where u didnt invest,u get the karma for gluttonic traits.Can u imagine u expecting money from the nigerian govt. when u did no biz wt them.Desist from labellin all nigerians as scammers.Greedy punk/dork to all u,deal wt ur karma
Don’t send anything, remember if it’s too good to be true it likely is. I feel so dumb after being victimized of a pay pal scam. Once the package leaves the country of USA there is no turning back! I just shipped my blackberry and just discovered the horrible news from pay pal and USPS there is nothing that can be done. They thought they would do me in some more by saying they over paid me and I need to send 100$ via Western Union. Be careful!
Hi, I am Nigerian living in Nigeria and am about to start my business of shoe retail which I plan to buy and ship from the US and honestly I hear about this scams but never realised it was this terrible.these people want basically anything they can get. But their is hope for you all as their is a website where you can report to and with the help of the government and your useful information these people can be caught and face the deserved punishment. I’ll do the research and post links that might help you.
oh i got one too i was trying to sell an ac and this dumb tard gave me thisName………… Bolaji Jimoh
Address………59 cardoso street,
City…………….Mushin,
state……………Lagos
Country………..Nigeria
Zip code……… 23401
Receiver’s Number….+2348027018975
they tried to scam me. thanks to this page they didnt succeed. THANK YOU!
their information is :
Name…………………….OLAMIDE ADAMS
Address…………………..50 Darlington street Mokola
City………………………..IBADAN
State……………………….Oyo
Country…………………..Nigeria
Zip code………………….23402
Phone +2348061516209
so hopefully it doesnt happen to you!
i’ve been scammed 135 pound for a psp
Shipping address – confirmed
Alowonle Moshood
Frank B/Stop,
Iju Rd. Agege,
23401
Lagos State
Nigeria.
hi guys i’ve reported this to the police i request everyone do the same aswell so we could give these people what they deserve
Hi Darren,
Sorry about your loss. I could help you involve law enforcement agents here in Nigeria. No guarantee you’ll get your goods back, but at least it is worth a try. What details do you have about the scammers?
here’s mine
Name:Fred Johnson
Address:N0,38 tapa street ijeshatedo
City:Surulere
State:Lagos
Country:Nigeria
Zipcode:+23401
Recipient number:+2347081604789
we had nice transactions, until I chanced upon this website. had a sigh of relief, good thing I never shipped the item.
thank God for this website. Now I hate Nigeria.
Hi, I have the same story, but I live in Russia, these Nigerians are already up and get here .. I was selling sandals, this is what they got, even ridiculous to me. All the time I wrote to Mrs. Sharon, wrote by e-mail sent via paypal that 100 euros. From paypelprishlo email address questionable. I wrote them, they know nothing about it! She wrote to me and beg to send Nigeria into sandals for her daughter. Here’s the address, she wrote-Name: Oladoyinbo Ayorinde
>>>> Address: House 70, 12 Cresent, Agbowo, U.I,
>>>> Zip Code: 23 402
>>>> State: Oyo-State
>>>> Country: nigerian
>>>> Mrs Sharon
i wish i read this page before i got scammed these people really are not helping with the image of Nigeria i can’t beleive i lost 135 pounds soooo pissed
got the same email. I’m just new to ebay. Thanks for this info andrew
Ice Hockey equipment in Nigeria? LOL I almost wet my self…
Yep seems there still going strong? I had one today through Gumtree saying ;
Hello There,
I have remitted payment to you via paypal and I also paid paypal
charges to ensure you get full payment.
Kindly post the item to my son as soon as possible and write on the
package…
“A GIFT FROM YOUR MUM”.
My son’s Address is
Bright Osamuyi
56 Amos Street,
Benin, Edo State
23452, Nigeria.
He is presently an Electrical Engineer in one Telecommunication
Company overthere.
Kindly post the Item directly to him via ROYAL MAIL INTERNATIONAL
SIGNED FOR, it will only cost about 15pounds for postage and packaging
and please do write the note “A GIFT FROM YOUR MUM” boldly on the body
of the package.
Thanks and nice buying from you.
.…………
Please keep this page going its helped so many before us!!!!!!!
I’d want money first then ship item, always go to webpages yourself and check sender address on emails! (Paypal)
Nigera / Western union… no no
Sorry
Gotta subscribe to this!
Thank you so much for posting of all this! I had a gut feeling and then decided to google, “paypal and shipping to Nigeria.” My gut was right & am not sure I would have followed through with my gut if I hadn’t read these posts. Much of the same was written to me;
as follows,
I have just made out the payment online now. Go and check the mail
you used in opening your PayPal account the confirmation mail have been sent there check the inbox or the spam message you should see it there…….. I will also like you to know that i am having some
little problems with my FedEx account as i checked it online now and i
was asked to reactivate it,so i can’t do that now as i have to sort
one or two thing out with them. Am sorry as i won’t be handling the shipment through my FedEx account again,So please get the postage cost to the following address via post office
(USPS PIORITY MAIL INTERNATIONAL) at the (USPS OFFICE) and ship out the item via post office (CP OR R) asap cos i have told my son to
be expecting it.
I have also included $70 extra for the shipping.i think that should
be enough for you to ship.
Hello there !
Amazing page guys ! Really thanks you helped me off scamming….
Yesterday i got an e mail form ‘Sam Klef’ a U.K. citizen who wants to buy my selling musical instrument and ship to his friend in Nigeria who went for concert there (!!) so to ship to his address.. he was writing me :
‘Hi Am Sam Klef from Scotland UK and am interested in buying this item
for my friend who went for a musical concert in Nigeria okay..So, i
want you to kindly end the sales of the item and then calculate the
total cost of the item plus the postage cost via Greece Post Office
(www.elta.gr) to him in Nigeria and also include your bank details so
that i can make the payment immediately okay. ‘
the shipping address is :
Name : Steven Alade
Address : 54, Oja Sapon Market
City : Abeokuta
State : Ogun
Country : Nigeria
Zip Code : 234037
LOOK OUT !!
In subject field he wrote a wrong instrument name !!!! He didn’t knew what he was buying !!
I ask for Western Union Money Transfer services and of course he reject it. He needed my bank account numbers or using Paypal.
He seemed not to care much on the whole amount he was going to spend !! I nearly asked for 2000 euros !!
The funny thing is a year ago i was selling another instrument (an electric this time) and again i got an e mail from U.K. someone to pay and ship to Nigeria !!
Are they so musically in Nigeria with our instruments ?? :):)
So, after i googled and saw your excellent and helpful page i send him an e mail asking for 500.000.000 euros after calculating everything on !! :D:D:D I wrote it is a little expensive but the instrument is top quality and worth the money :D:D:D:D HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAaaaaaaaa FUCKING SHIT NIGERIAN SCAM YOUR BRAIN IS SO LITTLE you think you can fool me !!!!!! You no-brain nothing send me the 500.000.000 euro and with pleasure i will send you my shit off date to mask your face so everybody can see you’re fuckin’ scam !! :D:D:D
again asking western union money transfer :):) if he delay to reply me the amount will grow up multiple to 10 every 10 minutes :D:D:D:D
Someone from Nigeria just tried to scam me…. Just purchased my iPhone 4s with buy it now and then he sent me a message to have it shipped immediately… He had a new eBay id, I then got several fake emails from paypal stating funds are pending until tracking info has been received…. I told him heck no, then several fake eBay emails that my account has been suspended… Haha, I relisted with “no international shipping” didn’t get me : D and he has the nerve to keep emailing me crap… Dude, I have a digital forensics degree!