Nigerian Scam?

[rpepper9]

Has anyone heard of, or had to deal with what I think is called the "Nigerian Scam". As far as I know someone wants you to end you auction early and they want to pay via MoneyOrder through BidPay. Then you get a notice that the MoneyOrder is on it's way to you, and that it is ok to send out the product. Meanwhile there is no MoneyOrder, or if you do get one it is a fake Western Union Money Order.

I think someone is trying to pull this on me, and I wanted to get the opinion of the boards to see if it is legit or a Scam.

Here is the info so far: Bidder asked if they bid on my auction if they could use their own FedEx account to ship the item. They also said they woudl like to pay via BidPay. Since BidPay is a free service to the seller I said yes that would be fine. So they win the auction with Buy-It-Now and are really nice in all the emails they sent. I get a email that seems to have come from BidPay saying that the MoneyOrder payment was "Pending". Then a few hours later I get a message that the MoneyOrder has "Cleared" and that it is ok to send out the items. Sounds good to me, I know the person is in a hurry to get the items for a "childs birthday party" so I figure that I can hurry things up and get the item sent out.

Then things start to get fishy. I then notice that the bidder is a Noobe with 0 feedback. Another thing that draws suspicion is that the item would be going to Nigeria. Now I usually don't ship out of the US/Canada and the UK on special requets, but I thought it wouldn't be that bad because the bidder was paying shipping through FecEx.

Needless to say I haven't sent anything out, and I think this is a scam, so I started this post to see if anyone else has delt with a similar situation.

Please let me know.
Thanks :)

[8bitnes]

Simple, just wait for the money order to arrive. I have a saying that applies to this case (CYA - cover your ___). If its suspect .. wait.

[rpepper9]

That is very good advice, and it is what I will do. Since I posted this I have asked the buyer to use PayPal, which offers me a bit more security on the transaction.

[8bitnes]

Actually, paypal gives you less protection in this case. If you ship it to Nigeria you have no way to prove it arrived unless you spend a ridiculous amount in shipping. If your buyer chooses to file a claim with paypal, you will lose without proof of delivery.

With a money order through bidpay, the claim process is not possible because the buyer is buying a money order which bidpay keeps a record of. In the eye of the credit card, the product in that case is a money order and not your item so it is not possible to hit you with a chargeback.

[Vroomfunkel]

This is a common trick, and is almost certainly a scam. First of all - do you actually have a Bidpay account? If so, go to www.bidpay.com (do not just click a link from the emails you have received), log in and check if there is a payment to you registered on their system.

If there is a payment logged, then you might be OK. In any case, wait for the cheque - and personally, for a zero feedback bidder, I always wait for the cheque to clear before I post. No matter where the cheque is from.

Vroomfunkel

[rpepper9]

Since I try to accomidate all bidders I actually did recently set up a BidPay account. The emails themselves do not have a link in them. So I have been logging in to the site to check if the payment shows up in the payment history. So far it hasn't showed up. Plus if the bidder is using FedEx wouldn't I have a built in tracking number. Which could be used to prove that the item arrived?

[imanerd0011]

Usually , I am all for getting the item out as fast as possible for the seller, but this one does seem kind of odd. I would wait until you have the money order cashed, and the money in your hand. Then you should send the item out. Personally, I would have told him not to bid , right after you found out the buyer lived in freaking Nigeria. LOL

[SoulBlazer]

Right, you have reason to be cautious. BidPay is fine (I've used it sometimes when the seller won't take PayPal) and this is probaly for real, but no harm in being cautious. Kihndly explain to the buyer that because of where he is from, and how he is paying, you really need to wait for the money to be in your hands before you can ship out. Sending ANYTHING to Nigeria is DAMN risky these days, and if the person is serious they will understand that you've just being cautious.

What is the item anyway and how much? :)

[dj898]

can't you limit the country where the buyers can bid on your item?
I only tick for US/Canada/UK.


cheers

[rpepper9]

I do limit my listings to US/Canada and sometimes UK, but the bidder didn't tell me that they wanted the item sent to Nigeria untill after the auction had ended. I was happy to have someone wanting to use the buy-it-now, and since they were using there own FedEx account I didn't think to ask about location. The auction did go for a good price, but I think I am going to have to relist. Check out the original auction:

Auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8153549013&ssPageName=STRK:MESO:IT)

[dj898]

if someone registered in UK but wanted the item sent to another location, I'd say no. In my auction I state I ship to the address the bidder is registered so if he/she registered under fake address the item will be shipped to that fake address and I take no responsibility for loss... simple as that!

also if someone with feedback zero bid on my auction I cancel that bid since I also state in my auction anyone with zero feedback or negative will have to contact seller before allowed bid...

[yok-dfa]

You have to be carefull here. i'm not sure about this, but i remember reading stories about people getting cheques or money orders that appear to clear (there seems to be some rule that a bank has to pay you the money within a few days) but it takes the bank longer to actually verify it, and they have 1 month or so to that. The trick is that the seller *thinks* he got the money and sends the stuff, but after 3 weeks the bank bounces the cheque or money order and retrieves the money from you (the money that they already paid out to you). I suggest you talk to you bank or CC company to make sure the money is really yours...

[8bitnes]

As an option, cash the money order somewhere other than a bank where you hold an account.

[SoulBlazer]

I think BidPay has a little proection aganist that scam, because it's a money order, which means it's cash ALLREADY -- just in another form -- and the money order comes from BidPay themselves. When I recall using it as a buyer, I would pay for a money order on their site with a credit card and then they would ship the money order to the seller. It's possible a fruadalent CC could be used, but I think then it becomes BidPay's problem -- they allready sent you the money order with the money in your account.

Still, for a PS2, you do need to be carefull. E-Mail the seller, explain what the delay is, and see what they say. If they don't like it, relist the auction.

[Vroomfunkel]

OK ... DO NOT SEND ANYTHING!

If there is no log of this supposed 'payment' on your Bidpay account, then he has not sent you money through Bidpay. Any emails you have received are therefore fakes, and if you receive a money order (which I think is going to be unlikely) it will probably be a fake too.

I have been paid through Bidpay several times, and whenever they send a payment email, and a payment cleared email there should be a reference number, and the transaction will appear on your Bidpay account when you log in.

Occasionally these scammers will send a fake MO as well, but usually their trick is to try to persuade you that since you have had a 'confirmation' email from Bidpay then you should send their goods out without actually waiting for the cheque to arrive.

ALL the evidence here is that this is a scam. Absolutely do not send anything until the cheque / money order arrives (if indeed it does) - and I would strongly recommend not sending anything until you have it cleared into cash in your account.

Vroomfunkel

[dj898]

I'd say if it turned up just cash out... :D

[dj898]

double post... :eek 2:

[Mad Chemist]

I have been paid through Bidpay several times, and whenever they send a payment email, and a payment cleared email there should be a reference number, and the transaction will appear on your Bidpay account when you log in.

What he said. If the money order was really pending, the website would say so.
If the web site does NOT say so, then the e-mail's a fake.

By the way, if you post the full headers of the e-mail, someone might be able to tell you where it was sent from.

[sirgeoph]

We've been getting a lot of e-mails from people wanting like 100 PS2s sent to Nigeria and what not to our orders email account... We actrually talked to one guy on the phone... after that, we've ignored emails like that