Am i being scammed?
 

Recently won a new scott CR1 from ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=270224108505

I noticed the no feedback and new account, but the price was too tempting. (RRP is £1700ish for a '08 CR1 with ultegra)

I won the auction, requested the total inc postage, got an e-mail today requesting a moneygram transfer, with a confirmed address in london, not Newcastle where the item is supposedly located - if he nicked my money, could i show up at his door? how does moneygram address confirmation work?

Im not going anywhere near moneygram, but im still wary of using paypal, since alarm bells are ringing - am i covered if the item doesnt arrive if i pay by paypal - am i covered for the full ammount? Any ideas?

Any advice is much appreciated

When in doubt, you're getting scammed.

If you have to ask, you're probably getting scammed.

Sounds like a scam to me. I have been using ebay from the beginning and this one got red flags all over it.

+1

Try and make actual contact with the seller. Get a phone number or something.

Magic 8 ball says
http://blueroof.files.wordpress.com/...gic-8-ball.png

Are you within driving distance to pick the bike up?

Gonna check this with ebay, forward the weird invoice he sent to me to them and see what they want to do about it.

I think i knew it was a scam, but i was hoping you guys were gonna tell me i was wrong and i was gonna end up with a spanking new CR1 in my stable :( Suppose thats the way a scam works though

Good catch and smart of you not to send the money. On the auction it says he takes Paypal so you can always pay that way and theoretically you are covered up to US$2000, at least here in the US. Problem is, it is difficult (but possible) to actually get your money back if it is a scam. +1 on the making contact wit the seller. You can use this link to get the seller's information that they have on file with eBay:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQtZvbQQsofindtypeZ9

Also, keep us updated, I am interested to find out how this turns out.

If you do decide to pay do it via paypal and use a credit card so you will be protected by your credit card company.

Sent him an e-mail saying that i am only willing to pay cash on collection, so i guess ill never hear from him again.

The invoice he sent me is defo a fake, im still hoping that hes chancing it, and will take cash on collection - i really want a CR1 - theres one in the LBS window opposite where i work that ive been staring at, but its a bit out of budget - just blew a load of my "bike budget" on a pair of HED wheels, so when i spotted this on ebay, a jumped at it.

Will let you know how it turns out, if only to post his "confirmed" address up :P (J/K)

The credit card co will just ask if you were cheated by PayPal. - TF

There are so many quirky specifics in the listing that it's hard to believe it wasn't legit post at some point, anyway. I know a common scam is (or was) to copy all the information from someone else's recently closed, legit auction and relist it under a newly registered name. I think those are usually like 3-day auctions though - looks like this was a 7 dayer so who knows, he might still surprise you!

I had someone actually copy and paste an entire auction of mine once, including the pictures. They did this while mine was still running. Thanks to that *&(&% I lost quite a bit of money. My auction ended very low due to the fact that people weren't sure which of us was the fake. :mad:

At that point I would have stopped the auction.

he says he works at a bikeshop, ask him the name of the bikeshop, and then call them up and see if it's legit.

And this is why these scam artist trolls continue to thrive.

That is another term for scam. Report this to Ebay. Do not pay anything.

He probably doesn't even have that bike ... most scammers don't even have the merchandise they are "selling"

It's so much a scam it's not even funny.

BTW, paypal is not going to get you your money back. if by some slim chance they do, it will be months before it is all said and done. I speak from experience. and as mentioned a few posts up, the CC companies will not be willing to help in PayPal situations, they simply ask if it was PayPal who cheated you as they were the broker thus responsible for resolution. also speak from experience on that one too.

however, i have seen in some cases where the CC company truly does take care of it without any hesitation. those are the two CC companies I still do business with.

Because he's new, it says you are protected up to 150. Getting the rest back will require you to fight tooth and nail.

Make sure you bring a high-powered handgun.

Exactly what I was thinking. But can you contest a charge even if the flaking party is the ultimate payee (ebay scammer), not the one you made the payment to (paypal)?

RUN away, do not walk. Do not pay, it is a scam.

SCAM...................

I am an avid ebayer, built one bike from parts, bought frames, bikes, etc. Rule 1---No Moneygrams, Period. The confirmed addresses are only a spot where the money shows up. Can be anything from a drop to a p.o. box to a friend's house who will deny knowing anything about it. I would only consider Paypal with a credit card, or I would pick it up in person if it was fairly close. Both times someone tried to scam me on ebay, it was in England. High end bikes on the cheap.