Potential buyer called me?

[Beachkid23]

If this doesn't say scam all over it I don't know. But I just got a phone call from somebody saying he wanted to buy a gold necklace I had on eBay. He wanted to pay with a credit card but not through eBay to me directly. I have no idea how he got my phone number. He said he was from eBay directly and then said he was interested in purchasing a necklace at that scraps at $500. Would I take a CC payment?

I told him he would have to make the offer on eBay. I don't know who he is and I have no idea how I got my phone number however I'm going to deal on there. The phone number said it was from Alabama!

 

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[NEPADIGGER7]

ive had this happen before....and ill never do it again!...i dont know how but a few times people did the same to me and it went well...until the last time where i got scammed for a 300 dollar camera...disputed the charge and they won even with me providing tracking and delivery confirmation...dont do it! i know its very tempting but just dont!

 

[Beachkid23]

ive had this happen before....and ill never do it again!...i dont know how but a few times people did the same to me and it went well...until the last time where i got scammed for a 300 dollar camera...disputed the charge and they won even with me providing tracking and delivery confirmation...dont do it! i know its very tempting but just dont!

The guy had an accent like the guy that owns a quickie mart on Simpsons. Lol. And the only thing that went through my head is that this guy was going to try to use a stolen credit card number

. " Hello I am calling about the 22 g 14 karat gold herringbone necklace. I was wondering if I good buy it with a credit card instead of doing it on eBay what do you think?".

I said no thank you if you want to buy it you need to buy it through eBay! I don't think so sorry.

 

[NEPADIGGER7]

the best part is usually middle eastern people will not buy our 14k gold...they like high karat stuff like 18,21,22,24k. Sounds like a scam to me...tell him to send cash in the mail and youll do it!

 

[RustyGold]

If it's outside of eBay I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't deal with this person at all and would tell anyone that calls its been sold!
How the hell did he get your phone number??

 

[Beachkid23]

If it's outside of eBay I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't deal with this person at all and would tell anyone that calls its been sold!
How the hell did he get your phone number??

I have no idea. Maybe it's time to change the eBay password? Dunno

 

[tomhighland]

When dealing direct make them send a money order. Then do not ship until it clears. Make sure they understand the delay before doing this though. Also all sales are final. Save all E-mails in a folder for your protection. Sad it has to be this way. I get 3 to 4 calls every day from overseas. They are fishing for data. I reject any call that I do not recognize the number without answering.

 

[2Minnesota]

That is weird. I'm glad for you that you said no. How did he get your #? Have you sold something and shipped to Alabama recently? Perhaps he looked your name up from your address?? A bit too forward I think.

 

[Beachkid23]

That is weird. I'm glad for you that you said no. How did he get your #? Have you sold something and shipped to Alabama recently? Perhaps he looked your name up from your address?? A bit too forward I think.

I doubt it I don't think he can look up my address because it goes to a PO Box. I met a guy Who sold on eBay for a long time here locally and he sold coins and jewelry. He said if you're selling jewelry precious metals especially to get a PO Box.

And then my phone nnumber onlyI have a cell phone I don't have a house phone at all. Strange... I average between 100 and 125 sales month so I have no idea if someone was in Alabama or not there's a good possibility there's a couple of them! I guess from now on I'll just let it go to voicemail!

The money order is a good idea, i had one buyer last year who only paid in money orders. That was great he would spend anywhere from $400-$1000 at a time! But he started lowballing pretty bad so I had to cut him off. Every offer was like 20% of spot on any gold and then an email explaining why he wanted it and if I could please work with him because of all the business we did in the past. I tried but I can't give the stuff away. But that was my only experience with money orders.

 

[mugsisme]

Money orders can be fake, and it takes two or three weeks until you find out. My friend sells over a million bucks worth of stuff on eBay every year got scammed several times.
Getting a PO box is a good idea.
Justin, do you remember the class ring I sold a few months ago? Remember the guy called me several times? I'm thinking this guy must have bought something from you, cuz of I remember correctly, doesn't eBay give out phone numbers? If you have time, maybe give eBay a call?

 

[huntsman53]

I am almost certain that the only way that the guy could have gotten your' telephone number through eBay was if he had a transaction with you (purchased from you or sold to you) and he went through the process that eBay has in place for contacting a Buyer or Seller when there is a problem. Otherwise, he got the telephone number either through hacking eBay's system or got it from someone else that may have had a transaction with you. Google your' eBay User (Seller/Buyer) Name/Id and see if it comes up with your' telephone number and God forbid, your' home address. If so, then you need to take steps to have it removed. There are programs online that you can use (most have to be purchased) that will expunge personal information from the Web to protect your' privacy and somewhat help to keep you safe.


Frank

 

[mugsisme]

On page two, Etsy has my full name and username. I use the same name in many places, which is how people find me. Did you try it? Thanks for the info Frank. There is nothing I can do about it. I have up years ago trying to hide on the internet.

 

[huntsman53]

On page two, Etsy has my full name and username. I use the same name in many places, which is how people find me. Did you try it? Thanks for the info Frank. There is nothing I can do about it. I have up years ago trying to hide on the internet.

I once contacted an eBay Seller about an item he previously listed on eBay which did not sell and I was interested in. He was p.o.'ed that I called him and asked how I got his' telephone number. To which I exclaimed, that his' telephone number was clearly noted on the Auction's Listing Description! It was a somewhat older Auction and he had since quit including his' telephone number in the Listing Descriptions of his' Auctions. While it is sometimes hard to find out such info on a person or eBay Seller, with persistence, a determined person will likely prevail!


Frank

 

[ecoast]

It's not hard at all... If you are bidding on an item and have placed a bid, you can request the seller's contact / phone number.
EBay send you an email as well as the other person displaying both phone numbers....

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

 

[diggummup]

I don't even answer phone calls from numbers I don't recognize, especially ones with out of state area codes. I figure if it's not a telemarketer or some other scam artist, then they will leave a message for me. If not then no loss.

 

[Paleo_joe]

I've had potential buyers get my phone number from ebay and call me. When I asked how he got it, evidently he just pestered them until they did it. That was when I had a home phone. I think ebay still has that number for me, but I don't.

 

[jerseyben]

When dealing direct make them send a money order. Then do not ship until it clears. Make sure they understand the delay before doing this though. Also all sales are final. Save all E-mails in a folder for your protection. Sad it has to be this way. I get 3 to 4 calls every day from overseas. They are fishing for data. I reject any call that I do not recognize the number without answering.

This is a VERY old school way of buying/selling online. It has not worked like this since the mid 2000's.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

This is a VERY old school way of buying/selling online. It has not worked like this since the mid 2000's.

You're right my friend, and it hasn't stopped changing....

We are getting old school like a rocket launch beyond which we've ever seen...

And it's like every single day now.

You keep the faith! And survive of course.