Am I Being Scammed?

[spanner]

I have just recently sold a TD10EXP module to a guy from Portugal via E-Bay.
After several days of non-payment I contacted the buyer and he eventually responded and said that he was having problems with PAYPAL and could I send him my bank details in order that he could wire the money.

I said that I was uncomfortable about that but would accept a cheque instead.
Week later still no cheque so sent him a message and he is still requesting my bank details.
His feed back is ok but the account had not been used for a while until recently. All musical items on feedback.
Any suggestions?

[M_C_M]

I use my wifes bank account on ebay and only give out her details, that way I know my money is safe. Seriously we have a joint account we use which never has any more than a few dollars in it. If your not comfortable with it don't give out your details. Give him one last chance with paypal or whatever and if he does'nt come good just relist it move on...

[Some Day Grey]

I'd contact eBay on this; sounds like you're dealing with somebody with a "hijacked" account.

If I recall right, you have to wait so long to initiate such inquiries and possible reports, then have time limits. You're probably in that time window now.

[allanjohn]

Having lived in Portugal many years ago, I can tell you the banking system is not that hot. However, this sounds a bit suspicious - and at least you still have your module.

[daveybabes]

Bank transfers are ok but only from trusted people, most people could not access your account even with your details but there are a minority of crooks who are banking experts turned criminal and it was proved that they "can" do it. Recently a celebrity TV dude here posted his bank details in a UK newspaper and made a challenge that it's safe, but out of the millions who bought the newspaper yep! there is a % who can work this fraud and indeed his account was hacked (Jeremy Clarkson from uk TV's Top Gear)

I would relist and move on, Roland gear sells well.

[Michael Render]

Re-list. Only take PayPal. If someone tries something else and you have clearly spelled out your criteris, you don't want to take that risk.

[bignazzle]

Total scam. Never give any bank account info to anyone. When I sell anything on ebay I will also only sell and ship it within the U.S. if he is ahving a problem with paypal then he needs to contact payapl and they can assist in the transaction. Bottom line do not shio this guy anything until you have the cash in hand.

Total scam.

[spanner]

thanks for the input guys. I feel even more convinced now.

[Jack_]

FWIW PayPal can be flaky. I won an e-bay auction for some gear, about $1K. I had that balance in my PayPal account and PayPal refused to let me send the guy the money. Even though it was my money in the account, they refused and said they couldn't tell me why--they have rules they don't divulge. That put me in a bad spot and has always pissed me off about PayPal.

I tried the wire-the-money thing but that seemed to be a pain too. In the end? I created another PayPal account under my wife's name using a credit card. I used that account to pay for the e-bay auction and it worked. Go figure.

And yes, I got my gear and it was as advertised and still in use several years later.

[grog]

All of Paypal's problems aside, wiring money overseas is a classic fraud scheme. If you go onto Craigslist and look at their FAQ, for example, they specifically tell you to *never* deal with anybody and wired money, either way.

https://www.myspace.com/rubberuniverse

[SkiAz4Free]

Re-list. Only take PayPal. If someone tries something else and you have clearly spelled out your criteris, you don't want to take that risk.

Yep...

Move on. Not worth the time or risk.

['lectric drumma]

Am I missing something here? The guy is asking for you bancaccountnumber and that seems scamming? If someone knows your bancaccountnumber, I actually don't see a problem... All entreprises list their bancaccountnumber on their invoices, the only thing you can do is pay money ón it, and not retract money fróm it, right?


Stijn

[spanner]

I have just received an e-mail and the buyer will send a cheque, so it looks like he is okay afterall

[saku]

I have just received an e-mail and the buyer will send a cheque, so it looks like he is okay afterall

wait to the cheque clears! one scam is to send a checque that the bank pays out on, only for the clearing to fall through, and the bank to demand the money back from you...so wait until the bank can assure you the cheque as cleared HIS bank!

[jrcel]

Make sure you report this bozo so you don't have to pay value added and you get your listing fees back.