Suspicious eBay Seller - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: fourierpwn
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 01:55:38 pm
content: Sorry if this is in the wrong place or if it has been brought to other's attention before or if I am wrong.This is the third time I've seen decent test gear from an eBay seller where bidding is not allowed and all items are for the same price - $3,000USD. The first time there was high-end Keysight gear for this price and instantly the "if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is" struck me. I contacted the seller through the advertised email address, as the seller does not message through eBay (first red flag).The story was that the seller was helping their "friend" who had to close down their business and get rid of everything, hence the "cheap price". I asked for confirmation of the price as this was an S-series Keysight scope, which should've been worth $30,000USD so I thought perhaps there was a typo in the price but nope, the seller confirmed $3KUSD.The biggest red flag for me, they would not accept any other form of payment aside from direct bank deposit.While the seller's account appeared to be reputable (been around for a while, high rating etc), all of the high-end test gear was up for not even 24 hours. I asked why this was and the reply was that it was all sold. Sure, it's possible, but he had at least 50 pieces of test gear. When I checked the following day, every single item was wiped and the same bicycle was listed over 200 times. Now when I search for the seller it goes to a blank page.I have just seen the same situation on eBay. The seller has a different name but they are using the same "flyer" in the photos to give the information. See attached.Link to the eBay seller's account.https://www.ebay.com/usr/bigalano?_trksid=p2047675.l2559I feel like this is a scam. I may be wrong but please, do your due diligence before purchasing anything.

author: rernexy
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 02:01:18 pm
content: They also use Comic-Sans as the font.And all-caps.NOT trustworthy.

author: nali
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 02:23:15 pm
content: Was that bicycle a red mountain bike by any chance? That's what's in the description fields for the couple of TE items I looked at e.g.Agilent Keysight 4285A LCR Meter Fully FunctionalColour: REDBike Type: MTB

author: fourierpwn
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 02:36:17 pm
content: Quote from: nali on January 02, 2021, 02:23:15 pmIt was a mountain bike but I can't recall the colour sorry, it was a few months ago. I'm curious to see if history repeats itself and all items are wiped within the next 24-48 hours.

author: WattsThat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 03:18:15 pm
content: It’s a (blatantly obvious) scam. Been going on for a year or more, same MO. High end Agilent or Keysight gear, exact same ad body of text and terms. I guess there are enough people out there that never learned “if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is”. Last one I saw was a 4 GHz Agilent scope for a $1000. Yeah, sure.It is an illegal auction by eBay rules and so you’re on your own with the predicable result if you send these clowns money. What is annoying is eBay’s lack of policing this crap. I’ve reported it every time I see it pop up but the auctions never appear to be taken down, the seller just changes the item and description.If the sellers doesn’t take PayPal, look no further. Even that is no guarantee but it’s a baseline starting point for fraud.Edit: another fraud indicator: the photos. They are lifted directly from one of the Keysight used equipment auctions. Here is one listing that is two digits off on the serial number, the actual Keysight listings are hard to research as they are done as private auctions so you cannot find details after the fact.https://www.ebay.com/itm/Keysight-Used-MSOX4154A-Oscilloscope-mixed-signal-4-16-Ch-1-5-GHz-/184489520210

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 03:38:06 pm
content: Come on, of course it is fraud. They offer 'overnight air' shipping on grand pianos.The seller claims to have the items in Los Angeles. If you have any doubts, just tell them you can have someone there TODAY who will pay $3K cash each for all of the scopes and the Steinway grand piano. Or, I can come Monday if they aren't open. They'll have a story, a song and dance, about why that doesn't work, probably involving Covid.If you want to report the auctions to eBay, report them for avoiding fees by selling off-eBay. That's something they care deeply about.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 03:44:03 pm
content: Seems like legit account which was hacked.

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 03:44:39 pm
content: They will only reply to some email address, not through eBay.Uhuh...Report the account to eBay. They will close it down faster than you can say 'scam'. Not because it's a scam but because that's a prelude to taking it ouside eBay. And that's the one thing they're allergic to: missing out on their commision

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 04:08:43 pm
content: > Been going on for a year or more, same MO. High end Agilent or Keysight gear, exact same ad body of text and terms.Yep. It has been running for several years, at least. Exact same pictures, exact same "terms", different accounts. The accounts are usually trinket retailers with good numbers that then get repurposed (sold? stolen?) into these fake high-ticket sales.At first I diligently reported this scam every time it showed up (once every couple weeks at least) but after a year or two of eBay doing nothing about it, despite being trivial to detect, I gave up and now simply put up with the spam.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 04:13:01 pm
content: possibly hijacked account from reputable seller. this scam has been around for years, selling things such as high end canon DSLR camera.rule #1: if too good to be true... turn on suspicious and detective moderule #2: personal bank transfer? leave ASAP or report to web adminrule #3: learn to avoid phishing that may expose your account info, password etc.simple rule to avoid #3 is dont entertain unwelcomed/unexpected msg, and watch for rule #1 above. if someone is going to give you $1M from Africa due to lottery or some governmental dormant money release or what not, dont ever think that you are the lucky and special guy somehow, otherwise you'll become a lot poorer later.

author: Specmaster
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 07:53:45 pm
content: This is 100% a hacked account and eBay have already acted and normal service has been restored and the only items listed on the account now are stamps. I had my account similarly hijacked about a year ago and once I alerted eBay to the problem, they acted swiftly to restore my account, which was back to normal in about an hour of reporting it.

author: jsantoro
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 09:05:32 pm
content: I get high end studio reel to reel recording equipment listing from them for some of my saved searches. Been going on for a while. Always the same thing. THey tend to disappear after a few days.

author: richnormand
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 09:15:33 pm
content: reported two for the same type listing to ebay this morning (R&S and Keysight).Both disappeared by the afternoon.Looks that it is a whack-a-mole exercise for ebay unless they go ballistic on these scammer.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 09:21:12 pm
content: Quote from: fourierpwn on January 02, 2021, 01:55:38 pmThis has been going on for years. Hacked account; report to Ebay if you feel inclined.

author: DaJMasta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 09:26:49 pm
content: This is a VERY common scam to see on ebay, and while for some reason the T&M section gets these listings basically weekly, they generally are all caught by the time their auction would be over.They're characterized by relatively complete photos/titles but always trying to sell you the "opportunity" to buy it elsewhere, which is explicitly against ebay's ToS. Generally the account used will have a lot of positive feedback, but generally no sales in T&M (just a hijacked account, presumably), and they'll typically post dozens of listings for a whole variety of expensive bits of gear - all short listing length, all starting bid very low and the same value, and all at once.I don't know why ebay hasn't been able to filter them out or catch them initially for verification or whatever, but they come through frequently, and often are reusing the same images for the same pictures - you'll see a LeCroy scope listed for $1.70 first bid one week with a good set of images and title and then have it taken down only to find the same set of images and title listed under a different account for $1.85 a couple weeks later. Neither auction will complete, neither would give you a scope, neither seller was in control of their account at the time of listing and neither had a scope to sell. Reporting the listings could get them removed faster, but it's sort of laughable that I can see the same items show up and get to $150 or more worth of bids before being removed.... but I suppose people falling for stuff is why it keeps getting attempted.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2021, 10:34:40 pm
content: Quote from: bdunham7 on January 02, 2021, 03:38:06 pmItem location is the leverage I use here to motivate eBay to act. I don't know if it's just an OZ consumer law but they seem to respond to complaints when the item is not where the listing says it is. I buy things in good faith that they are in the same city as me, however if it doesn't arrive straight away and then has a customs stamp over my name and address, I have no mercy.