[taurus65]

Hello to all.
I decided to share with everyone my painful experience of winning an auction at ebay.co.uk at a price of 1863 GBP on November 26th 2008.Maybe some people will find this helpful(including me).
The seller's ebay id is "deancauvinltd0131".He was selling on auction a Krell FPB 600 power amplifier without reserve price.Although i notice that he was a zero positive feedback member(this was his first sell) i decided to mail him to ensure that he was willing to ship to Greece where i live.He said ok and i bid on the item and after auction ended i was the winner.I had to pay him 1863 GBP and wait for the item(a very low price for the amp indeed).
After this i took a message from him saying that i would receive an invoice from eBay with details.
A few minutes later i received from "ebay United Kingdom Customer Support" the following message

MOD EDIT - email snipped as it includes several hotlinked images and it's difficult to read with the formatting - please feel free to repost in a readable format without hotlinks


to be continued........

[Miss Chief]

Although the post is a complete mess thansk to the fonts it says payment should be sent by moneygram. Stay well clear IMO!

[_dark_blu]

Originally Posted by Skytech

Stay well clear IMO!

Exactly. The only payment method eBay recommend or encourage is PayPal. Please don't say you're posting here because you have sent payment by MoneyGram (though I can't think of any other reason for your thread title).

[taurus65]

........continuing.(Sorry for the fonts i just used copy and paste function)
After receiving the above mail i still was suspicious.So i replied directly asking the reason why they suggest pay via MoneyGram although in the site they suggest pay only through paypal.Their respond is this (this too appeared to be from "eBay United Kingdom Customer Support")
Dear eBay Member: efiatrou1


The following is a notice from eBay's Trust & Safety Department (KMM95007177V56129L0KM) regarding:
Item Title: Krell FPB 600c

Item #: 170280481421

The seller Mr. Dean Cauvin is refusing the PayPal payment so we decided to help him. The seller requested payment through MoneyGram money order due to the fact that he is unable to use this Paypal account at this moment and we offered to cover all the risks for you and the seller. To make the payment via MoneyGram it's very easy. First you will need to find an office of MoneyGram service and from there with the seller details (name and address) and your details you will make the transfer in 10 minutes. After the transfer it's done please email the seller the details about the transaction.

It is our responsability to tell you that this seller is verified by our services and when dealing with this seller you are protected by eBay services such as insurance, feedback and dispute resolution,and you may buy and sell with confidence in all transactions with this eBay member.


Our goal is to ensure that your eBay experience is safe so that you can buy confidently.


Sincerely,
Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)

Copyright © 1995-2008 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy.



MOD EDIT - please repost without hotlinks and format tags so the email is readable
I hope i did it removing all those logos and links


to be continued....................

[Naaktgeboren]

That email is not genuine.

Ebay, offering to help their members was the giveaway

[Sad099]

I cant even be bothered to read this - it too much like hard work with all those fonts / formatting etc
Hurts my eyes trying to work out what to read!

[Steven]

taurus65, it would only take a minute or two to edit out the font tags...

The seller Mr. Dean Cauvin is refusing the PayPal payment so we decided to help him. The seller requested payment through MoneyGram money order due to the fact that he is unable to use this Paypal account at this moment and we offered to cover all the risks for you and the seller

eBay seem to be contradicting themselves here. Either he is unable to use paypal, or is refusing to use paypal. There is a distinction

I would ask for clarification on that point, and also on eBay's claim they will fully cover the risks, bearing in mind the risks are decidedly on a buyer in such circumstances, rather than a seller

[taurus65]

.............continue.
After receiving this second- eager to explain -mail i confess that my suspecions were starting to dissappear.Then i asked the seller for items serial number which i forwarded to krellonline trying to find out more of the item.Unfortumately they never answered me.
At last and because of my rather false view of honesty i paid him via MoneyGram the amount of 2.401 euros i sent him the details and after taking the money he vanished.
On 5th of December i was sure that he was vanished with my money and i started to check his ebay registered info.


to be continued..........

[unique]

Originally Posted by taurus65

Hello to all.
I decided to share with everyone my painful experience of winning an auction at ebay.co.uk at a price of 1863 GBP on November 26th 2008.Maybe some people will find this helpful(including me).
The seller's ebay id is "deancauvinltd0131".He was selling on auction a Krell FPB 600 power amplifier without reserve price.Although i notice that he was a zero positive feedback member(this was his first sell) i decided to mail him to ensure that he was willing to ship to Greece where i live.He said ok and i bid on the item and after auction ended i was the winner.I had to pay him 1863 GBP and wait for the item(a very low price for the amp indeed).
After this i took a message from him saying that i would receive an invoice from eBay with details.
A few minutes later i received from "ebay United Kingdom Customer Support" the following message

MOD EDIT - email snipped as it includes several hotlinked images and it's difficult to read with the formatting - please feel free to repost in a readable format without hotlinks


to be continued........

mod comment -

i've edited your original posts as the emails you've cut and pasted contain several hotlinked images, and hotlinking to images isn't allowed on this site. as there were so many, and the remaining text looked a mess with the incorrect formatting, i've removed it for now as it's not easy for members or mods to read

you're welcome to repost the text of the email in plain text without formatting or hotlinked images (you can host images here or flicker or photobucker etc if you wish) as long as it's easily readable

[IronGiant]

Ebay would never ever do this...

Quote:
The seller Mr. Dean Cauvin is refusing the PayPal payment so we decided to help him. The seller requested payment through MoneyGram money order due to the fact that he is unable to use this Paypal account at this moment and we offered to cover all the risks for you and the seller


You have been scammed, I'm afraid and ebay will not help you as they never sent those emails, they will have come from your seller.

Dave

[taurus65]

.......continue.
So.i asked from ebay the seller's info.When i phoned to the registered phone number ,i heard the message ''this number is inactive".Then, with the help of another ebay member(thanks again L) which happened to be a United Kingdom citizen we found out that his supposed Limited Company operating within U.K isn't listed at the official files(as it should be).These facts made me angry against ebay.From my point of view ebay should carry out some basic checks relating to people opening accounts - especially when their first sale is for such an expensive item.Saying this i don't want to get rid of my share to this stealing.I only say that this way perhaps it could be avoided.



.........to be continued

[Paul_HDLover]

OMG is this for real?

Mod comment: I believe it may well be.

[whatsupdoc]

"especially when their first sale is for such an expensive item"

Since he is likely to only get away with this once, and knows it, he has priced his scam accordingly.

[alexs2]

The high-end hifi sections of ebay are unfortunately rife with this sort of thing,and whilst it is no consolation at all to the OP,it should be clear that someone offering a high-end high value item at

1.Low price.
2.No reserve.
3.Payment by wire/moneygram etc
4.No feedback or feedback for low value items(another common scammer trick)

Should be avoided at all costs.

Even checking the serial nos.can be problematic as many of these guys poach previously used ads and items to get valid pics and numbers.

Not long ago there was a group of these crooks operating and huge lists of items like this would appear on poached accounts.

The simplest rule is if it looks too good to be true,it very likely is.

[Paul_HDLover]

Apologies for my previous post which was unhelpful. This has to hurt a lot given the money involved, further compounded by the time of year it is.

Unfortunately the crooks will remain so long as people have faith in those that they shouldnt i.e. without feedback, or history.

[Mr Incredible]

Not that it would make any difference to the opinions mentioned, but here is the stripped out details.

Hello to all.
I decided to share with everyone my painful experience of winning an auction at ebay.co.uk at a price of 1863 GBP on November 26th 2008.Maybe some people will find this helpful(including me).
The seller's ebay id is "deancauvinltd0131".He was selling on auction a Krell FPB 600 power amplifier without reserve price.Although i notice that he was a zero positive feedback member(this was his first sell) i decided to mail him to ensure that he was willing to ship to Greece where i live.He said ok and i bid on the item and after auction ended i was the winner.I had to pay him 1863 GBP and wait for the item(a very low price for the amp indeed).
After this i took a message from him saying that i would receive an invoice from eBay with details.
A few minutes later i received from "ebay United Kingdom Customer Support" the following message





Thank you for contacting eBay's Customer Support team!

Per your request, we have verified all the details of this transaction. We concluded that they are accurate. Please follow our instructions to complete the transaction safely.



eBay Transaction KLM #170280481421 confirmed! Current status: Payment pending

Transaction details:

Item name: Krell FPB 600c
Item #: 170280481421
Item price: £ 1,863.00 Shipping & Insurance: Free Shipping Payment: Pending
• Complete your eBay transaction in 4 easy steps:

1.
2. eBay accepts the transaction and offers purchase protection to the buyer (if the transaction is declined, no further action is required from either the buyer or the seller);
3. The buyer sends payment and the seller receives it. After the payment was received, the seller must notify eBay. Buyer will send the payment details directly to the seller email address. The seller has three business days to send the buyer and eBay the tracking number of the shipment. If no tracking number is provided, a full refund is immediately sent to the buyer;
4. Buyer receives the merchandise and has five days to inspect it. If it is complete and as described, the buyer should accept the merchandise. If he refuses the merchandise, the buyer must ship the merchandise back to the seller within three business days.
5. After the inspection period is over, the buyer must contact eBay with the result of the inspection. If the buyer refuses the merchandise, the refund will be sent to the buyer after the tracking number for the returned shipment is verified.


• The following item is protected in this eBay transaction:

Krell FPB 600c;
Item number: 170280481421

• Payment must be sent by MoneyGram Money Order to:

• Seller's verified payment address:

Seller's verified name:
Dean Cauvin
Seller's verified address: 76 Willowbrae Rd, Edinburgh, EH8 7HA, United Kingdom






• Date of verification: 27 / 09 / 2008
• Transaction number: KLM#170280481421
• Amount insured: GBP 1,863.00
• Payment must be sent by: Money Gram Money Order
• Next step to be taken: The buyer must send the payment to the seller

It is recommended to send the payment as soon as possible, because your purchase protection is valid for 30 days only. Sending the payment by any other method of payment will void this transaction and your right to refund.

• Payment instructions:
To submit the payment with MoneyGram Money Order, you need to do this:

Pay for the transfer with cash at a local MoneyGram money order agent. Click here to locate the agents in your area : Agent Locator - United States Go to one of them and send the payment to the verified name of the seller.


• Once the payment is sent, email the seller the following informations:

1. 8 digit Reference # (Transfer Number):
2. Exact sender's name on file with MoneyGram:
3. Your street address on file with MoneyGram:
4. City and country where you sent the money from:
5. Amount sent:

Then wait for the confirmation the payment was received. Within 3 business days, you will receive the tracking number for your merchandise.

• Purchase protection and refund:

Currently, this seller has a £ 2,000.00 GBP deposit in an eBay managed purchase protection account.

Transactions with this eBay seller are covered by purchase protection against fraud and description errors. For your safety, this account was locked today, for 90 days time period. The seller is unable to withdraw any money from it, within this period.
Should you need a refund for this transaction, the insured amount will be taken from the seller's purchase protection account and sent to you. The refund is sent to your bank account, or by check or money order. The way you are refunded is at your choice. You have 90 days from the above verification date to request a refund. Refund requests are processed within 3 days.
The account is managed by eBay's SquareTrade center. This transaction is supervised by eBay's SafeHarbor team.


• Conditions to be met before you may ask for a refund:

Here are the situations suitable for a refund request:

1. If the item doesn't arrive and/or the seller stops communications after the payment was received;
2. If the merchandise you receive has different specifications than the ones you agreed on;
3. If your merchandise arrives in a much longer period than the one you agreed on (more than 15 days from the payment clearance day); For cases 2. and 3. you have to send back the merchandise to the seller prior to ask for your refund. If you did not pay the seller by payment method required by us, your refund request will be declined.


• Important Usage Guidelines:

1. The contact information should only be used for resolving matters related to eBay. Any other use is strictly prohibited.
2. This transaction is protected by eBay services such as insurance, feedback and dispute resolution.
3. You may buy and sell with confidence in all transactions with this eBay member.
4. Should you need to dispute this transaction, keep the transaction number at hand when contacting eBay. Any complaints must be filed within 90 days from the verification date.

This e-mail message was sent to you from eBay SafeHarbor team, with the full support of the SquareTrade center.




Copyright © 1995-2008 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved.Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy.








to be continued........

Note the verified address is an address fora Care Home in Edinburgh: Cauvin House.

PW0ned

[taurus65]

.......continue.
The last two days we also discovered that his ISP is AOL.Anyway i made my complaints to ebay and they gave me their thanks for helping to a more safe ebay.
The only reason i posted the messages which hurts peoples eyes is to show how genuine they seem to be with all that logos and headers.Believe it or no i still think they're genuine.Right clicking on the mail and on tab "details" shows Return-Path: <aw-confirm@ebay.co.uk>.
Anyway, that's a sign showing how sophisticated these scams are these days.


....to be continued?

[taurus65]

Mr Incredible thanks for your time and effort.

[taurus65]

Originally Posted by Mr Incredible

Not that it would make any difference to the opinions mentioned, but here is the stripped out details.



Note the verified address is an address fora Care Home in Edinburgh: Cauvin House.

PW0ned

Indeed.It was so easy for youto find out but not for ebay.That's what's bugging me and make it public.

[loz]

FYI, the auction id was 170280481421

[_dark_blu]

I think eBay should make all new buyers sit through a detailed tutorial about scam auctions, Western Union, MoneyGram etc. etc. before they are allowed to start bidding / buying items. I know they highlight certain risk elements at intervals during the bidding and paying, but sadly there are still too many trusting and dare I say naive people using the site.

It needs to be drummed in to them from the day they register in a way that will make them think twice about completing deals off-site, through anonymous payment methods.

I think they did a similar thing with feedback a while ago, all new buyers had to sit through a tutorial before being allowed to post any feedback.

[loz]

Originally Posted by Mr Incredible

Not that it would make any difference to the opinions mentioned, but here is the stripped out details.



Note the verified address is an address fora Care Home in Edinburgh: Cauvin House.

PW0ned

Dean & Cauvin is the name of a charity

Welcome to deanandcauvin.org.uk, and the address is one of their houses providing accommodation to youngsters

There may be a certain irony in that the scammer chose the name of a charity, of it may just be that the scammer is one of the residents.

No harm contacting them to find out.

Contact Us

[IronGiant]

The first thing is that ebay will always address you by your real name in any emails, not your user name. Not that this is much protection if you have disclosed your full name to the seller.

Dave

[taurus65]

Originally Posted by IronGiant

The first thing is that ebay will always address you by your real name in any emails, not your user name. Not that this is much protection if you have disclosed your full name to the seller.

Dave

Exactly my case.I have at least one mail from the real eBay United Kingdom Customer Support that have addressed me by NO NAME.And i also have one mail from the "fake" eBay United Kingdom Customer Support EXACTLY THE SAME.
Given the chance there is also another ''exact the same detail''.Both real and fake ebays sent me their mails to the same mail address.

PS.I wish to thank you all for reading and participating to this.
Merry Christmas to you all

[IronGiant]

If ebay initiates contact, they always address you by your full name. If you contact them then they won't necessarily use your full name in the reply.

Hope this helps,

Dave

[taurus65]

Originally Posted by IronGiant

If ebay initiates contact, they always address you by your full name. If you contact them then they won't necessarily use your full name in the reply.

Hope this helps,

Dave

Just a minute ago ebay notified me about new products from my saved sellers addressing me with my member name.
Maybe i am an exception...........i don't know.......and i don't care.I want other things from ebay like refunding.Their security isn't working as good as it should be.

[IronGiant]

Originally Posted by taurus65

Just a minute ago ebay notified me about new products from my saved sellers addressing me with my member name.

Which means it probably came from ebay, not a scammer. I would be wary of any email coming from ebay without my full name in it. I know this doesn't help your personal case, I'm posting it so people are aware of how careful they have to be.

Dave

[taurus65]

Originally Posted by IronGiant

Which means it probably came from ebay, not a scammer. I would be wary of any email coming from ebay without my full name in it. I know this doesn't help your personal case, I'm posting it so people are aware of how careful they have to be.

Dave

No offense IronGiant.The people who read this thread must know as much as they can.