Private sales and Scams

Carl,

If the sellor cannot provide the serial number then I would leave well alone. For the amount of money you would be paying I would make sure they are what they are claimed to be.

Something sounds dodgy to me!


Regards


NB

Thanx NB, I'll take that advice and won't answer! Note also that the first mail I got, after my post, from anyone having an address with the same e-mail provider yahoo.com, was a virus (blocked by our office viruswall)...

Theres an old saying Carl , - "Caveat emptor" - Buyer Beware!

If in any doubt at all , walk away - there will always be another deal along sooner or later . Never lose sleep over Hi-Fi !

Carl,

there will be plenty more 135's being sold, so its worth holding out.

Regards


Nb

Guys,

the reason he wants an email confirmation before you can bid is so he can keep lookout in case the person emails him who originally sold on ebay(legitimately), those 135's in the photo!

then maybe he can 'disappear' before ebay get onto him.

the pillock has even ripped off my original wording!

you are right - it is a scam, and I shall be reporting it to ebay right away.

this has happened before and it goes on so all the usual precautions as stated in the thread apply.

see:- http://forums.naim-audio.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=67019385&f=48019385&m=7281997476

and:- http://forums.naim-audio.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=67019385&f=48019385&m=8431901676

look out particularly for fake escrow sites and if you are at all suspicious send any email contacts to ebay.

Its a numbers game for the scammer and I suppose there are always scammers coming along for whom the game is a new one until they get sussed.

Steve

For a broader understanding of the mind behind the scams check this out:-

http://php.technobabble.com.au/article290.html

oh dear! got me going now!

all these links should be read for maximum awareness:-

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/73/kirsner.html

http://www.traderlist.com/

http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

Any more?

Bump!

old hat for some people on here but many won't have had the background info so keeping it at the top of the list as I feel it's important to spread awareness.

Steve, thanks for these links. This "first grade required reading list" helps, at least for me, and I'm sure I'm not alone!

I always get suspicious when somebody kan't spell the product correctly: kanns on ebay.

Paul Rowlands

Yes Sir.....looks like the great Kan Scam continues..... sell 13,333 pairs
of these puppies at 75UKpounds a pop.....and the bad guys have made a cool million.

Kanns on ebay!

Spelling aside, she/he's bloody good for a first timer.

A seller right off the bat, not bad, 'A' for effort and confidence.

Steve

Ugo,

You said:-
_____________________________________________

"If you read carefully, it says on the boxes serial numbers 185495 & 185496.

Ask him to shoot two pictures of serial numbers on the amps. You could then match s/n with both the boxes and the amps.

Just a thought."
______________________________________________

Just so you understand - the 135's in the listing under discussion WERE SOLD IN AUGUST!! THE LISTING IS A SCAM, HE/SHE DOES NOT OWN OR HAVE THE AMPS TO SELL!!

Sorry to shout but wanted to be absolutely clear.

Steve

Allez Ugo,

The reason Steve is insisting is:

- in a sudden attack of ugraditis, the only cure may be to find a pair of 135's before the next Friday (OR to get proper medical treatment, of course);

- you won't find such a cure unless you search globally, i.a. via eBay;

- if you don't recognise such scams in time, you may will find yourself

(a) without 135's,
(b) without the money you paid for them; and
(c) perhaps in forced medical treatment, if it comes to the ears of the judge (in charge of the divorce case your wife will have filed for losing one year of family savings), that you wanted to spend such money on a "power amplifier" (and actually not even one but two power amplifiers, whatever having two instead of one may be good for!).

You'll have dedicated spurs, as you always wanted, but it will be for your electroshocks.

Seriously, I'm very glad Steve tried to teach us Naimlists more about eBay scams.

Interesting: so Linn traces serial numbers of equipment that is reported stolen? Does Naim do so as well? That would be incredibly good service, no?


Hors de contexte: Ugo, j'pige pas ton "ça je pense"?

Fascinating surname Carl, what was it that your ancestors did to make the leers?

Steve

Sorry, my English isn't good enough to get the joke! What are leers?

I'm sorry Carl, I thought about my comment being out of context in translation terms.

Dictionary definition of leer (noun) glance with lascivious or malign expression. knowing; sly; wary !

Does leer have any particular meaning in Flemish?

Steve

Naim do keep track of stolen items if they are informed. You can also enquire what mods/upgrades if any have been made to the Naim gear that you are looking at on the second-hand market. They will know providing that (a) the unit was serviced by them or (b) the other national distributors have passed on info regarding work completed on the units. I have contacted Naim on numerous occasions when looking at prospective second hand equipment and they have been very quick to reply.

Geofiz, that's good to know. Naim should advertise that part of their service more.

Steve, BTW, interesting indeed !! In Dutch a "leermaker" is someone, on a sail ship, rigging cords (or something like that), but I much prefer to look at the name your way now. I'll tell my kids they had an ancestor inventing some sort of smileys for internet use; they'll probably find that super .

Carl,

Wonderful links with sailing ships and seafaring!

Here is a link to the depths of the English language concerning 'leers' and 'leering'.

Your life and that of your children may never be the same again!

http://www.sfu.ca/~finley/leer.html

http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/leering

Steve

There is a questionable LP12 on Ebay at the moment - the seller is relocating to Indonesia and will ship from Indonesia

Mike

Carl,

You should watch that Headline seller! He is a Naim forum member who is trying to pay for his 552! ;O)

Charles

Good to know that, Charles! If I calculate correctly, that fraudulent seller will have to sell his headline simultaneously to 127 different buyers to finance his 552, so he must be a real pro!

I'll send you a e-mail so you can help me track him down

And have fun with the 552, lucky you...

[This message was edited by Carl Leermakers on SUNDAY 01 February 2004 at 19:49.]

Re the 135's scam that Carl opened this thread with - just had a response from Ebay, took them longer than i've experienced before but here is their report back on action taken, just so you know it is worth reporting anything you are fairly sure is suspect:-

"Thank you for taking the time to write to eBay UK.

The recent email sent from this account was the result of an
unauthorized account takeover. The password was guessed or discovered
and then used to send email like the message you received.
Unfortunately, we were not made aware of this activity until after the
email had been sent. The account was immediately closed after receiving
the report and we're now in the process of getting it restored to its
true owner.

There are a few ways this takeover could have occurred.

First, if the user had a relatively simple password or password hint
question it is possible that a third party was able to gain access to
the account by guessing the password.

Next, there have recently been a number of email messages sent to eBay
members asking for User IDs and passwords. These unsolicited and spoofed
messages appear to come from eBay Support, but in fact are not. eBay
will never ask for sensitive information of this nature through email.

Last, there are a number of computer viruses in circulation that log and
record keystrokes. It's recommended that computer users keep their virus
alert software up-to-date, and check their system often for problems. A
firewall for high-speed Internet users is also highly recommended.

eBay urges caution when purchasing high-priced items, especially if the
price seems too good to be true. We do not recommend the use of instant
cash wire transfer services such as Western Union and MoneyGram, and we
ask that users decline sending payment in cases where these are the only
methods of payment offered by the seller.

Generally, if payment is sent using an instant cash wire transfer
service and the item is not delivered as promised, no recourse is
available for recovering funds. In most cases, an escrow service should
be used when purchasing high dollar value items. The escrow service that
eBay recommends is escrow.com. More information on the benefits and
risks of individual payment methods can be found at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/payment.html

Please be aware that eBay discourages all transactions that are
initiated by parties other than the seller and the winning buyer in a
completed eBay listing. Sales that take place outside of eBay carry a
potential fraud risk and are not eligible for eBay services, including
feedback, contact information requests, and the eBay Fraud Protection
Program. You can review the services provided through the eBay Fraud
Protection Program at:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/confidence/problems-fraud.html"

So thanks to you Carl and everyone who got involved
and especially Ian for doing the 'usual'.

Steve