Pleased I didn't fall for this

I think my best one was from Christine LaGarde when she was head of the IMF.
She said that she was in Nigeria investing money laundering and had found my details.
She asked me to send my details to confirm that it was me. Yeh, right Christine, there you go. 😂

I have a seperate email address I use for when I don't want to give out my actual email address.

With ebay, just follow the rules and expect buyers/sellers to do the same.

I have been buying and selling on ebay for ten years at least, possibly longer. I expect everything to go through the proper channels and I ignore anything that doesn't.

My general rule to avoid scams is always to ignore anything from companies and individuals I have never dealt with and to not be afraid to query companies you do recognise and are suspicious about.

I have twice suspected calls from companies I deal with were spams and each case rung back by finding their phone number from another source, both said I had done the right thing in being careful and using a number other than the one mentioned on the phone. So always err on the side of cautio.

I believe if you communicate with potential buyers by email rather than through the EBay site you lose the protection that EBay provides. Anyone asking you to do that would very likely have an ulterior motive.

Like the poster upthread I have a business account and a long standing shop on Ebay. It is best to follow their rules and to only communicate via the site. On one of two occasions Ive had to ask a buyer for their email address (to send a returns label) but I always went via customer services. Otherwise you get the kind of message you saw about violating their rules.

It depends what your selling but some products (eg anything electronic or branded) are more likely to attract scammers. I sell antiques which are more likely to attract genuine collectors.

You get scammers on any site.

I received an automated call last week, supposedly from my bank saying that 2 different amounts of money, both under £200 were about to be transferred but the transaction was apparently stopped.

I put my phone down and within seconds a woman with a Chinese accent started to speak. It sounded to me as though English was her 4th language because she was difficult to understand. I asked her which country she was ringing me from and she put down the phone.

Although I had not given any personal information I still informed my bank so that they were aware of the number of scams.

MerylStreep

I think my best one was from Christine LaGarde when she was head of the IMF.
She said that she was in Nigeria investing money laundering and had found my details.
She asked me to send my details to confirm that it was me. Yeh, right Christine, there you go. 😂

That's hilarious, MerylStreep. I was contacted by a Nigerian prince many years ago - he wanted me to send him a watch and a roll of carpet in return for a share of his forthcoming inheritance - but Christine is definitely a step up.

I had to reapply for my driving licence in February as required 3 years on from my 70th birthday, hoping to have it for a drive to Nairn for a family gathering at the beginning of April. Having heard nothing despite sending it by Special Delivery along with a Special Delivery stamp for its return, I tried phoning to enquire only to be told they were very busy. I then sent an email and got a reply asking for confidential information. Suspicious, I checked the phone number and discovered that this was an identity scammer. Not only that but the DVLA is prone to being used by Scammers: www.gov.uk/government/news/dvla-releases-latest-scam-images-to-help-keep-motorists-safe-online. I seem to remember this has been the case for some time. Shocked it's not been sorted! My licence arrived a week after my return from Nairn. I reported the scammer to www.tsscot.co.uk/latest-scams/ No wonder I don't do much online!!

Oh maggiemaybe- how disappointing: I thought that the Nigerian Prince was communicating with me alone.

I typically don't use ebay, finding it tedious. Well done you.

Well done Norah! You need to have your wits about you all the time don’t you? I have been using Ebay since it started and never had a problem.

Gumtree is full of scammers though. I have advertised things and within minutes get messages like “I love this and want to buy it. I will pay by Paypal.” They ask no questions at all even though it is usually an expensive item. Never, ever let them pay by Paypal. Just ignore them.

Similar thing happened to me this week, I decided to sell my Embroidery sewing machine along with all of the disks, I advertised it on Face Book, within 10 minutes I had a chap (photo of him wearing a mask, and no apparent FB page) said he wanted it and would arrange collection by courier, the courier would have an envelope with the money in it which he would give me after I had handed over the machine. Um nope.

Second lady wanted it, coincidently she has a cousin who lives close by, who sadly doesn’t have a bank account, but could pay by PayPal ( a buyer has 180 days to get a refund) another No from me, checked the lady out and she lives in Poland.

I went back onto FB and marked it as sold as I’ve decided to keep the machine,

OOPS That first scam is one that continues to be on any selling site. Next stage to that is that you get told that 'courier' needs special insurance to carry cash and this has to be paid in advance. You need to pay it and they will add that amount to cash in envelope.

"seadragon Fri 28-Apr-23 16:41:17
I had to reapply for my driving licence in February as required 3 years on from my 70th birthday, hoping to have it for a drive to Nairn for a family gathering at the beginning of April. Having heard nothing despite sending it by Special Delivery along with a Special Delivery stamp for its return, I tried phoning to enquire only to be told they were very busy. I then sent an email and got a reply asking for confidential information. Suspicious, I checked the phone number and discovered that this was an identity scammer. Not only that but the DVLA is prone to being used by Scammers: www.gov.uk/government/news/dvla-releases-latest-scam-images-to-help-keep-motorists-safe-online. I seem to remember this has been the case for some time. Shocked it's not been sorted! My licence arrived a week after my return from Nairn. I reported the scammer to www.tsscot.co.uk/latest-scams/ No wonder I don't do much online!!"

Having just read your post (see above), I was immediately suspicious when I too got an e,mail wanting loads of personal info in order to renew my Driving Licence. I deleted the e,mail and later contact DVLA who confirm that my licence had another two years until it needs updating. The agent told me that DVLA is plagued with scammers, so obviously best to check with them direct before parting with details or money.

A friend reported the hi-jacking to Facebook who are dealing with it, Meantime, I have had EIGHT posts from people either recommending or offering support services to resolve the problem. I am assuming that all 8 are also scams = stage 2 of the scam, and have deleted them all.

Yesterday I had a landline call supposedly from BT saying that broadband speed had been reported as slow in my area. In fact I nearly fell for it as mine IS slow at the moment. However she wanted me to turn on my computer and go through things with her. I politely said definitely not and put the phone down. Later I phoned BT because of the slowness at the moment. Told them about the phone call and they said they would never contact customers in that way. Now have the legit engineer calling next week.

Nearly fell for a scam on my Google newsfeed multiple times/days showing a Quantum AI investment of £200 with Martin Lewis photo and reportedly in the Daily Mirror. Gave my phone number and whilst talking to the lady Facebooked it to find out it’s a scam. Now getting loads of phone calls.

I received a call from a very friendly woman who asked if she could just check that I was still living at the same address? I asked which address would that be? She put the phone down.

I think I had a scam the other day and if I didn't I lost the chance to get an updated Oral b electric toothbrush.
The Message was meant to be from Boots the Chemist and said I had been chosen to receive the toothbrush. The Boots Logo looked genuine. It was all written in good English but I wasn't sure Boots did this so deleted it.
Has anyone else been offered something from Boots and was it Genuine?

surely everyone knows that Martin Lewis never endorses anything like that ?
he has taken action several times to stop his name and image being used.

a neighbour has had a couple of strange calls from different people purporting to be from a court in tenerife.
the last one i took over and just said i don't believe you, sounds like a scam.
the woman said, but i've given you my name.
i said write to neighbour.
she said we can of course.
she gave the address and asked me to confirm it.
i said we are not giving out any information.
she sounded quite offended.
tough titty.