Apple Watch Scammer: Watch Out for This Guy If You're Selling

[MICHAELSD]

After the buyer who did actually win my auction paid (one with glowing feedback, I may add), I received this very suspect message which I will post in full since scammers do not deserve any decency:

The guy has been an eBay member for months with no purchases so I would imagine other less experienced users would and do fall for this scam. Remember kiddos, always check usernames and do not deal with users you do not feel comfortable with.

A quick Google search for the name and address reveals that the John Johnson (a name I initially thought was fake) had issue with the law recently in a perverted manner.

Be careful out there, guys.

(To those who I know were going to ask, I have my personal Apple Watch coming today... I see no harm in reselling two Watches for someone who didn't mind waiting a few weeks... I had a May 20th date originally.)

Edit: censored his address.

 

[roddenshaw]

After the buyer who did actually win my auction paid (one with glowing feedback, I may add), I received this very suspect message which I will post in full since scammers do not deserve any decency:

Image

The guy has been an eBay member for months with no purchases so I would imagine other less experienced users would and do fall for this scam. Remember kiddos, always check usernames and do not deal with users you do not feel comfortable with.

A quick Google search for the name and address reveals that the John Johnson (a name I initially thought was fake) had issue with the law recently: "unlawful to perform or engage in sexual activity in parks; pleaded guilty."

Be careful out there, guys.

(To those who I know were going to ask, I have my personal Apple Watch coming today... I see no harm in reselling two Watches for someone who didn't mind waiting a few weeks... I had a May 20th date originally.)

Edit: censored his address.

There's still sufficient information to easily find his address. Maybe redact the ZIP code too.

 

[zmunkz]

Interesting scam ... So s/he waits for an auction to end, signs up with a similar username to the winner, and messages you to use a new address? Too bad scumbags can be so clever... Thx for posting, I can see people fall for this one.

As for the address I bet its a forclosed house or something they are watching, doubt its their own real name or address.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Interesting scam ... So s/he waits for an auction to end, signs up with a similar username to the winner, and messages you to use a new address? Too bad scumbags can be so clever... Thx for posting, I can see people fall for this one.

As for the address I bet its a forclosed house or something they are watching, doubt its their own real name or address.

Username wasn't similar but it seems he signed up under the name Jill. He was just hoping I wasn't going to check the username. Originally I thought that somebody hijacked the buyer's account and that it was going to be the scam where they pay, you ship to a different address, then they open a claim stating they never got it which PayPal will side with 100% of the time if not shipping to the PayPal address.

Once checking the user name it was obvious that he is just trying to get sellers to ship to his address rather than the real buyer.

Considering his criminal history and the property record it seems he really does own the property, used his real name... and is married.

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There's still sufficient information to easily find his address. Maybe redact the ZIP code too.

Honestly, police departments post addresses to alert people to criminals. I believe the zip is important info in case he uses a different name. Would never expose somebody other than a scammer.

 

[CrackerJackToy]

After the buyer who did actually win my auction paid (one with glowing feedback, I may add), I received this very suspect message which I will post in full since scammers do not deserve any decency:

Image

The guy has been an eBay member for months with no purchases so I would imagine other less experienced users would and do fall for this scam. Remember kiddos, always check usernames and do not deal with users you do not feel comfortable with.

A quick Google search for the name and address reveals that the John Johnson (a name I initially thought was fake) had issue with the law recently: "unlawful to perform or engage in sexual activity in parks; pleaded guilty."

Be careful out there, guys.

(To those who I know were going to ask, I have my personal Apple Watch coming today... I see no harm in reselling two Watches for someone who didn't mind waiting a few weeks... I had a May 20th date originally.)

Edit: censored his address.

More than likely its a fake name as well. I feel like the sexual charge was nothing more than coincidence and doesn't have anything to do with the real scammer.

 

[Sheza]

What's the scam here btw?

 

[MICHAELSD]

What's the scam here btw?

After the auction ends, a buyer completely different from the buyer who won states that he won the auction and asks you to ship the item to his "new" address; he's pretending to be the real winner/buyer. I.e. a different person claims to be the buyer of the auction in an attempt to get the seller to ship to them for free.

 

[Rob198612]

After the buyer who did actually win my auction paid (one with glowing feedback, I may add), I received this very suspect message which I will post in full since scammers do not deserve any decency:

Image

The guy has been an eBay member for months with no purchases so I would imagine other less experienced users would and do fall for this scam. Remember kiddos, always check usernames and do not deal with users you do not feel comfortable with.

A quick Google search for the name and address reveals that the John Johnson (a name I initially thought was fake) had issue with the law recently: "unlawful to perform or engage in sexual activity in parks; pleaded guilty."

Be careful out there, guys.

(To those who I know were going to ask, I have my personal Apple Watch coming today... I see no harm in reselling two Watches for someone who didn't mind waiting a few weeks... I had a May 20th date originally.)

Edit: censored his address.

Why don't you report that to eBay also?
So they can try and track it via IP address to ban him all together or arrest him all together.

Years ago I got scammed out of a playstation vita but that was like 10 years ago and I have learned my lesson the hard way!

Hopefully no one gets falls to that scam

 

[CrackerJackToy]

After the auction ends, a buyer completely different from the buyer who won states that he won the auction and asks you to ship the item to his "new" address; he's pretending to be the real winner/buyer. I.e. a different person claims to be the buyer of the auction in an attempt to get the seller to ship to them for free.

They also do this with a stolen Paypal as well. Some scammers will even request overnight delivery, and offer to pay for it. By the time its found as fraud, the scammer has your item.

I was selling a $2800 Macbook Pro and this happened to me. The scammer had actually changed the eBay/Paypal address to his own, so everything appeared normal. He requested overnight delivery and paid the extra $80 for it, so I figured why not. The next morning at 4am, I received notification the credit card was fraud and to NOT send the package. I called UPS and had the package intercepted approximately 8am. After using Google street view, the address was this crappy shack of a house in the middle of no where. Talk about a close call.

 

[ATS]

Red flag!

Zero feedback on eBay is a red flag in and of itself. I have been on eBay since 2001 and I've seen a lot of crazy stuff over the years. If I sell something I will only ship an item to a confirmed PayPal address. Everything else is highly suspect. I'm glad the OP had foresight to identify the scam and prevent himself from being a victim. You can never be too careful about anything these days, especially when dealing with online transactions.

 

[roddenshaw]

Username wasn't similar but it seems he signed up under the name Jill. He was just hoping I wasn't going to check the username. Originally I thought that somebody hijacked the buyer's account and that it was going to be the scam where they pay, you ship to a different address, then they open a claim stating they never got it which PayPal will side with 100% of the time if not shipping to the PayPal address.

Once checking the user name it was obvious that he is just trying to get sellers to ship to his address rather than the real buyer.

Considering his criminal history and the property record it seems he really does own the property, used his real name... and is married.

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Honestly, police departments post addresses to alert people to criminals. I believe the zip is important info in case he uses a different name. Would never expose somebody other than a scammer.

In that case you could remove the quoted reference to the specific crime of which he has been convicted. It's not relevant to the scam, so it would be sufficient to say you found he had an unrelated criminal record.

 

[ATS]

Close call!

They also do this with a stolen Paypal as well. Some scammers will even request overnight delivery, and offer to pay for it. By the time its found as fraud, the scammer has your item.

I was selling a $2800 Macbook Pro and this happened to me. The scammer had actually changed the eBay/Paypal address to his own, so everything appeared normal. He requested overnight delivery and paid the extra $80 for it, so I figured why not. The next morning at 4am, I received notification the credit card was fraud and to NOT send the package. I called UPS and had the package intercepted approximately 8am. After using Google street view, the address was this crappy shack of a house in the middle of no where. Talk about a close call.

Wow, that was a close call. I'm glad to hear your story has a happy ending.

 

[Rob198612]

They also do this with a stolen Paypal as well. Some scammers will even request overnight delivery, and offer to pay for it. By the time its found as fraud, the scammer has your item.

I was selling a $2800 Macbook Pro and this happened to me. The scammer had actually changed the eBay/Paypal address to his own, so everything appeared normal. He requested overnight delivery and paid the extra $80 for it, so I figured why not. The next morning at 4am, I received notification the credit card was fraud and to NOT send the package. I called UPS and had the package intercepted approximately 8am. After using Google street view, the address was this crappy shack of a house in the middle of no where. Talk about a close call.

Since account was hacked wouldn't u still be protected by PayPal? Or u would have been SOL?

 

[MICHAELSD]

Since account was hacked wouldn't u still be protected by PayPal? Or u would have been SOL?

PayPal will protect if the transaction states "confirmed address" and "seller protection eligible" as long as that address is the one shipped to.

 

[Sheza]

After the auction ends, a buyer completely different from the buyer who won states that he won the auction and asks you to ship the item to his "new" address; he's pretending to be the real winner/buyer. I.e. a different person claims to be the buyer of the auction in an attempt to get the seller to ship to them for free.

Ah right! Got it, thanks.

Seems glaringly obvious now but it didn't click for me earlier, I thought it was something else like the buyer claiming to have a different address, then later claim the package was lost. Dunno why I would even think that, given the proof would be right there. But anyways.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Ah right! Got it, thanks.

Seems glaringly obvious now but it didn't click for me earlier, I thought it was something else like the buyer claiming to have a different address, then later claim the package was lost. Dunno why I would even think that, given the proof would be right there. But anyways.

That type of scam is still unremediable. PayPal won't help you if you ship to any address different than the one in PayPal.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Zero feedback on eBay is a red flag in and of itself.

True, but there's no good way to screen them until after the fact (you'll need to remove them or add them to the blocked list after they bid, and sometimes they don't bid until the last second).

Buyer exclusion options merely allow you to disallow buyers bidding on more than 1 item for feedback below 5, but you'll have to add bidders with 0 feedback to the blocked list as you get them.

 

[lollkat]

Yeah, I am selling a lot currently on ebay a watch too (SS ML 42mm + a separate black sport band), so thanks for heads up! I really don't want to deal with scammers like this one.