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Is this an iPhone scam? If so, how does it work?

JayLenochiniMac said:
A slightly larger battery combined with a plastic case pretty much negate the better specs. They're basically the same specs and some may find the 5 more desirable because it has a metal case, especially in now discontinued black and slate.
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Bigger battery and better HD front facing camera. I agree the metal is probably more desirable to most people that never had it. From experience, I would choose the 5c over black/slate 5. It scratched way too easily.

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Phrasikleia said:
By the way, this thread has me really worried:

http://forums.imore.com/iphone-5s/268387-activation-locked-iphone-dfu-mode.html

A guy in the same boat, and he LOST the case with eBay! :(
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I hope it works out for you. I would keep hounding the seller. I wouldn't stop emailing him to the point that he gets annoyed. Have everyone you know flood his inbox lol.

As you said earlier though, 8 years on ebay and 100% feedback he might not be a bad seller. Give him a little time (24 hours).
 
luckydcxx said:
Bigger battery and better HD front facing camera. I agree the metal is probably more desirable to most people that never had it. From experience, I would choose the 5c over black/slate 5. It scratched way too easily.

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I hope it works out for you. I would keep hounding the seller. I wouldn't stop emailing him to the point that he gets annoyed. Have everyone you know flood his inbox lol.

As you said earlier though, 8 years on ebay and 100% feedback he might not be a bad seller. Give him a little time (24 hours).
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Yeah, I'm still hoping that he could come around with a reply. I've already sent him three messages through eBay. Fingers crossed.

JayLenochiniMac said:
There must be more to the story than the guy is telling us. ebay always side with the buyer when it comes to not-as-described dispute. All you have to do is send it back to him and provide evidence of it (i.e. tracking number).
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I hope you're right. I've been buying things on eBay for 13 years, and I've never been scammed. I'm really hoping this isn't the first.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but

Can't you just put in recovery/DFU and restore it?

EDIT: Nevermind, I just read that iOS 7 forces you to enter the seller's Apple ID
 
Phrasikleia said:
Apparently not with iOS 7. I tried it, and it didn't work. iTunes said that I needed to respond to the phone, and the phone was once again asking for the passcode.
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what if you try with iTunes beta (launched back in June/July for the first beta of iOS 7) and also select the ipsw manually?

EDIT: iOS 7.0? I remember watching some videos of people bypassing the passcode.. Maybe, just maybe, you can get iTunes to read it and then let you restore it.
 
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fedecape said:
what if you try with iTunes beta (launched back in June/July for the first beta of iOS 7) and also select the ipsw manually?

EDIT: iOS 7.0? I remember watching some videos of people bypassing the passcode.. Maybe, just maybe, you can get iTunes to read it and then let you restore it.
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Ugh, if it comes to that, I'll certainly try your suggestions. I just spent the last hour doing my best impression of a stalker. Found the seller's Facebook page; it's definitely him, complete with mentions of Saudi Arabia on it (he mentions his Saudi phone SIM in the ad). I now know what he looks like and have the name of his current employer. Not sure if any of that information will ever be of any use, though. I really just need for him to reply to me on eBay or else for eBay to rule in my favor.
 
Phrasikleia said:
Ugh, if it comes to that, I'll certainly try your suggestions. I just spent the last hour doing my best impression of a stalker. Found the seller's Facebook page; it's definitely him, complete with mentions of Saudi Arabia on it (he mentions his Saudi phone SIM in the ad). I now know what he looks like and have the name of his current employer. Not sure if any of that information will ever be of any use, though. I really just need for him to reply to me on eBay or else for eBay to rule in my favor.
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Don't worry, ebay is (at least for me) pretty good on refunding those that were wrong.

I've done a couple of transactions (not iphones) where I had to open a dispute, and ebay rewarded me every time

They gave both parties an x amount of days to reply and if one doesn't, the other party can close it, and usually ebay will refund the amount.

ALSO if he does reply, ALWAYS do communication via ebay messages so there is evidence and no he-say she-say situations in case ebay asks for any evidence.
 
6thDAY said:
Don't worry, ebay is (at least for me) pretty good on refunding those that were wrong.

I've done a couple of transactions (not iphones) where I had to open a dispute, and ebay rewarded me every time

They gave both parties an x amount of days to reply and if one doesn't, the other party can close it, and usually ebay will refund the amount.

ALSO if he does reply, ALWAYS do communication via ebay messages so there is evidence and no he-say she-say situations in case ebay asks for any evidence.
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Thanks for the encouragement and tips.

Just in case I do hear from him and he doesn't know what to do... Does anyone know if this is the right link to give him:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2701

Is that basically what he needs to do so that I can use the phone?
 
If it's really only been a couple hours, I would be a little more patient. We know you're anxious to use your phone, but having some patience is good too.

If he doesn't reply in say 2-3 days, then I would file a complaint. Also I think you need to wait like two weeks to file a claim anyways.
 
alphaod said:
If it's really only been a couple hours, I would be a little more patient. We know you're anxious to use your phone, but having some patience is good too.

If he doesn't reply in say 2-3 days, then I would file a complaint. Also I think you need to wait like two weeks to file a claim anyways.
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I appreciate your reply, but two to three days is an awfully generous amount of time. Anyone who is selling an expensive item should be on hand to make sure that the sale goes well, especially if the seller's sales strategy involves delivering a useless brick that requires action on his end for the item to become functional. I can be very patient when smaller sums are involved, but for something expensive, the burden is on him to check his email. As it is, he already has until Friday before the case escalates to eBay customer service. Right now it is in the period of seller-buyer resolution, which lasts five days. I see no reason to give him an additional three days beyond that.
 
i dont think this is a scam.


if he were a scammer he would have had at least a few negative comments throughout his (long and active) e-bay history.


if you've just received the phone a couple of hours ago give it time.

perhaps he is online on certain times of the day which coincided when you were browsing e-bay but not when you received the parcel.
 
24 hours.

If you send a message to an online retailer you might usually get a response that says "we've received your message, and someone will get back to you in 24 hours" or something similar.

You're counting down the minutes here! Your seller doesn't know exactly when you would have received the package and there's a good chance that he's not near a computer. Let's say he's in the car, and he's got a hell of a drive. He's turned his phone onto silent and gets bombarded with your messages later when he turns it back up...
He's in a meeting. "Sorry - can I just step outside here, I've got to deal with an ebay thing" is not going to go down so well.

Most importantly, what does a person with good history and feedback have to gain by actually sending you the phone, and then not letting you use it? How is that a scam? He may have not even realised it was locked after restoring the phone. He may have done what I do when I sell a phone and revert to "0000" or "1234" as a default password that anybody can guess. Try that.

In any case, you've got to give the guy more than a few hours to get back to you. I know you're very excited about using your new iPhone, but 5 hours? 6 Hours? Come on!

I'm sorry - you're complaint reads like this: "Some guy sent me a working product for a good price, and he isn't there for me RIGHT NOW to hold my hand through the activation".

Grow a pair. Honestly.
 
jadot said:
Most importantly, what does a person with good history and feedback have to gain by actually sending you the phone, and then not letting you use it? How is that a scam? He may have not even realised it was locked after restoring the phone. He may have done what I do when I sell a phone and revert to "0000" or "1234" as a default password that anybody can guess. Try that.

In any case, you've got to give the guy more than a few hours to get back to you. I know you're very excited about using your new iPhone, but 5 hours? 6 Hours? Come on!

I'm sorry - you're complaint reads like this: "Some guy sent me a working product for a good price, and he isn't there for me RIGHT NOW to hold my hand through the activation".

Grow a pair. Honestly.
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While you may have a point about waiting too soon, there are other concerns: 1) As the seller, he should have already done his research and known about activation locking and informed the buyer as such in the listing if that was his intent, 2) the seller has listed the item twice and apologized for not being more careful in describing the phone only after the fact, 3) while "excellent condition" may be acceptable based on people's loose definitions, he neglected to mention two glaring defects in his description, and 4) he was initially quick to respond to the buyer's questions and stopped only after getting paid (as well as failing to upload the tracking information in a timely manner).
 
jadot said:
If you send a message to an online retailer you might usually get a response that says "we've received your message, and someone will get back to you in 24 hours" or something similar.

You're counting down the minutes here! Your seller doesn't know exactly when you would have received the package and there's a good chance that he's not near a computer. Let's say he's in the car, and he's got a hell of a drive. He's turned his phone onto silent and gets bombarded with your messages later when he turns it back up...
He's in a meeting. "Sorry - can I just step outside here, I've got to deal with an ebay thing" is not going to go down so well.

Most importantly, what does a person with good history and feedback have to gain by actually sending you the phone, and then not letting you use it? How is that a scam? He may have not even realised it was locked after restoring the phone. He may have done what I do when I sell a phone and revert to "0000" or "1234" as a default password that anybody can guess. Try that.

In any case, you've got to give the guy more than a few hours to get back to you. I know you're very excited about using your new iPhone, but 5 hours? 6 Hours? Come on!

I'm sorry - you're complaint reads like this: "Some guy sent me a working product for a good price, and he isn't there for me RIGHT NOW to hold my hand through the activation".

Grow a pair. Honestly.
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"Grow a pair"? These kinds of condescending, immature replies are neither constructive nor collegial. Apparently you haven't read the thread and aren't grasping all of the things that would erode the confidence of any buyer. And you certainly didn't read the part about how a simple passcode will not solve this problem. The guy actually needs to remote wipe the phone from iCloud to disassociate it from his Apple ID. There is no other way.

And your question about "what does a person have to gain" if this is a scam is precisely the one I asked in the title and OP of this thread. Perhaps you missed those parts as well.

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JayLenochiniMac said:
While you may have a point about waiting too soon, there are other concerns: 1) As the seller, he should have already done his research and known about activation locking and informed the buyer as such in the listing if that was his intent, 2) the seller has listed the item twice and apologized for not being more careful in describing the phone only after the fact, 3) while "excellent condition" may be acceptable based on people's loose definitions, he neglected to mention two glaring defects in his description, and 4) he was initially quick to respond to the buyer's questions and stopped only after getting paid (as well as failing to upload the tracking information in a timely manner).
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Thank you for that. At least someone is paying attention.
 
I believe it will be okay, just do something else in the meantime, helps you get over the waiting time. I totally know how you feel, Iam always anxious about new items I buy and god save everyone around me if there is something that does not work as I want it to.

I didn't notice where you are from, but I guess not Saudi as he is, so there is also different timezone, please note that.
 
Phrasikleia said:
"Grow a pair"? These kinds of condescending, immature replies are neither constructive nor collegial. Apparently you haven't read the thread and aren't grasping all of the things that would erode the confidence of any buyer. And you certainly didn't read the part about how a simple passcode will not solve this problem. The guy actually needs to remote wipe the phone from iCloud to disassociate it from his Apple ID. There is no other way.

And your question about "what does a person have to gain" if this is a scam is precisely the one I asked in the title and OP of this thread. Perhaps you missed those parts as well.

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Thank you for that. At least someone is paying attention.
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If you are selling a phone with a passcode on, it should be in the listing description. If the phone has dents or scratches, no matter how small it should stated.
 
Sadisterr said:
I believe it will be okay, just do something else in the meantime, helps you get over the waiting time. I totally know how you feel, Iam always anxious about new items I buy and god save everyone around me if there is something that does not work as I want it to.

I didn't notice where you are from, but I guess not Saudi as he is, so there is also different timezone, please note that.
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He lives in New Orleans but apparently travels regularly to Saudi Arabia. He mailed my package from New Orleans on Friday, so he was in the USA at least that recently.

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617aircav said:
If you are selling a phone with a passcode on, it should be in the listing description. If the phone has dents or scratches, no matter how small it should stated.
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My thoughts exactly.
 
617aircav said:
If you are selling a phone with a passcode on, it should be in the listing description. If the phone has dents or scratches, no matter how small it should stated.
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there is always the possibility (however remote) that he forgot to reset his phone before shipping it and the password it now asks for is actually his own password.
 
Troneas said:
there is always the possibility (however remote) that he forgot to reset his phone before shipping it and the password it now asks for is actually his own password.
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That was my first assumption. The phone has a custom wallpaper on the lock screen, which suggests to me that he never wiped the phone. But who knows.

What do you guys make of the fact that the product box he shipped (the Apple iPhone box) lists a different IMEI number than the one on the back of the phone?

If I search the serial number on the box using Apple's serial look-up, it comes back as "replaced," in red type, which could mean stolen, apparently. But the IMEI on the box is not the one on the phone. I can't see the serial number of the phone because it's not printed on the outside of it.
 
Phrasikleia said:
That was my first assumption. The phone has a custom wallpaper on the lock screen, which suggests to me that he never wiped the phone. But who knows.

What do you guys make of the fact that the product box he shipped (the Apple iPhone box) lists a different IMEI number than the one on the back of the phone?

If I search the serial number on the box using Apple's serial look-up, it comes back as "replaced," in red type, which could mean stolen, apparently. But the IMEI on the box is not the one on the phone. I can't see the serial number of the phone because it's not printed on the outside of it.
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replaced could just mean replaced. he got a replacement phone with apple (presumably the one he sold to you) which could explain why the original box does not match the new phone's number.

i've never had a device replaced by apple but i don't think you are required to hand over the original box to them as well (some people throw the boxes away). i am not sure about this though.
 
Phrasikleia said:
"Grow a pair"? These kinds of condescending, immature replies are neither constructive nor collegial. Apparently you haven't read the thread and aren't grasping all of the things that would erode the confidence of any buyer. And you certainly didn't read the part about how a simple passcode will not solve this problem. The guy actually needs to remote wipe the phone from iCloud to disassociate it from his Apple ID. There is no other way.

And your question about "what does a person have to gain" if this is a scam is precisely the one I asked in the title and OP of this thread. Perhaps you missed those parts as well.
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My bad. But my point is fair - we live in a culture of NOW. A little patience is usually required in your situation and you have no evidence to suggest that you've been 'scammed'.
When the seller gets back to his computer, he'll do doubt contact you and give you the passcode. That's it.
Alternatively, if you have been scammed, you'll likely have to go through the eBay process and claim your money back, and probably get to keep the iPhone too.
 
Phrasikleia said:
...
What do you guys make of the fact that the product box he shipped (the Apple iPhone box) lists a different IMEI number than the one on the back of the phone?

If I search the serial number on the box using Apple's serial look-up, it comes back as "replaced," in red type, which could mean stolen, apparently. But the IMEI on the box is not the one on the phone. I can't see the serial number of the phone because it's not printed on the outside of it.
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Of course, this could be great news, you'll get a newer phone if it was replaced... I can only imagine the anticipation if you have a new-to-you iDevice sitting there just waiting for the passcode... my fingers are crossed for you that it all works out :)
 
jadot said:
My bad. But my point is fair - we live in a culture of NOW. A little patience is usually required in your situation and you have no evidence to suggest that you've been 'scammed'.
When the seller gets back to his computer, he'll do doubt contact you and give you the passcode. That's it.
Alternatively, if you have been scammed, you'll likely have to go through the eBay process and claim your money back, and probably get to keep the iPhone too.
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I don't know how eBay claims work, and I wonder if that's where the scam lies if this is one. What if I'm supposed to return it, and then he says I sent back the wrong phone (the IMEI numbers on the box and phone don't match, after all). Or what if he says he received a package containing rocks instead of a phone? Ugh. It has now been 18 hours, and I've had far too much time to think about all of the worst-case scenarios.

And as for him "getting back to his computer," all of his messages to me were labeled as having been sent with eBay Mobile. So he does have a mobile device.
 
Phrasikleia said:
I don't know how eBay claims work, and I wonder if that's where the scam lies if this is one. What if I'm supposed to return it, and then he says I sent back the wrong phone (the IMEI numbers on the box and phone don't match, after all). Or what if he says he received a package containing rocks instead of a phone? Ugh. It has now been 18 hours, and I've had far too much time to think about all of the worst-case scenarios.

And as for him "getting back to his computer," all of his messages to me were labeled as having been sent with eBay Mobile. So he does have a mobile device.
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You said the phone had visible damage that wasn't described in the posting? You can use that to start the claim with ebay/paypal.
 
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