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View Full Version : What do you think????
GreenEyes81
11-21-2010, 07:57 PM
Read every thing before you say SCAM! :) I have been offered a job of posting items for sale on Ebay, collect payment, and send the guy his money. Right off I know there are people out there doing this scamming people all the time. However there are a few things that are making me think this might be legitimate. Below are my reasons.
1. Company is listed with BBB with a B+ rating. I verified this along with the contact name, length of business, and contact information with what I was given.
2. Been in buisnes since 2002-buisness type matches what BBB lists.
3. He is WILLING to let me keep all money until he provides me with a tracking number that I can use to see that the person as received correct product BEFORE sending him money. (THIS IS THE BIG ONE)
4. He can write with correct English!! LOL
5. He is not promising thousands of dollars a week. Be about $2-300 a week with amount of work equaling pay.
So with that information do you think its worth taking a chance? I can't seem to think of any way that I could be hurt if I keep the money until I know everything is ok. If its not I can return the money and walk away.
Thoughts?
1. Company is listed with BBB with a B+ rating. I verified this along with the contact name, length of business, and contact information with what I was given.
2. Been in buisnes since 2002-buisness type matches what BBB lists.
3. He is WILLING to let me keep all money until he provides me with a tracking number that I can use to see that the person as received correct product BEFORE sending him money. (THIS IS THE BIG ONE)
4. He can write with correct English!! LOL
5. He is not promising thousands of dollars a week. Be about $2-300 a week with amount of work equaling pay.
So with that information do you think its worth taking a chance? I can't seem to think of any way that I could be hurt if I keep the money until I know everything is ok. If its not I can return the money and walk away.
Thoughts?
johnsonb
11-21-2010, 08:35 PM
Read every thing before you say SCAM! :) I have been offered a job of posting items for sale on Ebay, collect payment, and send the guy his money. Right off I know there are people out there doing this scamming people all the time. However there are a few things that are making me think this might be legitimate. Below are my reasons.
1. Company is listed with BBB with a B+ rating. I verified this along with the contact name, length of business, and contact information with what I was given.
2. Been in buisnes since 2002-buisness type matches what BBB lists.
3. He is WILLING to let me keep all money until he provides me with a tracking number that I can use to see that the person as received correct product BEFORE sending him money. (THIS IS THE BIG ONE)
4. He can write with correct English!! LOL
5. He is not promising thousands of dollars a week. Be about $2-300 a week with amount of work equaling pay.
So with that information do you think its worth taking a chance? I can't seem to think of any way that I could be hurt if I keep the money until I know everything is ok. If its not I can return the money and walk away.
Thoughts?
Cheryl it does sound too good to be true, but you can give it a try! Like you said, DO NOT release any funds until you know for sure the customer has received the product. Don't just go by the tracking number, do your research because the tracking number could be for anyone and anyone can easily say they are the person for that tracking number or pretend they are the person for that tracking number and have access to it. So be careful!! Good luck!
1. Company is listed with BBB with a B+ rating. I verified this along with the contact name, length of business, and contact information with what I was given.
2. Been in buisnes since 2002-buisness type matches what BBB lists.
3. He is WILLING to let me keep all money until he provides me with a tracking number that I can use to see that the person as received correct product BEFORE sending him money. (THIS IS THE BIG ONE)
4. He can write with correct English!! LOL
5. He is not promising thousands of dollars a week. Be about $2-300 a week with amount of work equaling pay.
So with that information do you think its worth taking a chance? I can't seem to think of any way that I could be hurt if I keep the money until I know everything is ok. If its not I can return the money and walk away.
Thoughts?
Cheryl it does sound too good to be true, but you can give it a try! Like you said, DO NOT release any funds until you know for sure the customer has received the product. Don't just go by the tracking number, do your research because the tracking number could be for anyone and anyone can easily say they are the person for that tracking number or pretend they are the person for that tracking number and have access to it. So be careful!! Good luck!
GreenEyes81
11-21-2010, 08:40 PM
Good point on the tracking number. I have been chatting with him on AIM. He claims he did not even know that this was an on going scam. lol I hope he is as honest as he claims to be.
I am not going shopping right away that is for sure!
I am not going shopping right away that is for sure!
SmartChic
11-22-2010, 12:04 AM
This is a well known drop shipping scam. I will highly advise you to be careful. I know someone who worked in a position like this. She was working for a guy who "supposedly" had a huge Ebay account. Her job was to post pics and prices of items for sale. She was the "go to" person for customer service and payments.
After about 2 weeks of working for him, she started getting all types of email from the customers stating that they had not received their products. When she tried to contact the guy, he went MIA (missing in action). Come to find out, there was never any products.. just fake pics. Because she could not prove the existence of this guy, she was required to pay all of the customers their money back.
About 3 months later, she was investigating the situation herself and was able to bait out one of the guys involved. He told authorities that him and another guy was pretending to buy and sell from one another in order to get good ratings. He said they also did some a few items but not many. But overall, they pretended to buy and sell and then rated one another.
So be very careful with this. If he is doing anything illegal, you will be caught in the middle of it. Also, don't allow him to put anything in your name and if he require you to be the contact person, after a few sales, try to follow up with the customers, via email to make sure they have received their items.
After about 2 weeks of working for him, she started getting all types of email from the customers stating that they had not received their products. When she tried to contact the guy, he went MIA (missing in action). Come to find out, there was never any products.. just fake pics. Because she could not prove the existence of this guy, she was required to pay all of the customers their money back.
About 3 months later, she was investigating the situation herself and was able to bait out one of the guys involved. He told authorities that him and another guy was pretending to buy and sell from one another in order to get good ratings. He said they also did some a few items but not many. But overall, they pretended to buy and sell and then rated one another.
So be very careful with this. If he is doing anything illegal, you will be caught in the middle of it. Also, don't allow him to put anything in your name and if he require you to be the contact person, after a few sales, try to follow up with the customers, via email to make sure they have received their items.
she
11-22-2010, 04:01 AM
Yes, I would agree with smartchic that you should proceed with caution on this. I checked one of these opportunities 2 years ago and was weary because all the upfront cost was going to be on me and then in the end I send the person his money. Flags went up for me on that.
Id also like to point out that I see a lot of posts referrencing a "high rating" on BBB. There has been several recent articles and at least one national news report on the BBB and their rating system. The word "scam" was used in that too. They showed how Wolfgang Puck, who is probably the best chef on national TV...whom has never registered with the BBB...but they gave him an F rating. How ridiculous is that? Then a group in Los Angeles tested this out by creating a biz name of "Hamas", (after the Palestinian organization) and for a fee of $ 395 BBB gave them an "A" rating. So basically, they paid for the good rating.
The BBB has no authority whatsoever. But businesses know that the public puts all their trust into those ratings, so it has raised a lot of frustrations. Please see for yourself by searching this out on the internet. In the meantime, here is the news report on ABC:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/video/hamas-rating-bbb-12188207
Id also like to point out that I see a lot of posts referrencing a "high rating" on BBB. There has been several recent articles and at least one national news report on the BBB and their rating system. The word "scam" was used in that too. They showed how Wolfgang Puck, who is probably the best chef on national TV...whom has never registered with the BBB...but they gave him an F rating. How ridiculous is that? Then a group in Los Angeles tested this out by creating a biz name of "Hamas", (after the Palestinian organization) and for a fee of $ 395 BBB gave them an "A" rating. So basically, they paid for the good rating.
The BBB has no authority whatsoever. But businesses know that the public puts all their trust into those ratings, so it has raised a lot of frustrations. Please see for yourself by searching this out on the internet. In the meantime, here is the news report on ABC:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/video/hamas-rating-bbb-12188207
SmartChic
11-22-2010, 10:23 PM
That is so right. The BBB is a good resource.. but it is not designed to be used as verifying the legitimacy of a company. Businesses CAN buy a rating. So, its a good place to start, but it should never be used to make your final decision.
anniekatt
11-23-2010, 09:52 AM
I agree that you need to proceed with extreme caution on this one--if at all!
Sounds like there are too many red flags already built in. And i find it hard
to belieive, frankly, that this guy has not heard about the drop shipping scams.
Wishing you the best,
Annie
Sounds like there are too many red flags already built in. And i find it hard
to belieive, frankly, that this guy has not heard about the drop shipping scams.
Wishing you the best,
Annie
msuggitt
11-23-2010, 10:23 AM
any involvement of collecting payments FOR ANYONE can not only lead to you losing money but you can easily also find yourself involved in an illegal opperation such as money laundering - the FBI and CIA have been diligently been warning people in the US for at least 10 years now - and auction scams are still at the top of the list.
and don't forget, if you find yourself in the middle of an illegal opperation, ignorance of the law is no excuse.... I mean ebay requires the seller to collect payment so why would anyone need help on that end with options such as paypal available??????? you could also get in trouble from ebay if you get caught up in wrongdoing...
please be careful - with the holidays the scams & illegal operations are at full tilt!
and don't forget, if you find yourself in the middle of an illegal opperation, ignorance of the law is no excuse.... I mean ebay requires the seller to collect payment so why would anyone need help on that end with options such as paypal available??????? you could also get in trouble from ebay if you get caught up in wrongdoing...
please be careful - with the holidays the scams & illegal operations are at full tilt!
Adrianne
11-24-2010, 05:32 AM
Sounds like he's putting you front and center to take all the heat in the event that things take a turn for the worst. Maybe you can negotiate with him that you will do the posting and place the orders but he will have to handle customer service issues. If he's legit, it shouldn't be a problem.
GreenEyes81
11-24-2010, 02:42 PM
Adrianne-thats exactly what he wants. If any one has questions about the products I am to forward them to him to answer. He also emailed me and said he wanted to wait to post anything until after Thanksgiving. We are to start on Monday. I would think that is a good sign that he has the product. If you didn't plan on shipping anything I would think a person would want to post asap to get the money and run.
My husband is wondering if he is trying to launder money for tax avoidance. I don't really understand how that would work though. I would claim my income. If he choose not to, why is that my problem?
My husband is wondering if he is trying to launder money for tax avoidance. I don't really understand how that would work though. I would claim my income. If he choose not to, why is that my problem?
sophiasmommy
11-25-2010, 09:58 AM
I got scammed out of $8,000 last year at this time for that same thing. I sold iPhones on eBay and paid them through Paypal. I didn't realize that Paypal didn't investigate personal payments, so I lost all the money sent to her through that form. I lost everything. We luckily were able to get the police involved, found more people she had scammed, and found out it was a HUGE thing. Now we wait.
If you do choose to follow through, be sure to use regular payment (not personal to "avoid fees").
Before this, though, ask yourself why they need you to sell them and not just do it themselves? I should have asked myself that. Duh. I feel so dumb thinking back now.
Have you spoken with him on the phone? Do you have all of his personal information (home number, addresss, etc.?) Make sure he doesn't ask you to open a bank account with you. That was one of the things she tried to do, too. Does he live in Florida, by chance?
If you have questions, please feel free to pm me.
Good luck on your decision!
If you do choose to follow through, be sure to use regular payment (not personal to "avoid fees").
Before this, though, ask yourself why they need you to sell them and not just do it themselves? I should have asked myself that. Duh. I feel so dumb thinking back now.
Have you spoken with him on the phone? Do you have all of his personal information (home number, addresss, etc.?) Make sure he doesn't ask you to open a bank account with you. That was one of the things she tried to do, too. Does he live in Florida, by chance?
If you have questions, please feel free to pm me.
Good luck on your decision!
notary_mom
11-25-2010, 12:09 PM
Literally as I was typing this Sophiasmommy was answering as well... That situation was the one I was referencing below...
I just wanted to chime in that a guy came on this site and had a wahm on this site doing that same sort of thing for him. The problem was that he was shipping out fake/demo iphones and charging people for real working ones. In that case the tracking number will show delivered but...... She went through so much heartache and lost so much money. Please proceed with caution
Blessings,
Brandy
I just wanted to chime in that a guy came on this site and had a wahm on this site doing that same sort of thing for him. The problem was that he was shipping out fake/demo iphones and charging people for real working ones. In that case the tracking number will show delivered but...... She went through so much heartache and lost so much money. Please proceed with caution
Blessings,
Brandy
