Hey all,
I had a strange experience recently after advertizing a camera on the SB buy/sell/trade section.
I got a response through email. Person asked a few questions about the condition of the camera. I responded. Next mail asked for my phone number so they could call & make arrangements to buy camera. I complied.
Next day I get a call from some sort of telecomunication service. The operator explained that she would be reading text from her computer (from caller) and then typing my responses back to him. She said nothing about any reversed charges, or any costs to me. The conversation was brief (about 5 minutes). The jist of it was that he was sending me a cashiers check, with address to ship the camera to.
All of the emails (and the call) were worded and spelled poorly. I had the impression that it was a foreign person who did not speak good english. The next email I got said that he was sending me a cashiers check. Weird thing is he said the check would be for $5,500.00 (I was selling the camera for $1,200) and that he would let me know where to send the balance. I found this to be very odd (to say the least).
After this I was skeptical that I would receive any money at all, or hear from him again. I did not hear anything again, not did I get a check. No big deal.
Well, now I get my phone bill, open it and say holy #%@* and a couple of other words
There is a charge for over $40 for one call. I look up the international exchange, call came from the UAE.
Living in the US, of course this raised all kinds of questions in my mind. SCUBA gear? Terrorists? Scams? Very strange.
I don't expect too much trouble getting the charges dropped from my bill. We'll see.
I don't get the scam??????? Is this person getting a commission on the phone call? Are they using the connection to somehow make other calls at my expense?
I travel a lot. I use the internet a lot. I'm usually pretty good about protecting myself from scams, but they slid one by me this time.
I certainly don't blame SB in any way. This was the first time I've advertized anything on SB and I'm wondering if anyone else ever experience anything like this??
Anyway, just thought I'd give a heads up.
I had a strange experience recently after advertizing a camera on the SB buy/sell/trade section.
I got a response through email. Person asked a few questions about the condition of the camera. I responded. Next mail asked for my phone number so they could call & make arrangements to buy camera. I complied.
Next day I get a call from some sort of telecomunication service. The operator explained that she would be reading text from her computer (from caller) and then typing my responses back to him. She said nothing about any reversed charges, or any costs to me. The conversation was brief (about 5 minutes). The jist of it was that he was sending me a cashiers check, with address to ship the camera to.
All of the emails (and the call) were worded and spelled poorly. I had the impression that it was a foreign person who did not speak good english. The next email I got said that he was sending me a cashiers check. Weird thing is he said the check would be for $5,500.00 (I was selling the camera for $1,200) and that he would let me know where to send the balance. I found this to be very odd (to say the least).
After this I was skeptical that I would receive any money at all, or hear from him again. I did not hear anything again, not did I get a check. No big deal.
Well, now I get my phone bill, open it and say holy #%@* and a couple of other words
There is a charge for over $40 for one call. I look up the international exchange, call came from the UAE.
Living in the US, of course this raised all kinds of questions in my mind. SCUBA gear? Terrorists? Scams? Very strange.
I don't expect too much trouble getting the charges dropped from my bill. We'll see.
I don't get the scam??????? Is this person getting a commission on the phone call? Are they using the connection to somehow make other calls at my expense?
I travel a lot. I use the internet a lot. I'm usually pretty good about protecting myself from scams, but they slid one by me this time.
I certainly don't blame SB in any way. This was the first time I've advertized anything on SB and I'm wondering if anyone else ever experience anything like this??
Anyway, just thought I'd give a heads up.