Pinkham Bi-Quality at Ebay today

[CCHarrison]

Proceed with caution. I think this is a fraudelent or hijacked auction. The lens shown is one I formally owned, # 113. Based on the "buy it now" message for $ 1500 and the "contact me before bidding" messages in the subject body, I believe there is something very fishy about this auction.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPER-RARE-PINKHAM-BI-QUALITY-14-SOFT-FOCUS-8X10-LENS-/280763441800?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item415ece2288

Dan

[BarryS]

It's definitely 100% phony. These ads pop up and get deleted quickly.

[cdholden]

I agree.
Notice how the "contact me..." part is a photo, not text. This will aid them in dodging Ebay's red flags by keeping these shady instructions out of searchable text.

[eddie]

been running that ad for a while. who ever wins it keep us posted....:)

[Steven Tribe]

1 day auction!
How could anyone see this as a real listing?

[polyglot]

It's probably a money-laundering operation. Common approach is to post an imaginary but valuable item for sale and have someone "buy" it and transfer the funds. Money from drugs or whatever is channeled through a couple of these transactions and suddenly it has a paper trail.

There is no lens, but I suspect that they don't actually want *you* to bid. The one-day thing is part of it, they want a narrow window in which only the right person (the other party to the laundering) will make the transaction.

[Steven Tribe]

I always thought that inactive/defunct sellers were the most targeted for this. But here is a seller in France who has 6978 items listed at the moment - so he probably doesn't have time to check his listings. Strangely enough, the "pinkham" listing doesn't appear to be in his long list of items for sale - at least not where is should be (time left).
Because a e**y expert could explain why?

[Dr Klaus Schmitt]

Gosh, I see that same set of images in fraudulent listings several times a week. They disappear usually within hours.

If you see such text, just report it with two clicks on the right side using "report item" as "fraudulent listing" to help to keep that place clean.

It is usually hijacked accounts where the owner had once clicked on a phishing email and gave away his password. That usually happens with pro listers having several hundreds of items listed, so that gets unnoticed.

[Geoffrey_5995]

I know for sure this is a fraudulent auction because that lens is one I sold some two years back and the description and photos were lifted and continue to pop up in these phoney listings. The lens is sitting on my kitchen table. Definitely avoid this listing and ones like it. Notice he states, Do not bid, this item available through buy it now only. You must contact him through his email address only, not through the eBay messaging system. This is because he has highjacked someone's eBay account. There are tons of red flags in this listing and ones like it. The only thing real is his email address for you to contact him so he can steal your money.

[domaz]

It's removed now. How hard would it be for E-Bay to do OCR on images posted in there auctions? It's not acceptable that it was up for so many hours before they did something IMO.

[Alan Gales]

I have seen this lens on Ebay before. This lens and other items pop up occasionally and are quickly removed. Something illicit is going on.

[jp]

I noticed the email instructions were in an image file and that caused some red flags. Just for curiosity sake, I emailed: I'll be bidding on 280763441800 before it was taken down.

and got back:
Hello,

If you want you can buy it without biding trough eBay you will only have to tell me your full name and address and after that eBay will contact you with all the details about this deal.

Thanks !


So it's looking like a scheme to get people to part with their money outside of the Ebay system. (and perhaps to have an address to rob or use for identity theft)

Obviously I didn't write back.

[Geoffrey_5995]

I noticed the email instructions were in an image file and that caused some red flags. Just for curiosity sake, I emailed: I'll be bidding on 280763441800 before it was taken down.

and got back:
Hello,

If you want you can buy it without biding trough eBay you will only have to tell me your full name and address and after that eBay will contact you with all the details about this deal.

Thanks !


So it's looking like a scheme to get people to part with their money outside of the Ebay system. (and perhaps to have an address to rob or use for identity theft)

Obviously I didn't write back.

My advice would be to not have any contact with these people. They could possibly get your email address or other info by just your contact and use it illegally against you. Best thing is to just report the item to eBay to have it removed as quickly as possible.

[originalphoto]

come back again: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/SUPER-RARE-PINKHAM-BI-QUALITY-14-SOFT-FOCUS-8X10-LENS/253180352544?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

[Lachlan 717]

There's usually also a heap of other stuff, such as Phillips Cameras.

S/he also posts heaps of 'Blad digital bodies.

I got sick of reporting them...