Ripped off on Ebay for £410

Some of you will have seen on other threads that I had paid £410 for a Samsung GX20 Body on Ebay (Auction 18/3/09). It now seems that this was a massive scam possibly involving around £250,000. It was spotted by someone on the Talk Photography Forum on the 14/3/09 and reported to Ebay, but nothing was done and it was allowed to go until 25 negatives one after the other were received and Ebay just deleted the site link . I reported it twice to Ebay, but only received the standard acknowledgment. I paid by Bank Transfer, because the site didn't seem to accept Paypal.

There's a 5 page thread on ebay forums here

A Google archived sample listing is here

Archives of the Seller History seem to be here

Quite a long thread on the Talk Photography Forum.

Unbelievable that Ebay and the Police do not want to know about such a large fraud. One person has paid out over £13,000.

The last feedback he left (verified off the Buyers feedback) was:
"thank you 4 everything, ebay are liable. am off to st lucia now. sun sea n ho's"

I feel gutted, but I have lost a lot less than most.

shim

sorry to hear that shim, thats why i never buy anything now unless i can pay via paypal or credit card,

Thank you for the update, hopefully it will help others to avoid any similar pitfalls.

Sorry to hear of your bad luck shim. I hope someone takes this seriously and catches the perpetrator. It is that sort of scam that ruins ebay for the rest of us.

I have every sympathy for you and the others that got scammed but Ebay have time and time again warned against using bank transfer,cheque or cash. Infact isnt there a chart on every auction saying that it is not covered in their T&C's?

Gutted!

Me too.
Keep us updated.

John

I made the mistake of being honest. I'm used to buying stuff from Computer Fairs etc. and it's normal to pay cash, because the dealer is selling at rock bottom prices and hasn't included for Credit Card charges. They used to happily accept Credit Cards but would add on the charges.

I've been buying off ebay for years and have had no problems (years ago) with sellers who would only accept cheques etc. The only other problem I had on ebay involved Paypal who wouldn't reimburse me £130 for a non-working DAT Recorder merely based on a technicality that it would have been impossible to comply with at the time, so I've never regarded Paypal as protection, although they have changed the rules lately.

I certainly wouldn't use anything other than Paypal in the future, although buying anything off ebay is risky. One Russian site was recently shut down for selling stolen ebay accounts, but many others still operate and they even have forums.

shim

The thing is that eBay is so big that bad things will happen.

By and large, photographic dealing is OK, especially with vintage stuff, because the customers and sellers can both be quite knowledgable. Usually scammers can be spotted.

I'm surprised that £420 for a GX20 body excited so much interest. After cashback, our K20D + 18-55mm II packages cost us just £465 each.

Shim
This is so terrible. I am with you on this and I know precisely how you are feeling. It just ruins your trusting attitude. I have been on the receiving end too just a couple of years ago, slightly different, as a seller and ended up shipping second hand camcorder and some mobile phones all the way to Africa. What annoyed me most was the cost I paid for the shipment rather than not getting the money for the goods sold, they were old and were in the shed just gathering dust.
I truly am sorry for what happened to you. I know you really had high hopes for this GX20 and you had mentioned it when you sold me the TC.
Well, just think that it could have been a lot more, compared to those who lost thousands at least you know you are out of your pocket for £420. Still very bad though and bleemingly annoying.

Amin

There is no cashback now though so there is a saving to be had.

Very sorry to hear that Shim Thats a big chunk of change to lose like that. Mongrels

I have recently had the opposite happen to me, where as the seller wouldn't send me the invoice with the postage costs of the item I had just won. I sent several messages asking for the postage costs so I could pay for it and he could then ship it to me. But nothing for a week until the item turned up on my doorstep Well I got the postage cost as it was written on the box, so I decided to send the payment via Paypal, but it has sat unclaimed in Paypal for 3 days, (i don't think the seller has an account). I left him feedback saying what a great seller he was

The cash backs finished John and not many dealers have K20D's or GX20's in stock. Seems like Pentax and Samsung aren't interested in selling cameras, even used one's are going for £450 body only. I didn't really want one as I have the K10D, but if one came along at the right price I willing to take it. The absolute limit inc. postage that would tempt me was £410 and this one was described as : (pastes from listing)

BRAND NEW SAMSUNG GX-20 DIGITAL SLR CAMERA
Body only no lens
UK Version - 2 Year Warranty

SAMSUNG GX-20 DIGITAL SLR CAMERA (BODY ONLY)
UK Version - 2 Year Warranty - Brand New & Sealed

So it didn't sound like a refurb which a lot of the ones on ebay are and this was the third one that I bid on from the same dealer the others went for over £410. It didn't look like a scam and if someone was operating a scam you would think they would do it with better brand names than Samsung.

It's very unusual for me to buy a camera off ebay, I bought my K10D off Mathers in Bolton and the *ist DS off Kamera in St. Helens who have the K20D with lens for £590 which I almost went for, but thought I don't need it that bad.

It's strange that if someone puts a listing on ebay with something like swap mentioned it will be pulled within minutes, but massive scams don't get pulled. I was wrong about when ebay pulled this it wasn't because there had been 25 consecutive negative feedbacks. The seller changed his name and made the listings private before they pulled it.

shim

I was thinking the same thing. You'd think a scammer would go with more popular or in-demand products to make the quick buck.

Oh & after cashback my K20d + 18-55mm II cost me £419

Please dont tell me it was the auction that had the 1.7x converter hidden inside otherwise I am likely to go outside and top myself in total disgust.