The Pandemic Soul

The Setup
I’m selling my iPod on eBay so that I can buy a new video iPod. Here’s my listing.

My “buy it now” price is $350, being that the package comes with a bunch of accessories.

Last night, I got an e-mail from “tina ray ‘tina_ray84@yahoo.co.uk’” which said:

Hello,
i am interested in purchasing this item for resell in my store, i will be paying you the buy it now price for the items and i want to know if it has been used and how long it has been used. And does it have all the cables and accessories complete?
Tina Raymonds.

ALWAYS BE NICE COZ YOU DON’T KNOW WHO YOU WILL MEET LATER IN LIFE…
… BUT ……NO LONG THING.

Annoyances
Immediately, I was a bit irked by the response. If you look at my listing, you’ll see that it very clearly states how long the item has been used and what accessories are included. Nonetheless, an offer to “Buy it now” for the full price I want is something that perks my interest. I’m also a little wary of the yahoo.co.uk address — my listing very clearly says I do not ship out of US or Canada.

My response:

Yes, it has been used :) I had another iPod just like this, but it died, so iPod sent me one through the AppleCare program. When I received this iPod through AppleCare, it appeared new — although they said it could be refurbished.

I received it sometime around 12/07/05. I have used it regularly since then, but it appears nearly new.

All of the accessories are in tact, but there are NO HEADPHONES included. Otherwise, everything else is there.

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to e-mail me! :)

Jordan

Here’s what I get back:

Hello,
thanks for the mail i will like to pay you the buy it now prrice of $350.00 and i will be paying via bidpay money order so let me know what you fel.
Thanks.
Tina Raymonds.

Within a few minutes, I get an instant message on Yahoo! by this person. You can read the discussion we have here.

You can also see the packing label and FedEx label.

Suspicions
Now, as I’m going through all this, I’m thinking that some of this just doesn’t line up. Here are just some of the red flags she’s throwing in my face:

• She says she’s from WI and in the UK on business — but she has a co.uk Yahoo mail address?
• Who’s this person in LAGOS I’m sending this stuff too?
• What’s all the rush? Why does it have to go today?
• BidPay’s website shows that they are closed and no longer operate. So are they really still servicing current customers?
• eBay’s (now outdated) information about BidPay says you have to wait for the payment to clear, but she’s acting like I’m going to get it today.

Rationalizing
I’ve been using some form of the internet for over 12 years now. I consider myself pretty damn savvy. This whole thing seems pretty shady, but nonetheless, the offer of not only buying my current iPod and my old one (the 5 GB mentioned in the log) is too good to pass up. All I’m thinking about is my new video iPod that I’m going to have by tomorrow! Dollar signs are appearing before my eyes and I just keep telling myself that as long as I have the money, I’ll send the iPods to the moon — especially since they’re paying for shipping!

Final Straw
So I leave my house and race to work to get my adapter. At work, I’m relieved to have my badge get me in the door, even though I’m not due to work today. I then head to FedEx and, just for good measure, leave my iPod boxes and all that in the car. I know I have to make copies of my AppleCare agreement first anyway, and I need to get the confirmation of payment from my webmail. (I know I’ll need to make copies of the AppleCare stuff anyway, so I’m not too worried at this point that I’m wasting my time — I know that at least I’ll have it done and I can use it when I do send the stuff.)

After driving to work and to FedEx, I’m pretty convinced that this is probably a scam. By the time I check my e-mail, I am completely convinced. Take a look at the “BidPay Payment Confirmation” I get.

Can you spot all the bullshit?

1. Copious use of caps, bold and italics.
2. Background image? What is this — 1998?
3. No such address of “135 N Section St, Nekoosa, WI 54457″
4. E-mails from generic domains (@usa.com, @mail.com)
5. The “order status” link that isn’t even masked to LOOK like BidPay’s website
6. My favorite: “FBI SCAM FREE”
7. And, of course, the Yahoo advertisement at the bottom.

Nice try…
Had me going there. Visions of video iPods dancing in my head. But while I may have been born at night, I wasn’t born last night.

I sent “Tina” an e-mail that said I was not accepting the BidPay agreement, but if she wanted to send me a PayPal payment immediately, I would be more than happy to ship. No response since then.