Potential scam - looking for opinions

I need some quick advice on this:
I'm trying to sell a Canon 18mm lens. I just posted the ad on Craigslist and immediately got hit up by some guy from the United Kingdom. He says he wants to buy it for his son who’s heading out on a trip to Nigeria, and he wants to wire me $300 to cover the lens and shipping it over there. Now he's asking for my bank info, phone number, and all that—it feels incredibly sketchy to me. Anyone dealt with this kind of nonsense before??

Total side note, but I was actually thinking about setting up a dedicated PayPal account to start doing more trading on eBay, so let me know if you have any tips. I'm planning to get that account ready by Monday and give this guy those details.

Well, if you actually go through with that, you're just being an idiot—and honestly, you deserve whatever comes your way 😁

Honestly, I think you’re totally right to be suspicious about this being a scam... I mean, why is someone from the UK surfing around Craigslist all day? It just doesn't add up.

Plus, those old-school stories involving Nigeria and all that nonsense are super common in these types of setups...

In my book, it’s just not worth the headache or the risk.

Why??
I’m opening an account that doesn't even allow overdrafts—once I see the funds have cleared, I'll ship the lens.
Why would I be stupid enough to pull that?

This is exactly what I was getting at...
Check out this suggestion from an email...

You could always mess around with him for a bit and see how it goes... but honestly, I’m 99% sure he’ll be breathing down your neck for a shipping confirmation before you even know it.

Thanks for the link. I’ll try to figure out a way to wire the cash first, then I'll get it sent over.
Let's see what they have to say about it.

By the way, I don't think you can actually receive payments via PayPal—the US isn't even part of that system yet.

You’ll find yourself left lamenting under the weight of the consumer code 🙄

Why is it that I couldn't find a single lens like this on eBay, forcing me to resort to Craigslist instead? Honestly...

Ladies and gentlemen, witness evolution in real time...

Jack Ruiz said:this is what I was getting at...
check out this suggestion from an email...

you could try playing along with the guy and see how it goes—but honestly, I'm 99% sure he'll be asking for shipping confirmation before you know it.

regarding that link, we actually ran into someone with the exact same car once, but that was in Athens... it's all just the same old story... so yeah, 👎

Since nobody’s actually answering my question about why he's buying stuff here in the States, I'm assuming it's some kind of shady setup...

Thanks for the (totally sincere :-)) replies.

Tyler Long11 said:Thanks for the link. I’m gonna try a move where I pay him up first, then see if he actually sends the goods.
Let's see what kind of answer we get out of him.

Man, seriously, let me know how the chat goes with this guy and at what point he probably decides to flake out.

It looks like this scammer has only expanded his little operation using cars, unfortunately :-(

Just your run-of-the-mill scam...

If you actually bother to use some common sense, nothing about this adds up.

So what do you guys think about this? 🙂

Canon EOS 7D……….$380
Canon EOS 5D……………..$680
Canon EOS-1D X (Body Only)…………..$800
Canon EOS 7D……….$380
Canon EOS 7D with 18mm lens……$550
Canon EOS 7D – Black…………..$500
Canon EOS 7D……….$400
Canon EOS 5D……….$720
Canon EOS-1D X…….$1,200
.....

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All we need is for you to send over your full shipping address, your full name, and your cell number so we can mark the camera before the payment goes through. Once we confirm the funds, we'll ship it out immediately, and the carrier will start delivery to your address right away.

My company accepts wire transfers, Western Union, or MoneyGram.

So, just let me know which payment method you're using, and I'll get you the details on how to pay.

I'm waiting on your reply so we can get moving.

Best.
Management.

Man... if this Google Translate thing wasn't around to fix everything, some idiot might have actually ended up swallowing it whole 😁

Some woman actually reached out to me asking if I could ship a camera over to her shop in Nigeria. Is this the address she gave me:

NAME : KENNETH ABIOLA
ADDRESS: 53 ONIPANU, MOKOLA.
CITY: IBADAN
STATE: OYO
COUNTRY: NIGERIA
ZIP CODE: 23402
TEL:+2348077350936

Nicholas Barnes said:So, what's the consensus on this one? 🙂

Canon EOS 7D………..$380
Canon EOS 5D……………..$680
Canon EOS-1D X (Body Only)…………..$800
Canon EOS 7D………..$380
Canon EOS 7D with 18mm lens……$550
Canon EOS 7D – Black…………..$500
Canon EOS 7D……….$400
Canon EOS 5D……….$720
Canon EOS-1D X…….$1,200
.....

---------

All we need is for you to send over your full shipping address, your complete name, and your cell number so we can mark them on the camera before the payment goes through. As soon as we confirm the funds, we’ll get everything shipped out immediately, and the freight carrier will start heading straight to your doorstep.

My company accepts payments via wire transfer, Western Union, or MoneyGram.

So, just let me know which payment method you're using, and I'll provide the details you need to finalize the transaction.

I'm standing by for your reply so we can move forward.

Best regards,
Management.

Look, I actually bought all of this stuff. Even got a discount because I picked up multiple units. Paid via MoneyGram and the shipping service dropped it right at my front door.....🤦

money gram = money gram🤣 ahahahaha

Let them sit there waiting for an answer😁

Even Yoda couldn't get a sentence structured this badly...

Thomas Ward40 said:Some woman actually asked me to ship a camera to her shop in the USA. Is this the address she gave:

Name : KENNETH ABIOLA
ADDRESS: 53 ONIPANU, MOKOLA.
CITY: New York City
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: USA
ZIP CODE: 23402
TEL: AT&T

Not sure about the address.
After I asked why she wouldn't just grab it off eBay in England instead of buying it here in the States, the conversation just went dead.

The whole script goes like this: I get an email saying, "hello, i want to buy the item but i want to know why you want to sell it and if it is in good condition. regards." I give them the rundown, and then boom—the response arrives: "
Thanks for the reply, and am glad to hear from you, am from England and I wanted to buy the item for my son who is going to Africa (USA) for a Monsanto project. So I will offer you $300 for the total cost of the item plus shipment via post to the USA. I will be remitting the payment via bank to bank transfer to your bank account. So let me have your details in order for me to proceed with the payment: Account holders, Name:, country:, tel: AT&T, Bank Name: JPMorgan Chase, IBAN/Acct Number:, Bic:

Hoping to read from you fast,
Regards." I just asked why they weren't buying locally and cut ties.

I honestly find it hard to believe that this is even being debated on this forum.
The whole thing involving Nigeria is probably one of the oldest scams floating around the internet, if I had to guess.🙄

Besides, anyone could just do a quick Google search and find the truth.

For instance,
http://www.whoisandrewwee.com/ebay-a...-scam-exposed/

I really hope you didn't end up sending them anything.☕>