Is this Legit or a scam (Ebay second chance offer)

Triathlon Forum
1

I was the opening bid (and lowest) on a bike that had a total of 16 bids. Needless to say I did not win. Anyway, I get an email from Ebay stating:

            ***Do not reply to this email .Contact the seller at this e-mail address :.com***

You expressed interest in an item titled " GIANT TCR 1 COMPOSITE DURA ACE MED. NO RESERVE " (Item 7179143941) by bidding , however the auction has ended with another member as the high bidder . In compliance with eBay policy , the seller of that item is making this Second Chance Offer to you at your bid price of US $1,050.00 .
The seller has issued this Second Chance Offer because either the winning bidder was unable to complete the transaction . If you accept this offer,you will be able to exchange Feedback with the seller and will be eligible for eBay services associated with a transaction , such as fraud protection . To purchase this item , don’t reply to this mail ,just contact the seller at @yahoo.com .
Thank you, eBay, Inc

Do not reply to this email .Contact the seller at this e-mail address :gillbertleif@yahoo.com
Respond to this question in My Messages. http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/email/message/btnRespondNow.gif http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/s.gif Thank you for using eBay! http://www.ebay.com/ http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/s.gif

I replied to the seller asking about the truth to this and :

From: Gillber Leif
To: Steven Montoya

Subject: Re: Giant
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 16:10:33 -0700 (PDT)

Hi ,

You have the opportunity to purchase this item at your last bid price.The ex winner had some personal problems with the money and couldn’t handle the
situation , so following eBay’s sugestion, I’ve sent you the second chance offer that you have received(mabe you are still interested to purchase it).The
deal will go strictly according to eBay’s rules and policy regarding to this Second Chance Offer - to start the official transaction, I need to know your
details- eBay user ID /full name and shipping address/As soon as I have this information, I’ll start the official procedure, and eBay will notify you about
this through an invoice that you will receive it after i will forward them the information asked before.By sending me this information you are confirming
that you accept the second chance offer. You’ll also receive important guidelines + instructions from eBay regarding our transaction (please go through them
exactly). I’ll handle the shipping, so this will be free of charge for you . Also, a refund policy will be included.
The only thing that you have to do to get the deal started is to send me the informations that i asked before and after that eBay will contact you and
will tell you what you have to do to complete the purchase of the item !

Looking forward to hearing from you …
Thank you!

WHAT DO YOU THINK, SCAM OR LEGIT?

2

15 other bids went south? That alone makes me suspect. But otherwise I can’t shoot any holes in it (I don’t have much experience with ebay).

3

its a scam, read on ebay’s site, they warn about this.

4

Personally I think its a scam…you were the first bid, there was then another 15 bids and yet they offer YOU the chance to buy it.

Also, they give a Yahoo email address to contact, not good…

My advice …forget it, unfortunately scams particularly on bikes are increasing, I had someone try and sell me my own Litespeed Blade about three months ago through Ebays second Chance, when Ebay were contacted they knew nothing about it.

5

It is a scam. Any eBay offer goes through eBay not the sellers email.

6

Just to chime in one more time----scam, big time. Run away, very far far away from this one…

7

Scamorama - I get 10+ of these a day! (yikes)

brother bonk

8

I wrote one answer and then reread what you said about being the first bidder. It sounds like a scam. Legit 2nd chance offers would come to your My Messages page at ebay in addition to your email. So if you didn’t get anything there, I’d stay way clear of this guy. Report it to ebay.

9

I’ve bought one thing (I think some socks or a jersey) on the second chance offer, but I was the next highest bidder.

I think this one is a scam.

Forward it to spoof@ebay.com

10

looks like a scam but whenever in doubt on anything I ask the seller to send me a picture of the bike/part/clothing/whatever where in the picture they have written on a piece of paper “ebay item #…, frame blah blah, for (your name)” At least you know they have it. I do this for a lot of my auctions to ease the fears of being a scam and getting more bids.

11

Definitely a scam. Now you can buy mine! :slight_smile:

12

I would tell the person to relist the item and just track it if you still want the bike.

If you want to purchase it for the price they offered I would suggest using an escrow service and pay the fees. For escrow a third party holds the money until you receive the item. Or something like that.

Sounds like a scam though.

-Darrell

13

Ebay does have a second chance program. You can forward the e-mail to spoof@ebay.com and they will tell you if it is legit or not.

I have purchased an item on the second chance but I was the next highest bidder not the 16th.

14

Definitely a scam. I received one of these. I would have been confused if it wasn’t for the fact that I actually won the auction and already picked the bike up.

If you have any doubt check the ebay site as they are very helpful.

Mark