Rebreather Scams on Ebay.

Freef

I was asked to write something for the site after suggesting that someone does a guide to how to spot a scam. I’m not the best person to do so as I don’t use Ebay except to give Stuart his protection money, but I do have a look at the scam posts.

So, We’ll start with a typical [and real ebay.co.uk] Ebay auction and see if it is a scam or genuine:



Oooh, an Inspo, just what I am after! Looks nice and shiny and I saw this on ebay.co.uk.



The description looks good, although I don’t read French, I know that Recycleur means rebreather. It has the ADV, something aluminium, what looks like revised electronics and new cells.



Ah, despatches to France, but if I win I’m sure I can persuade him to post it to me.



What’s more they take PayPal, so that must be legit! Let the bidding begin.

Before we go too bid happy, let’s have a closer look at the advert. Why is the bidder in France, selling to France, but using the co.uk site? Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt for now though. They also haven’t sold anything on ebay before. OK, so they may be a first time user-not everyone will build up a reputation by selling lots of small tat before shifting a big item-and they still take PayPal, right?

So now I have a small seed of doubt, so I look at the shiny Rebreather in the pictures to convince myself that all is well. And it is a nice picture. Look how there is nothing in the background to detract from the lovely shiny shell…it could almost be a magazine shot. Looking closer I see that there is some greyness around the unit, but away from that the image is white-scanned [or downloaded] cropped and shopped?

Also, why is there only one picture? I would want to see the rest of the unit too. By now the alarm bells are really ringing. So maybe I should ask a few questions-but before I do I decide to consult the following post on the .ca website:

http://www.rebreatherworld.com/ebay-rebreather-scam-alerts/9878-spotting-ebay-scams.html#post95031

Let’s see, the bidders are hidden, the picture is odd, it’s listed in a different country to the one it is actually in, and the member has only been registered with Ebay for five minutes. Initial enthusiasm fades as it looks more and more like a scam.

OK, last effort to check if the item is too good to be true-I’ll google images of the Inspo to see if I can find the one that they used [I couldn’t, although AP Valves have similar ones on their site], and I want a photo of say, the inside of the scrubber, the assembly with the shell off and the DSV. I also check for these on google. That way if the same pictures are sent to me I’ll know they are fake.

How about getting the seller to post a pic with a tape measure or ruler on the top of the open scrubber or a hose so that I can ‘double check the size to make sure it is copmpatable with the one I own’?

Let’s ask some questions while we’re at it. I was recently sent a pic of a Dolphin for my opinion. The tank was labelled ‘oxygen’ and the mouthpiece was fitted the wrong way around, so these would be worth querying. But back to the Inspo:

Is the unit originally CCR, an upgrade from the mCCR, or SCR versions? If an upgrade are the original parts included?

Does it have the later radial scrubber, or the old axial one?

Are the handsets marked SLAVE 1 and SLAVE 2 like the latest ones?

Is it fitted with a left handed or clockwise mattabooboo?

Now, we all know the answers to the above questions, if the seller does too then they may still be genuine. If the answers ‘upgraded’, ‘radial’ ‘marked slave 1 & 2’ and ‘clockwise’ come back then it’s 99.99% certain to be a scam. Of course they can also say ‘I’m selling it for a friend who is out of the country and I don’t know’. Then ask for a serial number that is visible to even the village idiot.

If you feel like taking a scammer for a ride, and winning the auction, you may end up with something like the following:



This too, is a scam to try and make you pay outside of Ebay/Paypal.

Fun can be had with Western Union transfers [only send them the amount in pence for a laugh, sent to wrong WU office, need address confirmation due to organised crime/anti terror laws etc].

Western Union list their offices on the web. A quick search can tell you if the seller lives anywhere near the one they are looking at collection the money from.

In the UK it is also possible to search postcodes and the Electoral Roll if you have the name and address of the seller. If they have included their name and address you could also ask Ebay if the details match the sellers ID. Chances are they’ll tell you to get lost though.

Once you think you have a scam, ask on here. Don’t just jump in with ‘this bloke is a scamming bath tub’ as it may be a Rebreather World-er [it’s happened in the past]. However, this one looks more fishy than the National Sea Life Centre to me.

I could also ask to pop over and look at the unit when I was in the area, and see how they respond to that!

Any and all corrections to the above welcome, before I ask the Despotic Overlord to make it a sticky.

Thanks to Adrenalin Junkie for posting the ‘payment services’ email I copied above…I’ll ask for permission to copy it now.

__________________
David.

Currently owner of two differently sized ankles.

Beanie

I volunteered you so I'll stick you

Nice introduction to scams, if anyone else has anything to add please do.

We'll keep this as a guide to spotting scams though please.

Spotted scams in the forum as usual

__________________
Beanie
Gallery Admin & Library Assistant.
www.outlawdivers.org.uk
www.beandiving.co.uk
www.beanengineering.co.uk
www.divelife.co.uk

DarthCoker

Ebay has a "rebreather scam" page. Apparently there have been so many that someone has done up a discussion on how to recognize them.

It is about a page or two long and covers all the usually ways to recognize the tricks that a scammers use to hide themselves and other ways to determine that they are selling a fictional item.

STEVE COKER

Freef

Can you post a link to it?

__________________
David.

Currently owner of two differently sized ankles.

Dsix36

here is the eBay link fpr rebreather scams:

eBay Guides - REBREATHER SCAMS ON EBAY

__________________
THE MORE THAT I LEARN, THE MORE THAT I STILL NEED TO LEARN!!!!!!

mriopel

Good write up and thanks for the link

Mike