Jax,
This person appears to be using various legitimate looking Ebay account user names ( this one was "canuck19", which has a pretty long record of good transactions), which I can only assume are stolen/phished accounts.
The first email was through Ebay's system, which makes him appear legit at first glance.
I found at least one other Rolex seller who had also received a similar email. He appears to target Vintage Rolexes sold by non-professionals.
Below are the two emails from his email account "bigjim109@googlemail.com"
Let me know if there is anything else I can provide - Tim
Scammer emails:
Hello, I`m very interested in buying your item and I was wondering if you can ship to France.Also I would like to know your desired selling price or if you have any offers I will offer more.I have the money ready in paypal account balance but because of the high amount of money i will prefer using a third party service company who will handle the transaction and can also make full insurance of the item during the process of shipping.Please get back to me as soon as possible because I need the item by friday. -Thank You
- canuck19
Hello,
My offer is 4500$ + escrow fees + shipping costs to France, 150$ by FEDEX express,UPS express plus or DHL express.
Ebay recommends the use of an escrow service for every transaction that is larger than 500$.
Register to
http://www.active-deal.com ,read about the process and start the transaction,my account is
bigjim109@gmail.com .
I look forward in managing a business deal with you.
Please email me as soon possible, i can tranfer the money imediately.
Best regards,
Henri
( this final email from him is after I did the Whois search and told him no dice)
Hello,
Ebay recommends escrow.com because is their service. This is pure for economycal reasons. Did you know that? All fees that escrow.com cashes in goes directly to ebay....so that is the reason they only recommend this service. Nobody in any kind of business wants competition. I think you understand me. I have used escrow.com for one transaction and i was not satisfied, they are slow, non reliable.
I have used active-deal.com before last year.
They had the server remade because of some troubles and that is why it sayes like that.
THe company will full inssure the package durring transport.
I understand your concerns.
Please email me as soon posible.
Best regards,
Henri