File this under the "if it sounds too good to be true..."
I am guessing that most of you will not fall for this but just want to make sure folks don't get scammed...
I have an alert set up on Amazon to notify me whenever the Phantom 3 Pro goes below a certain price. I have been receiving alerts for the past week or so that brand used - like new Phantom 3 Pro is $473.00 from a seller.
When you go to the amazon website, you will see that there is an entry for $473.00. It is not the main buy link but shows up under additional entries from 3rd party sellers (screenshot below from the mobile app but the desktop app looks similar).
RED FLAG #1 should be that the seller wants you to email him (I don't know of the seller is male or female but I'll go with male for simplicity). You should be able to just buy directly on amazon.
I am fairly tech savvy and got a bit curious so I emailed him. I received an email reply that said:
"Hello,
Thanks for your interest! DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter 4K UHD Video Camera Drone is Brand New, original box, sealed, never used, not scratches or any problems, comes in the manufacturer packaging with 2 Year full International warranty and all manufacturer supplied accessories, US model. The total price is $473.00, including all shipping and insurance fees to United States / Canada. (1-2 business days).
The price is less than usual, because we have special offers in this period. The offer lasts 7 days.
Credit Card or Paypal option is not available. I cannot use Paypal or credit cards because of my problems with some buyers trying to pay from stolen accounts. My funds are frozen and I am unable to accept any currency. The transaction is through Amazon; payment method is Paysafecard through Amazon Payments.
Return policy is full money back or replace the product, you can return it for any reason at all within 30 days.
If you want to buy, please confirm your full name and shipping address and I will place an order on Amazon for you; and then you receive the order confirmation from them with all details about the next steps to complete your purchase.
We will reserve the item for you and soon you receive the order confirmation from Amazon.
Many Thanks,
ProTech Gadgets"
RED FLAG #2 should be that this guy doesn't take paypal. However, there are many folks who don't take paypal because well, paypalsucks.com.
I was still curious so I sent him some info. In return I got an email invoice from Amazon saying to pay via Amazon payments, etc. I also never heard of paysafecard before.
I actually used to work for Amazon (worked on Amazon Payments actually) and still have many friends that work at Amazon so I forwarded everything from this interaction to alert them. My initial email was along the lines of "don't know what the scam is but this seems really fishy so you guys should dig into this a bit."
Believe it or not, the guys at Amazon couldn't figure out the scam but they put in a note saying at the very least this guy is trying to circumvent Amazon systems to sell products.
That was that...until a few days later when I went back to check on all of the correspondence more closely and I noticed the scam url in the from address of the email. It looks obvious now but not everyone vigorously checks that. I notified my buddies at Amazon and they hadn't noticed it until I brought it up to them. They also said that this is definitely one of the better fake emails that they have ever seen. I removed my personal info...
Screen 1:
Screen 2 (cont w/ overlap):
Screen 3 (cont w/ overlap) - I'm not sure if the recommendations are fake or not but I actually bought one of those 3DS games in the past, etc.:
In short, the scam is to make you buy $473 worth of paysafecard and then get you to email them the PINs. They then pull money out of your paysafecard since you gave them the PIN and you never see product. Paysafecard is not protected in any way (similar to western union, etc.) so there is really no way for paysafecard or anyone to refund your money.
Stay safe and vigilant out there.
I am guessing that most of you will not fall for this but just want to make sure folks don't get scammed...
I have an alert set up on Amazon to notify me whenever the Phantom 3 Pro goes below a certain price. I have been receiving alerts for the past week or so that brand used - like new Phantom 3 Pro is $473.00 from a seller.
When you go to the amazon website, you will see that there is an entry for $473.00. It is not the main buy link but shows up under additional entries from 3rd party sellers (screenshot below from the mobile app but the desktop app looks similar).
RED FLAG #1 should be that the seller wants you to email him (I don't know of the seller is male or female but I'll go with male for simplicity). You should be able to just buy directly on amazon.
I am fairly tech savvy and got a bit curious so I emailed him. I received an email reply that said:
"Hello,
Thanks for your interest! DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter 4K UHD Video Camera Drone is Brand New, original box, sealed, never used, not scratches or any problems, comes in the manufacturer packaging with 2 Year full International warranty and all manufacturer supplied accessories, US model. The total price is $473.00, including all shipping and insurance fees to United States / Canada. (1-2 business days).
The price is less than usual, because we have special offers in this period. The offer lasts 7 days.
Credit Card or Paypal option is not available. I cannot use Paypal or credit cards because of my problems with some buyers trying to pay from stolen accounts. My funds are frozen and I am unable to accept any currency. The transaction is through Amazon; payment method is Paysafecard through Amazon Payments.
Return policy is full money back or replace the product, you can return it for any reason at all within 30 days.
If you want to buy, please confirm your full name and shipping address and I will place an order on Amazon for you; and then you receive the order confirmation from them with all details about the next steps to complete your purchase.
We will reserve the item for you and soon you receive the order confirmation from Amazon.
Many Thanks,
ProTech Gadgets"
RED FLAG #2 should be that this guy doesn't take paypal. However, there are many folks who don't take paypal because well, paypalsucks.com.
I was still curious so I sent him some info. In return I got an email invoice from Amazon saying to pay via Amazon payments, etc. I also never heard of paysafecard before.
I actually used to work for Amazon (worked on Amazon Payments actually) and still have many friends that work at Amazon so I forwarded everything from this interaction to alert them. My initial email was along the lines of "don't know what the scam is but this seems really fishy so you guys should dig into this a bit."
Believe it or not, the guys at Amazon couldn't figure out the scam but they put in a note saying at the very least this guy is trying to circumvent Amazon systems to sell products.
That was that...until a few days later when I went back to check on all of the correspondence more closely and I noticed the scam url in the from address of the email. It looks obvious now but not everyone vigorously checks that. I notified my buddies at Amazon and they hadn't noticed it until I brought it up to them. They also said that this is definitely one of the better fake emails that they have ever seen. I removed my personal info...
Screen 1:
Screen 2 (cont w/ overlap):
Screen 3 (cont w/ overlap) - I'm not sure if the recommendations are fake or not but I actually bought one of those 3DS games in the past, etc.:
In short, the scam is to make you buy $473 worth of paysafecard and then get you to email them the PINs. They then pull money out of your paysafecard since you gave them the PIN and you never see product. Paysafecard is not protected in any way (similar to western union, etc.) so there is really no way for paysafecard or anyone to refund your money.
Stay safe and vigilant out there.
