Is this person trying to scam me on Ebay?

I'm new on ebay and just started my first bidding on a used PSP. This guy said.

I am interested in your item displayed on ebay,i want to get this item for my friend's child who is currently studying in Africa as Birthday gift.I would have love to Bid like others but the nature of my job will not allow me to do this at this time, I will be offering you $400USD for this item.So please if you are interested in selling this item to me,kindly send me your PayPal email address so that I can send out payment immediately via PayPal or you can forward your full information for me to send the payment via PayPal,As i said earlier am offering you $400USD for this item this will include both the shipping and handling cost to West Africa.Your urgent response will be highly appreciated.Please make sure you and get back to me with your paypal email address so that i can send out your payment asap God Bless you And your Family. Yvonne Wod-Antonuccio.

Is this a scam?

Oh snap, they changed it from Nigeria to "West Africa" now? Those sneaky guys! :lol: As for your question.. maybe. I wouldn't risk it.DeeJayInphinity

But it's paypal. If they send me the money, I'lls end them the stuff. I'm asking because they were people who were trying to scam me on craigslist but isn't paypal like safe?

yea, probabely. It just sounds werid. If you don't trust it then you shouldn't do it.

[QUOTE="DeeJayInphinity"]Oh snap, they changed it from Nigeria to "West Africa" now? Those sneaky guys! :lol: As for your question.. maybe. I wouldn't risk it.DMRaMeX

But it's paypal. If they send me the money, I'lls end them the stuff. I'm asking because they were people who were trying to scam me on craigslist but isn't paypal like safe?

They can fake the paypal email, looks similar but not exactly the same as a real one, really don't risk it. I dealt with guys like this before.

[QUOTE="DeeJayInphinity"]Oh snap, they changed it from Nigeria to "West Africa" now? Those sneaky guys! :lol: As for your question.. maybe. I wouldn't risk it.DMRaMeX

But it's paypal. If they send me the money, I'lls end them the stuff. I'm asking because they were people who were trying to scam me on craigslist but isn't paypal like safe?

Pay Pal can be risky. Why don't you just close the auction and offer him the item following the regular eBay transaction.

He could easily purchase a new PSP for less than $400 dollars though.

yeah i would say that it is a scam because why would they be paying you $400 when you can buy i new one from gamespot for $150dangerd0g24

Always assume that anything involving Africa and money online is a scam. You'll just save yourself a lot of trouble.

The other aspects of it are that it sounds like a "too-good-to-be-true" deal and that he actually has to give you a stupid story along with it, which are other surefire signs of a scam. The scam could even be that he is using a stolen credit card, which actually sounds rather likely to me. I'd report it to the authorities, not that it will do much good...which is exactly why so much of this crap comes out of that area.

Here, I will go through and point out everything in that letter that is typical of stupid scam emails I get in my junk folder, along with a few other things about this in particular:

1. He contacted you in private to make an offer (via email typically).

2. He didn't just ask to bid on the item, when he would clearly be able to get it for less than the amount he is actually offering you. Why? To bait you with the prospect of getting a great deal of course.

3. Mentions Nigeria / Africa.

4. Ridiculous sounding story. Not only does someone happen to be studying in Africa (oh yeah, a popular education destination if ever there was one), but he also happens to be sending them expensive electronics...from an ebay seller.

5. Goes out of his way to sound polite. That might sound weird, but most of these scammers seem to do that.

6. Needs an "urgent response." For a PSP? Really, it's that critical?

7. Kind of relates to number 5, but the whole "God bless" thing is another thing they like to do, or some other way of mentioning "God" in their letter.

8. Asks for your PayPal email address...OR "your full information," whatever that means.

but the person has about 100% feedback. i just want to know so i can avoid future scammers. how is he going to scam me if i recieve the money first on paypaL?DMRaMeX

Of course he has 100% feedback on ebay . . . when he scams people he doesn't use ebay. The ONLY way you can get feedback is when you buy things via ebay, so when he scams someone he doesn't use ebay they can't do squat.

NEVER do business when someone contacts you saying they want your item on ebay but has a list of excuses that they can't do things the proper way.

This isn't maybe a scam, it IS a scam.

Hell no, don't trust it. Electronics in Africa? HA! That's how you know it's a scam. lol jkCruxis27

:lol: That was funny.