360 photo scam still going

Unscrupulous grifters trick desperate holiday shoppers into buying pictures of Xbox 360s on online auction sites.

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The hot holiday item, if one believes the media hype, is the Xbox 360. Short supply and high demand have left many holiday shoppers looking for the console empty-handed. While the thought of parents looking into the teary eyes of children left without an Xbox 360 this Christmas is saddening, imagine the same scenario with said parents paying upwards of $800 for a worthless photo of the gaming system.

That's exactly what has happened to a few shoppers desperate to get an Xbox 360 under the Christmas tree this year. eBay and other Web sites have multitudes of bidding wars going for the next-gen console, and the frenzy has attracted the cold hearts of those looking to take advantage of the situation. In a "cross-your-fingers-and-hope-someone-falls-for-it" scam, some tricksters on online auction site eBay have set up pages hawking what appear to be Xbox 360s.

Recently a New York woman was the winning bidder of an eBay auction for a new Xbox 360...at least that's what she thought. According to Web site TechWeb.com, the buyer inquired about the description of the item up for grabs--"Photo of picture of Xbox." The seller responded that it was a typo, and shipped out the winning item. Days later, an envelope arrived with a picture of an Xbox 360--that's it, just a piece of paper.

Her winning bid was more than $600. The Xbox 360 retails for $299 for a basic package, and $399 for the premium package.

This isn't the first such case of a Grinchlike dupe job. Earlier this month, The Register reported that a UK gamer was the winner of a similar dubious scam, ousting the buyer out of 470 pounds ($817) for a photo of an Xbox 360. In the item's description, after all the specs and information of the system, was the disclaimer (see picture) that the auction was actually for a photo of the Xbox 360. Ouch.

There's no word on whether either of these transactions actually went through.

Needless to say, a hearty caveat emptor goes out to anyone purchasing an Xbox 360 via online auction sites this holiday season. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but $600? We think not.

378 Comments

  • Wezker619

    Posted Oct 15, 2006 9:56 am PT

    Lol Im glad I bought mine on the first day and I didnt have to reserve or get mine of f the internet like look low lifes.

  • Frags-o-Plenty

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 7:34 pm PT

    I think it's best to sit and laugh at these people... remember, you desperate fools, use Firefox, hit F3 and type in "picture" or "photo" into the search bar in order to highlight those evil words if you ever get into this kind of situation.

  • porntogo

    Posted Oct 13, 2006 1:28 am PT

    @Zombie2k

    I dont think you know what a scam is. It can be worded correctly and still be a scam.

    Why is it a scam? Cause the person doesnt add the word picture in the auction title, also he lists all the technical aspects of the console. Why? when you are only getting a picture. Yes, you are told its a picture, near the end of a very long text. And even Paypal and ebay offer protection for this sort of thing. Paying large amounts of cash for a picture of an item is also addressed.

    They are misleading auctions and its easy to criticise when you already know what to look for.

  • adamclarke

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 6:44 pm PT

    Everyone has to make a living, honest or not.

    Evil, or just taking advantage of naive foolish people who are willing to spend that kind of money on a piece of electrical hardware.

    Its all subjective really.

  • vempyre666

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 6:03 pm PT

    Just read the damn thing, it's really easy, if you read it before you buy it, you don't get screwed over

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 8:32 am PT

    Damn they got owned bad!

  • tobenator

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 6:32 am PT

    People just need to read stuff all the way through. As for that first person though, that guy is just gay But if it says in the description that it's a picture, even if its in very fine print, its there, and the people that buy them are stupid.

  • dryden555

    Posted Oct 12, 2006 5:58 am PT

    totally misleading and ripping people off is never justified

  • SonicTheMonkey

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 11:08 pm PT

    those people are a holes

  • mECHwARRIORx2

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 6:59 pm PT

    what a douche.

  • Willini

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 5:25 pm PT

    dee dee dee!!!

  • EMAN2g

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 4:38 pm PT

    xD

  • ultimate_zero

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 4:26 pm PT

    Talk about Desperate, and Stupid.

  • wooooode

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 3:13 pm PT

    Bogus

  • TintedChimes

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 1:42 pm PT

    NICE!

  • gcngoten

    Posted Jan 4, 2006 3:54 pm PT

    I congratulate them. If there are people stupid enough to bid on an $800 xbox without reading the description that it is, in fact, only a picture, by all means, do it.

  • twm911

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 10:46 pm PT

    They must have got too much money, so i don't feel sorry for them at all. It's a good lesson for them.

  • c_carb

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 7:28 pm PT

    It's weird but i SOLD and Xbox 360 on Ebay for around 800.00 with game and memory card and the people buying it said when it got there that it wasn't in the box when it got there but there was only newspaper and rocks.They said that they talked to ups and were trying to get it sorted out and whatnot...i ended up getting all pissed off and contacted UPS myself and it turn out they people who bought it were trying to scam ME! to get the system and thier money back. Once UPS showed up at thier door the story changed!! Then i get a bunch of emails and whatnot saying that some hacked into their Email and ebay account and sent me all of the emails and whatnot. BS ebay is scam central! if your selling put a no return policy to cover your butt! and if your buying READ EVERYTHING CAREFULLY!!!

  • Willy105

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 9:57 am PT

    I was browsing on Ebay one day and noticed one of these auctions ending in like 2 minutes. I waited till it ended and promptly messaged the winning bidder (auction ended at $600+) letting him know that it said in the description that it was for picture only. He messaged me back and couldnt thank me enough, saying he was just about to pay via PayPal when he read my message. What a dirty scam to play during the holidays! Especially since PayPal is horrible with customer service, and the buyer probably will have ALOT of trouble getting their money back!

    -Nugzy

    Good job, Nugzy. You are a real hero. It's horrible what people are doing these days.

  • mynamesdenvrmax

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 6:33 am PT

    Thats such crap. I got kicked off Ebay for Selling Beavis and Butthead DVDs with every episode on them. It then caused a domino affect of everyone, and every name connected to me to be suspended. It took months to get my name reinstated. I know what I did was wrong, but wow these guys should be kicked off and never be allowed on Ebay again.

  • darkside5001

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 3:21 am PT

    Its smart when you think about it...

  • SavingPvtBryn

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 4:23 pm PT

    My friend told me about his friend who sold the original Xbox on ebay through a similar scam. The only difference is that the title said, "New XBOXBOX" and ended up sending the winner an empty Xbox box.

  • Zombie2k

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 4:14 pm PT

    This isn't a scam. It says in clear english that this is a box or picture. Maybe if it was somehow misleading it would be a scam. In most of these auctions it is very clear that you're getting a picture of the Xbox 360 or the box or whatever.

  • MrSelf_Destruct

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 3:54 pm PT

    This is like the grinch. Maybe this whole experience brought the family closer together and taught them the true meaning of Christmas...

    Probably not, but a kid who's that spoiled as to have his parents spend $800 on a video game system he can get for half the price in a couple months, maybe he should go without something for once. And the parents obviously have plenty of money to spare. The seller probably needed that $800 more than they did. Anyway, everyone involved seem like ****.

  • helluvagood

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 1:20 pm PT

    sad

  • DJKrayz_basic

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 1:12 pm PT

    some people are just stupid, trying to get people's money and not having to do anything for it.. anyone can find a picture of an xbox360 online and then turn around and sell it.. ya have to wonder if thats not illegal in and of itself.. selling a picture of a system made by another company..? i saw the same thing on yahoo auctions for a picture of a PSP.. and another trying to sell a basic PSP for $700.. ridiculous.. wouldnt be so bad if there werent suckers out there that are stupid enough not to pay attention and buy that crap..

    be smart and stay in school.. and stay off drugs.. hehe..

    peAce
    jt

  • topraman517

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 12:22 pm PT

    Smart, yet cruel. Real shame....

  • dillon_o4

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 10:58 am PT

    hilarious if ur spending that much on a 360 then u deserve 2 get scammed, and i'm sorry but i don't feel even a bit sorry if u don't READ the description and it says "PICTURE OF AN XBox 360" or a "BOX OF A 360" and most of them do sometimes even in bold print with caps and u still are complaining about being scammed? which leads me to the next epiphany i had, the idiotic will be scammed regardless, its just life hopefully they will learn.

  • glitchgeeman

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 10:44 am PT

    F***ing retards. They should read carefully before buying one of of ebay. God dammit, when will people learn? Probably never.

  • BATMAYNE

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 8:12 am PT

    That's one of many reasons why I don't buy stuff off of eBay.

  • jazast

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 5:05 am PT

    why didnt i think of that.

  • Spikester1981

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 3:09 am PT

    It just goes to show you have to actually READ the auction before maniacally setting your bid. This is cruel and all, but part of the fault has to lie on the buyer. They should be waiting to buy the 360 anyway till all the bugs are worked out.

  • timmyhasgotagun

    Posted Jan 2, 2006 12:19 am PT

    stupid people...that's why Gamestop takes reservations, damn...stupid people...

  • CX_32

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 10:05 pm PT

    Oooh, that's harsh. Very nasty indeed.

  • razorwirepuppet

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 9:23 pm PT

    They must die of AIDs. Xbox 360 is overrated anyway, wait until the price drops.

  • street-disciple

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 6:44 pm PT

    ppl like that can kma, feel bad for all those ppl that got poned PONED IS MY WORD btw

  • berndane

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 6:24 pm PT

    The only people dumb enough to not read the fine print deserve to get scammed. Seriously. Who would bid $800 for and XBOX 360 anyway?

  • xxWARKILLxx

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 6:08 pm PT

    I SERIOSLY gotta try that................

  • ff7cloudking

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 4:03 pm PT

    The Xbox360 isn't for kids anyway. Everygood parent should that. But still, the people that are just being jerks/asses.

  • nahton35

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 1:53 pm PT

    Intelligence doesn't necessarily mean common sense.

  • Brotherbraak

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 1:14 pm PT

    Closest I'll get to an XBOX 360 so far!! LOL

  • El_platanaso

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 12:21 pm PT

    lmao, if theyre gonna pay that much for something they should take the time to read the entire description

  • warpuke

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 10:58 am PT

    Stupid people SHOULD be abused. Obviously if they can spend 600 bucks without reading what it is, they deserve their picture of an xbox 360 - I hope they at least framed it.

  • funkyfreshdude

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 7:01 am PT

    I wis I would have thought of that theres nothing more fun than piss of stupid people

  • Breadnbutter

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 3:04 am PT

    hahahahahahahahahaha!

  • Breadnbutter

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 3:04 am PT

    its wrong but a good idea. the seller shouldn't get in trouble though because they really didnt break any laws. its actually pretty funny.

  • chng_bat

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 2:25 am PT

    Moral: Always read the fine print.

  • sizzlingdviper

    Posted Jan 1, 2006 2:24 am PT

    Hiya all,that is bad news-people being conned outta their hard earned cash for worthless pics.I saw a listing on E-Bay,leading up to Christmas,advertising a 360 Premium "box" for sale-trouble was,thats all it was-the original empty box.The guy selling had said in his listing that it was only the box,but people were so desperate to get their hands on a 360,and obviously not reading listing fully,that bidding reached £265.00.But I warned highest bidder+contacted seller to complain.
    Thankfully,I was lucky enough to get my hands on a 360 Premium pack at my local Woolworths on the 26th Dec.-Just walked in and asked if any in stock,expecting laughter,but no,they had one outta sight,in their warehouse.

  • 24_KarroTz

    Posted Dec 31, 2005 10:47 pm PT

    There is no way these things can't be scams. The people that truely want you to know it's a picture would tell you that your paying hundreds of bucks for a picture. If they don't, you know they're trying to make some cash. It's simple.

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