I was trying to buy a Krone Moderne FP off eBay recently . . . I've wanted a Krone for some time, and this one was in a beautiful translucent purple. Per my usual strategy, I tried to 'snipe' it by bidding at my max during the last 10 seconds of the auction. Unfortunately my max didn't exceed the max of the current high bidder, so I lost the pen. Darn.

A few days later, I got an e-mail (purportedly) from eBay, saying I now had a Second Chance offer on the pen, and offering to act as the intermediary between me and the seller. Unlike other obvious scam e-mails I have gotten in the past, this one seemed like it could be legit . . . it used my eBay ID directly instead of a generic "dear eBay member"; the sending e-mail address seemed to be from eBay (though I didn't do any kind of techie snooping); there were several links in the e-mail directly to legit eBay pages; and it referred to a lot of correct details like the auction number and item I had lost, my losing bid, the seller's eBay ID, ,etc. While obviously all of these could be faked, none of the previous spoof e-mails I have gotten included this level of detail.

I played along and responded to the e-mail, saying that I wanted the pen and would wait for payment instructions from eBay. Honestly, when I first got it it seemed so legit that I assumed it was on the level (maybe that was wishful thinking taking over!) Today I got a response instructing me to send a Western Union moneygram to a specific address in Italy and also some rather complicated instructions on how I would then receive the pen in X number of days; would have Y number of days to inspect it and respond to eBay that it was satisfactory; that if I responded in the positive the payment would then be forwarded to the seller, but if I responded in the negative I would receive a full refund; about how I was to ship the item back if I didn't accept it; etc, etc.

Of course by now I realized that this looked fishy so I (finally) went to the eBay buyers' message boards and looked up the process for Second Chance offers. This e-mail matched exactly none of it (except the part about the Western Union payment, which they specifically said never to do!) Needless to say, I told the seller I was no longer interested, and forwarded his e-mails to spoof@ebay.com.

Be on the lookout for this or other similar scans . . . they appear (to me at least) to be more refined and 'legit' looking than any I've seen in the past.

The legitimate "second chance" offers come through the eBay message board, rather than regular email.

Donnie

greed kill your "Want" My was that i bidded for a high $$ for 6 items for a seller that pictures all the pen that make you drools badly. I placed my max bid for all Cos then I have $ to spare. But when I won, money sent and I got "nothing in returned" the ebay i/d account was closed......... Don't take chance anymore, No matter how it make me drools

I got a genuine-looking second-chance offer on a pen from montgomery stationery..... I rang them up and they denied all knowledge of the emailer, who had a very 'anonymous-looking' email id .....something like "MisterPen"!!

I have gotten a few second chance offers from legitimate sellers via the legitimate eBay process for them. They will most often happen on an item like a Waterman Kultur, where a seller clearly has a stockpile (or a source with a stockpile) and sells them a few at a time with bids that only rarely exceed the starting amount. They have worked nicely for me, but it is very important to be critical of email offers even when they seem legitimate. Kudos to those of you who have figured that out and have saved yourselves heartbreak.

a second chance offer will never come through email, but through Ebay messages, as donwinn says. Also, if you get an email that gives you the uh-oh feeling or even a hesitation, forward it to spoof@ebay.com. They will respond (within 24 hours is my experience) whether the email is fake or not. You know the adage "if it seems too good to be true . . ."

ABC

I got one second offer from a legitimate seller for a Waterman Harmonie. It was real in the way that it showed up on MyEbay Don't Win list as a second chance offer. And I took it and happily received the pen. So whenever I receive an email from ebay, I always logon to my ebay account and check if I get the same thing in the ebay messages.

Exactly.

Here are two emails I received after an auction was cancelled by ebay do to a fraudulent bidder. Crime is interesting.

Protect Your Account Info
Make sure you never provide your password to fraudulent websites.
To safely and securely access the PayPal website or your account, open a new web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the PayPal URL (https://www.paypal.com/row/) to be sure you are on the real PayPal site.
PayPal will never ask you to enter your password in an email.
For more information on protecting yourself from fraud, please review our Security Tips at https://www.paypal.com/row/securitytips
Protect Your Password
You should never give your PayPal password to anyone, including PayPal employees.
You've got new funds!
Dear Thomas
Ruth Davids has sent you an instant payment using PayPal.
Ruth Davids is a Verified buyer.
Payment Details
Amount:
US $3,350.00
Postage & Packing:
Included
Transaction ID:
5Y758872CS5622206
Item Description:
Shipping Option:
Motion Computing LS800 Slate Tablet PC (250137143850)
USPS Global Express Mail Service (EMS)
Pay With PayPal PayPal makes it easy to send  money.
For security purposes, you may want to email the buyer and receive confirmation of the buyer's email and shipping address before you send the item paid for.
Shipping Information
Address:
Yemi Alatise
No 9, Fodacis Road, Ring Road,
Ibadan,
Oyo State,
Nigeria,
23402.
Address Status:
Confirmed
NOTE: This PayPal® payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has been " APPROVED" but will not be credited to your account until the shipment reference/tracking number is sent to us for shipment verification so as to secure both inequalities (Buyer & Seller) from online fraudulent activities. Below are the necessary information requested before your account will be credited.
You will have to email us the tracking number to the PayPal Customer Care at: account.manager.helps@accountant.com. As soon as we receive the "SHIPMENT TRACKING NUMBER " from you, you will receive a " CONFIRMATION EMAI L" concerning the accreditation of the funds into your PayPal Account and we shall get the funds credited into your PayPal Account within 24 hours.
Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, you can contact our customer care service at: account.manager.helps@accountant.com.
PayPal, an eBay company
                                          
Copyright © 1999-2007 PayPal. All rights reserved.
PayPal (Worldwide) Ltd is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United State as an electronic money institution.
PayPal FSA Register Number: 226056
PayPal Email ID PP307a
Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team

SECOND EMAIL:


Hi over there, Sorry for the late email. I have been so busy schedules. I am so happy to be the winning bidder of this item and i think my son would love it. Well i bought this item for my son who is currently in West Africa for an exchange programme and i am so sorry for not getting you aware before cos i was in hurry to get it for him. I have just made the payment via paypal and i have just received the confirmation receipt  of the payment i sent so i am sure paypal would have got to you with the confirmation of the payment. I have included enough amount for the shipping cost of the item to my son's address in the payment i sent to you, so just get me informed immediately the item is shipped today and make sure the item is shipped via USPS Global Express Mail Service. My son's address is:
Full Name : Yemi Alatise,
Address    : No 9, Fodacis Road, Ring Road,,
City          : Ibadan,
State        : Oyo State,
Country    : Nigeria,
Zip Code   : 23402.
Phone No  : +2348030660690
Thanks and i will be expecting back your mail soon..
No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go
with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started.

Wow, I laughed at this one for quite a while, especially the part : NOTE: This PayPal® payment has been deducted from the buyer's account and has been " APPROVED" but will not be credited to your account until the shipment reference/tracking number is sent to us for shipment verification so as to secure both inequalities (Buyer & Seller) from online fraudulent activities.

OMG

If your Ebay ID is the same as your Hotmail or Yahoo ID, you'll get pounded with "second chance" offers. Spammers just take a swipe at all of the bidders list names on all the major mail services.

I know this because my very infrequently used hotmail address has the same id as my ebay (established years and years ago). It isn't the address linked to my ebay account though. When I go in to clean it out about once a month, its filled to the top with second chance offers.

Marc

You can pretty well assume that anything connected with an email transaction from Nigeria is a fraud or theft about to happen. I no longer deal on eBay since a Nigerian scammer got control of both my yahoo email account and eBay account (along with my 100% rating - which may be what these people are looking for) and used both to attempt numerous scams before I could regain control. What made me really angry was that eBay declined to warn any of this creature's victims not to send their money to Nigeria even after I had advised their 'security' of the details of the frauds and the eBay identities of the victims. Nor could I do it myself becasue the account was frozen. I was happy to leave the account frozen and buy my pens elsewhere.

PS Here is the identity and address of the scammer plus a sample of his 'pitch' to victims.

Hello Seller,
i have made the payment for your ebay item, so i will like you to get the item shipped asap to the following address as soon as possible :
Name : Remilekun Sunkanmi,
Street : P.O Box 41 Bacotho,
City : Isokun Oyo,
State : Oyo State,
Post Code : 23402,
Country : Nigeria.
so please get back to me with the shipment tracking number as soon as the shipment is done.