Buyers beware - an ebay seller con?

We have recently looked into changing our caravan and saw a Bailey Senator Series 6 Carolina on ebay. Initially we didn’t bid but a day after the auction ended the seller contacted us directly with an offer to buy at a price that seemed too good to be true! We were told that the successful bidder had failed to complete the transaction. We investigated further and were told that the caravan had just been serviced, everything worked and it had hardly been used and was therefore ‘immaculate’.

The seller was adamant about paying through ebay which, although plausible, seemed a little strange as we would expect payment on collection rather than in advance so we questioned this. Then the seller mentioned other interested parties so payment would have to be quick. Things started to smell fishy! When we asked for the CRiS number and details of the registered keeper the seller suggested that they were unhappy about giving serial numbers but we could check this when we collected -  after payment! We then received an email from ebay. A very genuine looking email with every image and thumbnail you would expect and with lengthy details of the security offered by payment through ebay. This included an alleged account held by ebay with a £10,000 balance that would guarantee our payment and allow a refund within 30 days. We would, however, have to pay quickly as the 30 day period had already started. It seemed like a very safe way to pay but to me it now started to look a bit fishy so I contacted ebay via my online account - not the ‘contact us now’ button on the email. I was told unequivocally that the email asking for payment was not from ebay.

I wanted to pass on my experience as a warning to others without putting people off buying through ebay. Our current caravan was purchased over ebay and at a great price, thank you very much! However, my recent experience has served to remind me of basic checks to complete and how I would buy in the future.

• I would always now visit before bidding, even though this might restrict my search geographically.
• I will always check the CRiS details.
•  I will only ever pay on collection.
• I will never accept emails from ebay that don’t appear in the messages section of my ebay account. The originating address of the spurious email was ebay@secured-invoices-ebay.co.uk.
• If something looks like a fish and smells like a fish then it is probably a fish! Go with your gut feeling!

When I informed the seller of my discussions with ebay they suddenly stopped contact. My only hope is that nobody else has suffered with what can only be a deliberate con. Are they targeting caravans or is this more widespread?

Be watchful, check everything and stay safe out there.