I'm almost positive that this is someone trying to scam me. I have my camera (HD10u) for sale on eBay, and a potential buyer can post questions for the seller now. (I haven't sold on eBay for a while, so it's new to me.) Anyway, the question someone posted is this:

"THIS IS TOMMYANKEEYORK WORLD WIDE STORES INPORT & EXPORT........GROUP OF COMPANY WE HARD ABOUT YOUR DISPLAY PRODUCT ON EBAY,SO I WILL LIKE TO TELL YOU THAT MY COMPANY HAS SHOWN INTEREST IN YOUR DISPLAY PRODUCT AT EBAY.SO WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THE PAYMENT VIA(BIDPAY)WHICH MEANS WESTERN UNION AUCTION PAYMENT..SO AND ALSO AS SOON AS THE PAYMENT IS APPROVED,YOU ARE GOING TO RECEIVE AN EMAIL FROM WESTERN UNION,WHICH ALSO MEANS(CONFIRMATION PAYMENT LETTER)SO WE ARE GOING TO SEND YOU THE SHIPPING LABEL FOR SHIPPING THE ITEM ONCE THE MNONEY IS APPROVED.TO MAKE THE PAYMENT YOU WILL NEED TO PROVIDE US YOUR FULL NAME CONTACT ADDRESS AND ALSO YOUR PHONE NUMBER.WE WANT YOU TO NO THAT ONCE THE MONEY IS APPROVED,WE ARE GOING TO SEND YOU THE SHIPPING LABEL FOR SHIPPING THE ITEM TO AFRICA,B'COS OUR CLIENT IN AFRICA ARE IN NEED OF THE PRODUCT.GIVE US THE COST FOR 1 ITEMS.HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU"_

That certainly looks like a scam based on reading everyone else's postings regarding getting scammed. I thought I would post it on here, so people can see it....beware of eBay scams!

Murph

Sure looks like a scam! Good thing that you sold it to me instead! Thanks for the info on this site, have already spent hours reading. Even forgot to eat breakfast.

Time for lunch.

Mike

No, that's probably NOT a scam. Bad English, yes. But you could wait until you had cash in hand before sending the item, so there would be no way of ripping you off. The only "scam" aspect would be if they didn't come through with the payment, but that happens all the time on ebay, with otherwise well-intentioned transactions.

Scam.

They likely plan on paying for the Western Union payment with a stolen credit card or account. Maybe they aren't scamming YOU, but they are scamming someone.

When I was shopping Ebay for my first prosumer camera, many sellers I questioned wanted to go through western union (red flag). So to smoke potential scammers out I would offer to set the whole payment up through ebay's escrow so it wouldn't cost them a dime.
Nobody asking for western union has ever accepted my terms.

I've sold items on ebay to foreign buyers who paid by Western Union, so it's not an automatic red flag. And if you've ever used Western Union you know how hard it would be to scam THEM. If they would even accept a credit card, they would thoroughly check on-the-spot to verify that you are the cardholder and that it's not a stolen card. They've been around a long long time and know every trick in the book.
Based on the dealings I've had with both Western Union and PayPal, given the choice, I'd go Western Union every time.

Last time I used Western Union to send money they didn't ask for any ID from me. Granted I used a debit card instead of a credit card, but I don't think they would have asked for extra ID. Anyway, you don't need to go into a WU location to send a money order these days thanks to that pesky internet thing.

Anyway, you are right, it isn't an automatic red flag if you are the one accepting the payment, cash in hand. However, the rest of Murph's email smells bad. Funny thing as well, about half the scammers I email reply in caps. That always throws up a red flag for me. Plus it pisses me off.

Agreed, no problem if you are the one selling the item. But buying is another matter. In my experince it would be quite convienient for a person to scam through western union. I have sent money to family for birthday's etc. with a credit card via WU and not once have they asked for an I.D.