Ebay's Nokia N96 Scam of the Week

It's no surprise that once a new Nokia is announced fraudulent auctions immediately appear on ebay.  It's a habit of mine to just surf and see what people are offering.

When the N95 was announced it took people no time to steal images from Rafe, myself and other "first lookers" and use them in their auctions.  I think after 5 years of doing this I'm to the point where nothing amazes me, but this particular auction took the cake.  There are others on there, but this one was a real winner!

I'm hoping that by the time you go to check out the auction it will have been removed (then again Ebay doesn't work that fast once something is reported), and if so, I just had to share a screenshot.

Description:

N96 is coming out and WILL be the Hottest phone of 2008!!
According to Rumors, this phone is releasing around September 2008!
This is an opportunity to buy a great email address to show how much you love this phone.
Now, buy this phone at a hot price.
**I will email you the password for the GMAIL EMAIL ADDRESS as soon as this auction ends
Don't miss this chance to buy a great Email Address
This auction is for EMAIL ADDRESS ONLY!!!

I mean, you really have to laugh at that one!

Comments

[Evert]

Is it that fraudulent to auction off an email address?

[Maciek]

WOW.. I have to hurry. I've always wanted to buy a gMail address for $580....

[Darla]

@Evert, yes it is illegal, especially since gmail is free. But you know how ebay goes.

[Texrat]

Not to merely quibble, but "illegal" means against the law, not against policy. Is it actually illegal to sell an email address? I have sincere doubts...

I'd like to laugh at this, too, but I see 25 people duped into bidding on this. A sad testament to our educational system?

[TD]

How about this one on ebay.
110245986193

search for this item.... how can it exist, hasn't been released quite yet.