AIBU to think this guy might be a scammer?

[DiddlySquatty]

Ok this is a weird one.

I have been conversing on email with a guy after he bought something I advertised on gumtree, and has made a few more direct purchases since.
He has seemed genuine enough.
As well as conversing about the items and purchases we’ve had a small amount of general friendly chit chat.

He has paid via PayPal and so I’ve seen his name and address on there and although can’t see him on social media, a quick google shows there is someone of that name living in that area.

His email has always appeared In my inbox
as his name and surname eg. joe bloggs
His actual email address is something like [email protected]

Today when he emailed me, instead of coming up as from Joe Bloggs it said gov.testing

It’s so odd. Same email address and normal message content.

It looks like he’s changed his name on his email address to appear as gov.testing

Could this be to try and scam people and he forgot to change it back before emailing me?

Or could there be any other explanation?

He does not have my real name or email address and I use a business PayPal account so he can only see my pseudo name I think. So I’m pretty sure he can’t scam me on any info I’ve given.

He's a shoe fetishist. 🤣

I think he’s just keeping in contact so he can re read your emails while wanking into your shoes.

Do not let your address be visible anywhere.

Ok, I need to ask. How do you ‘prepare’ your shoes so they are suitable for selling to a shoe fetishist? Genuinely asking, cause I’ve no idea. Puzzled 😁.

Just wear them?

Yes to me setting your email account name to Gov.testing is dodgy. If I received an email from a name like this then looked at the actual email address and it was a hotmail or a gmail or whatever I would flag it as phishing scam. Or ignore and delete.

So yes, see what you mean & agree it could be that he's up to something.

Well yeah you're offering a sexual service, of course he wants extra info from you

You're wearing shoes he can wank into/lick/sniff while thinking of you wearing them

Do you really let him pick it up in person?

They’re really not those kind of emails @MashedSpud

It’s all fine, he was actually very polite and respectful and like I said there’s been a small amount of chat and exchanging of pleasantries, but not a great deal.
It’s just odd now if I think he is potentially someone who has been trying to scam others by email. Then might have been scamming me but for the life of me can’t work out how.
Unless he is a scammer on the side who also genuinely likes worn footwear.

No of course I don’t let him collect them!
Postage only.
I am very careful about not sharing my real name or address.

Phew 😅

As long as he doesn't have any of your personal details I would just fill his orders and stop the chit chat. Unless of course you fancy a date with him.

He’s paying you extra, chatting about being single and his ex, and wanted to come to your house ? He’s clearly wanting more than just your worn shoes.

Oh dear! Clearly I'm in the wrong profession. Better get some shoes prepared. Wankers have cum a-calling

How does one go about selling some shoes? Asking for a friend.

I never said he wanted to come to my house!
I meant click and collect as in something like CollectPlus where it goes to a shop near you for you to collect.

And not much really about ex it was in the context of coping with lockdown and him living alone.

Still not sure what to think. Have received a further brief email (to confirm last package has been collected) and name on the email account is now back to normal.

I suppose it’s a good reminder that you just don’t know if people are who they say they are.

@NowThisIsWhatImTalkingAbout there are other threads about it, it was Mumsnet that inspired me to try it actually.

Though eBay has cracked down so it’s not that easy and not big big bucks at all! I don’t do it much just when I have shoes I’ve finished with so they tend to be ones I’ve genuinely worn for a long time.
You do have to be prepared to get some messages that might make you blush though those that message more tend not to be serious buyers I find so i just ignore.
You also have to not mind the the thought of what they might do with the shoes, which to be honest I don’t mind but at the same time I don’t want to know the details!
I know some people buy cheap shoes and deliberately get them well worn in a short period of time but I don’t normally do that. Though am concentrating on some in particular at the moment for this person for which he has paid half up front for, I wouldn’t normally.

Is he maybe emailing from his work email ?

My guess is he's a practical joker. Perhaps he changed his email name to send an email to prank a friend.

Yeah could be that I suppose
He hasn’t noticed/mentioned it and I won’t either I think.
Will just stay polite, keep contact to a minimum and be on my guard about anything else unusual/anything with my PayPal.

His email could have been scammed

Not work email as same address as usual just the account name that had changed

Yeah wondered if his email could have been hacked and used by a scammer but just don’t know enough about the technical side of gmail to know if that’s possible.
Seems bit unlikely.

@DiddlySquatty

Wow! This is something!

Off to search for those threads and gather my old shoes read a book!

The top tip I would give you is that if you can set up a separate email address and PayPal account not using your real name - you do have to tell PayPal your real home address but if you change it to a business account then you control what info other people see.

Maybe he’s sort of grooming you with the generosity and small purchases to lull you into a false sense of security? With a view to then try to get you to post him a high value purchase without first paying?

Yeah maybe. I will definitely be on my guard for that.

Though I wouldn’t consider any of old shoes high value items really!