Thanks for that link and nice summary. :-)
I've always wondered how they actually get away with any money in the end. If I were to try to do what these scammers do, PayPal would reach right into my linked bank account and take the money that was owed to a buyer! Perhaps the banks over there and the Chinese arm of PayPal aren't so stringent with their proof-of-identity requirements as they are here in the USA.
As you mentioned, it's never a good idea to bid on these type of auctions, since it just helps perpetuate the problem. I bid on one or two in the past not realizing that it was a scam. Now that I know better, I do my best to steer clear of auctions with such red flags.
There's also dummy accounts: they get Joe Shmo's information and open an account with it, or they have credentials to someone's account online and use it as a dummy account to funnel money to (eventually) a legit account, likely untraceable, account. Or they withdraw with another dummy account...
So I actually purchased it and immediately opened a claim stating item not received and asking for clarification on the product as well as shipping info. If the seller does not reply within 48 hours I can open a claim with PayPal and state the obvious (the whole thing is fishy as hell). If on the off chance this is legit, score!
Any advice is welcome, & if y'all want screenshots of me wasting this potential *******s time I'm happy to share. **** scammers, wasting their time and hopefully preventing someone else from falling for it is always worth it.