In perhaps my favourite scam since the great Johnny Craig Macbook swindle, eBay has warned customers about deceptive sellers flogging photos of the PS5, under the guise of selling the console itself.
You have to hand it to these modern-day Fagin’s, it’s a pretty sublime hoodwink. If I dropped upwards of $500 on what I thought as a console but was actually just a shoddy photo of a console taken from like, a Samsung Galaxy X, I’d have no choice but to find humour in my own credulity.
The e-commerce monolith has issued a statement warning users against the scam and emphasising that they are doing everything in their power to try and moderate the grifters.
“We condemn these opportunistic sellers who are attempting to mislead other users,” eBay wrote.”We are in the process of removing all listings for photos of PS5s from our marketplace and will be taking appropriate action against the sellers.”
The statement continued, “For any purchase, but especially highly-priced or in-demand items, buyers should exercise caution and thoroughly read the listing description.
“Buyers who receive an item which is not as described are entitled to a refund via our eBay Money Back Guarantee, provided they completed the transaction on the eBay platform.”
The demand for the PS5 has been unprecedented. Playstation recently unveiled that the launch of the console is their biggest ever. Lockdown has us all turning into gamer girls.
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Playstation also revealed that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers by the end of the year. Whilst a specific timeline hasn’t been announced, we’re gently suggesting that you wait for an official stock to drop to avoid an egg on your face moment.
We want to thank gamers everywhere for making the PS5 launch our biggest console launch ever. Demand for PS5 is unprecedented, so we wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year – please stay in touch with your local retailers.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) November 25, 2020