Is this a scam?

I applied for a job on oDesk. A week or so later I've been talking to the guy about the position.

The person says that the company he went through to purchase Apple products for his eBay store (which he gave me a link to and is indeed an actual legit eBay store, though I have no way of knowing if it's actually his) went out of business and he's looking for a person to take their place. My job would be to go to Best Buy and purchase customer orders and then ship them out.

Funds for the items, as well as shipping and gas costs, would be sent to me via direct deposit. I would be paid a weekly amount for doing this.

The person is apparently located in California and does have a California phone number. He would like to do a phone interview at this point.

I would really love for this opportunity to be real...any thoughts?

Hello pikachu!

Can you post some of his emails? On things like this I like to use the old adage if it's too good to be true it usually is. As easy of a job as it would be to go buy electronics and ship them it is not something people usually get paid to do. Why would he not just do it himself and save the cost of paying you? Why would someone buy something from him and not the store directly? More than likely he will send you a check asking you to cash it buy the electronics and ship them. You will find out later from your bank the check was fake and will be responsible to pay the bank back the money.

Justin

If you think about it a moment, it doesn't make sense on multiple levels.

First of all, eBay sellers typically have a wholesale source. If they pay retail for the items, how are they going to make a profit on eBay? They aren't going to have a lot of buyers if they charge more than the local retail store, which is what they would have to do to make a profit themselves. While there are certainly exceptions, most eBay electronics buyers have a pretty good handle on retail pricing--and they aren't going to go to eBay and pay more.

Second, Best Buy has a full website, and anything can be ordered online and shipped direct--often for free. If this person is in California, he could order everything he needed from Best Buy directly. Instead, he is going to pay you to buy the same items, then pay even more for your gas and shipping? When you add that in, he would be paying far beyond retail cost.

The only way this scenario makes sense is if he is using you to turn stolen money into merchandise. That money could come from fake checks, phished bank accounts, or stolen credit cards--but no matter what the source, participation would put you squarely in the middle of a criminal enterprise, and ultimately cost you a lot of money, and possibly even your freedom.