is this a scam?

[kitsunegari]

UPDATE!: turns out ebay has sent this person barking up the wrong tree. a return message clearly showed this to not only NOT be a scam, but also a case of "ebay appears to have fucked up". for some reason, ebay's research doesn't go into the detail of actually reading a registered user's information, because if they did, they would have quickly identified that i was not the person being searched for in this instance. big clue: i'm not a male! nor have i ever registered banking details with a male name. i wished this user all the best in their search, apologised for my tone and asked that they understand why it was needed.

what an exciting way to start friday the thirteenth! i kinda sense it to be a good day now!
-----

post rehearsal insomnia brought on by a gurana beverage and a cup of tea, i check my email. sitting in my inbox is a message from ebay from a user who bought a book off me 12 months ago claiming to have mistakenly deposited a pile of dollars into my account. i read with dubiousness and do some research. piles of stated information are connected and yes, they do appear to be who they say they are, but there is no evidence of the so called "mistaken deposit". so i messaged them back. below are the transcripts, edited only to remove sensitive informations.

am i being scammed? i haven't emailed ebay about it yet, because i can't be certain this is a scam or not. opinions...

Dear [ ebay user ],

Hello, I bought items from you back in [ date item was bought ]. I paid for them on the [ alleged date item was paid for - which is a good two weeks prior to it's arrival in my bank account ] my id was [ old username ] but has n ow changed to [ new, slightly altered from the original, username ].
I have mistakenly transfered [ specified sum of money ] into your account on the [ date of alleged "mistaken deposit" ] the dicription would have read [ redacted ]. The banks traced it but your bank wouldn't reply. Finally between ebay and myself we have tracked you down. I would like very much if you could contat me regards to returning the money please.
Kind Regards [ sender's real name ]


my reply:

i don't know what kind of a stunt this is, but i can assure you that there is no evidence of such a transaction showing up in my bank accounts. i have done a thorough online search of my bank statements for the date you have specified (in fact, i searched from [ date spread of account search ]) and have found no reference whatsoever to any deposit or description matching your stated details.

i have a reference of a payment on [ date of deposit from user - which is two weeks later than user states payment was made ] from a [ old username ], but there is absolutely no evidence to prove the validity of your statement of mistaken deposit.

if you wish proof that no such transaction occurred, i will do my best to comply, however, i will be obligated to elevate this to the ebay fraud team should i believe this matter is not genuine.

please understand my reservations and suspicions.

if this is a genuine mistake, i wish you all the best in resolving it, but i believe you have contacted the wrong person.

regards,
[ censored real name ] (ebay user [ ebay user ])

til next....
~Kits~ (i'm really not sure)

Comments

[xenelle.livejournal.com]

Sounds kinda dodgy - was the extra money paid through bank transfer or paypal - as I doubt your bank would have much to do with paypal.

As they have claimed to have contacted ebay to hunt you down I'd talk to ebay I tried to see if someone else had the same problem but there doesn't seem to be anything I'd report it in case it's a case of account hijacking.

[catdraco.livejournal.com]

Total scam.