Almost got bitten by an eBay fraud

Rgbeard

Rgbeard

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rgbeard
this morning I won an auction for a Garmin 650. I wanted to clarify the shipping. So I dug around and found the phone number to the seller, an avionics shop in New York.

After a quick fact-check by the receptionist, I discovered that they were not selling this and that it was, in-fact fraudulent. They said they had received a few phone calls about it before the auction closed, and it’s someone masquerading as them to grab $10k the easy way!

I didn’t pay, I sent a request to cancel my purchase to eBay. It’s a shame things are like this.

If anyone here was bidding on this unit, and lost to me today, you’re welcome.
 
Not sure what the point of a scam like this would be. If you lodge a non-delivery complaint with PayPal they’ll just reverse the transaction - the seller would have no way to refute this if they were impersonating another store.

Is the seller just hoping you’ll pay and then forgot that you purchased it until 120 days goes by?
 
deonb said:
Not sure what the point of a scam like this would be. If you lodge a non-delivery complaint with PayPal they’ll just reverse the transaction - the seller would have no way to refute this if they were impersonating another store.

Is the seller just hoping you’ll pay and then forgot that you purchased it until 120 days goes by?
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I can’t speak on behalf of the fraudster. I just know it would be a pain in the butt until it was resolved. And I’m glad I’m not dealing with this.
 
I got creamed on a tv once a long time ago. I like to buy and sell on eBay. Got smoked for 7 bills. Taught me a wise lesson and haven’t been scammed since. Much better at spotting them too!!
 
About a year ago somebody hacked my E-bay account and bought a ton of jewelry and watches. Me thinks they were hoping my account was auto-connected via PayPal and the purchases would go through. Thankfully the E-bay fraud team notified me and we cleaned everything up. Whenever I purchase something I always do a reverse lookup to make sure they're legit with a B&M storefront or at the very least are a power seller. I also keep no funds in my PayPal account and only use a credit card tied to the account for double the protection.
 
You'll find scammers every where, My records at eBay are 107 buys and sales, 1 problem when a buyer declared the Garmin 250 wasn't packed well enough and the glass face was broken. PayPal refunded his money.
 
deonb said:
Not sure what the point of a scam like this would be. If you lodge a non-delivery complaint with PayPal they’ll just reverse the transaction - the seller would have no way to refute this if they were impersonating another store.

Is the seller just hoping you’ll pay and then forgot that you purchased it until 120 days goes by?
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Seller gets funds, transfers them to a bank, someone else is left holding the bag.
 
Cici said:
Seller gets funds, transfers them to a bank, someone else is left holding the bag.
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And that someone else is PayPal or your credit card company, neither of which is quick to transfer money to the fraudster quickly.
 
Hi everyone.
The problem is that Ebay facilitates, and maybe even encourages these type of transactions. There are delays built into the system that allows these types of scams to take place. PayPal pays out, long before you get the item, and you cannot lodge a complaint for some time, if you go to PayPal before a certain time, and try to stop payment, Ebay washes their hands of it, saying that you did not follow the procedure. You may, or may not, get it resolved, by that time some of these scammers are long gone. It can take weeks to get your money back, and adding insult to injury, PayPal will just return your money as credit, unless you specifically ask them to be returned to your credit card.
Many of the items are counterfeit, like Micro SD cards, you can point it out, and prove it, to Ebay but the sellers are not stopped from selling, that is how they make their money, the buyer is last in line.
It's a vicious cycle, I stopped buying things from them.
 
I know a guy who works at eBay .... I believe still on the anti-fraud division. Or used to be anyways.

Can’t make any promises but if anyone feels they are dealing with a fraudulent seller you might pass along relevant details. Maybe can get someone digging.
 
woodchucker said:
I know a guy who works at eBay .... I believe still on the anti-fraud division. Or used to be anyways.

Can’t make any promises but if anyone feels they are dealing with a fraudulent seller you might pass along relevant details. Maybe can get someone digging.
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Very easy to do, there is a click button to report sellers.
 
I've gotten scammed on eBay before as well. Someone hacked my account and purchased some apple earbuds. The kicker is that they still were sent to my address but what the scammer does is send an item that is a knockoff or completely different than the original item to they walk away with the profit. It doesn't look like a scam because it's being sent to your address still. I told eBay this was fraudulent and they confirmed that it was and gave me an official email saying it was. I gave this to PayPal to get them to cancel the transaction and they wouldn't do it. Even with the proof from eBay they said there wasn't any evidence that it was fraudulent. I did research into this and it seems like it happens regularly. PayPal just wants their money and doesn't care about their customers. It wasn't until I told USAA that it was fraudulent and they wouldn't give PayPal money that PayPal said "oh this appears to be a fraudulent charge". I cancelled my eBay and PayPal accounts and never do business with either of them again. I also think eBay's security is questionable or they may even be selling accounts because I had no other security issues at the time.

IIRC @steingar also had a similar experience.
 
What @Cici said. Scammer in a foreign country, gets the money, someone else is left holding the bag. I will say we've never had trouble getting a refund from PayPal. If anything, it's harder on the seller, because PayPal will usually side with the buyer if there's any doubt.
 
What about Paypal Protection?
Is it worth bothering with?

What’s covered with PayPal Purchase Protection
  • You bought a book, but received a DVD
  • You bought an item described as “new,” but received something that was used
  • You purchased 3 items, but only received 2
  • The item was damaged during shipping
  • The item is missing major parts (that the seller didn’t report)
  • You purchased an item described as authentic, but received a knockoff instead
 
Stephen Poole said:
What @Cici said. Scammer in a foreign country, gets the money, someone else is left holding the bag. I will say we've never had trouble getting a refund from PayPal. If anything, it's harder on the seller, because PayPal will usually side with the buyer if there's any doubt.
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I've also been bitten as a seller by numerous buyers that didn't pay. There's no repercussions for this. It's an old outdated platform that I don't think will see 5 more years.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
I've also been bitten as a seller by numerous buyers that didn't pay. There's no repercussions for this. It's an old outdated platform that I don't think will see 5 more years.
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How can that be, as nothing I’ve ever purchased was shipped before payment was sent?
 
One way for the scammer to circumvent PayPal's protections is to offer you the merchandise at a substantial discount if you send the funds as a visa gift card, Western Union etc. You know, to avoid the fees and such.... After you 'win' the scammers auction you are just a mark that needs to be separated from it's money. A $10,000 item that is offered to you at $6000 is a temptation too difficult to resist for many bargain hunters.
 
Years ago I accidently left my dads college ring at a girl friends apartment. The ring that says A&M College of Texas '56 on it. Since that visit ended up not being a pleasant visit, she at first refused to return the ring. She was living in Albuquerque and I was in Alaska at the time. I had asked her to send the ring to my address in Texas.

About 2 years later I got a phone call asking if I had lost a Texas A&M class ring. I did, I replied. The caller told me he bought it off of eBay and wanted to return it to me. I told him it was stolen from me, and asked for the sellers name and seller number, which he happily gave me. I went to a friend of mine that at the time was working for the state attorney generals office. He told me he would take care of it.

The story is sort of long. After we broke up, she did send the ring by the US Postal Service, without tracking from her new address in Georgia. Turns out a postal employee there was stealing from the mail, including the class ring. He was caught, tried and sentenced for mail theft over a certain amount of money and was sent to jail. The ring was returned to the sender for some reason.

She let it sit for several months, when her latest boyfriend saw it and asked to sell it. She said Ok, and he put it on eBay. It was sold, and the buyer received it then went through the Texas A&M Association of Former Student's and got my contact information. After getting the seller information I went to visit my buddy. He went through channels and a letter went to eBay stating they had sold stolen items and needed this seller number information. eBay was only too happy to provide the information. I mean they could not give the info fast enough. They gave all the sellers information plus details on the add the ring was advertised/sold on plus everything else this guy had bought or sold on eBay since he first joined.

My buddy contacted the Georgia State Police, and the guy was asked to come in and answer some questions. According to my buddy he would not stop talking about how his now ex-girlfriend came up with the idea and gave specific details on her actions. She was called in. She came in with a lawyer and refused to answer any questions.

Both were eventually arrested for selling stolen merchandise. I don't recall all of the details but something along the lines of involving the US Postal Service and mail fraud comes to mind. Since she is a doctor, she was able to afford a good defense team. Both her and her ex boyfriend plead no contest, asked for and received deferred adjudication. Both met the requirements laid out by the court within the allotted period of time, which I found out was a year probation, community service and fines. She was able to secure an order of non-disclosure on the trial and results of. I am sure she spent well more than the $389.00 that the ring sold for.

The buyer refused to give me his name and refused my offer to reimburse him for the cost of buying and shipping the ring to me and any other cost.

I will stand by my statement that Aggies are the best people.
 
While it's not the easiest thing to do, there are ways to try and recover from a scammer on ebay.

I sold my old David Clark H10-13x headset a while back. Person that bought them claimed that one side was dead. I told them to return them. They returned a different headset! After some back and forth, I notifed ebay and paypal. Ebay eventually closed the scammers account. Paypal took a little while longer. Had to file a police report (which was the most idiotic thing) and send it to Paypal. Fortunately, I had lots of pictures of my headset and when compared to the one which was returned it was obvious they were different. What was really interesting is that David Clark does not have serial numbers on (at least the H10-13x) their headsets!

In the end, I got my money back. I sent the returned headset to David Clark who rebuilt them at a discounted price and sold them on ebay. Ended up making more money than I would have selling my headset.

But it was a PITA.

And I NEVER purchase used electronics from sellers outside the country and absolutely never pay with Western Union, money orders, etc.
 
gkainz said:
How can that be, as nothing I’ve ever purchased was shipped before payment was sent?
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I didn't send the item, but someone agreed to pay a price and then chose not to which ruined my auction.
 
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