We got scammed!

[mumtwofairies]

Don't expect any replies, but DH sold an expensive camera worth four figures. The buyer only had a PO Box address and contacted us saying he would come and collect. Anyway, money went into paypal but by a different name and we had this limited thing which meant we couldn't transfer the money into our bank account because of the amount. Anyway, the bloke came to collect saying it was for his boss. The next day, paypal said the payment is now reversed as the payee claims this is not her. Lost a camera and money and neither ebay 0r paypal are responding to this. We have notified them but nothing. Very very very angry and shan't ever use paypal again and if we do use ebay, will only accept cheques or cash.

Final note, we gave a negative feedback about the buyer and two people have come forward, saying the same thing has happened. No doubt, they will stop the account and change their name so the can scam someone else.

How upsetting for you

That's a shame - but how come you let it go without having the cash /paypal payment confirmed ?

so sorry to hear this.

big BIG rule - never accept paypal for collections

Ah, what a bastard

Ebay has become a tricky little fucker, I have to say.

Enter 'ebay chargeback scam' and you will find
plenty of other people who are in the same boat.

Earlier this year I sold 2 big ticket items and
I spent a few weeks reading all the reviews/guides.
I was gobsmacked at the number of ways you can get scammed,
either as a seller or buyer!

My advice to all ebayers:
take the time to read up on ebay scams/frauds here.

Is there any chance you or one of the neighbours got this guys car registration. While you can still remember what he looks like, sit down and write down everything you can remember about him and what he said (about traffic, journey to get there, anything)

I would be reporting this to the police and not just ebay/paypal as the person who picked it up has committed a crime even if taken at face value as the person who 'paid' said.

Oh god how awful. You should never accept paypal for collection as you then have no proof that it was collected, the buyer can just say you never sent the item.

Sorry

I would never use ebay.

I was scammed too but my id was stolen, keep an eye on your own ebay details, keep the information on your account to a minimum. I had a fake bidder but it was fairly obvious it wasn't right, my id a few months later was stolen and being used to sell items fraudulantly. Ebay were useless and sent me the bill for the items I didn't advertise. I reported it to the police in the end.

Originally it was meant to be postal but he insisted on collection. We have learnt our lesson sorely and now realised we should have waited for the money to clear before releasing the goods. They were very clever as they wanted to collect in the evening so they know neighbours aren't going to be seeing any goings ons. Ugggh! Still makes me cross. I keep telling DH to get the police involved but he thinks it won't get anywhere.

It's worth reporting in case you have any comeback, ebay will still charge you their fees and take their cut. I refused to pay and had to go through a credit collection comp and then had to give them a crime number so i didn't have bad credit. quite a pallava. The police wont do anything that's right, they wont want it on their local crime figures.

I'm glad you now realise that it was partly your lack of insecurity, but, I would get the police involved , if only to stop somebody else from getting scammed as well. The police have built up a very good computer crime unit.
Also get pay-pal involved, they have the details of the scammers via their bank accounts and may be able to co-ordinate with the police.

I got done over on paypal/ebay last year. Paid for a bugaboo, via paypal. Item never recieved, but paypal would only refund £102 of it. The woman made off with over £7000 as she had listed 20, saying her shop was closing
L

lisad123 - how much did you lose on your bugaboo & how come paypal only refunded part of it ?

I never accept paypal for collections - cash only, you have no traceable means of proving that the person received the item and anyone can do a chargeback saying they never received it. Paypal will ask the seller for proof and there is none so the buyer will get to keep the money.

Obviously your 'buyer' had hacked an account so it is more serious - definitely inform the police! Arseholes!!

I paid £370 for the bugaboo, and paypal only ever refund that amount if the account is empty.
You only ever get full refund if they are a gold member (or something like that), so in honesty paypal isnt that safe and you will rarely get a full refund)

there are some rotten people out there

I am waiting for a paypal refund...fingers crossed it's the full amount.

bubblerock, it's possible the buyer hacked into paypal member's account but my gut feeling that this lady was in on the scam. We have sorely learnt our lesson though. Paypal haven't been much help since. We can't get access to our account as its on freeze. We've emailed them to contact us and we have tried calling them and they are not recognising our tel number. It's a like a merry go round and we're getting no feedback from both ebay & paypal. Sounds like they want to sweep it under the carpet! The buyer is now no longer listed. Surprise surprise!!