eBay/PayPal Scam.....and how to keep yourself protected.
AMRC
Posts: 4,280 ✭✭✭✭✭
About 10 days ago I get two "Buy it Now" sales for 1928 $100 bills that come about 1 minute apart. Two different users on eBay but one with feedback of zero and the other with feedback of 1. I checked the addresses of the users because I was suspicious that two items sold that close together in time for items that had been listed for months, and much to my chagrin they were the same. I contact eBay and tell them I think there is a scam going and they assured me they would look into it because it was two users with the same address and it did look suspicious. Never heard any more about and the transaction sat on the books.
Payment did not come within the required time so I filed a request to cancel the transaction. A few days later (before the time limit for the FVF's were to be credited) payment was received for one of the two transactions. Still suspicious I called PayPal this time to confirm if this transaction was covered by Sellers Protection against a fraudulent use of credit cards. The woman on the line assured me that it was and that I should make sure I follow correct shipping procedures (signature required, tracking etc., - useless information). But she assured me it was Ok to ship. As I was about to hang-up I got an email from PayPal security telling be the transaction is being put on hold and not to ship the item. I told her about the email and she was kind of stupefied that she had just finished telling me to ship. So I hung up, and that was the end of that.
Today I get notice from PayPal that some 1928 $100 bills I sold on August 5 were purchased using an unauthorized credit card and a hold was placed against my account for those two transactions (Just under $600 total). I went to go look up the buyer and they too had low feedback, and much to my surprise the same address of the two eBay ID's mentioned above. So this person had been using different eBay accounts with stolen credit cards to buy $100 bills for some time. I called PayPal and they immediately credited back one of the transaction citing Seller's Protection. The second one, they said, has to go through the 75 day process because I combined shipping after the order was paid and put them together in a single box and added a refund to the sellers package. They told me, that had I shipped both items separately I would have been credited for the second one immediately as well. But since i had combined them the second refund would have to go through the 75 day charge back process.
Moral of the story, do not combine shipping after people have paid you. Always ship each item that was paid for separately to keep your self protected
Edited for spelling.
Payment did not come within the required time so I filed a request to cancel the transaction. A few days later (before the time limit for the FVF's were to be credited) payment was received for one of the two transactions. Still suspicious I called PayPal this time to confirm if this transaction was covered by Sellers Protection against a fraudulent use of credit cards. The woman on the line assured me that it was and that I should make sure I follow correct shipping procedures (signature required, tracking etc., - useless information). But she assured me it was Ok to ship. As I was about to hang-up I got an email from PayPal security telling be the transaction is being put on hold and not to ship the item. I told her about the email and she was kind of stupefied that she had just finished telling me to ship. So I hung up, and that was the end of that.
Today I get notice from PayPal that some 1928 $100 bills I sold on August 5 were purchased using an unauthorized credit card and a hold was placed against my account for those two transactions (Just under $600 total). I went to go look up the buyer and they too had low feedback, and much to my surprise the same address of the two eBay ID's mentioned above. So this person had been using different eBay accounts with stolen credit cards to buy $100 bills for some time. I called PayPal and they immediately credited back one of the transaction citing Seller's Protection. The second one, they said, has to go through the 75 day process because I combined shipping after the order was paid and put them together in a single box and added a refund to the sellers package. They told me, that had I shipped both items separately I would have been credited for the second one immediately as well. But since i had combined them the second refund would have to go through the 75 day charge back process.
Moral of the story, do not combine shipping after people have paid you. Always ship each item that was paid for separately to keep your self protected
Edited for spelling.
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Comments
I do not think normal merchant accounts work like this.
Always, always view the paypal details page for an item you sell. If it does not say "sell protection" and "OK to ship" then paypal will not protect you. And they will only protect you if you follow their shipping instructions. Do not go by what you are told on the telephone when it comes to "OK to ship." Once had a PP rep tell me over the phone "OK to ship, website will update to OK to ship later in the day." The only thing that protected me from the $2800 scammer was I insisted the PP rep send me an email telling me "OK to ship" before I would ship. Even with that it took weeks of fighting with PP and four levels up the ladder with PP managers before I was reimbursed. I also learned that resolution is sometimes easier if you keep asking to speak to the next PP supervisor up the chain. I was lucky to find one who did the right thing.
Many sellers, myself included will ship multiple purchases to the same address with one shipment. This is perfectly acceptable to PP (as demonstrated by the OP) and shipper should update PP "tracking" info for each item with the tracking number. I think it is important that readers of the OP understand that it is OK to ship multiple purchases together, but also be prepared for a delay in reimbursement should seller protection be needed. 95% of my shipments are over $20 in registered postage, so I will continue to ship multiple items together when given the oppportunity. I was not aware of potential reimbursement delays for doing so and thank the OP for the info.
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Not sure how this will help, he just keeps creating new ones.