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Community Newsletter: Q&A: I got scammed on eBay, what can I do now?
- 9/28/07 3:22 PM
I got scammed on eBay, what can I do now?
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 9/28/07 3:22 PM
Question:
Here’s my problem, I purchased an iPod from eBay some time ago; the user claimed a friend shipped them out without tracking numbers. So I listened to his song and dance, and going on the belief that all people are good, I believed he would send me an iPod. So I cancelled my resolution on PayPal and threw caution to the wind. Well, here I am 8 months later with no iPod and out $200. When I talked with PayPal, they said I could only use 1 resolution per transaction, and then said the seller had used the service before and seemed to be an alright person. So now I guess I’m screwed, because I have no way of getting him to give my money back. The only thing I have is his phone number that he gave to me in an e-mail. I have called him and talked to him about either giving me my money back or getting me the iPod I’m owed. Is there anything else I can do to get back my money? In addition, what are some eBay buying tips that you can offer, so it does not happen to me or future eBay users? And if you have had any bad experience like me on eBay, what did you do? I love to hear your stories and advice. Thanks!
--Submitted by Jim G.
Answer voted most helpful by our members
ADVICE FOR SAFE BUYING ON EBAY AND OTHER ONLINE WEBSTORES
Sorry to hear about your bad experience on eBay, Jim. I know how you must feel. After 8 months with no resolution, the only thing I can think to suggest is to either write or call this person one last time. While holding your anger at bay, ask them for a refund. Be the nice person. Tell them, that if they’ve had a financial problem, have been ill or have had some other catastrophic event that has kept them from refunding your hard earned cash, you understand. But, at the same time, explain that you are in the same boat and need a resolution. If the person still will not comply, tell them that they leave you no recourse but to report them to their local police department for fraud or theft and take them to small claims court. Also, contact eBay, explain your dilemma and report the seller. I don’t understand why it has taken 8 months to ask about a solution, however. I had a very similar experience and was able to get a refund within a month through PayPal. The main mistake you made was to close the PayPal resolution case before you got your refund. Never close a case before it has been resolved. If you had an error in your bank account and asked the bank to look into it, would they close the case before they’ve resolved the problem? No.
I have learned the hard way that there are and always will be dishonest people both on and off line. It’s just a fact of life. I have to say that the majority of sellers and buyers online are honest. Since there is no absolute way to avoid the possibility of being ripped off again you must take precautions!
When you find the item you’re looking for on eBay or any online website store for that matter:
1. CHECK THE SELLER’S FEEDBACK. If there are any negatives, read the buyer’s comment. It’s not always the seller’s fault. Remember the old saying, “You can’t please everyone all of the time”? Sometimes the buyer did not thoroughly read the description, didn’t understand it or just didn’t like it after they’ve received it. In other words, find out what other buyers have written about the seller.
2. ASK THE SELLER A QUESTION/S. See how long it takes to get a response. Most sellers will respond within 24-48 hours. If you get no response, find another seller that has the same item for sale and move on.
3. READ THE SELLER’S POLICIES. Do they have a return policy that you can live with? Do they even accept returns for a refund or exchange? Not all do. What is their shipping policy? Do the shipping fees seem reasonable?
4. If you’ve purchased more than one item from a seller, ask for an invoice with combined shipping. Even though it’s not always written in their policies, sometimes you can “luck out” and they’ll give you a shipping discount. Remember, the seller wants you to be happy!
5. When paying for your merchandise via PayPal, pay promptly. Then, let the seller know you’ve paid and ask them to contact you when the item has been shipped. It just lets them know you are watching their performance. I have setup my PayPal account to use a credit card that has buyer protection. That way, you’re covered if PayPal doesn’t get a resolution for you. Perhaps it’s not necessary, but, you can’t be too careful.
6. If you chose to pay using a Money Order or Cashier’s check, you will need to mail your payment to the seller. Make sure you go to the Post Office and buy a Delivery Confirmation. That way, you can track and know when the seller receives your payment.
7. NEVER USE WESTERN UNION OR ANY INSTANT CASH TRANSFER SERVICE (NON-BANK, POINT-TO-POINT CASH TRANSFERS) SUCH AS WESTERN UNION OR MONEYGRAM.
8. Copied From eBay site:
Payment Services permitted on eBay: Allpay.net, Bidpay, cash2india, CertaPay, Checkfree.com, hyperwallet.com, Moneybookers.com, Nochex.com, Ozpay.biz, Paymate.com.au, Propay.com, XOOM
Payment Services NOT permitted on eBay: AlertPay.com, anypay.com, AuctionChex.com, BillPay.ie, ecount.com, cardserviceinternational.com, CCAvenue, ecount, e-gold, eHotPay.com, ePassporte.com, EuroGiro, FastCash.com, Google Checkout, gcash, GearPay, Goldmoney.com, graphcard.com, greenzap.com, ikobo.com, Liberty Dollars, Moneygram.com, neteller.com, Netpay.com, paychest.com, payingfast.com, Payko.com, paypay, Postepay, Qchex.com, rupay.com, sendmoneyorder.com, stamps, Stormpay, wmtransfer.com, xcoin.com.
WHY DOES EBAY HAVE THIS POLICY?
Safety and convenience are at the core of eBay’s policies toward payments. This policy is designed to promote safe online shopping, and to encourage online payment methods that are safe, easy to use, reliable, and offer high levels of protection for users. The policy also attempts to preserve some flexibility for users that still prefer offline payment methods.
LASTLY, click on the HELP radio button on the eBay site. It’s located in the top right corner. Do a search by typing in: “BUY SAFE”. You will find more tips and buying strategies to help keep you safe online.
FINAL WORDS: Although this all sounds very OVERWHELMING, don’t get discouraged by one evil seller. Because, as I stated earlier, MOST eBayers ARE Honest, Good and Love to have Fun! So, BE SAFE and ENJOY the convenience of shopping from home! Rae - BichonBay
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=264204&messageID=2585590#2585590
--Submitted by Rae
If you have some additional advice for Jim, let's hear them! Click on the "Reply" link to post. Please be detailed as possible in your answer. Thanks!
Getting your money back when all else fails
by paultjos - 9/14/07 7:05 PM In reply to: I got scammed on eBay, what can I do now? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Jim -
I feel your pain. I've had several occasions when I've lost money on eBay and also where Paypal was unable to resolve my issues. Probably the biggest problem I have faced is when I pre-ordered sevearl NASCAR diecast cars...each one valued at over $50. I, too, thought that the seller would be honest because of his high feedback rating and high sales volume. However, when the diecast cars were finally released by the manufacturer and I still had not received them, I became very worried. I e-mailed the eBay seller several times with no reponse back. I filed a complaint with both eBay and Paypal, but because they have a 90 day policy, I wasn't eligible to file a resolution. The seller had closed their eBay account and I was about to give in.
Being out several hundred dollars made me upset, so I decided to do some research on the seller and my options. Like you, I had the sellers phone number. I was able to get on the internet and do a phone trace and get his address. I was also able to go back and look at the sellers previous sales and noted that he had occasionally posted a mailing address. Since he did charge state taxes, I figured that he must be registered with his local state as a business. This particular seller was from Wisconsin.
Most states have an States Attorney Generals Office. I went to the Wisconsin Attornery Generals Office website where I was able to file a complaint against the seller. I was lucky to find out that the seller had opened a new account on eBay. I e-mailed the seller one last time, telling him that I had filed a suit with the State's Attorney General Office for non-shipment of my pre-ordered diecast cars. Well, you would not believe how quickly I had my diecast cars and a refund for what he did not have that I had pre-ordered from him. The threat of legal action was enough to make this guy come clean. (His excuse was that he was in the middle of a messy divorce and thus not able to fulfill his backlog of pre-orders.)
My advice to you and contact your states attorney generals office and also the attorney generals office in the sellers home state. You might be able to file out forms on line to file a formal complaint. (I'm assuming that the seller of your iPod is from the USA.) There are strict laws concerning internet sales and scams. The threat of a law suit from a states attorney general was enough to make my seller want to co-operate with me. I would try and find out the sellers address because that can often be of help. Also check the sellers past sales to see if they might have listed a mailing address or business address. The more information you can provide the attorney generals office, the better the chances they can help.
I was able to see one guy I dealt with on eBay who did not send me my item be prosecuted in court. Apparently this guy had a major scam going on and in this case, the State of Minnesota finally caught the guy and my eBay and Paypal records helped put the guy in jail.
That would bring me to my final suggestion...try to make a paper trail of every transaction you make with eBay and Paypal. Hang on to those papers because they may come in handy someday down the road.
It's always a good idea to get the sellers phone number as well as address. Generally, I've had good luck with Paypal. They have resolved many of my cases successfully. Most states have laws concerning internet sales. If you're using the US Post Office, you may also have legal options with them as well. And if all else fails, contacting a local lawyer might be a good option. They can often provide advice as to how you can follow up and take further legal action. Contacting your local attorney generals office is a good place to start to see what legal grounds you have at your disposal.
Good luck!
Pastor Paul Tjostem
Give Em Hell
by Beaters - 9/21/07 11:05 PM In reply to: Getting your money back when all else fails by paultjosWhile Rae's post provides good general advice for beginners to avoid problems, your post provides the rudiments of dealing with a seller who has shown him/herself to be a crook. IMO, the more crooks are dealt with harshly and efficiently the better.
Abusing e-Bay?
by DMB - 9/23/07 8:17 AM In reply to: Give Em Hell by BeatersHi there,
I received the following email from e-Bay this morning and
am quite perplexed. I have NEVER USED e-Bay for any type
of transaction and yet they are saying that I'm abusing it.
I've tried to "reply" and am waiting for an answer from them.
I "seriously doubt" that I will get an answer.
Does anyone know what's going on?
Sincerely,
DMB
Ps. The following is a copy and paste from the email I
received:
From: "eBay Customer Support" <rswebhelp@ebay.com>
Subject: FPA NOTICE: eBay Registration Suspension - User Agreement - Abusing eBay -
Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:46:44 -0500
Dear eBay Member,
Your account will be suspended under the "Abusing eBay" section of the
eBay User Agreement. This section states that eBay may suspend a user's
account if we think that the user is creating problems (legal or
otherwise) or
acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of our policies.
To have your account considered for reinstatement, please fax us both
of the following:
- Copy of your driver's license or other government issued ID with your
name and address clearly visible
- Copy of a recent credit card statement (copy of the actual credit
card is not acceptable)
- Copy of a recent bank statement
- Copy of a recent utility bill
***Important***
All contact information listed on the documents that you submit with
your appeal must be consistent with the contact information listed on
your registered eBay account. If any differences exist, you must
provide an explanation for these discrepancies, as well as
documentation that
confirms your explanation.
If your eBay contact information is your work address, please send
official documentation to validate this.
***Important***
If your fax doesn't contain this information, we won't be able to
process it.
Please fax all documentation to:
eBay
Attention: Abusing eBay Appeals
U.S. Fax Number: 1-323-446-7072
Please allow 48 to 72 hours for your request for appeal to be
processed. Sending us an email before that time may delay your request.
***Privacy Note***
Any documents submitted to us will be destroyed after the information
has been reviewed and verified. However, your full name and address
must be legible for us to process your request.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Chance
eBay Customer Support
Abusing ebay.
by roshan5 - 9/23/07 8:31 AM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMBI have received the same msg., this morning. It is a scam. Please check you messages in My E-bay folder. All messages sent by e-bay must be there. All others send by some one else.
RE: Abusing at e-bay
by MikeL1950 - 9/23/07 9:01 AM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMBI am a regular user of e-bay services. The copy of the e-mail that you sent is from a phishing site. While the address looks like it is from Ebay, if you right click on it and go to properties, you will find that that it actually is not an E-bay address. You can also send a copy to ebay and they will probably verify that it is a scam. The real clincher is that it is asking for personal information, ebay never sends out stuff like this. Also it does not address you by user name. All of my correspondence from ebay starts out. Dear (EbayUserName).
When you get something that says dear (E-Bay or other OnlineReseller) member, beware. Also when I go into myebay and check messages, I will find the same message duplicated.
Again, I am 100% sure that this is a scam. I have seen it time and again. When I was new to this type of fraud, I was at my folks home and Earthlink was telling them that they had not received payment and that they should contact them by email and give them personal information. I am a computer person with moderately high experience with the internet, and the email was so professional looking, I almost bought it. We contacted Earthlink (by phone using a published phone number) and they verified the fraudulent nature of the message.
Because you were so bothered by the email, you may have complied (I hope not) and sent them personal information. If you did you may want to seek more professional information (like ebay security, I do not claim to be giving you professional advise). You will probably be advised to look out for identity theft type attacks against you.
Good Luck
More about fraudulent email
by DMB - 9/23/07 11:35 AM In reply to: RE: Abusing at e-bay by MikeL1950Thanks MikeL.
And thank you nikijen2.
I emailed to spoof@ebay.com and got a reply back
from their automated....
Seems that if one changes the "subject heading"
and it not read as an "exact" forward, no one reads
them. Not only that, but the "spoof" addy is for
fraudulent websites.
See below.
Sincerely,
DMB
Oklahoma
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Your email will NOT be reviewed by eBay personnel.
In order to investigate these reports effectively and in a timely
manner, we only review and respond to emails that are *forwarded* to
this address.
The email address "spoof@ebay.com" is used only for processing reports of Websites that attempt to impersonate eBay.
For eBay to more fully investigate your report, please use the
"forward"
function of your email program to send the original spoof email you
received to spoof@ebay.com. We will review the email and follow-up with
you as soon as possible.
***IMPORTANT: When you forward your message to spoof@ebay.com, do not
alter the subject line, add text to your message or forward the email
as
an attachment.***
If your email contains links to suspicious web sites they will be
automatically processed and added to the eBay fraud tracking systems.
After the web site is verified as a spoof site, we will start the
process to have the web site shut down.
Suspicious web sites can also be reported using the eBay Toolbar
Account
Guard. For more info, please visit:
http://www.ebay.com/ebay_toolbar
***IMPORTANT: If an email asks for eBay account or personal
information,
but does NOT appear in your My Messages Inbox on eBay, do not click on
ANY links in the email.***
For more information about identifying spoof email, and protecting your
account with the eBay Toolbar and Account Guard, please visit the eBay
Security & Resolution Center at:
http://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/stop_spoof_websites.html
If you think your personal information has been compromised in any way,
you should take immediate steps to change your eBay, PayPal, and email
passwords. You should also contact your bank to see if there has been
any suspicious activity on your account. You can find more information
about protecting your identity at the following help page:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/problems-identity-theft.html
Thank you again for sending us your report. We appreciate your efforts
to keep eBay and PayPal safe.
Regards,
eBay Trust & Safety Team
Phishing
by PC-PILOT - 9/24/07 7:27 AM In reply to: RE: Abusing at e-bay by MikeL1950Forward all such emails (or any that you suspect are not legitimately from ebay), WITH the headers, if possible. Use the address: spoof@ebay.com
re Abusing e-bay
by nikijen2 - 9/23/07 9:17 AM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMByou received the email from someone trying to get your personal info(known as phishing) DO NOT reply to these types of emails as you just confirm your email address to these people. instead FORWARD the email to ebay at spoof@ebay.com
Are you sure that it Came from Ebay regarding the suspension
by Dash142 - 9/23/07 2:00 PM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMBIf you received a email from Ebay regarding your account being suspended then you might want to be aware that the letter might not have come from Ebay. I received such a letter stating the same thing on time.. My suggestion to anyone the receives such a email letter or any type of email letterir to copy it and send it to the Ebay tos report section and with a question or explaination on how you might have received this email.. Never fax or email any personal information that can identify you or your place of business. Never enclose any of your Ebay information or pay pal info.. In the Ebay private policies it states Ebay will never contact you asking for your private info.. When you forward that copy of the email that you received it is best to forward it to Ebay tos. This way Ebay security can go into the email header and track the source that sent you the email.. Hope this helped a little on this subject you have about Ebay canceling your account and requesting your info to reactivate it.. Also before you do that you might want to try to log in to your account and just see for yourself if it still works or you have been denied access to your Ebay account.. Hope this helped also.. Yours Bruce
Abusing Ebay
by championmotorsports - 9/24/07 7:39 AM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMBIt is a scam to try and get your information, I am hoping you did not answer them or send any personal information, it is for identity theft. Ebay and Paypal will NEVER ask you for personal information through an e-mail, the way to tell if the e-mail is a scam or not, at the top of the letter where it says Dear ...., EBay and Paypal will use your full name where as the scammers just put Dear Customer or something like that. I wish you luck and really hope you did not fall for this.
Phishing
by Rose907 - 9/24/07 8:28 AM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMBThe e-mail you received is obviously a fake and not from eBay. You say you have never used eBay, so I assume you do not have an eBay account. And even if you did, eBay DOES NOT EVER ask for personal information such as listed in this e-mail. You are a victim of phishing (an attempt to get your personal information for identity theft purposes). I do not have a phone number for eBay, but you can contact them by phone through PayPal (which is owned by eBay). PayPal's customer service number is 1-888-221-1161. Add the e-mail address of the sender of that bogus e-mail to your "blocked senders" list and disregard it. Never ever give out personal information.
It's fraud
by cessamac - 9/24/07 2:00 PM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMBYou need to contact ebay's fraud dept. This is a phishing email. I have gotten a few of these from co.s I use and don't use. I hope you didn't give them any information! If you have you need to contact the cr. card that you told the phisher of. You can also contact the credit bureaus and have a fraud alert placed on your credit files and if they try anything they will alert you.
LEARN! LEARN! LEARN DAMMIT!!!
by Parish - 9/24/07 10:12 PM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMBOh, you'll get a REPLY alright! LOTS AND LOTS OF REPLIES!!!
You'll get replies from you credit cards, bank and GOD KNOWS WHO ELSE TELLING YOU YOU ARE OVERDRAWN, OVER LIMIT AND YOU JUST SUBSCRIBED TO 2,389 EUROPEAN PORNO SITES!!!!
PLEASE SAY YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY SENT ALL THIS PERSONAL INFO TO AFRICAN SCAMMERS POSING AS EBAY....
If you HAVE, GET YOUR REAR ON THE PHONE TO YOUR BANK, CREDIT CARD COMPANIES, SOCIAL SECURITY, EBAY, ETC. AND ***PRAY*** YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY BEEN SLAMMED!
LEARN PEOPLE!!!
It's fraud.
by dena1936 - 9/26/07 2:24 PM In reply to: Abusing e-Bay? by DMBI hope you didn't give all that info to them. I got a letter like that. I went straight to ebay.com and found out that it was someone trying to steal my ID
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