How does ebay handle Triangle Schemes involving Stolen Credit Info Laundering?

[lynda_lovejoy]

Apparently, there are many sellers on ebay pretending to be domestic, who are really based in China, who are laundering credit card/bank account information. I'd like to know how to report this, and what ebay is doing about it. This just happened to me, and I'd like other buyers to know what is happening.

This is how it works: they set up a legitimate business front on ebay, and use ebay transactions to "launder" stolen credit information (cards, bank accounts, etc.).  They sell you a product under false pretenses,  pretending to be some business in a random stateside city with a product, and put the item's tracking number on a postcard instead, mailed to you from an international trading company in California. When the postcard is delivered, it appears like the item was delivered, when it wasn't.  In the mean time, they use stolen credit information to make a purchase on Amazon, or directly from a manufacturer, and have it shipped to you. Often, they also send "extras" that you didn't order, such as coffee filters if you ordered a coffee pot, in an attempt to appease you enough not to report them. When you ask for your money back, you cannot get a refund; they send you more stuff. When you try to return the stuff to the warehouse or wherever it seems to have come from, you can't, because you didn't buy it. They bought the stuff with someone else's stolen credit card information, and there is sometimes no way to find out who actually purchased it. However, this so-called "seller" has your money, courtesy of ebay.

Ebay, the buyer, Amazon or other warehouses, the USPS, and other direct companies are all being exploited to launder this money. Since the USPS is involved, it is also a federal crime.

[kensgiftshop]

@lynda_lovejoy 

When you receive an item you didn't order, file an INAD to get your money back.

Go to your purchase history and click return item and select, the item doesn't match the description as the reason.
The seller will have 3 days to accept the return and pay return shipping or refund without returning.
If they don't, return to the case on day 4 and ask Ebay to step in.

[simba6]

Well, someone once used my  name to open a USPS account. They then sent fake money orders to people as the fake shopper scam. Supposed to buy items with the money order , send them to some address and summit a "report" on how friendly the seller of the items was.

I found out when one was returned for a bad address.  I called the postal service to report it.   Very lackluster. Like they did not even want to bother with it. Could cars less.

[mudshark61369]

@lynda_lovejoy,

You are describing two separate scams, a triangulation one and a fake tracking number scam.

None of the 3rd party online shopping sites can do much about a triangulation scam, because the sites them selves are not involved beyond a person using an account to list an item.  Since there are millions of new listings posted daily that cannot possibly vet each and every one.  Most of the accounts used in the scam are hijacked with info that the thieves have also stolen. 

People who have bought from a seller performing the scam receive what they bought, but from a second retailer who was paid with the stolen card and ships the item, so they do not have anything to report. The buyer may never know they were scammed unless the retailer who was scammed contacts them.  The graphic below explains the scam.  

Fake tracking number scams work differently. An item is purchased legitimately, and something is sent but to a different address in the same or completely different zip code.  Sometimes an an empty small box, or envelope is used.  Those who know how to beat the scammers by getting the info needed, to win an Item Not Received (INR) dispute, are reporting the scam by providing the proof of the scam, but ebay never divulges the outcome of their investigations.

[bonjourami]

You dont return the 'stuff' to the warehouse, you return it to the seller.

[mudshark61369]

@bonjourami,

Before anything is returned the OP first has to have proof of a scam. Fake tracking is easy to prove, but a triangulation scam is not, which is why it has been around for almost 20 years.

  The OP may be confusing a legitimate drop shipping seller, with the triangulation scam.  There are many sellers who use Amazon to ship items using their Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) system, which is not a policy violation.  It is only a violation if a seller uses their Prime Account, to ship an item as a gift, and that has to be reported to Amazon.

  Triangulation scams usually involve companies like Walmart, Home Depot, or other sites that ship directly.  Unfortunately, it is the company who was scammed whose return address is given on the label.

[dellarosa]

Your explanation is correct except you cannot put a tracking number on a postcard, I uncovered a current scam seller and ebay does not require a tracking number from China

[ebooksdiva]

Old thread from 2022. 

[kh-stanley1]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.