Recently got scammed twice Buyer claiming they received an empty box Apple Macbook Air

[normzsales]

Empty Box Scam from Buyers. The Scammer will have a new account about 2 months old. History of purchases are inexpensive items worth $5 or less. 

The Buyer Scammer will file a return and claim the package they received was empty.  After this, You will never hear from the buyer ever again even if you message them multiple times. Once the return expires they will call and send Ebay customer service a Police report that they filed. Ebay team will then close the case immediately and refund the Scammer. It does not matter if there is signature confirmation and tracking number that shows the weight of the box during transit.  Their policy is Police report overrides the Tracking information. 

I got scammed twice down $2k in two months. Both are Macbook Air Laptops worth $1k each. Don't be like me. Be Smart. 

Make sure you insured your packages specially if they are high value items. Ship only with UPS and Fedex. I used USPS the first time and USPS insurance claims department wanted the buyer to go to the postal office to show the the empty package to a postal worker for proof it was empty. They will never go to the Postal office because they will never respond to your messages.  They also will not send pictures of the package. 

I've been going back and forth with Ebay with my two cases and I cannot win. I could never speak to a customer service representative in the US main land. They always connect me to a call center in the Philippines. 

Ebay will never show you the police report, they will never confirm if it was real or not. They will always side with the Buyer no matter what. 

I Google the buyers address and its a Hotel not a residence.  

Remember Police report overrides Tracking information. Buyer will get their refund.

Your best bet is to file an insurance claim with Fedex or UPS and hope and pray you get your money back. 

Scammer will be reading this as well.. they're getting smarter and we are losing. Ebay always side with them. 

This makes me want to quit selling on Ebay but I have no choice, I need income. 

Good Luck!  

[wastingtime101]

Fight this. Get eBay to provide a copy of the police reports. There are scammers out there using fake police reports. Some of them even set up phone numbers with voicemails to make eBay think it's real if they call to verify. Some are horrendous with fake addresses, fake spelling, fake police department. Get a copy of the reports that were filed and have your local police verify if it's real or fake. eBay has provided these to other sellers so keep pushing until they send it.

If it's fake, get your local police to provide a police report saying it's a fake and that this was theft. Also file a claim for mail fraud. Then go back to eBay and provide the documents and reports to appeal the case decisions - go through eBay on FaceBook so you can upload images of the reports.

[baydealz]

This should be easy to fight.  ebay claims to have a seller guarantee, I don't believe em, but I do take photos of item, and it going into the package and of he package with label.  This saved me a couple times.  Plus the amount of postage will confirm the weight.  I'm bothered with ebay but this kinda thing is usually remedied.  

[ba_826034]

I ordered an iPhone Pro Max eleven from Apple on line and the box changed into brought to my house empty !!! ... That I will not get a telephone or refund until they find the telephone and it's far returned to them ! ... Twice now, I actually have stated this. ... Meaning, they can not simply drop the box and go. ... If it become signed, then it became fraud. the tech support is very bad.

[lagarto_electronico]

FYI

Another thing these scammers are doing is using a dictionary brute force attack to get into accounts of deceased eBay members.  Even a buyer with plenty of feedback may actually be a new user with a hijacked account. So, watch out for that as well.

[gosolids]

I don't get it. Aren't we paying 13% for "seller protection"? Ecommerce sites are getting increasingly easy to start. It's time everyone got on the bandwagon.

[yso-06]

Why you did not fight for this? I think seller should take photos or videos of their items before sending.

[wastingtime101]

Photos and videos can be doctored so eBay and PayPal won't even look at them. That's a complete waste of time.

But yeah, the OP should fight this as I posted above.

[normzsales]

I'm still waiting on a Ebay. Contacting them on the phone is useless. You get some one from the Philippines and all they do is comfort you and they tell you they will escalate it but later you get an email saying and they're decision is with the buyer.  They always side with the buyer!

I contacted Ebay on Facebook. It seems they're located in the USA?  This is what they say

"I'm so sorry for my delayed response and that you've had to go through this situation twice now. I wanted to very thorough and check through all of the information for both orders before responding back. We can't give you copies of those police reports we received due to privacy issues, but we can call the police stations and verify if what we've received is legitimate from both of those buyers. We'll get this reviewed and verified within the next 5-7 business days so we can determine what options we may have available and then we'll reach out to you and let you know. Please let us know if you have any questions as we're always here to help. ~Jaime"

I told them you need to call to verify the police reports and make sure to speak to an officer not a recording. This is their response

"Hey there, we will call the police station directly and speak to someone there so we can try to verify the police reports. We appreciate your patience while we get this reviewed and we'll reach back out to you with an update as soon as we can. ~Jaime"

so Its been day 5.. I send them a message today. Still no response.

What is going on with EBAY! I've been selling since 2001 will 100 percent feedback, I worked so hard for that..

 I will keep you posted

[normzsales]

I have not heard from Ebay yet. I know it should be an easy case to solve but I get nothing from them.

[normzsales]

I got a person on Ebay on Facebook, she forward my case to the Ebay back team. I told them I contacted the Precinct in Delaware and the officer told me there do not have such police report. She said they Ebay Back Team will call them to verify. Its been a full 7 business days and I have not heard from them.   When I call I get some one in the Philippines and they are of no help.  

[simba6]

Apple items bring them "out of the woodwork".  That is a very high risk item to sell here. It's sad but, it's well known the world over you can get stuff for fee here by doing that.

It's shoplifting without being chased by loss prevention after the Sensormatic sounds as you go out  the door.

Even worse, high value items are often  locked up in stores and they don't give them to you until you have paid.  This leaves  on line theft as the preferred choice.

[normzsales]

I just got the news today, that Ebay Back team denied all of my claims. The fake police reports was not reviewed correctly. Is there a lawyer here that can help?

[normzsales]

Update on the case.. 

Its still open!

The person I spoke to from a call center in the Philippines does not have knowledge of the case at all. They just read what they see on their computer.  The told me its denied but its not. 

I contact an Ebay USA customer service and they told me the case is still under review. There is still hope!

The  Ebay back team need to verify the police reports, once they figure out they are fake I will get my refund back! 

I will keep you updated. 

[uniwarehousewares]

in my opinion you should not be selling expensive items on eBay, eBay has no way out for sellers and that is happening poor policies of ebay. even if you have evidence that buyer cheated then eBay will fund you from their pocket and also fund buyer from their pocket but this is not a case for expensive items. so when scammer get money from ebay means he got another chance to repeat same behavior. its not same ebay like it was in old days.