eBay

heathersthriftyfinds09 · ‎02-03-2023

As a Buyer you may see an item listed at "too good to be true" prices & you can't help yourself, you buy it.

I was braced for the possibility that the sale wouldn't be fulfilled & I'd need to get a refund or maybe receive a fake or different item but instead I got exactly what was posted.

Sounds good, right?

Well....

I purchased a 6pk of cat topical flea meds at a ridiculously low price of $21 (about $40 below retail and $20 - $30 below regular resale). The item was drop shipped next day from a well known pet site. Even at the best sale/coupon combo, the order should have been $30 + more. This made me suspicious.

I'm now wondering if the eBay Seller has hacked someone's account at that site or is using a stolen credit card.

I tried reporting on eBay but can't find a way to report the possible fraudulent activity. I also contacted the pet web site & was told they did not have a fraud department. I gave them all the info I could but they seemed uninterested in the possible criminal activity.

I feel like I should do more. I have had my credit card stolen once & it was a nightmare to work out 😞

Has anyone else bought something they felt may have been stolen? What did you do? Any suggestions on what else I could do?

mtgraves7984 · ‎02-03-2023

Confused... what makes you think they were stolen if they were shipped from a well known pet site who didn't care?

campanaelia · ‎02-03-2023

Yes. Years ago after hurricane Sandy in NY I purchased many pumps on ebay that were sold cheap. They were all delivered from stores like HD, Lowes, Sears, Amazon, Wayfair, etc. It turned out later when I tried to place orders at these stores my orders were being cancelled. I found out the reason was due to the pump sales, the sellers were using stolen credit cards, and my address was being flagged for fraud. It took me well over a year to clear the mess up. I am very leery over any thing that is shipped from a store or dropped shipped from ebay sellers. Good luck

campanaelia · ‎02-03-2023

@mtgraves7984 wrote:
Confused... what makes you think they were stolen if they were shipped from a well known pet site who didn't care?

If you never been a victim I totally understand your viewpoint on this. With this type of scam it takes time to unravel. Until the bank is notified of the fraud from the card account holder and the card gets blocked, it continues. The buyer received the item for a great price so they leave positive feedback. And lastly, since the card was never used directly on ebay, they don't get notified, the sellers account stays in good standing, and the seller just uses a different stolen card at the other sites.

ed8108 · ‎02-04-2023

At this point in time, you appear to have taken what action was available for you to undertake, absent further developments, doesn't seem more

you can really do at this time.

Good luck

spark-chaser1 · ‎02-04-2023

1... You bought something at a " too good to be true" price.

2... You thought you'd probably be ripped off and need to file a claim.

3... You thought you'd probably be shipped the wrong item and need to file a claim.

4... You actually received the right item. And you are second- guessing that. As others have stated, you probably helped someone cycle money through a stolen CC or a store employee with less than honest ethics.

If I had at least one doubt out of any of the 4 you had before making that purchase, I would have held off, in all honesty. Why make a purchase when you know you will regret it before even doing it?

mudshark61369 · ‎02-04-2023

@heathersthriftyfinds09,

"As a Buyer you may see an item listed at "too good to be true" prices & you can't help yourself, you buy it".

Most things sold with a too good to be true price are scams one way or another. The possible exception being an ebay auction with a very low starting price.

The pet meds being shipped from a well known site could be a triangulation scam.

Buyer pays seller - Seller pays another web site with a stolen card - Store ships to you, and later finds out they have been bilked when the payment is declined. (Simple image of the scam below).

Because the store has your information, they may contact you about the declined payment, but you can reply to that saying you bought the item from an ebay seller who had it shipped to me. I would post a link to the listing as proof, you were not the one whose card was declined.

What @campanaelia wrote earlier is true there's not much ebay can do. You can use the link below to report the seller, if you received a payment receipt with the order and still have it.

https://www.ebay.com/help/action?topicid=4022

On the first page use the blue Report seller button.

Next page select seller has violated an ebay policy > Continue

Next Pg. enter the seller's username, select Other, then in the text box write.

"The seller used my payment to make a purchase of the item I ordered (item number) from another site (name it) and had it sent to me directly from them. This was not Drop Shipping but a possible triangulation scam. If contacted through ebay messages, I can reply to it and post a scan or photo of the receipt that came with the item".

What happens after that you will never know unless you check the seller's ebay profile and find that they are no longer a registered user.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

50amp · ‎02-06-2023

mudshark61369,

COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU.

heathersthriftyfinds09 should report her seller with the link your provided.

Side note; Your image about Triangulation Fraud is great, but now it seems there needs to be another block added under "Ordered paid with stolen credit card"..."Stolen credit card is used to purchase gift card, then order is paid for with gift card" newest part of this scam. 😎

"It's not a problem, until it is your problem!" (ML)

heathersthriftyfinds09 · ‎02-06-2023

Technically stolen as they were probably purchased via fraud (ie: a stolen credit card or hacked account).

The website sells the product $20 - $30 more than what I paid the eBay seller. I did not know prior to purchase that they would be drop shipped from a different company & when it arrived I looked on that website to see what the current price was. Upon seeing such a huge difference I knew there was an issue.

heathersthriftyfinds09 · ‎02-06-2023

I did not know until the package arrived that it would be drop shipped from a 3rd party site so I did not know I would be part of a (possible) scheme.

I have made purchases on here in the past where my other examples occurred so I am always a bit hesitant when I see a good price but that's true of buying anything on-line, sight unseen whether it is here or a different site.

I also shop at thrift stores & outlet grocery stores so I have seen new in package items at incredibly low prices & know people who pick those up to flip & resell online.

It's a roll of the dice. I needed the item & I'm short on cash so I took a chance. I was prepared for a possibly bad outcome but I hadn't received an item via a 3rd party site before so it was a new experience and I was throwing it out there to see if anyone else has run into this issue & what they did.

heathersthriftyfinds09 · ‎02-06-2023

Thank you. I tried reporting under Stolen Item violation & found that only law enforcement can use that so I'll go your route.

There are many ways for people to get a legit item at a super low price & resell on here at a reasonable or lower price to move stock fast, so jumping on a deal isn't always bad. My red flag went up when a box arrived next day from a different website.

As a seller myself I hate thinking I was part of a scam/fraud. I always check the sellers feedback & length of time they've been on ebay. This seller's account has been around since September with zero bad feedback so I took a chance.

spark-chaser1 · ‎02-06-2023

Ultimately, I'm sorry that happened to you. The good thing is that you did consider whether there was something immoral with the deal and didn't just ignore that there may be something janky going on.

aspme · ‎02-07-2023

had a similar experience recently, purchased an item and it was drop shipped via Walmart. and I got the item the next day. 2 weeks later I get a text from Walmart saying Good News we've issued a refund on order# XXXXXXXX you'll get an email shortly with the details. checked my Walmart acct and that order # isn't associated with my acct. Suspect I got the item, and the seller got a refund? many big box stores are issuing refunds without requiring return of the merc. Seller's profile shows location CHINA I should have done more research before purchasing. Item location showed So. Ca it was drop shipped from a Walmart Warehouse in NY. I contacted Walmart and they said they would turn it over to their Fraud/Theft folks ??? I got what I ordered, but still feel like I got took! Someone, either Walmart or a victim with their Card stolen got Hosed.

ittybitnot · ‎02-07-2023

Why make a purchase when you know you will regret it before even doing it?

@spark-chaser1

Because eBay has a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE, of course . eBay doesn't allow fakes, or retail arbitrage, so all is good and safe here. eBay says so, so it must be true. Lucky for our OP, he wasn't victim of the "fake tracking scam" or the tune would be quite different.