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Siri Lanka fraudulent sellers getting past eBay AI fraud protection software.
Recently scammed by a Siri Lanka seller. My fault for not googling the issues with Siri Lanka sellers. Apparently scammers have learned to bypass eBay AI generated scam protection by having ten or more legitimate sales recorded before starting the scam. After the minimum number of positive sales have been recorded.....the door is open to wholesale fraud. When I reported no item received and reported incident to eBay fraud via their report seller option......received a return email stating no fraud was found by eBay AI program. Really....seller doesn't respond ro emails...item never received.....posted fraud alert on feedback before requesting refund (can't do do after filling for a refund). No action on the part of seller to refute scam reported feedback on their site, etc.
eBay has made it far too easy for customers to be scammed and their generated AI is useless against stopping fraud. Suspect eBay has found scamming just part of doing business. Really can't contact anyone by phone anymore....even fraud alert tel number no longer connects you to a live person....sad that eBay can't find a way to stop known scamming sites.
eburtonlab
Mentor2 years ago@katsinam
What does the tracking, if any, for that transaction show?
If there is no tracking or the tracking does not show delivery by the last estimated delivery date shown in the Purchase History, the buyer can file an "item not received" case with eBay for up to thirty days from that date. At that point, the seller has three business days to provide tracking that shows delivery. If not, the buyer can ask eBay to step in and force a refund.
https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/returns-items-not-received-refunds-buyers/get-help-item-hasnt-arrived?id=4042&st=7&po=1&uci=0&puc=DEFAULT_BUY.BUYER&ri=0
If the seller is able to provide tracking that shows delivery but nothing is received, or if you waited too long to file with eBay, follow up here for further instructions of how to proceed.
katsinam
OP2 years agoI think you missed the point I was trying to make. I am not criticizing the eventual refund policy....although when I tried to file a not received claim after the last estimated delivery date.....eBay kept the it could be on the way page message. It has been well over 30 days since the order was created. I am sure with persistence, I will eventually get a refund. My frustration is with the ease that eBay has permitted fraudulent sellers to bypass their simple AI fraud alert software.
As far as tracking, no tracking information was ever provided. eBay should mandate all overseas sellers provide tracking or to use eBay international shipping.
Fraudulent sellers have learned how to circumvent the flimsy eBay AI protection by faking the minimum positive reviews required to pass their security check or faking U.S. shipping addresses to avoid overseas scrutiny. They remain a step ahead of the eBay tech team.
Basically eBay is now leaving it up to buyers to notify other buyers of fraud. eBay rarely takes action in any proactive manner, a departure from past practice. If you file for a refund based upon suspected fraud (usually non-receipt), eBay will not permit you to leave negative feedback if you eventually get a refund. The fraudulent listing is allowed to persist. In the past when eBay made it impossible to speak with a an actual human, you could easily contact eBay and they would investigate the matter and take action to remove the offending listing. Now you have to go through a maize of AI generated web responses or chat bots that never address the fraud issue. Shocked to find that when I did report the listing as fraudulent, eBay AI generated response said this was not the case and left listing untouched.
Fortunately, I was able to leave negative feedback that warned potential buyers of fraud before filing a non-receipt claim, so hopefully that will put potential buyers on notice. The seller never challenged the negative rating. Buyers shouldn't have to do eBay's job in ferreting out fraud which is become rampant on eBay.....on both sides of the buy and sell transaction.
eburtonlab
Mentor2 years agoMy frustration is with the ease that eBay has permitted fraudulent sellers to bypass their simple AI fraud alert software.
Unfortunately, AI cannot reliably detect fraudulent intent based solely on the content of an item listing.
Observant humans may be able to notice certain patterns, though, and develop a "gut feeling".
But eBay cannot remove a listing or penalize a seller based only on a "gut feeling"; eBay has a much higher bar to clear to take any action, compared to a buyer that can simply choose to walk away from a potential purchase and avoid a problem entirely. As a result, eBay tends to be reactive rather than proactive compared to cautious buyers that do not have to explain or justify a decision not to make a purchase or to purchase elsewhere.
It is still possible to report listings and contact eBay and even to speak with a human, but once again, eBay will rarely take action based on a user's "gut feeling".
As far as tracking, no tracking information was ever provided.
That should make it very easy to get a refund, then, three business days after the last estimated delivery date even if the seller does not cooperate. If a seller does cooperate, that is an indication that the seller may not actually be a scammer.
Buyers shouldn't have to do eBay's job in ferreting out fraud which is become rampant on eBay
No, but neither should buyers rely entirely on eBay to prevent all scammers from listing scam items. That is just not feasible. Some scam listings are just exact copies of legitimate listings, after all. Many scams are only obvious in retrospect, when items fail to arrive after a shipping deadline, though scams are not the only reasons why some items do not arrive.
Nor should buyers assume that all sellers are equivalent in their performance just because the seller is able to list on eBay. Many sellers may not be scammers at all, and in fact may be totally honest and earnest in all their dealings, and yet may still be worth avoiding entirely for other reasons, such as lack of experience or lack of competence.
Buyers should do their own due diligence and decide for themselves when a deal is "too good to be true", or whether a seller that has little or no experience selling similar items, that is registered in another country and is apparently engaged in drop-shipping (at best) is worth doing business with at all, or whether it makes more sense to purchase instead from an experienced domestic seller with a proven track record of delivering what was advertised.
Buyers still have eBay's money back guarantee to fall back on when a seller fails to fulfill the terms of the deal, and once a seller has a certain number of valid cases decided for items "not received" or "not as described", eBay will take action, even if it is not as quickly as you or I would prefer.