Can't figure out how dispute fake tracking scam
I ordered a 32lb item on Ebay. The tracking number shows delivered, but nothing arrived. I don't know the person who signed for it, and the tracking number shows a different address. It also shows the item was 1 lb. So it's clearly a fake number.
I know this is a common scam, but Ebay isn't giving me a dispute link for an item that says it arrived. How do I file a dispute?
7 comments
ittybitnot
·2 years agobut Ebay isn't giving me a dispute link for an item that says it arrived. How do I file a dispute?
@louloizides2
eBay does not have a "dispute link" for the fake tracking scam scenario. They do not even have a published procedure for a victim to follow.
Usually a victim will file an "item not received" claim. Of course, for the unwitting victim this is natural since they really didn't get anything. Unfortunately, the eBay system is set for automatic denial for such instances, and the eBay Money Back Guarantee is a giant fail.
If you seek redress with PayPal or your credit card company and stick with the "item not received" scenario, the claim is sent to eBay who responds with the same (albeit fake) delivery confirmation and you will lose again. Generally, if you contact eBay through one of their social media portals, NOT REGULAR CUSTOMER SERVICE, you may get some help. Generally, they want you to get written documentation from the carrier that the parcel was not intended for you. This is often impossible to obtain, and likely why eBay requires it.
On occasion, the social media reps won't put you through the usual impossible hoops, so you may wish to give them a try. At least feel them out to see what they want. Use the blue message button on this page:
https://www.facebook.com/eBay/
OR one of these:
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/
https://x.com/askebay
Your next choice if you wish to stick with eBay, is to file a "not as described" case with eBay. The picture you have to provide in the claim matters not. The seller will have to provide a return shipping label or CASH to pay for return postage. If they don't., return to the case on day 4 and ask eBay to step in and help. People that have used this have found it successful, even though you may, if you do get a label, have to send a box of air. Though not exactly above board, it is beating eBay at their own "bot" game.
Your next option, if you paid hat way is to file with PayPal. You need to choose their new option of "SENT TO WRONG ADDRESS"......again never use "item not received". Reports of victims that have used this option are not plentiful, so if you choose it, do let us know how it works out. Once you give up on eBay, and file with the PayPal, eBay will no longer help you, so don't file both at the same time.
Your last option is to file with your credit card. You need to make sure that your claim is for FRAUD/Fake Tracking scam, not a regular 'item not received' issue.
eBay, PayPal, the credit card industry, as well as the parcel carriers such as UPS/FedEx/UPS are all aware of this scam. It is nothing new, and has been going on for years. eBay protects eBay, and their first line of defense is DENIAL. It will still work if you don't know what else to do.
Good luck, and let us know how it turns out. Just so you won't feel like you are the only one, you can read some of these, though the links may be a bit dated since the first of the year:
Buyer victims: Jan. 2024
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-still-allows-this-basic-scam/m-p/34200329#M471797
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/FedEx-tracking-scam-resolution-help/m-p/34200076#M471780
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Scam-in-progress-How-to-report/m-p/34202408#M471983
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/My-item-hasn-t-arrived-and-got-delivered-to-the-wrong-address/m-p/34213622#M2336744
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-used-wrong-address-how-to-get-help/m-p/34214801#M472679
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Two-orders-from-two-carriers-in-two-days-shipped-to-someone-else/m-p/34217849#M472866
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-shipped-to-wrong-address/m-p/34219071#M472993
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/A-typical-buying-scam/m-p/34219558#M473030
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Problem-with-a-purchase/m-p/34224961#M473358
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/seller-close-case-with-fake-tracking-number-ebay-refuse-to/m-p/34237315#M474167
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/ebay-ai-helped-in-fraud/m-p/34237061#M474150
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/ebay-enable-scammers-by-closing-case-then-lying-facts/m-p/34237663#M474193
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fake-Seller-shipments/m-p/34237759#M474196
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/eBay-s-money-back-guarantee-is-a-fraud/m-p/34239213#M474296
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Scammer/m-p/34239068#M474287
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller/m-p/34241530#M474404
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/how-to-contact-ebay-for-an-item-that-did-not-get-put-in-my/td-p/34242223
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Another-quot-fake-tracking-quot-scam-this-time-with-the-package/m-p/34244130#M474589
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Did-not-receive-items/m-p/34245181#M474623
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/eBay-Won-t-Step-In/m-p/34256703#M475318
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fraud/m-p/34261461#M475547
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Feb. 2024
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fake-Tracking-information/m-p/34266951#M475809
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/scam-ship-to-address-my-item-sent-to-a-bogus-address/m-p/34269398#M475981
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/incorrect-usps-tracking-number-9400108205499733679358/m-p/34269348#M475977
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/How-can-Ebay-say-to-me-we-know-you-did-not-receive-item-and-not/m-p/34268298#M475923
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/That-Dreaded-Aquilline-AGAIN-Delivered-to-WRONG-ADDRESS/m-p/34274186#M476225
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-marked-delivery-as-delivered-but-USPS-said-that-it-was/m-p/34273716#M476177
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Your-item-was-returned-to-the-sender-because-of-an-incorrect/m-p/34276250#M476357
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/EBAY-LYING-IN-THEIR-DEFENSE-SUMMARY/m-p/34276296#M476361
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-sent-item-to-wrong-address/m-p/34282633#M476650
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Scammed/m-p/34286691#M476949
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Dollar-xhop/m-p/34287357#M476988
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/another-count-of-Ebay-forcing-buyers-to-pay-for-items-that-never/m-p/34291255#M477188
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Possible-mess-up-with-label-generating-system/m-p/34290499#M477178
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-hate-everyhting-about-e-bay-and-paypal-right-now/m-p/34294747#M477466
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/eBay-Enables-Mail-Fraud-and-ID-Fraud/td-p/34296978
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Shipment-delivered-to-wrong-address/m-p/34304049#M478122
___________________________________________________________________________________
March 2024
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Done-with-Ebay/m-p/34324403#M479273
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Loophole-that-enables-theft-via-ebay/m-p/34332383#M479633
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-left-bogus-tracking-number-and-then-lied-to-e-bay/m-p/34345963#M480371
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Not-delivered-parcel/m-p/34340273#M480147
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/contacting-ebay-on-possible-fraud/m-p/34349795#M480633
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/contacting-ebay-on-possible-fraud/m-p/34350054#M480666
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/PayPal-to-the-rescue/m-p/34352326#M480771
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Victim-of-same-ZIP-code-fraud-eBay-denied-my-appeal/m-p/34358840#M481100
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Worst-customer-relations-ever/m-p/34366967#M481558
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/package-that-says-delivered/m-p/34370026#M4817
_________________________________________________________________________________________
April 2024
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-sent-package-to-random-address-in-my-zip-code-and-my/td-p/34403749
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Negative-Feedback/m-p/34404925#M483677
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-got-scammed-How-to-fix-this/m-p/34407565#M483824
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Getting-UPS-to-cooperate-in-case-of-a-tracking-scam/m-p/34412795#M484166
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Victory/m-p/34417103#M484423
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-Denied-Claim-on-925-package-that-was-marked-as-deliverd-by/m-p/34417164#M484428
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-allowed-a-scammer-to-scam-me-and-even-removed-my-negative/m-p/34419335#M484536
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Issue-with-purchase-receiving-of-an-item/m-p/34418356#M484487
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-screwed-me-out-of-931-because-they-could-not-see-the/m-p/34425141#M484896
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Customer-Service-Just-Repeats-quot-Policies-quot-and-Does-Not/m-p/34431812#M485349
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/eBay-is-becoming-the-best-place-for-scam-sellers/m-p/34432245#M485377
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/New-type-of-scam-to-me-at-least/m-p/31227146#M325369
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/New-Scam-Very-Odd-For-a-yard-Seed-Spreader/td-p/34430372
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-was-scammed-on-eBay-and-now-I-don-t-know-how-to-proceed-or-if/m-p/34430309#M48527----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May2024
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/FedEx-tracking-Issue/m-p/34447966#M486245
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Item-did-not-arrive-eBay-says-it-did-What-can-I-do/m-p/34451418#M486485
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-never-sent-out-package-EBAY-does-not-do-any-research-on/m-p/34455965#M486761
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Tracking-shows-item-delivered-but-wasn-t/m-p/34461150#M487060
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-think-I-was-scammed-on-eBay/m-p/34467595#M487369
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/How-do-you-fix-a-fraud-case-dealt-by-a-seller/m-p/34470732#M487569
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Scammed/m-p/34477363#M487945
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Item-sent-to-the-wrong-house-but-denied-refund/m-p/34490404#M488814
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Urgent-Discrepancy-in-Delivery-Status-and-Request-for-Refund/m-p/34492563#M488934
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June 2024
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/USPS-Shipping-Label-Scam-Appeal-Submitted-Without-My-Consent/m-p/34494101#M4890
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Victim-of-a-Scam-and-eBay-Won-t-Help/m-p/34513873#M490255
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Money-back-guarantee-is-a-scam/m-p/34512777#M490157
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Item-not-received-help-please-a-seller-is-trying-to-scam-me/m-p/34516920#M490493
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/EBAY-Guarantee-is-completely-useless-and-USPS-is-incompetent-Can/m-p/34514497#M490309
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Package-delivered-at-wrong-address/m-p/34517762#M490532
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Scammed-with-fake-tracking-number-label/m-p/34517206#M490512
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fraudulent-account/m-p/34518749#M490610
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Scam/m-p/34521610#M2415341
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-have-been-scammed/m-p/34522379#M490800
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-received-a-Visa-charge-for-something-I-didn-t-purchase-on-eBay/m-p/34525287#M490973
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/am-i-getting-scammed/m-p/34528462#M491140
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/buying/m-p/34531735#M491303
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-Scams-by-entering-valid-Tracking-Number-but-wrong-name/m-p/34534355#M491433
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Scam/m-p/34534648#M491467
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Undelivered-Order-Fake-Tracking-Number-amp-Silence-from-eBay/m-p/34535900#M491543
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Never-got-my-package/m-p/34535096#M491503
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fake-shipping-info-Ebay-endorsed-theft/m-p/34542818#M491840
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July 2024
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Paquete-entregado-en-direcci%C3%B3n-incorrecta/m-p/34548242#M492104
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-same-zip-code-scam/m-p/34548738#M492116
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Biased-customer-service-for-buyers/m-p/34554371#M492489
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-about-to-lose-this-25-year-customer-after-first-dispute/m-p/34554360#M492488
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Fight-these-POS-sellers-that-use-wrong-addresses-to-ship-to/m-p/34557957#M2425567
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/good-seller-scammer/m-p/34559783#M492855
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Delivered-but-I-don-t-have-the-item/m-p/34562351#M493018
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@louloizides2,
"I can't even figure how to file a dispute. It's obviously a fake tracking number scam".
If you read what I wrote in as the accepted Best answer in the link eburtonlab gave in his first reply. You would see that using the more actions button in your purchase history for the item then selecting I didn't receive it, opens a dispute that gets turned down because ebays computer looks for a delivered scan and seeing one closes the dispute. You will see a message in the dispute which will be above your purchase history saying the dispute was closed, but there is an appeal button in it, when clicking on it you can give more info and upload scans or photos of notes.
Getting the info you need from UPS or FedEx is difficult to do. But it may be possible to send a link to the FedEx advanced tracking page that shows label info and package weight. Sending a screen shot of that page may work as well. If that does not work then you will need to go the social media route, which does not block links to pages. Unfortunately UPS does not have that kind of info on their site, nor does the USPS, but the P.O. is better at giving you a note saying the label address and your order address do not match and that the package weight doesn't match the weight of what you should have received.
"seller has nearly 100% good feedback"
You never go by a seller's feedback percentage alone. Always check their profile page, and click on the numbers of negative and neutral feedback they have received to read only those comments.
house*of*paws
·2 years agoHi @louloizides2
eBay appears to be slow in learning about ... and dealing with ... the fake tracking number scam.
If you have received a statement from the shipping company (USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc.) that your name and address were NOT on the package associated with the tracking number you received ... the fastest way to a refund is to contact the Fraud Department of your credit card company. They likely are very familiar with this scam.
I'm not telling you to bypass eBay entirely ... but rather to not waste too much time trying to explain to an unfamiliar rep that you are the victim of a scam.
ittybitnot
·2 years agoeBay appears to be slow in learning about ... and dealing with ... the fake tracking number scam.
@house*of*paws
Like 13 years or more....believe it that they DO KNOW. LOL.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoIf tracking shows delivery but you do not receive anything, check with the shipping service to determine if the tracking number corresponds to a delivery to your address.
See here for some good instructions about what you can do about it:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping/What-do-you-do-when-ebay-support-will-not-help-you/m-p/340803...
What kind of feedback for selling does your seller have? You can avoid many issues by choosing to only do business with sellers that have a proven track record of delivering what was sold and that have sold similar sorts of items before. Avoid new or unproven sellers, sellers with a pattern of serious negative feedback, or sellers that have drastically changed behavior or that have unexplained gaps in selling feedback.
If your seller is a drop-shipper, the seller may have been the victim of the company doing the drop-shipping and providing the tracking number.
louloizides2
OP2 years agoThanks, but I can't even figure how to file a dispute. It's obviously a fake tracking number scam. And the seller has nearly 100% good feedback. This provided link doesn't really give any useful information.
Considering how common this scam is on Ebay, it seems really absurd they don't provide any way to offer support.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoYou need to contact eBay via social media. The folks that you reach via social media have been able to handle fake tracking issues in the past; the standard automated "item not received" claim will not work since the seller will provide tracking that appears to show delivery.