Fake Tracking Scam Advice
I've been the victim of the infamous fake tracking scam I'm sure you all know too well. I did not receive the item I purchased and have now filed an Item Not Received claim. I'm now in the "waiting for the seller to respond" phase, which won't happen since the 0 feedback new seller account (I know, I'm an idiot, let's not dwell on that) is already Not a Registered User.
I know the typical advice is to get a letter from UPS stating that the delivery address does not match my address and provide it during the appeal process, but I'm wondering if that's even necessary in my situation. You see, the tracking number the seller provided states the shipping label was created 14 hours before I even placed my order, and UPS even picked up the package an hour before I placed the order.
Do I even need to go out of my way to get a letter clarifying it was not delivered to my location? The shipment was created before I placed the order, which seems like solid "smoking gun" evidence to me. Your thoughts? I just want to make sure I don't mess this up when I finally get to the point when a human reviews my case.
dolven
OP5 months agoUpdate in case anyone finds this with the same problem:
I lost the INR case as expected and appealed the decision. Ebay requested I send them a signed letter where I simply confirmed I did not receive the item despite the tracking info saying it was delivered. They even gave me a template to fill out.
I did as requested and got the refund. I never needed to get a letter from UPS.
mudshark61369
·5 months ago@dolven ,
You were able to get a refund by writing your own note, Not because of the fake tracking info but because of the tracking info showing the label creation and UPS pickup both happened before you made the purchase.
If the label creation and pickup had happened after you bought the item, you would have had to get the proof that was posted earlier.
house*of*paws
·5 months agoHi @dolven
‘Getting a note’ from a shipping company apparently is more difficult than it was several years ago … when I experienced this scam with all 3 major shipping companies.
What I recommend is that the buyer merely confirm with the shipping company IF their name and address is on the package associated with the tracking information they were given.
IF they are told no … then I recommend bypassing eBay entirely, and going directly to the Fraud Department of their credit card company. They will be very familiar with the ‘False tracking number scam’ and will be able to verify your claim of a scam with the shipping company themselves.
mudshark61369
·5 months ago@dolven ,
Your item not received dispute will be turned down, because it is first looked at by a computer that only looks for a Delivered scan to someplace in your zip code.
When you are told the dispute has been closed in the seller's favor, in that message will be an Appeal button. I would suggest down loading screen shots of your Order details which has the date and time stamp of the purchase. Then down load another of the tracking history showing the date and time the label was created. Attach them to the appeal. Do tell the rep, that the label was created an hour before you made the purchase and to check the info you attached.
The only time you need to get a note on a shippers stationary is if an appeal fails. You may need it if you have to file a claim with a credit card provider or your electronic payment source Google Pay, PayPal...
If you do have to get a note from UPS you may want to call their customer service phone number first. tell them the tracking info shows delivered in your zip code but not to the address provided at checkout. Give them your address and ask the rep if it matches the labels IN GENERAL because they cannot disclose an address if your name was not on the label by federal Law. You can ask for an email to be sent to you.
If they send one take a copy of it and of your Order details page, If you use a phone or tablet bring it with you to show the clerk the info, tell them your card provider wants a written note and ask them to write one Again saying in general that the tracking number you were provided was not addressed to your name or the address on your order details in general. Ask for the clerk to print and sign their name and date the note.
eBay did have 3 social media platforms one could use to provide information to an actual ebay employee, but they closed 2 of them. Their instagram platform may still be open though, use the private message option.
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/
mamacassidy
·5 months agoYou stated the "typical advice" was to get a letter from UPS, but I wouldn't bother with any of that. I'd close the INR and open a return for Item Not As Described. If they require you to send something back, send them an empty envelope just like they sent you.
There is no need to jump through a bunch of hoops dealing with a scammer. Just open an INAD return and they'll be forced to refund.
gosimus
·5 months ago@dolven
Some might say that this isn't a legitimate reason, but I don't care. Here's my internal justification: In the fake tracking scam, the "seller" sends a geegaw to a random address, because all they want is the tracking delivery verification. Since they deliberately sent it to the wrong address, one is entitled to presume that it was not the described item. If the seller did send the described item, he might as well have sent it to the buyer. This logical thinking convinces me that the item that was sent, was not the item that was ordered, thus it is not as described.
mamacassidy
·5 months agoYour justification makes sense, but honestly, I don't even need to justify it. This has been a well-known scam on ebay for years. And ebay has done absolutely nothing to fix it or to give buyers an easy way to fix it. If anything, they've only made it more difficult to address the scammers since they removed US human customer service from Facebook and Instagram.
Unfortunately, there is a large number of people out there who see ebay as a scammer's paradise, so they quit shopping here. As a seller, I hate that.
So I give advice to buyers that makes the refund easy so that they are not scared away from shopping here. I mean, if I had to spend a bunch of time getting documentation from a shipping company and jumping through hoops just to be made whole from a scammer, I'd never want to shop on that site again.