Sketchy seller - scamming? | Buying

Sketchy seller - scamming?

Summary: A discussion centered around a common eBay scam involving fake tracking information. mudshark61369 explains how this scam typically involves sending items to a nearby but incorrect address, causing eBay to close disputes wrongly due to their reliance on delivery scans. They suggest contacting eBay through social media with detailed information and evidence to rectify the issue. ittybitnot adds that this scam is common and emphasizes the difficulty of winning claims under eBay's usual procedures but suggests alternative fraud reporting methods, such as engaging PayPal or credit card companies for resolution. They also advise against filing multiple types of claims simultaneously and offer resources and links to discussions on similar scam experiences.

I have open case with eBay on this order since the seller send my shipment to wrong address.
First, I believed it was just human error but the situation appears little sketchy and I feel like Iâ€™m being scammed.

The seller has ship my order through UPS, the tracking information shows that it was delivered, however I noticed it was delivered to wrong address because the final photo shown by UPS was not my residence.

I contacted UPS found out that my information and the package information was inaccurate, thus I was unable to remedy the issue. Then I make a â€œnot received itemâ€ claim on eBay, notify to seller what happened and request for refund. After few hours later seller send this message which Iâ€™ve attached.

I sent a message to seller that I need a refund rather than reshipping. After my message seller has not yet responded.

Why this seller needs to confirm full name and address again? I told a seller that the information I provided was exactly what eBay had provided you already.

â€ƒ

yj.hobby-collectibles

264 View listings

Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 2 months ago

13 comments

kh-andreww

·2 months ago

0 View listings

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.

kibble-net

·2 months ago

8237 View listings

Due to the age of this thread, it will be closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

tjsthrift

·2 months ago

19780 View listings

Just happened to me too...purchased an XRF analyzer from China (trying to save money) supposed to arrive first part of June 2026 but suddenly saw was delivered in one day! Ordered from seller: khwm9169 May 21st, delivered the 22nd with no mention of China in the tracking. UPS tracking shows proof of delivery photo of not my house but because says same city, state my item not received case was denied. I appealed with the proof of delivery photo and UPS saying not my address on the label my case was thankfully quickly changed and refunded in full after preparing the signed declaration required to appeal, otherwise next step would've been with the credit card used for payment.

Also odd is the feedback does not register on the seller and also shows no items sold but says items have sold...not sure why this is allowed to happen, now I know those are red flags to avoid buying from.

I'm attaching the proof of delivery photo so you can see, not sure if it is a stock photo they are using but there is not even a package on the porch of that home! By the way the case was approved for the decision that the package was stolen not for being delivered to the wrong address.wrong house, no package either for proof of delivery. Just a doormat.

tjsthrift

·2 months ago

19780 View listings

Sorry, thought I was replying to a more recent post but still may be helpful since is still a bigger issue now.

Before I made my purchase I did check out the seller and they had sold other items but later found out the weirdness of the sellers account with showing has had sales but then no sales when looking at other items sold plus the 0 feedback even after was believed to have left feedback for the seller myself.

The newer posts regarding this issue does not allow a reply for some reason, so I was eager to reply to this post since was accepting replies.

soh.maryl

·2 months ago

110 View listings

Hope this issue from April, 2025, has been resolved.

For those of you having current similar problems, you might want to start your own new thread, as this one will probably be closed soon by the mods.

mudshark61369

·1 year ago

"There is no such thing as foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious" (unknown)3105 View listings

@immoptions51 ,

You really should have started your own discussion/topic about your issue, instead of piggybacking on to an older one, that already has an accepted solution.

You've been an ebay member long enough to know to check a sellers feedback profile Before buying from one.

When buying items as expensive as the the one you wanted to buy, you should only buy them from experienced sellers who have sold Lego products before and have a feedback percentage over 98.6%. If the set you bought was a New one the price was quite low for it. Even used ones that are complete sell for more than what you paid. Add to that the seller being registered in Germany but shipping from a U.S. location that makes two red flags you ignored. Scammers can get registered as being in almost any country, and a New one knowing how to drop ship from a different one, is very rare.

Unfortunately, you have run into what is known as the Fake Tracking scam, and it is very hard to get the info you need to Appeal an Item Not Received (INR) dispute, especially from UPS or FedEx, whose privacy policies follow Federal regulations and they refuse to give you even general info that would not violate the regulations, that could help you get a refund. Your payment processor or card provider also will want proof that you did not receive the item, before issuing a refund or charge back.

immoptions51

·1 year ago

1692 View listings

hi, i am in the similar situation .

ebay would not refund due to seller shows a fake tracking using UPS . i made a UPS claim for fraud in the IT department and there are investigating it. i bought a $300 LEGO millennium falcon 75192.

below is my case:

please help!! please have your Ebay i.T. department look into seller fraud.i am a victum of this issuses.and i am not able to recieve a refund due to the seller claims a fake UPS shipping tracking number. it sounds crazy buy please read the sellers profile and location of shipping out from USA. there are 3 sellers with the same fraud tactics. there profile is in Germany and seller location is in USA states all different cites. they only sell 1 item which is LEGO 75192 ,LEGO Star Wars: Millennium Falcon (75192). they screen shot other sellers items. they respond with a fake tracking ID, when you open a ebay no item received case, then they repost a new fake Tracking # with a fake photo of delivery. then Ebay closes the case ,then the buyer cant recieved a refund due to this scam shipping and no seller respond scam. these seller do the same sell patterns: thojoha-91= eBay item number:297446251815 and
eibisc_0 = eBay item number:388662052823.

ALOVOG-0 seller name item# 376358009890 = i bought it and no refund.

they use screen shots of other sellers photos then use them. theses sellers are Germany profile /about.

they know how to not give you a tracking number, when you file a ebay case,they then send you a tracking # , then the case is closed, then your not able to get a refund due to a fake UPS #. i think its an inside job from a GERMAN EBAY site. and they have some one from Ohio UPS center doing the tracking scam.

i have found 3 sellers with the same sell patter and profile logs. they only have 3-5 feedback and you cant see any history !! i am having a hard time to contact ebay buy email or phone. these sellers found ways to scam buyers .

aia-976

·1 year ago

1 View listings

Sorry if anyone took my message as highjacking of someone's tread. I didn't ask for the help with my post, I already received needed help from others, this is why I mentioned how grateful I am to other members of the community who helped and directed me in my situation.

I thought that my own experience can be helpful and to show the original poster that she is not along and that not responding to a person who is committing a fraud is good idea as this person is possibly fishing for more information and delaying the investigation .Also sharing our bad experiences we should not only aim on getting money back , but try to reshape Ebay policies on dealing with frauds like this , especially as they are going back decades as someone mentioned. Sorry again for " bad manners"

aia-976

·1 year ago

1 View listings

Hello kxj_33,

Sorry to say that you got scammed the same way I am. I also received an information from USPS that the package was addressed and send to other person and to other address and that the package was just 0,6oz instead of 11 lbs I am now appealing to Ebay with this information and waiting for results. I would advise not to communicate with the seller in anticipation of some consciousness respond and please, don't provide a criminal with more information about yourself or credit card/bank information for "refund" . The seller is a criminal and doing everything it can just to delay the process and may be to defraud again if it can get any info from you. I also received the same sweet sounding message after days of silence after I demanded a copy of the shipping label. I made my purchase about 1 month ago from US based seller based in WY with 1800 5 stars reviews, who turned to be somehow seller from Israel without any reviews. I am wondering if we share the same seller or there are hundreds of those criminals operating on Ebay?

Let's continue sharing our experiences on this board. I am very grateful to people from Ebay community who posted their advise and directed and continue directing me in this situation.

Dear ______,
I hope this message finds you well.
I wanted to provide you with a brief update regarding your shipment. The courier company is still investigating the situation, and we are actively awaiting their findings.
We appreciate your patience during this time and assure you that we will inform you as soon as we receive any updates from them.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,

PREVIEW

mudshark61369

·1 year ago

"There is no such thing as foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious" (unknown)3105 View listings

@aia-976,

" I also received an information from USPS that the package was addressed and send to other person and to other address and that the package was just 0,6oz instead of 11 lbs I am now appealing to Ebay with this information and waiting for results".

If your information is in the form of an email from USPS, ebay will not accept that as proof in an appeal, because emails can be faked. So chances are your appeal will be turned down. You will still have one more way to get a refund through ebay. To find out what you need to do open the link below. Then click on the Go To Best Answer in it.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Need-advice-item-not-received/m-p/34621715#M496499

You will get the info you need and how to contact ebay through one of their social media platforms. (links below)

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

https://x.com/askebay

FYI, when posting on these boards, posting an issue you are having on another person's topic. Is considered bad manners. It is always best to post about an issue by starting your own discussion, since it may not be exactly the same as someone else's issue.

One thing you can do that will help if this happens in the future, is to sign up for the Free enhanced tracking information offered by USPS - Informed Delivery, FedEx - Delivery Manager, UPS - My Choice.

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

@yj.hobby-collectibles

You are being scammed, and that "message" is just a stall tactic to perhaps run out the time. Any time there is a record of "delivery" associated with your order, you are going to lose any eBay claim for 'item not received' , even if that delivery information is fraudulent. If you file "item not received" elsewhere, the claim is forwarded to eBay who responds with the same fake information, and you will lose again.

eBay does not have a public policy of procedure for victims of this scam that is usually reported daily here. Basically, the Money Back Guarantee is going to be a FAIL. There are options you can use, and @mudshark61369 provided you the links to the social media portals that ARE familiar with this decades old scam and have the authority to help you.

If you get thrown under the bus by eBay using this method, there are still more options. Get in your head that this is a FRAUD issue, and NOT a regular item not received problem.

Here in the threads below, you will find other options as well such as filing "item not as described" with eBay, filing with PayPal using the "wrong address" option, and or filing with your credit card for FRAUD/Fake Tracking scam. JUST DON'T DO THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Do let us know if you have any more questions, or need additional advice.

Jan. 2025

Feb. 2025

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/DHL-Messing-up-shipping-or-a-scam/m-p/34918930#M513039
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Item-shipped-to-wrong-address/m-p/34918657#M513034
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Fake-Tracking-Scam-how-do-I-prepare/m-p/34920656#M513092
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-scamming-me/m-p/34954964#M514849
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-just-got-scammed-and-I-don-t-know-how-to-proceed/m-p/34955823#M514900

March 2025

April 2025

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/How-do-I-report-a-possible-scam-to-Ebay/m-p/35017555#M517689
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Victim-of-Tracking-Number-Scam-What-to-do-next/m-p/35019117#M517785
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/wrong-address/m-p/35028116#M518283
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/HALLPPP-I-ve-been-defrauded-What-to-do/m-p/35028633#M518342
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-doesnt-care-about-buyers-cant-not-take-my-refund-in-a-item/td-p/35029246
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Zip-code-scam/m-p/35042036#M519144
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Pkg-delivered-to-wrong-address-don-t-know-where-pkg-went/m-p/35046254#M519411

mudshark61369

·1 year ago

"There is no such thing as foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious" (unknown)3105 View listings

@yj.hobby-collectibles,

You have been the victim of a fake tracking scam, where a seller sends an envelope or small box to an address that is not yours, in your zip code.

When you filed the Item Not Revceived (INR) dispute it was turned down by ebay for the same reason UPS would not give you the delivery location, their privacy policy. ebay's system looks a tracking number for a delivered scan, and if it sees one it closes the dispute. You should have received a message telling you the dispute was closed already.

Your best bet now will be to contact ebay through one of their social media platforms (links below) Have the ebay item number, and the seller's username on hand to post to the message, then briefly write out what happened, "The UPS tracking information the seller provided showed delivered but it was not addressed to you". If you have an email from UPS showing the delivery location, add it as an attachment to the message and if you can do it open the photo and save it, then add that too as an attachment. Then give them your address which you can tell them they can confirm by looking at the Order details of the transaction. Ask them to do a google map street level search of your residence which should be all the proof they need, to issue you a refund from the seller's account within a day or so. Though the refund can take 5 or so days to be credited to your funding source.

The message you received from the seller is nothing more than attempt to stall you past the point of being able to file an appeal, which in these cases will also fail. It is a typical ploy of China based sellers, who are responsible for most of the fake tracking scams on this site. They will say they shipped the item, but they can't give you a tracking number, then keep asking you to be patient.

Because this scam is fairly common I suggest that you sign up to receive the Free enhanced tracking information from USPS- Informed Delivery, FedEx - Delivery Manager, and UPS - My Choice. doing that makes getting proof of the scam easier.

https://www.facebook.com/eBay/

https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/

https://x.com/askebay

Because many chinese sellers are registered in the U.S. it can be hard to weed them out. To find out how you can do that open the link below then click on the Go To Best Answer button for suggestions on how to do that, and how to check a sellers classic feedback profile page.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/Item-advertised-as-quot-located-in-US-quot/m-p/34773467#M783417

long.jiang

·11 months ago

64 View listings

I have the same issue, seller provided a tracking number that is not to my address. However, when I report the issue to eBay, eBay only sees thereâ€™s a tracking number being provided but never confirms itâ€™s actually to the buyer address. I am not mad at the seller because scammers are everywhere. I am very disappointed at eBay for not helping the buyer, instead they allow the seller to do so to scam honest buyers.