Victim of Tracking Number Scam. What to do next?

Hello there everyone.

I believe I have become a victim of a tracking scam. I ordered a CPU on March 24. Seller gave me a USPS tracking number that said shipped on March 26. Item was marked delivered at my front door on March 29th. Problem is that I never received it. I looked around, asked my family and neighbors, and nothing. I contacted the seller, they insisted it was delivered.

So, I went to USPS. When I asked about my package, they said it was delivered, but to a different address in the same city and zip code. I got a signed note from the local Postmaster that said that the package with the given tracking number was not intended for my address. I even went ahead and filed a police report since I suspect this is a tracking scam.

After receiving the report, I filed an INR case. Since the tracking number was already marked delivered, Ebay ruled in the seller's favor. I then filed an appeal with "delivered to wrong address" as a reason. I also uploaded the signed Postmaster's note and the police report to support my case. Despite the evidence I provided, Ebay still sided with the seller. They cited that since it was marked delivered to the "correct location" (which is wrong) and that I should contact the seller (who I'm suspecting is a scammer) and USPS (which I already did).

I then called customer service and the nice lady on the other side said that my case is eligible for a manual override request to the back office. She said I should expect a response from them within 24-72 hours.

In the meantime, I got multiple messages from Ebay customer service that regurgitated the same message about the tracking number being marked delivered means they rule in the seller's favor.

My question to you all is this. What should I do while I wait for the back office to handle this? Also, what should I do if they still ruled in favor of the seller?

jok_4277

40 View listings

Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 1 year ago

15 comments

jok_4277

OP1 year ago

40 View listings

Item finally arrived via AMZN a week and a half after it was marked delivered by USPS. The CPU that I received was not the one I ordered. Filed an INAD and now the seller gave me a QR code to have it be returned to a UPS store. This is setting huge red flags for me so I'm going to talk to the agents on FB messenger on what to do next.

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

so I'm going to talk to the agents on FB messenger on what to do next.

@jok_4277

Good plan. I hope you will let us know what transpires, and if you need information regarding 'next steps'.

Just curious as to what country is the seller registered? Did you get a label or just a QR code?

If you are

jok_4277

OP1 year ago

40 View listings

Hey @ittybitnot,

I only got a No box No label QR code to drop off to UPS.

Seller is registered from Israel (which should've been a red flag for me at the time).

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

Well let us know what they say on FB messenger. This whole thing is really odd. I was not aware that a person from Israel could send any kind of UPS label or QR code to a buyer in the US. But just because I never heard about it doesn't mean it is not possible.

Will look forward to see what they say.

jok_4277

OP1 year ago

40 View listings

I suspect the seller is a dropshipper and initiated a return via AMZN. FB messenger agent told me to go to UPS and ask if the code offers tracking services.

It technically does, but only through a Amazon reference number, not a tracking number. I informed the FB messenger agents this and asked them what to do next. I worry that this whole process is being done outside eBay, just between the seller and AMZN.

jok_4277

OP1 year ago

40 View listings

Okay, I've done what @ebooksdiva said and contacted Ebay via social media (used FB messenger). Person on the other end submitted a manual refund request and gave me a 3-5 business day window though they said it is not a guarantee that it will approve.

What else can I do in the meantime? I want to exhaust all my options on Ebay before having to go through Paypal.

Unavailable member

·1 year ago

Their profile isn't available.

You're about out of any more options on eBay.

jok_4277

OP1 year ago

40 View listings

Well that sucks. I'll leave an update if the manual refund request or manual overide request went through.

I tried to follow the advice from this community before I made this post. I hoped that with a signed USPS postmaster note and a police report, I could win my appeal.

This incident has shaken my faith in buying from Ebay. I might still buy things from time to time, but I have lost faith on their supposed 'Money Back Guarantee" and customer service. Especially with tracking scams that I've learned have been happening for years.

mudshark61369

·1 year ago

"There is no such thing as foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious" (unknown)3111 View listings

@jok_4277,

You did the right thing by going to the P.O. and getting a letter. But you may have confused the issue by adding a Police Report. Police reports should only filed when there is evidence of a theft from your property, after a package was delivered, such as camera footage from your ring camera, or maybe from an across the street neighbor's camera.

It is also possible that you did not get enough info in the letter you got from the PO. if you open the link below, and click on the Go To Best Answer button. Then read what information you should ask for, you might see why your letter was not accepted. Was the letter on USPS stationary? If it wasn't that may be why it was not accepted.

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

There is also one more social media site you can use to contact a rep who is actually an ebay employee not a rep who actually works for a contracted 3rd party phone/chat center. The SM reps have the power to overturn previous lost disputes or appeals, and issue refunds.

https://x.com/askebay

mudshark61369

·1 year ago

"There is no such thing as foolproof, because fools are so darned ingenious" (unknown)3111 View listings

OOPS,

I forgot to add, Because the fake tracking scam is getting more common, it would be wise to sign up to use the Free enhanced tracking services offered by: USPS - Informed Delivery, FedEx - Delivery Manager &

UPS - My Choice. All of which do provide information that can be used to win an appeal, or better yet by going directly to social media.

jok_4277

OP1 year ago

40 View listings

It wasn't on USPS stationery. I asked for it, however, the supervisor said they don't have one. At the time, I didn't know it was called USPS letterhead.

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

But you may have confused the issue by adding a Police Report. Police reports should only filed when there is evidence of a theft from your property, after a package was delivered,

@mudshark61369

FWIW, there was a time when eBay would require "police reports" for various reasons or scenarios. It had nothing to do with theft from property, just another thing eBay wanted, likely to make this 'go away' since law enforcement had better things to do and would often refuse to provide one (just like the carriers). eBay would require "police reports" from members that claimed they got an empty box as well, but only say the buyer "provided a police report" so you lose.

This was a very prolific tactic used by international buyers who used Freight Forwarders, since claiming an empty box (SNAD complaint with no seller protection) was often an automatic "win" for the claimant at the seller's expense. eBay would not provide a copy of the said "police report" used against them to the seller.

Fortunately a few got passed on to the sellers anyway and were published here for all to see. They were as fake as a three dollar bill, using some form pulled off the net with fake names/addresses. For a while eBay would use these as "evidence" until they were called out on it, and they went to the wayside. They would require a police report from buyers who received only ten of the 200 items in a given lot of products as well.

So it is not unreasonable for a seller or buyer to get a "police report" when preparing to file a claim as a proactive measure. eBay has come a long way since those days, and don't require all the "hoop jumping" for victims as they did in the past.

ittybitnot

·1 year ago

18 View listings

My question to you all is this. What should I do while I wait for the back office to handle this?

@jok_4277

Don't wait. Read here for information on what you can do and what NOT to do. You need to give up on the idea of "item not received", even though that is the only choice eBay displays for you. With a tracking status showing "delivered" associated with you order (even though the information is fraudulent) you are going to lose.

Sounds like you have the information you need to get your refund right away, so use one of the links provided to contact eBay through a social media portal. That 24-72 hours statement is often referred to as the regular Customer service code word for NEVER.

Read here for more information:

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

Unavailable member

·1 year ago

Their profile isn't available.

Curious, how were you able to call customer service? There hasn't been a phone number for eBay that accepts incoming calls since 2020.
You may want to contact eBay on Facebook or Twitter to get better service with your evidence, your proof from the POST Office should have the USPS letter head to be accepted.
https://www.facebook.com/ebay/

https://twitter.com/eBay

jok_4277

OP1 year ago

40 View listings

I was able to use the Ebay chatbot to have one of their agents to call me. That's how I was able to talk to them.