Blatant buyer scam -- any way to esclate? | Selling

shipfast321 · 2025-02-25T05:23:11.565000Z

I decided to sell some items on eBay and was unfortunate enough to get hit by a classic scam. The scam works like this:Buyer uses a mail forwarding companyOnce the item is delivered to the mail forwarding company, the scammer files a return stating the "item was not as described"By default, the seller must accept the return even if they have a no return policy (although see below on how to possibly avoid this)The scammer manipulates the return address to match the zipcode/city but NOT be the correct address and mails trash/empty package to the fake address to show it was deliveredeBay sees this as evidence it was returned and refunds the buyerThe seller is effectively stolen from... they don't get the item back and the buyer gets their money back and the itemThis scam works if the seller does not actively defend themselves. In my case, I contacted eBay and told them the buyer wasn't even eligible for buyer protection and pointed out the section of the policy that strictly excludes it when a buyer uses mail redirection services. On top of that, I was able to get the buyer to admit they did not have possession of the item, that they used mail redirection, and other absurd statements. eBay sided with me and the return was immediately cancelled with prejudice. However, the scammer immediately filed a chargeback and provided a fraudulent tracking number as proof it was returned. Thankfully, I'm protected by seller protections since eBay already sided with me but I still think it's terrible the scammer might still be successful in pulling off the scam (and stealing from eBay in the process). The fact is, banks often side with the consumer unless the victim -- in this case eBay -- proactively defends themself. So my question is this, is there any way I can escalate this? I've done all the work for eBay myself. I can provide the following evidence:Official email from my local post master stating the tracking number was NOT addressed to my address;Written admission that the buyer did not have possession of the item before declaring it defective, in addition to making other blatantly deceptive statements;Written documentation from the freight forwarding company stating they DO NOT test items before forwarding them to respective clients (the buyer claims they tested it and determined it to be defective)Evidence that the buyer has at least two (2) eBay accounts with significant good feedback as a means to establish credibility to pull off these scams. I'm sure the login logs of these accounts would tell a story too... I suspect they suddenly started logging in from a different location and/or other red flags (indications of compromise or possibly sold accounts).

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Blatant buyer scam -- any way to esclate? | Selling | eBay Community