Thwarted a High-Value Scam Attempt | Selling

sumsum70 · 2023-06-03T22:26:37.597000Z

This was a sale and attempted theft back in November on a $2300 item. I waited this long to tell the story in case any of the usual suspects here wanted to try to figure out who bought it and give them some helpful advice. I sold a HP LTO8 tape library with a full set of 30TB tapes. It was a parts or not working item listed with no returns. The drive itself was tested and fully functional with low hours. The library robotic mechanism had a problem with the elevator, could have been a motor or sensor. Most of the time it worked, sometimes it didn't and would have an error. Restarting would solve the problem for a while. The LTO8 drive module was the most valuable part and it has been my experience that certain eBay buyers try to scam tape drives all the time. I have those buyers on my BBL. Two days after the buyer received the package, he opened a return request claiming the drive is bad. I reply through the return message thing that the drive that was sent to him is not bad and that I'm not going to let him swap my drive or return a drive with the head stolen out of it. He replies that it didn't work and he took it to a computer repair place and they tested it and made a report that the drive is bad. I told him to upload a photo of the report showing the name of the repair place and drive serial number. He did not. I did what most people probably do when someone tries to rip them off, researched his name and address. The buyer lives at the shipping address, is not a US citizen, works for a tech company in NC on a work visa. I also spoke with an attorney. The attorney confirmed that the eBay return system appears deliberately designed to screw sellers and the only way to deal with this buyer was to take it out of eBay's hands. Because eBay will allow you to send your own return label to a buyer, arrangements were made to have the package received by an employee at the magistrate court if the buyer chose to send it back. I replied to the buyer that I know he is counting on eBay deciding in his favor and allowing him to steal my drive, but that is not what is going to happen. I told him the terms of the sale are for parts and no returns and he does not have my permission to return the item, but because eBay will automatically take his side, a return label will be sent. I told him the return label was for a magistrate court where the returned item will be opened and inspected by a sheriff or police officer. If any parts were missing or swapped, he could expect to be charged with whatever crimes apply. I granted the return on the last day possible, uploaded a FedEx label addressed to the court, and never heard from the buyer again, never got a return and eBay closed it. Before the return was closed, the buyer had the tape library - minus the drive and the tapes - listed for sale for parts or not working. His description was something along the lines of "missing drive, untested" selling in auction format. I considered having someone buy it just so he could no longer have my library with my serial number to ever send back, but someone did bid on it. Yes, I know a real, experienced scammer would have been using a fake name and address and would have sent it back and probably succeeded. An appeal and police report would eventually see eBay return my money though. Or, he could have sent it back in the same condition to get his money back and try the scam on someone else. I believe he gave up because it probably isn't good to get charged with stuff while here on a work visa.

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Thwarted a High-Value Scam Attempt | Selling | eBay Community