Increase Of Fraudulent Buyers - Identity Theft

[dgtech]

The last few weeks I have seen more fraudulent buyers and have begun to notice similarities.

1. The buyer's name does not match the name on the shipping address

2. The accounts were created in September or October of 2023 with only a few feedback. 

3. The eBay names are automatically generated.

I sell sports trading cards and those that are purchased are usually around $1.00

Has anyone else seen this type of activity?  I actually had a person track me down on social media last week asking why I shipped him a baseball card. After I explained, he noticed his debit card was charged the amount. Since this is a case of identity theft, why would the thief buy $1.00 cards off of eBay and never get the card?  This doesn't make sense, unless there is something I am missing?  

[eburtonlab · Accepted solution]

If someone has taken over an existing account, that person may want to check whether the account has a valid payment source connected to it. Making an inexpensive purchase is one way to check that.

See this thread:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/More-suspicious-purchases-likely-unauthorized-use-of-buyer/m-p...

[dgtech]

Thank you.  That is probably exactly what is occurring. I didn't realize it was so prevalent.  Is there a good way to report to eBay? None of the existing selection options on their reporting form match this type of violation.  I can easily cancel the sale, but it will keep occurring to other sellers. 

[dgtech]

Thank you.  That is probably exactly what is occurring. I didn't realize it was so prevalent.  Is there a good way to report to eBay? None of the existing selection options on their reporting form match this type of violation.  I can easily cancel the sale, but it will keep occurring to other sellers. 

[eburtonlab]

You can report your suspicions to eBay, but in the past it did not appear that eBay was prepared to do much about it, judging by the thread I provided.