CHINA BRUSHING SCAM- Item delivered to wrong address SCAM

[jforre61388y5g]

So I have purchased 3 items from China all from different sellers but of different items to create a set for resale (toy figures). Every one of them shows tracking shipped to different states and no replies from sellers. That tracking is not not your item, in the BRUSHING scam sellers from China send trinket garbage to Ali Express customers (a website created for FRAUD) with that tracking number, confusing the customer as they did not order a "hair tie" or like I myself encountered "paper thin oven mitt."  They do this to have the recipient contact the sender to offer personal information to steal identities or credit card information as most people here tend to be honest, unlike these repugnant sellers. I spoke with my local USPS who says they have hundreds of these little bags of garbage trinkets which they hesitate to deliver but the postmaster says they must be mailed as shipping is paid for. I understand the return address is "1 2 3 Sesame Street."

Note these Sellers all have low positive feedback and a plethora of similar model products at fair cost (actual price compared to our way over-inflated prices of items "MADE IN CHINA.") This appears to be straight up FRAUD. Basically a seller in China has his friends create fake feedback by purchasing product that was never shipped to them, leaving positive FB to give the perception of a genuine seller, then listing product that looks real but is not (a lot of copy and paste stock photos, or photos belonging to someone else). They apparently float and steal buyers money and although buyer can be refunded through the eBay buyer protections I imagine eBay cannot actually retrieve those funds and is unable to prosecute perps as they are not held to US laws. I have contacted customer service and filed formal complaints expecting sellers to be taken offline they still exist. I dealt with another seller with the same issue 2 years ago expecting this to be a one-off accident but this is prevalent. I feel bad buyers are probably reading this because they have encountered the same issue, I would just like to say the only way to stop this is to stop buying goods from China. There are also masked entities that say product in US with seller address in CA, NY or NJ for example, then you receive an international tracking number. Not all sellers are fake and not all goods are bad but BEWARE as there are so many today that are not even real and I did not even receive a knockoff, nothing, nada, no item whatsover. Why eBay continues to allow this confuses me as they lose final value fees when they refund buyers. Must be more to this than meets the eye. Be Well

[mudshark61369]

@jforre61388y5g,

"Every one of them shows tracking shipped to different states and no replies from sellers".

You have been the victim of a fake tracking scam.  Usually, what happens with that one is, an envelope or very small package is sent with the tracking number you receive to a different address.  Because the tracking has a Delivered scan, ebay's automated item not received (INR) system which can only look for a tracking number's scans, closes the case in favor of the seller. How long ago did the packages get a delivered scan? if it was more than 30 days ago you may be out of options.

If you filed and lost an INR dispute, there is an appeal button there, but in order to win an appeal you need to do some leg work first.  you have 30 days from the date the dispute was closed to appeal.

You will need to go to a P.O., FedEx or UPS store.   You will need to bring the ebay order details page which shows the tracking # and your shipping address. You can bring your phone or tablet if you used one to buy, or a print out of the page if you use a computer.  In this case you would need to provide all 3 of the order detail pages.

   You ask the clerk to check the tracking info against the address on the label, and the package info. If those things do not match, ask the clerk to write a note on company stationary saying the label address does not match the order address, and if applicable that the package type/size/weight is not appropriate for what you should have received. Counter clerks can only give you general information not specifics about the address or package info.  Have the clerk sign and date the note. You would need to get a note for each tracking number.

 If you have not filed an INR dispute already,  contact ebay on their Facebook or Twitter pages. (Links Below) You will need the seller's username and the item number(s) of the item(s) that did not arrive. you also have to give them your username, real ,and some contact info, Your ebay email address should suffice.  You tell the Rep that tracking showed Delivered but it was actually sent to a different address.  You can then add a Clear photo or scan of the note to the claim. A real person will check the info and get back to you within a few days.  They should authorize a refund once they see the info you have provided. 

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness

https://twitter.com/askebay

I honestly do not see your issue as being part of a brushing scam, since the recipient cannot login to leave a fake Feedback for your purchase or one that never existed. The chinese sellers on this site who send a trinket/gift do so with the tracking supposedly for the item you purchased, to get a Delivered scan, hoping you do not know how to get a refund for the unordered item.

[artofanimation]

Thank you for the reply and explanation regarding what the fake tracking scam is. Thankfully I was refunded by eBay for each of the items, but it was a long arduous process - let me explain. Tracking numbers for each of the items from different China sellers is posted to the eBay site which shows movement of packages within China, when items arrive in US tracking stops updating in the eBay system, even though tracking does show in the USPS system (where shown delivered to incorrect addresses). eBay has an expected receival time in which buyer cannot file a dispute / claim for non-received goods until that date (even though item delivered over a week before delivery due date, because eBay system is for some reason not privy to further tracking information in the US). Told by eBay customer service my ability to file claim begins on the due date and I guess you have 30 days from to resolve or lose ability to file claim. What irks me about this is eBay support can access USPS website and see item delivered to another location but their hands are tied until the ship by claim date. Most of these are expected about 1 month from ordering. There was a 4th package I purchased but was able to cancel as delivery date was expected 2 and 1/2 months (45 days) after purchase. I have purchased many international items in the past from China, some of which shipped on boat to save on cost of shipping or for heavy packages, but as far as recent 2 years of experience is concerned everything has been Fraudulent. Very concerning as this loss of trust should be impacting buyers who wait long periods to buy low cost goods to resell and eBay should be concerned as what new buyers would trust purchasing from eBay if they never received their items?

I hope more persons are aware of these scams and wish eBay would take proactive action by preventing sales of suspicious sellers or locations. Maybe there needs to be a higher threshold for international sellers to be able to sell on eBay?

Thank you for the reply!

[carvin_0]

 3 times  I was scammed after purchasing from China sellers. They tell you it's going to take sometime to get to the destination. They give you a tracking number that only China Post and 17 Track have acknowledged . Other tracking sites say there is no tracking number. Sometimes the tracking says it's at a USPS distribution center. However USPS does not deliver 3 boxes of furniture parts. I waited a longtime for one delivery and it's coming from a legit USPS message. The next day it says item was delivered. If you call your local post office, they will say the samething. Why because the seller sent a small package weighing 0.8 ounces, but you look out the door and you don't see any boxes, that you expect see. But the item has been delivered by USPS. So you go to your mailbox and there is this small envelope and it has the tracking number that you was given by the seller, and inside the envelope there is a big plastic paper clip or something that is unidentifiable. Your blood level drops and you feel so stupid because you've trusted these people because they were sellers on e-Bay.  There has to be some way to weed these scamming crooks out before they try to sell anything. Maybe tell sellers the buyer will pay them after they receive their merchandise. I don't know. It's got to be something someone can do legally.

[mudshark61369]

@carvin_0,

Did you read what I wrote earlier?  That answer contains all of the info you need to win an item not received dispute, if a package gets sent to a different address.  If you get something different from what you ordered you can file an item not as described dispute using ebays Money Back Guarantee. There is a ink to the policy and its time frames on most listing pages.   When you open that link, you will find othe buttons inside the article that give more detailed info.

FYI, In the futuer do not buy from Chinese sellers. Most of what they sell is poor quality or counterfeit items. They are not allowed to sell the brand named items they manufacture for Brand Named companies, or under license for Characters of Comics, Movies, Cartoons.

[citydwelleer6191]

who has time to do all these steps and go to these places, this is how the scammers win. they work with ebay, amazon whatever to make it such a hassle to convince them that you have been scammed and then time runs out and youre SOL. The few times that someone has the time to do all this and if they are lucky enough to get a refund, unlikely, don't add up for all the ones that don't have time to do this so they still make the fee from the scammers sell so why bother making it more difficult for scammers. Amazon, Ebay, Paypal, and the rest of these marketplaces make money from the scams too so they have little incentive to do anything about it until so many people start getting scammed that they don't make money off the people who give up on refund process. it's all bottom line stuff

[mudshark61369]

@citydwelleer6191,

"who has time to do all these steps and go to these places, this is how the scammers win. they work with ebay, amazon whatever to make it such a hassle to convince them that you have been scammed and then time runs out and youre SOL".

The scammers do not work WITH ebay and other sites.  They do take the time to read the site's return refund policies to exploit any loopholes they can find. They know most 3rd party online shopping sites can only access the tracking info.  Since the site's are not the sender or recipient they cannot access the shipping label info, address or package type/size/weight, due to shipper's privacy policies. 

Since ebay gives members 30 days from the last estimated delivery date to file disputes, so it should not be too hard for a person to find the time to go to a P.O. or store. If they lose a dispute because the INR system found a Delivered scan, in the not advising the person of that is an Appeal button, and a person has 30 days from the date the note was sent to get the info needed to file and win an appeal, or to contact ebay via their social media sites.

I do not know about you, but if I get scammed out of my hard earned money, I'll find the time to get it back, no matter how low or high the amount, rather than let the scammer keep it.

[tinsoldierunderground]

As mudshark states, and just about every other experienced member of these boards know,  many sellers in China are NOT to be trusted.  Simply don't buy their CRAP.  You're dealing with a nation that is the sworn enemy of the U.S.