I was scammed on eBay and now I don't know how to proceed or if I will be refunded

[snicklepuss]

I was scammed.  I bought an expensive item this early this morning and the seller somehow sent a box to someone at a different address in my community the same day to generate a UPS tracking number to make it look like I received the item. That tracking number was given to me through eBay as if it was for my item.  I was home all day and nothing was delivered.  I note: (1) The proof of delivery photo does not match or resemble my property (can be easily checked on Google maps street view). (2) The tracked item was shipped on 04/23/2024 from a different location than the item location stated in the listing.  (3) The shipping date 04/23/2024 was TWO DAYS BEFORE I completed "Buy It Now" this morning.  (4) And "delivery" in fact was only 12 hours and 4 minutes after I completed the "Buy It Now" supposedly coming from several states away in that time period.  So the seller had already shipped a dummy junk item (weighing 9 lbs., more than the weight of what I purchased, so that won't help) and apparently had it in a holding pattern with UPS waiting for a destination.  The tracking number for the decoy item was generated only 36 minutes before delivery.  (5) The box (seen in UPS photo) is large and not really appropriate for a camera (my item), but I am not confident eBay would make the obvious conclusion.

My frustration with Ebay is that (1) scammer sellers seem to be a problem, but there is no menu item to report it if you have been scammed.  Instead, it seems you have to try to shoehorn your scam complaint into some other category.  EBay's dialogue assumes there are no bad actors.  (2) EBay  does not allow me the possibility of "item not received" apparently because they are in possession of the phony decoy tracking information.  (3) If I click "return item" it says it is too early and I must wait 2 more days.  Why?  Because on the one hand Ebay knows I recieved it, but on the other hand they are too disorganized to realize that when I click "return item?"

I was only looking at "return item" because I am looking for options like "item not of described" and trying to figure out that to do.  I don't know exactly how I should proceed and am concerned I could even be cheated out of the supposed "guaranteed" buyer protection if I make a wrong selection or maybe even if I don't, due to the decoy tracking information.  I have similar concerns about getting PayPal to help me if eBay refuses.  How would you recommend proceeding?

[dare-2046]

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@snicklepuss wrote:

I note:

(1) The proof of delivery photo does not match or resemble my property (can be easily checked on Google maps street view).

(2) The tracked item was shipped on 04/23/2024 from a different location than the item location stated in the listing. 

(3) The shipping date 04/23/2024 was TWO DAYS BEFORE I completed "Buy It Now" this morning. 

(4) And "delivery" in fact was only 12 hours and 4 minutes after I completed the "Buy It Now" supposedly coming from several states away in that time period.  So the seller had already shipped a dummy junk item (weighing 9 lbs., more than the weight of what I purchased, so that won't help) and apparently had it in a holding pattern with UPS waiting for a destination.  The tracking number for the decoy item was generated only 36 minutes before delivery. 

(5) The box (seen in UPS photo) is large and not really appropriate for a camera (my item), but I am not confident eBay would make the obvious conclusion. 

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Just leave a private message here and tell eBay you have a weight problem.

And also about the shipped-before-ordered tracking @snicklepuss to get your refund.

[snicklepuss]

Thank you very much!  I don't have a facebook account, but will make one.  When the item weight is more than the package weight, you have a clear cut win.  My case is the opposite, but discrepancy is a bit suspicious, as the supposed sale item weighs 2.22 lbs. vs. the package reportedly 9.4 lbs.

[snicklepuss]

Update:

So I did that and so far got only an automated response:

"Thanks for messaging eBay. We will never ask for any personally identifiable or payment-related information. If you would like to file a complaint regarding eBay policies, products or services, please go to <Link to eBay Customer Service page (removed)> For any other matter, we are happy to help and will be with you shortly."

Messenger on my phone claims my message was "seen," but doesn't indicate whether it was seen by actual human eyes.  The account is clearly active, having made an unrelated post today.  I am assuming the delayed response by an actual human is because someone is looking into my complaint so they can make a definitive response and will do so when their investigation is complete.

I will post the result here when I find out.  I am feeling somewhat optimistic.

[ittybitnot]

@snicklepuss 

So far it looks like you are doing the right thing.  I would not work if you filed an "item not received" claim when there is a recorded notice of "delivered", even if it is fake and issued prior to you even buying the item, or other such variation usually used to satisfy eBay of 'delivery'.  eBay bots and the regular outsourced foreign customer service you get on chat or call back results in unacceptable results. 

Good luck.  If you get thrown under the bus by eBay via the social media contingent, do come back for the next steps for you to take before proceeding. 

[snicklepuss · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the encouragement!  Beyond the automated "we'll be with you shortly" response, I heard nothing back from http://fb.com/ebay in over 24 hours.  I figured it was a Friday or maybe they are just too busy right now with other stuff or maybe FB "eBay for business" is not who I need to request help from.  I'm a reasonable guy and understand that sometimes things take more time than we would like.

So I looked around last night and found other people recommending an x (formerly twitter) account AskeBay.  The account had been active just minutes before, so I posted about my situation and my inability to connect with eBay Customer Service beyond the unhelpful and in this case irrelevant automated system and got a response within minutes from "Crystal" who took a careful look at all the facts and issued me a full refund.  I think it was important that the tracked item was shipped prior to my purchase, and that the box size and weight was excessive, and that the proof of delivery photo clearly didn't correspond to my residence as seen in Google street view (I posted those photos in a private message).  So I am very much encouraged that eBay has people like Crystal helping customers like me who have been scammed.  I also want to note that I was asked to validate my eBay identity through a third party website spkl DOT io where I was redirected to log back into my eBay account.  I can advise from my experience that this is legimate and not a scam and is a necessary part of the process.

Part of what I said includes this:

"I wasn't thinking about scams when I bought the item. I was thinking eBay was a safe environment and that my purchase was covered if anything about it was not right. The experience leaves me a little shaken because I learned how difficult it is to try to report an issue like this to eBay and get it rectified. It seems near impossible to report it because eBay's customer service dialogue doesn't consider that maybe the buyer is being scammed and the tracking number is just a mirage. And the money back guarantee near impossible to claim even though I never received my item."

I think I can repeat here verbatim the response because it reflects very well on eBay and confirms eBay still has great people on staff looking out for customers.  This is what it takes to keep eBay safe for buyers.

"Ok, so first let me say I am truly so sorry for this horrible experience. This is something I can tell you after 1000's of sales I have personally interacted with, is not common. This is very disgraceful and absolutely destroys what we represent at eBay. I have issued you a FULL refund. Secondly, I have reported the seller to Trust & Safety, and they are currently investigating the situation. I want to assure you that Trust & Safety takes situations like this very seriously and will take appropriate action as necessary. Please understand that due to privacy concerns, eBay cannot disclose specific details about the actions taken against a seller. That being said, I have also got my leadership involved in this matter. So, we will handle this appropriately."

Case details

Outcome: This case was found in your favor.

More info: We didn’t receive valid proof of delivery from the seller.

[ittybitnot]

@snicklepuss 

Thanks for the update! 

[snicklepuss]

"So the seller had already shipped a dummy junk item ... and apparently had it in a holding pattern with UPS waiting for a destination." I strongly suspect now that the seller never shipped anything. Instead, the seller somehow obtained (bought?) a legitimate tracking number for a legitimate, unrelated package being delivered to my community. If I had managed to locate "my" package on someone else's front porch, it would not have been addressed to me, nor would it have contained my item. What this means is that the tracking number system of UPS (and the maybe that of the USPS and other carriers) has been compromised. The tracking numbers are too complex to have simply been guessed. UPS and others should fix this, but I am not that hopeful they will because I am not sure there is any downside for them other than having to deal with an increased call volume from people trying to find their "undelivered" packages. The designation "fake tracking number scam" btw is also a bit of a misnomer if what I say is true because the tracking numbers themselves are not fake. I would be most interested if anyone has additional information about carrier's tracking number databases being compromised and how scammers are obtaining that information and whether there's any hope the problem will get fixed.  Aside: I also was scammed with a "fake" USPS tracking number (that's also mail fraud), trying to buy catfood on Walmart.com, and I will be reporting that as well; the decoy item supposedly weighed only 2.3 ounces (so it seems like the scammer perhaps shipped it?).

[qeqo_0]

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@snicklepuss wrote:

What this means is that the tracking number system of UPS (and the maybe that of the USPS and other carriers) has been compromised. The tracking numbers are too complex to have simply been guessed.

I would be most interested if anyone has additional information about carrier's tracking number databases being compromised and how scammers are obtaining that information and whether there's any hope the problem will get fixed. 

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The databases are not compromised, nor tracking numbers guessed.

We foolishly plug our tracking numbers into the plethora of tracking websites, where they are harvested and sorted by destination to resell for fake tracking number scams, as real tracking numbers.

[soh.maryl]

You bought it early in the morning of the 25th and it's been tracked as having been delivered somewhere already?  

[qeqo_0]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

You bought it early in the morning of the 25th and it's been tracked as having been delivered somewhere already? 

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Yes, it was shipped on the 23rd already, two days before OP bought it early in the morning of the 25th.

[snicklepuss]

Good answer!  Thank you for explaining that!  It all makes sense now.