Scammers using legitimate UPS tracking numbers to cover non delivery of an item you can't dispute.

[sweat383]

This is maybe the most perfect scam. I do not know how they make it function, but eBay will support them in a dispute. Here is how it played out.

I bought an item. With in a few days I received a tracking number to my address via an email from eBay. I track the package as it moves along noting it did not ship from the location as listed, but that sometimes happens. The day it was to arrive I had been outside in the garage all day. I check my email on the phone and there is an email from eBay your package has been delivered, ah not to this address.

Looking at the UPS tracking site, it was delivered to my zip code. I get on the phone to UPS; hey you delivered my package to the wrong address. At this time, I am told the address on the package is not the address I am giving them so they will put in a pickup and return to sender. I contact the seller who replies they will not do anything until they receive the package back.

A week passes. I call UPS, when are you going to pick up that package. He explains that a pickup order has not been sent out yet, I hit the ceiling. It is then I learn of the address the package was delivered to, not 4 miles from my house. Shorty thereafter I get a call from the local UPS dock/pickup location and I learn where the package was shipped from and to whom, a business.

I contact the business. I learn that yes; they did receive a package from the shipping location, and it was the item they ordered. I was hoping they still had the package so I could get a picture of the actual shipping label, a week had passed, too late. They are the same zip code as me. The business is confused by the pickup and return to sender I started with my phone call.

The scammer, somehow, either from the inside of UPS or going through the firewall is able to obtain a legitimate tracking number, going to the correct zip code, provide this number to eBay with my address, and the scam is process. You track the package and it moves through all the places you expect it to, then it is delivered to the address on the shipping label not yours. Tracking says delivered to my zip. I start a dispute with eBay and their reply it was delivered. The only way to know where the package was shipped to and delivered to is a phone call to UPS and eBay is not interested in getting that deep into my or your problem. When the amount of the item is in the thousands and not forty dollars, then and only then with the scam be exposed. By then the damage will be immense to UPS and eBay.

I have spent this week off and on with UPS and eBay, phone calls to UPS and emails to both and it seems they cannot be bothered. I finally sent a snail mail letter to UPS headquarters as last chance someone will listen.  I have suggested to UPS that when a tracking number shows delivered, they add a field of 10 characters that display the first ten characters of the street address the item was delivered to. This step would shut down this scam in a flash.  

[nono-8172]

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@indio7070 wrote:

I tried that but UPS claims they do not provide that in writing. I spoke with 4 representatives.

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Why would they? We are not the customer on that UPS package. So why would UPS pay their employee any time to write a letter for us.

PayPal can already see that it's a reused UPS tracking number: For example, the date shows the label was printed before we placed the order, and the weight 50 pounds cannot be the item; we bought a smartphone. And FedEx even shows the dimensions, so you wouldn't have a box 4 feet wide for a smartphone.

Publicly everyone can see the dates, weight, dimensions on the tracking; it's already obvious it wasn't delivered to your address as it obviously is not your item. eBay or PayPal don't need a letter from UPS or FedEx. Plus we are the beneficiary, so in the chain of custody if we got the letter, we could have altered the letter before giving it to eBay or PayPal.

[nick1911cpt]

I've just been bit by this one.

Does anyone know the correct pathway to get your money back?

[reda3615]

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@nick1911cpt wrote:

I've just been bit by this one.

Does anyone know the correct pathway to get your money back?

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What does your item weigh? And how heavy is the package @nick1911cpt shown in Shipment Details at the website on the tracking number provided to prove your fake delivery?

[skyblue622]

Yes, you hit the nail on the head, it happened to me too a few weeks ago and when I filed a complaint to Ebay, the seller sent a second UPS number, both show delivered, but one says "left outside the front door" and the other says "met customer".  UPS refused to tell me the address it was delivered to, instead said to contact the shipper, which I did.  They failed to do anything and Ebay closed my case failing to do anything as well.  This leaves no recourse.  Perhaps you might contact a news agency and tell them what happened and see if they will investigate.  I doubt Ebay or UPS will want that exposure.  

[ittybitnot]

Just a general reply.  This original thread was from August of 2020, about a year old now.   The "fake tracking" scam continues, whether the buyer is a victim, or the seller who gets a phony tracking number to validate a return has been made.  

It is still reported almost daily on these forums.   Regular customer service continues to be basically useless. They are unable or not allowed to do anything even if the tracking for your parcel was issued before you even purchased the product.  Apparently, that is their 'job' and they are doing it well.  'So sorry to be you, tracking shows delivery.'   Never mind it is for a 50 lb. box when your product was only six ounces.  If the victim gives up and goes away, eBay saves money.  

Yes, eBay has the Money Back Guarantee.  But any buyer making a claim for 'item not received' is just about guaranteed to lose when a fake tracking number is used. 

For the last year, sending your documentation as a victim via the big blue SEND MESSAGE feature on the eBay for Business for Facebook page has yielded positive results for many.  When the reps there (who know about the scam, AND have the authority to act)  quite helping victims it is going to be another sad day. 

[donsdetour]

the problem you folks are having is you want to know were it was delivered to: Not going to get that information from UPS.

You can get information that it was not delivered to your address.

That is what you need in writing.

[sweat383]

Reading these replies almost a year later, UPS does not care, end of story. I sent them a snail mail letter with return receipt, so I know they received it. I laid out the scam. The question to them is, how can someone get a legitimate tracking number from a company or shipper that falls into the same shipping time frame as my shipment and most important, it is coming to my exact zip code.

If you think about it, this would be easy to pull off if you went to the UPS store and sent a package to a place of business that fell into the zip code you needed. Use some **bleep** return address and you are in the wind and gone. As long as it is coming to your exact zip code and it was delivered, you have a long fight on your hands.

I had a shipment of a trailer hitch part, fifty-three pounds and UPS lost it. Close enough for a second day delivery. The box was two feet long and 18 by 18 inches square.

[mudshark61369]

@sweat383,

   "The question to them is, how can someone get a legitimate tracking number from a company or shipper that falls into the same shipping time frame as my shipment and most important, it is coming to my exact zip code".

An online search for businesses or tax foreclosure lists etc., in your zip code is easy enough to do.   Some may be able to access labels on the dark web, usually ones generated and/or delivered Before a purchase was made.

  Scammers know that all of the 3rd party online retail sites use an automated system that searches only for a Delivered scan when an Item Not Received (INR) claim is filed. Due to shipping companies privacy policies that is the only information they are allowed to access.  The way to beat the scam takes some leg work and most sites do have an appeals policy. If you have to go to a payment processor or a card provider you need to provide the same info  To win an appeal:

Go to your  local Post Office, UPS or FedEx store and bring proof of you being the package recipient, eBay Order Details and Purchase History pages w/ the tracking number on it.   If you used a phone/tablet etc. for the purchase bring that, or print copies of those pages if you used a computer.

  At the store ask the clerk to compare the shipping label info address, package type/size/weight to the Order details info. They cannot give out specific information, but they can write a note on company stationary  saying things like; the shipping label's address does not match yours, and if applicable that the package type/size/weight. doesn't match what you should have received. 

The note needs to be signed and dated by the clerk and give the store#.

With that info you can file an appeal. When you do there will be a place to upload documentation, a clear photo or scan of the note.  Appeals are looked at by real people and the info you provide will cause you to win.

The link below tells you how to file an appeal.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/returns-refunds/appeal-ebays-decision-return-missing-item-buyers?id...

[a_moreland]

Just fell victim to this scam.

TLDR; File claim with UPS to get actual destination information to show ebay during claim process.

I've found a way to get the destination details from UPS. If you file a claim through UPS using the ebay tracking number, you will receive a lost package confirmation email stating that UPS has received your inquiry. Within that email, you will see ship to and ship from addresses. Those addresses are the real destinations for the tracking number.  Of course, as many are aware, those destinations are within the same zip code as your address. So you can contact the actual recipients of the package and obtain photo evidence of the package with the tracking number on it. That should help when you go back to ebay after filing a claim. If you filed a didn't received claim through ebay, it will be rejected because they will see that the tracking history shows shipped and delivered. You will then need to file an appeals to the rejected claim and that is when you can submit your photo evidence. I'm currently reaching out to the ebay for business facebook page so we'll see what results will yield from that. As several have mentioned, UPS doesn't seem too concerned with this issue, but it would be great if tracking numbers were matched to shipping locations within the ebay and UPS networks.

[bctk5292]

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@a_moreland wrote:

I've found a way to get the destination details from UPS. 

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The actual destination is immaterial. It's not your package: The weight is wrong, the dates are wrong; anyone can see that on the tracking: It's not private information that needs UPS to write a letter for you.

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@a_moreland wrote:

So you can contact the actual recipients of the package and obtain photo evidence of the package with the tracking number on it.

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Because that's their package, they ordered that item, and it was delivered to them. Your seller paid for a copy of that tracking number, using it to prove your fake delivery.

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@a_moreland wrote:

As several have mentioned, UPS doesn't seem too concerned with this issue

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UPS was paid to deliver that package to that person. You're not the paying customer, so UPS is wasting resources talking to you.

Just point out to

1. eBay on Facebook

2. PayPal on Facbook

3. card issuer by phone

that it's not your package

-- wrong dates/weight/dimensions publicly shown on the tracking; private not-shown address is irrelevant --

and get your refund back from the seller.

[vintagecraze50]

THIS SCAM. Resulted in the conviction of a seller recently for mail fraud and 20 years in prison. They were convicted becuase many people who were receiving packages not ordered by them reported this to the postal service. 

[mechaniac]

I just fell victim to this scam this past week!

I ordered from a seller and when the package didn't arrive I just figured that it was the economy and fuel prices, etc?

A few days after that I contact the seller and they respond that I need to look in my bushes or under the porch?

A couple days after that I find this thread!

I'm willing to bet these scammers are using fake ratings to get your interest?

[kathiec]

@mechaniac 

This is a very old thread. If you start a new one with your issue you'll get more responses.

[kh-gary]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.