Victim of a Scam and eBay Won't Help

[volumnus]

I purchased a used soundbar system. The seller apparently uploaded a real FedEx tracking number to eBay. The soundbar was delivered to someone but not to me.

eBay won't even talk to me because they assume I received the item.

FedEx won't discuss it with me because my address does not match the address to which the package was sent.

The only option I have left is to do a chargeback on my credit card. This was clearly a scam. The guy had never sold anything before, and the price was significantly lower that it should have been. I just thought it would be worth taking a chance because of the eBay satisfaction guarantee.

[krazzykats]

You purchased the item on Monday, June 10th.  It seems a little early to already have been delivered and a INR case filed/closed. 

[volumnus]

I honestly believe eBay is complicit in this tracking number scam. They get their money either way. The fact eBay will not even check the address to make sure the package was actually sent to the only address I have on file is preposterous. I think I will probably have more luck doing a chargeback through my credit card company. I'm going to visit our local FedEx tomorrow. I'm going to try to get an employee to write something for me in a document with a FedEx letterhead stating the package with the tracking number was not delivered to my address. Hopefully, armed with that, my credit card company will be able to negotiate a resolution.

It's mind numbing to think that you could buy an expensive bumper for your car on eBay, and the seller could send a baseball card in an envelope to an address in your zip code and upload the tracking number for the baseball card to eBay. You wouldn't get the bumper or the baseball card, only the bill, but eBay would still gladly take their cut without offering you any assistance whatsoever in recovering your stolen money.

[vintagecraze50]

If the item shows delivered you are going to have a very difficult time even with a chargeback as well. Most chargebacks are won by ebay with the CC company if the item shows delivered to recipient in a case like that. This info to also discourage scammers from just running to a credit card when they HAVE gotten the merchandise. Ebay HAS to protect sellers from THESE kind of crooks on here and CC company are pretty good about rejected chargebacks when item is delivered.

[vintagecraze50]

To absolutely prove this was a scammer sending nothing or a cheap trinket to a different address is to get the GPS coordinates of the delivered package. GPS tracks the location of that delivery writhing a few feet. FED EX also takes pictures of the location where the package was dropped off. You would need cooperation from FED EX to prove to ebay this package was sent to another address within your zip code. This info also provided by me to let these scammers know they can be prosecuted as well with the ability of the postal services to pinpoint exactly where these shipments have ended up. I would say pretty risky for peopl to be participating in this scam with Federal charges for mail fraud.

[vintagecraze50]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

To absolutely prove this was a scammer sending nothing or a cheap trinket to a different address is to get the GPS coordinates of the delivered package. GPS tracks the location of that delivery writhing a few feet. FED EX also takes pictures of the location where the package was dropped off. You would need cooperation from FED EX to prove to ebay this package was sent to another address within your zip code. This info also provided by me to let these scammers know they can be prosecuted as well with the ability of the postal services to pinpoint exactly where these shipments have ended up. I would say pretty risky for peopl to be participating in this scam with Federal charges for mail fraud.

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Adding, a lot of these crooks are pretty stupid and do not know how these packages can be tracked to the exact location of where they were addressed to. I’d say good luck with that scam on here because you are going to get caught big time and go to federal prison.

[mudshark61369]

@volumnus,

@krazzykats, brought up an interesting point. If the tracking number you received was created before you bought the item, that shows on FedEx's tracking, and  that is all you need to prove the scam.

Open the link below and then click on the Go to Best Answer button to read what You have to do to win an appeal in these situations.  If you already lost an appeal there is info about another way to contact ebay and get that decision reversed.

Since I wrote that reply it seems that FedEx, the hardest shipper to get info from, has added a way to show that items were not delivered to your address to their tracking site. I have not had to deal with this issue for a FedEx package so I do not know how to navigate to that part of their site.  From what I have heard it involves entering your address and tracking number to a form, after entering the info a screen opens saying the labels address is not the one "you" just entered.  I do not know if ebay will accept a screen shot of that page or not.  My guess is that unless it shows your address and tracking number, they will not accept it.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-tried-contacting-seller-i-tried-contacting-fedex-i-tried/m-p/...

[mudshark61369]

@vintagecraze50,

"Adding, a lot of these crooks are pretty stupid and do not know how these packages can be tracked to the exact location of where they were addressed to. I’d say good luck with that scam on here because you are going to get caught big time and go to federal prison".

The scammers who follow the dark web "guide" on how to work the fake tracking scam, know they are not going to get caught. They Do Not put Their return address on the shipping label it is likely either a non existent address or one to a large business. They probably also use a FedEx drop box to send an envelope (which is used in most cases) to send it to the different address they put on the label.  If they do those things, the Postal Inspectors will not be able to track the package back to the scammer.

[mudshark61369]

@volumnus,

I guess I passed over the reply you wrote to krazykats;

"I honestly believe eBay is complicit in this tracking number scam. They get their money either way. The fact eBay will not even check the address to make sure the package was actually sent to the only address I have on file is preposterous. I think I will probably have more luck doing a chargeback through my credit card company. I'm going to visit our local FedEx tomorrow. I'm going to try to get an employee to write something for me in a document with a FedEx letterhead stating the package with the tracking number was not delivered to my address. Hopefully, armed with that, my credit card company will be able to negotiate a resolution.

eBay is not complicit in the scam. It is the privacy policies of the shipping agencies that prevents anyone but the sender access to the shipping label information, and FedEx is the hardest one to deal with, which is why scammers use them most often to perpetrate the scam. The photo of the delivery address doesn't help you, because ebay does not have a photo of Your residence to compare it to FedEx's photo.

As far as trying to do a charge back, your card provider would need proof that you did not receive the item or it was not sent to you, before they reverse the payment.  They too would run into FedEx's Privacy policy.  However, their agents might be able to access the FedEx site and get to the address comparison page I mentioned in my previous reply.

[volumnus · Accepted solution]

After several hours of frustration, I was finally able to convince an agent from Paypal to get on a three-way call with FedEx and me. FedEx admitted on the call that the package was not delivered to me. It was sent to someone with a different name from mine. It was also not delivered to my address. It was delivered to an address in my city with the same zip code, but it was not delivered to me at my home address, the only address I have on file with eBay and Paypal. Finally, the size of the package suggested it did not contain the product I purchased. At that point, the agent reopened the case and decided in my favor. I received an email saying I would be refunded the full amount. The Paypal agent says Paypal will investigate the seller for committing fraud.

[volumnus]

Please delete this post I accidentally created.

[krazzykats]

This was a very helpful and informative read.  I think it helps others in the same/similar situation. 

The people that scam others online hurt the rest of us trying to sell the right way.