“Buyer” scammed me, what can I do as a seller?

[cpanderson1955]

I sold a camera lens and the next morning saw a message from the “buyer”, saying his brother was sick so he had to go help him and he requested I mail the package to a new address where his brother was. With all the chaos of the virus stuff going on (and ebays insistence on using jumbled letters and numbers in place of user IDs), I didn’t think twice about  his brother being sick and shipping to a new address.im sure you can see where this is going.. the “buyer” wasn’t the real buyer and I mailed a $1200 camera lens to a scammer who after i google searched the address, realized is a serial scammer who’s been scamming people since at least 2018. 
I don’t understand how this person has been able to run this scam for years and use the exact same address the whole time without eBay/law enforcement stepping in and shutting down their operation. It’s a rented automotive repair shop industrial store front

Judging by the google search, they’ve scammed countless people over the years, some of them for thousands of dollars at a time. 
Is there anything I can do? The lens has already been delivered, so I’m sure I’ll never see that again, but the $1200 would be nice to have back, especially in today’s economic climate.

[sg51]

So you got a question from some random person asking you to ship it elsewhere?  

[justagirl12]

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER SHIP TO ANOTHER ADDRESS. EVER. JUST SAY NO!

[wastingtime101]

Unfortunately there's nothing you can do. The address is that of a re-shipper which is why you'll see so many reports for it. International buyers use re-shippers all the time and most of them are great - the address itself isn't the problem. It's the scammers using the re-shipper that pull these types of scams.

If the package wasn't delivered yet you would have been able to attempt a package recall, but since it was delivered that eliminates your option to get the lens back. eBay will not protect you from having to refund since you changed the shipping address - and that would hold true even if it was your actual buyer who asked you to ship somewhere else. Sorry man, tough deal.

[luckythewinner]

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@cpanderson1955 wrote:

I don’t understand how this person has been able to run this scam for years and use the exact same address the whole time without eBay/law enforcement stepping in and shutting down their operation

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So what would be your solution - prevent members from sending messages to each other? 

Perhaps eBay should eBay just recommend that sellers only ship to the address on the payment. Oh, wait ... 

[terrycece62]

Sorry this happened 2 u NEVER  let a buyer change the shipping address 

[gracieallen01]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@cpanderson1955 wrote:

I don’t understand how this person has been able to run this scam for years and use the exact same address the whole time without eBay/law enforcement stepping in and shutting down their operation

---

So what would be your solution - prevent members from sending messages to each other? 

Perhaps eBay should eBay just recommend that sellers only ship to the address on the payment. Oh, wait ... 

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Now, now, try not to be too  obvious.  😀

[reallynicestamps]

to attempt a package recall, but since it was delivered that eliminates your option to get the lens back.

Actually, the current situation is very likely to work in the seller's favour.

Assuming that the reshipper is a legitimate business and not part of a fraud ring, phoning them and explaining the problem might work very nicely, since at the moment many countries are not accepting international shipments.

Phone on Monday. Be polite. Be firm.

And look up the contact information for the local police force before you call. You don't have to tell the reshippers that you have that information.

I suspect that this would also be a violation of laws about using USPS as well, and the postal inspectors are tough cookies.

[kensgiftshop]

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@cpanderson1955 wrote:

Is there anything I can do?

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Give the real buyer a full refund.

[nkmipgolf]

Call them, it can take two days to reship.

[cpanderson1955]

The refund to the buyer was sent right away.

[cpanderson1955]

I don’t use eBay often and have never seen that type of scam. If eBay didn’t jumble user IDs to random letters and numbers it may have been more obvious, but unfortunately in the current global climate with coronavirus, having to go help a sick relative unfortunately seemed pretty legitimate. Lesson learned..

[luckythewinner]

@cpanderson1955 wrote:

I don’t use eBay often and have never seen that type of scam. If eBay didn’t jumble user IDs to random letters and numbers it may have been more obvious, but unfortunately in the current global climate with coronavirus, having to go help a sick relative unfortunately seemed pretty legitimate. Lesson learned..

I asked what you expected eBay to do about this.

Not sure what you mean about "jumbled ids".

When I look at a sold item in my seller hub, it shows the complete buyer ID. 

When I look at an eBay message sent by a buyer, it shows the complete buyer ID. 

[luckythewinner]

@luckythewinner wrote:

@cpanderson1955 wrote:

I don’t use eBay often and have never seen that type of scam. If eBay didn’t jumble user IDs to random letters and numbers it may have been more obvious, but unfortunately in the current global climate with coronavirus, having to go help a sick relative unfortunately seemed pretty legitimate. Lesson learned..

I asked what you expected eBay to do about this.

Not sure what you mean about "jumbled ids".

When I look at a sold item in my seller hub, it shows the complete buyer ID. 

When I look at an eBay message sent by a buyer, it shows the complete buyer ID. 

And further, both places (transction in seller hub and messages in My Messages) give a link to the buyer's account page. 

[pinksakura2000]

Unfortunately it sucks to be in your situation but many of us come here after-the-fact. And sometimes it sucks to be nice. eBay won't be able to help because the packaged is not delivered to the registered address of the buyer who paid.
Nonetheless, you could report the fraud to the following agencies because even though you are a seller on eBay, you are also a customer of eBay:
California Department of Consumer Affairs
1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112
Sacramento, CA 95834
(800) 952-5210

Contractors State License Board
PO Box 26000
Sacramento, CA
(800) 321-CSLB (2752)

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
www.ic3.gov

ArbiClaims Dispute Resolution
http://www.arbiclaims.com/bbb

Lastly, I also read on this forum that some sellers would even go for filing police report. You may file with the county of the address you mailed. I am not sure if you will ever get the $1200 or part of it back, but at least you would have tried and do the right thing by filing.

Lastly, try explaining the situation to eBay and perhaps at least they will refund your fees.