Fallen into a sophisticated scam for 1st time after 20 years. What responsibility should eBay hold?

[dealslong]

For so many years, I have been very careful with scams, and never thought I would make such a mistake.  However, I think eBay should hold accountable to some extent. I have contacted eBay three times via chat, and "it is escalated". While waiting, I want to share what happened. 

1. One day morning I got a message from one buyer complainting that my buyer requiremments prevent him from paying as he is a new buyer. It contains a clickable tinyurl link in the ebay app. I clicked and it seems a legitimate ebay website but asking my login info. I typically don't click any link like that. But in the early morning my brain was probably not running well and I logged in from there and find nothing to change in the setting. 

2. I got an item (a different item) sold message 30 minutes later from ebay, and also a message from another buyer that he has paid. I looked at the ebay transaction, and it says ship it now.  

3. I checked the payment history, i don't find the payment though. However, I did see something called self-note saying the payment is on hold until Dec. 27. (self-note is new for me, i should have chance to find it is a scam at this stage too)

4. After printing the shipping label, I am still not sure about the payment. I contacted ebay chat support, asking about the transaction, and pending payment. The representative assured me that everything looks good. A payment will be transfer to my account as soon as USPS delivery shows it is delivered. 

5. I shipped it. Two days after delivery, i still dont see it in my ebay payment, and then realized there might be soemthing wrong. 

6. I contacted ebay chat again, and a represensative asked me if I changed myself to payment received, i said no. I showed him the chat record on Dec. 15 when I was assured everything looks fine. He said to escalated the issue to his managers and would get me back in 5 business days. 

7. 14 days has passed. Today I checked with ebay chat support again and was told they are still investigating. The chat representative suggested me to ask the buyer to pay, though the buyer is no longer registered on ebay already.  

I see the whole scam process: the scammer accessed my ebay account, modified the listing (i usually require immediate payment), marked payment received, added a self-note that the payment is pending and will be released by Dec 27th, and then ship it now was showing even though payment is not received).  

My item is  $830, and i paid USPS priority shipping, insurance, signature required, etc.  The buyer is in Miami, FL. 

I admitted I should have not clicked the link in the first place. But in my view, ebay cannot deny their responsibility: 

1. Do not prevent the clickable scam tinyurl from sending to me.

2. I had 2-step auth enabled but I did not get notification when my account was accessed by the scammer. 

3. The representative confirmed me everything is fine when i ask for the transaction. eBay has opportunity to stop the scam but they don't.  

What should I do, if ebay does not take care of my case? Should I go for small claim court? eBay still charged my final value fee and other cost which is around $80.  

Thanks. 

[dealslong]

I changed the password minutes after the sign in actually.  Just refreshed my memory, I think I realized there was unauthorized access after the url click. But I did not connect this transaction with the access. The transaction was done by another buyer for another item. And everything looks normal except the payment information is not clear. That’s why I contacted ebay chat to make sure the thing is good. 

[katzrul15]

@dealslong 

So very sorry.

I know this is little consolation, but your thread/sharing will help others and I know this situation will resonate with you for the entirety of your selling career for sure.  Does not help with the $800+ loss you are facing.  

What was the date of the sale?  If it was 2021, it is potentially a write-off for 2021, although the theft might also have to had to occur in 2021.  Check with a tax person to be certain.

Really sorry.  We have been there with the fraud on here.  The large fraud hits are stressful, keep you awake at night and take your breath away.  It is horrible how people steal from Sellers on here (and other sites too).  

Wishing you an abundance of sales in 2022 to make up for this fraud mess you are dealing with.  Good luck.

[mtgraves7984]

"I know this is little consolation, but your thread/sharing will help others and I know this situation will resonate with you for the entirety of your selling career for sure."

@dealslong ^^^ Ditto what @katzrul15 has posted. All we sellers can empathize... and I know I've sure learned something .

Thank you for sharing.

And @southern*sweet*tea... Wowzer. I hadn't heard of this twist on that  scam. Thank you  for leaving the light on for me!

[dealslong]

A quick update: eBay sent me a full payment, citing it as incident coverage reimbursement.

Here is the long story: I contacted eBay again via phone call, after failing to get any response from the chat support (though they mentioned escalating to the management team three times). The representative was nice enough to get me connected with a guy from the payment leadership team, who said they never received any escalation. Three days later I got a voice message saying having good news for me and then found a payout scheduled in my eBay account.

I double-checked the transcripts I had with the first lady who should have found the fraud. I explicitly asked her that the message that eBay says my account may have been compromised and if anything was wrong with the payment.  So I had clear evidence that eBay did not do its job to prevent this from happening and that's why they reimbursed it. 

[katzrul15]

---

@dealslong wrote:

A quick update: eBay sent me a full payment, citing it as incident coverage reimbursement.

Here is the long story: I contacted eBay again via phone call, after failing to get any response from the chat support (though they mentioned escalating to the management team three times). The representative was nice enough to get me connected with a guy from the payment leadership team, who said they never received any escalation. Three days later I got a voice message saying having good news for me and then found a payout scheduled in my eBay account.

I double-checked the transcripts I had with the first lady who should have found the fraud. I explicitly asked her that the message that eBay says my account may have been compromised and if anything was wrong with the payment.  So I had clear evidence that eBay did not do its job to prevent this from happening and that's why they reimbursed it. 

---

Congrats on e-Bay doing a courtesy refund.  For most Sellers, you only get a few of these.....we have only ever received 1.

Thank you again for sharing "how" the fraud occurred.  Always a good reminder to remain aware of the origin of the contact.

[dealslong]

Right, I did not expect they fully reimbursed it. It is a good surprise for me. 🙂 

[simba6]

You can file an unpaid case to get the FVF refunded.    The person you would have to take to court is the scammer not eBay anyway.

[iart]

If it hasn't already been suggested, I think you should change your ebay password and watch your credit card/bank accounts for awhile. Maybe change those passwords too.