Fix for scams

[upgradedendmills]

I wish eBay could and would run a "sting" operation on the site and prosecute offenders. Too many sellers getting hammered with all these scammers.

[gwzcomps]

Oh they do they supposedly remove MBG protections and remove users from the site. All the bad buyers have to do is open a new account. They only vet sellers when it comes to fraud.

[stanleysoverstock]

Great idea but they are too busy adjusting their chairs to a more comfortable position while counting the money from the scammers. Have a Blessed Merry Christmas. Andrew

[ssalaska33]

Yep....I am a disabled vet and just got scammed out of over $200 by a man in New Mexico. I should have known better. His feedback is hidden on his buyers page and he has bad feedback for scamming on his sellers page. A low down con artist !!!! BEWARE ! He asked for a return and mailed me back an empty box !!!!

[upgradedendmills]

It would be impossible to 100% fix the problem. but it could surely get better if there were serious enforced sanctions for some of these fraudulent claims and returns. I would participate with that sort of program in any way I could help.

[gwzcomps]

The hard part is proving it. On the blatantly obvious ones it is easy, but otherwise we get screwed. I have a bunch of strikes on my metrics now because of their stupid policies. It is ironic that we get screwed tenfold for bad buying behavior.

[mschacha]

Thanks, got him blocked.

[upgradedendmills]

What I have in mind is having eBay run some listings on know good items so they are personally involved and would have proof for SNAD claims or returned empty boxes. I don't think they have a clue right now as to what sellers are up against.  Actually prosecute a few scammers and make them hesitant.

[ittybitnot]

 Actually prosecute a few scammers and make them hesitant.

What would ebay prosecute for?  eBay is not taking a monetary hit when a seller gets back that empty box instead of the item.  They likely made some 'change' on the return shipping label they sold you though.

[upgradedendmills]

They would take a hit if it was their auction or they ran it by proxy. It would allow them to be able to have a paper trail on an item they were actually listing. Might be good experience for them also.

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

This is correct. Stealing from sellers is a big money earner for ebay. Costs ebay nothing. Make money on shipping and return shipping. Make money on extra fees accrued when ebay raises 4% due to bad metrics. They literally have mass incentive to assist the criminals.....and thats what they do.

[gwzcomps]

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@cashvaluerecovery2011 wrote:
This is correct. Stealing from sellers is a big money earner for ebay. Costs ebay nothing. Make money on shipping and return shipping. Make money on extra fees accrued when ebay raises 4% due to bad metrics. They literally have mass incentive to assist the criminals.....and thats what they do.

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Actually it is 5% now.  They bait and switched us.  It is sad when the scammers make more money than the sellers.

[tellmemama]

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@ssalaska33 wrote:

Yep....I am a disabled vet and just got scammed out of over $200 by a man in New Mexico. I should have known better. His feedback is hidden on his buyers page and he has bad feedback for scamming on his sellers page. A low down con artist !!!! BEWARE ! He asked for a return and mailed me back an empty box !!!!

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While it's too late for you now, I'm going to share my procedure on returns.  Whenever something comes back, I open it in the presence of my mail carrier.  If something isn't as it should be, I automatically have a witness to what was received back and file the mail fraud and IC3 reports accordingly.

I also let the buyers know the package will be opened with a USPS representative present.  While it may not be possible for some sellers to be home when the mail is delivered, scam buyers don't know that.  I can't say for sure if it's any sort of deterrent but I haven't gotten a box of rocks back since I started doing this.

So sorry this happened to you.

[luckythewinner]

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@upgradedendmills wrote:

I wish eBay could and would run a "sting" operation on the site and prosecute offenders. Too many sellers getting hammered with all these scammers.

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That will only happen when eBay's definition of "too many sellers" coincides with yours. I suspect the two are currently miles apart 🙂

[upgradedendmills]

I think one seller getting scammed in any way is 2 too many. It is obscene for us to look the other way on this if there is anything we can propose or start to curb it. I am aware of how much a program like this would cost but it might turn out to be a (small) risk/ (great) reward thing.