Help with dealing with a buyer that may be a scammer

[barronn30]

Hi, I have a weird issue. Listed an item on eBay as an auction. It ended today and the winning bid was a person with 4 feedback (2 of them says hes a scammer who pays a pending charge on paypal and then pulls the payment once you ship it). I just received a notice from paypal stating that I have a pending payment and the buyer sends me a message asking for my address because "I'm not in the US", which I am. What should I do at this point? If I cancel the sale, he/she may give me a negative feedback. Having trouble finding eBay's contact number to ask for advice.. they seem to keep it hidden.

[emerald40]

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@barronn30 wrote:
Hi, I have a weird issue. Listed an item on eBay as an auction. It ended today and the winning bid was a person with 4 feedback (2 of them says hes a scammer who pays a pending charge on paypal and then pulls the payment once you ship it). I just received a notice from paypal stating that I have a pending payment and the buyer sends me a message asking for my address because "I'm not in the US", which I am. What should I do at this point? If I cancel the sale, he/she may give me a negative feedback. Having trouble finding eBay's contact number to ask for advice.. they seem to keep it hidden.

_____________________________________________________________________

A buyer cannot pull a payment once it is sent.  That is a misconception.

However, it may be that the payment was no good to begin with.  Possibly an echeck.

That is why it is important you go into your paypal acount.  Do this on a computer ot laptop, not you phone.

Make sure your payment is in there and you get an OK to ship.

Do not give out your personal email address.  He does not need your address either.

Not sure how other sellers were able to leave backhanded feedback for him though. 

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[dcintennessee]

Uh-oh. Was this the cell phone auction?  The bid history looks like that buyer has been involved with 26 other cell phone, video game & computer auctions within just the past hour.

[a_c_green]

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@barronn30 wrote:
Hi, I have a weird issue. Listed an item on eBay as an auction. It ended today and the winning bid was a person with 4 feedback (2 of them says hes a scammer who pays a pending charge on paypal and then pulls the payment once you ship it). I just received a notice from paypal stating that I have a pending payment and the buyer sends me a message asking for my address because "I'm not in the US", which I am. What should I do at this point?

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To be clear, he's asking for your email address, right? He's a scammer. He wants to send you a fake payment clearance notification, supposedly from PayPal, telling you that you're all clear to ship.

At this point, if you look in your PayPal account, you may see an eCheck payment. It is highly unlikely that it will ever clear, but you may get a series of badgering messages from the scammer, wanting you to ship anyway. Don't do it. The only authority you must consult is PayPal, by logging into your PayPal account to see if the eCheck has cleared, and if so, PayPal will state that you're OK to ship. 

There are reports of eBay showing a Payment Received status when in fact PayPal is still waiting for an eCheck to clear, so log into your own PayPal account for a clear view of where things stand. Ask here before shipping if you have any doubts.

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

Pending is not paid so you can open an unpaid item case after 48 hours from end of sale.  An e-check would show as pending payment but would also say e-check.  

If you do not get paid for an item then you need to file an unpaid item case.   This gets you back your seller fees and gives the non payer a strike on their account.  

http://resolutioncenter.ebay.com/

You can file a  case 48 hours after the end of the sale.   Then after another 96 hours you can close the case if the buyer still has not paid.    THEN after the case is closed you relist.  

Add them to your blocked bidder list.        http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/biddermanagement.html

[barronn30]

Thanks for your input. I am still very suspicious with the buyer's feedback. Both sellers that sold to this buyer said either they made a fake payment or they did a charge back after the payment went through and item was shipped. Both listings were for a similar product that I am selling now and both happened within this month. Without any other eBay support, I guess I should follow the seller's protocol and carry on and hope if something does happen, eBay will protect me? Additionally, part of the message from the buyer (that asked for my address) was also saying that he/she won't ship to me if I am not in the US. I responded back saying what does that even mean? I am the seller. He/she replies saying it is to the wrong person. However, I checked his/her sold listings and it is blank. Very bizarre.

[emerald40]

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@barronn30 wrote:
Thanks for your input. I am still very suspicious with the buyer's feedback. Both sellers that sold to this buyer said either they made a fake payment or they did a charge back after the payment went through and item was shipped. Both listings were for a similar product that I am selling now and both happened within this month. Without any other eBay support, I guess I should follow the seller's protocol and carry on and hope if something does happen, eBay will protect me? Additionally, part of the message from the buyer (that asked for my address) was also saying that he/she won't ship to me if I am not in the US. I responded back saying what does that even mean? I am the seller. He/she replies saying it is to the wrong person. However, I checked his/her sold listings and it is blank. Very bizarre.

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____________________________________________________________________

cel lphones are a scam magnet.

But you need to be careful.  If you cancel for the wrong reason, you will get a defect which can run havoc on your account.

Do not respond to him further.  Just keep checking your paypal account that the money is in there and you get the OK to ship.  And do this on a laptop not through the phone app.

If in 48 hours it still shows pending open item not paid case.  Then close 4 days later.

If you are going to sell this phone here, in the future do US only and immediate payment required.

[barronn30]

dcintennessee - Yup, this was the cellphone one. Thanks for the number! I will contact them tomorrow and see what is my next best option.

a_c_green - That does seem to be the case. I'm unable to tell if it is an e-check or not but it is pending. PayPal just tells me its a mobile express payment.

comics-scifi-collectibles - Thanks! I'll contact eBays support and see what I can do about this case before I add him/her to my block bidder list.

emerald40 - Yeah that is unfortunate. I will keep an eye out and post an update soon.

[emerald40]

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@barronn30 wrote:

dcintennessee - Yup, this was the cellphone one. Thanks for the number! I will contact them tomorrow and see what is my next best option.

a_c_green - That does seem to be the case. I'm unable to tell if it is an e-check or not but it is pending. PayPal just tells me its a mobile express payment.

comics-scifi-collectibles - Thanks! I'll contact eBays support and see what I can do about this case before I add him/her to my block bidder list.

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OP, after ebay CS advises you, come back here and run it by the board members here.

Not everything they tell you is in your best interest.  So get some opinions here before you act.

[barronn30]

Will do. Buyer just sent another message telling me to ship the item because eBay and PayPal won't release the funds until the item is shipped. At least now I have written proof that he/she is a scammer.
I think the best course of action is for the payment to never clear and I can cancel as an unpaid item.

[emerald40]

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@barronn30 wrote:
Will do. Buyer just sent another message telling me to ship the item because eBay and PayPal won't release the funds until the item is shipped. At least now I have written proof that he/she is a scammer.
I think the best course of action is for the payment to never clear and I can cancel as an unpaid item.

_____________________________________________________________________

I agree.  He is pulling everything out hoping he can trick you to send the phone before he pays for it.

That is why resist the urge to respond.

Chances are payment will not clear.  But you have to go through the motions.

And when it is all over, be sure to block him. 

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[starroute-us]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@barronn30 wrote:
Hi, I have a weird issue. Listed an item on eBay as an auction. It ended today and the winning bid was a person with 4 feedback (2 of them says hes a scammer who pays a pending charge on paypal and then pulls the payment once you ship it). I just received a notice from paypal stating that I have a pending payment and the buyer sends me a message asking for my address because "I'm not in the US", which I am. What should I do at this point?

---

To be clear, he's asking for your email address, right? He's a scammer. He wants to send you a fake payment clearance notification, supposedly from PayPal, telling you that you're all clear to ship.

At this point, if you look in your PayPal account, you may see an eCheck payment. It is highly unlikely that it will ever clear, but you may get a series of badgering messages from the scammer, wanting you to ship anyway. Don't do it. The only authority you must consult is PayPal, by logging into your PayPal account to see if the eCheck has cleared, and if so, PayPal will state that you're OK to ship. 

There are reports of eBay showing a Payment Received status when in fact PayPal is still waiting for an eCheck to clear, so log into your own PayPal account for a clear view of where things stand. Ask here before shipping if you have any doubts.

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@barronn30

This is excellent advice!!!

[vintagecraze50]

Please do not get sucked into a possible bad transaction. Wait wait wait! to see if the payment clears before you do anything. You can keep checking on your regular PC not the phone app because the phone app has been glitchy with payments showing cleared when they in fact are not cleared. Call Pay Pal if you need any further assustance. If you do  UPI unpaid item dispute if the payment does not clear you will not get a defect and the buyer cannot leave neg feedback.

[vintagecraze50]

Whoo hoo! caught the scammer!

[vintagecraze50]

So they said "Ebay and pay pal won't release buyers funds until it is shipped?" Love how these scammers invent ebay and pay pal rules that do not exist.