How to deal with a scammer?

[unionpax]

I had a buyer purchase a lot of 24 Blue Ray DVD's of which I also sent him 2 new sealed ones as a courtesy and a thank you, along with free shipping. Once he received the item, he claimed that 20 of the Blue Ray Discs were missing and that we had sent empty shells. These Blue Rays came from my very own collection. My sister and I cleaned them, packaged them, and we shipped them out. Initially, he was communicative with us and overall, did not raise any red flags. I went ahead and credited him the full refund because I'm pretty sure he will return the empty shells to me. Ebay customer service was closed and I wasn't able to reach them. How can I block this person, and ask for my feedback on his board to be removed? And how can I avoid being scammed in the future? Unless someone opened my highly taped and sealed box, removed the DVD's that were individually wrapped in their plastic taped bags, then put them back inside, resealed the box and delivered it to the buyer, I can't imagine how he received empty shells of the DVD's. He for sure did not complain of my shipped box being opened. So far he hasn't left negative feedback for us. I'm just really disappointed and saddened by the whole experience. 

[gamersbaystore]

No, always make them return it, otherwise you're enabling this behavior. It sets a very bad precedent when sellers simply refund scammers.

And you're right, they more than likely will send back a bunch of empty cases. Then you file reports for mail fraud, get a police report, communicate your findings with ebay.

Its also more than likely your same buyer is trying to scam others, and not just you. That's why you shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions and refund. ebay also never tells you when its a buyer who lost their MBG protection.

[onlinecentral]

Sellers have sent these messages and then received a reply from the buyer that they found the missing items, along with a story about a roommate or relative opening the package first.

Thank you for your purchase, we are again sorry with the issues with USPS; We have filed a formal report with USPS and also with the local police concerning your empty parcel and will report back to you as soon as we know more. Thank you again!

I am so sorry to hear that your parcel arrived without the contents. I will do everything I can to assist you in this matter. I will file the lost/rifled/stolen mail report (the report is called something else now, you will have look this up for the correct name) with the United States Postal Inspectors on your behalf. Even in these trying times they usually respond with a case number within 24 hours. I will forward that to you when it is received so that you can track the progress of the investigation as well. Do you have a daytime phone number that I can include in the report? That way they can contact you directly as well.

I will also speak to your local postmaster and mail carrier about this package. If it had broken open, the USPS typically tags the box as such, so a photo of that stamp will actually help. Please keep the packing materials in case they are needed as well. Thank you so much for your cooperation.