eBay

1onestopshop · ‎08-01-2018

So I got scammed on ebay, I'm a newbie to selling and well did not know people had such malice in their hearts. A few weeks ago I listed my mom's iPhone 7 Plus on ebay for 565$. A week later it was sold, the buyer paid right away and all was good. A few hours later I received a message saying that he had just bought the iPhone 7 and was very happy about it bla bla but that his cousin had recently gotten into a car accident and he needed to take care of him and that he was not going to be home to receive the item. So..... (stupidly, i know guys don't rub it in this was a stupid rookie mistake of mine), I ended up changing the shipping address and sending the phone. A few days later the item appeared as delivered in which I receive a message from the buyer that he had not received the item and that he thinks I sent it to the wrong address. I PANICKED and I went to go screenshot the message of his request only to realize it was an ALMOST IDENTICAL username but not the same username he had bought the phone from. I knew I was in big trouble then. I contacted the other username(scammer) to please send the phone back or I would need to contact authorities, it has been a week and the person is just giving me excuses. Long story short after HOURS of being on the phone with eBay they basically said that I'm screwed. So in my opinion it was the buyer who scammed me because how would the scammer know the exact identical username of the buyer. So now the buyer is asking for a refubnd and I just lost the phone AND the money. What should I do, is there any way of being able to at least stay with the money? I am DISTRAUGHT to say the least. Thank you all fror your help.

klhmdg · ‎08-01-2018

Let start by saying "sorry"

You are out the phone AND you will need to refund the buyer.

As a new seller "do not sell anything more expensive than your feedback score" also do not sell anything in the high scam items.

Never change a shipping address, ever... no matter the sob story.

You need to refund the buyer in full... ebay will do it for you if you do not and then you will get a "defect" also.

Sorry!

klhmdg • Volunteer Community Mentor

par6972 · ‎08-01-2018

. I PANICKED and I went to go screenshot the message of his request only to realize it was an ALMOST IDENTICAL username but not the same username he had bought the phone from.

________

How did the scammer know what username your buyer had bought it with? I suspect if one person with two accounts that are running the scam together.

classic_luxe · ‎08-01-2018

One thing you need to do right away is disable the iPhone (brick it) so that it is of no use to the scammer. You can report it as stolen to Apple and they can do it if you can't.

mcguire58 · ‎08-01-2018

This is a common scam going on on eBay right now,believe me it is not your buyer who scammed you,I get these messages all the time on my listings,it is a scammer who patrols the completed listings then sends a message saying they are happy or hope all is good and their dad or some such is sick in the hospital and they have to go out of state please send to that address. The ones I’ve been getting are always addresses in Delaware,I’m pretty sure it’s a single scammer or a network of them,they always use a brand new 0 feedback id usually made the same day and sometimes it’s similar to the actual buyers id,they are hoping they are going to get someone to fall for it. I’m sorry you did,but you are going to have to refund the original buyer,it’s not their fault you fell for a scam and as for getting your phone back it probably isn’t going to happen. But you should report the phone as stolen so at least it will be blacklisted and they won’t be able to use it.

Sorry this happened but in the future never send to a different address unless it is the confirmed address on the buyers PayPal account.

mar_956762 · ‎08-01-2018

@par6972 wrote:

. I PANICKED and I went to go screenshot the message of his request only to realize it was an ALMOST IDENTICAL username but not the same username he had bought the phone from.
________

How did the scammer know what username your buyer had bought it with? I suspect if one person with two accounts that are running the scam together.

I agree, if the username was so similar, they had to either know the buyer or be the buyer.

ohnojoey · ‎08-01-2018

@1onestopshop wrote:
So I got scammed on ebay, I'm a newbie to selling and well did not know people had such malice in their hearts. A few weeks ago I listed my mom's iPhone 7 Plus on ebay for 565$. A week later it was sold, the buyer paid right away and all was good. A few hours later I received a message saying that he had just bought the iPhone 7 and was very happy about it bla bla but that his cousin had recently gotten into a car accident and he needed to take care of him and that he was not going to be home to receive the item. So..... (stupidly, i know guys don't rub it in this was a stupid rookie mistake of mine), I ended up changing the shipping address and sending the phone. A few days later the item appeared as delivered in which I receive a message from the buyer that he had not received the item and that he thinks I sent it to the wrong address. I PANICKED and I went to go screenshot the message of his request only to realize it was an ALMOST IDENTICAL username but not the same username he had bought the phone from. I knew I was in big trouble then. I contacted the other username(scammer) to please send the phone back or I would need to contact authorities, it has been a week and the person is just giving me excuses. Long story short after HOURS of being on the phone with eBay they basically said that I'm screwed. So in my opinion it was the buyer who scammed me because how would the scammer know the exact identical username of the buyer. So now the buyer is asking for a refubnd and I just lost the phone AND the money. What should I do, is there any way of being able to at least stay with the money? I am DISTRAUGHT to say the least. Thank you all fror your help.

It's good that you know your mistake, life is a learning curve and you paid tuition. There are people with malice in their hearts everywhere, who jump at the chance to take advantage of peoples mistakes, to lord over and to trick you. I am really sorry for what happened. I hope there is a way to find justice. I wish I could help you somehow. Maybe someone will know how to help your situation.

willyb15020 · ‎08-02-2018

oh my goodness sorry that happened to you. Thats why its good not to ship to any other address other then the one provided on ebay. YOu are just not protected if things go wrong.

myangelandmyprincess · ‎08-02-2018

@mcguire58 wrote:
This is a common scam going on on eBay right now,believe me it is not your buyer who scammed you,I get these messages all the time on my listings,it is a scammer who patrols the completed listings then sends a message saying they are happy or hope all is good and their dad or some such is sick in the hospital and they have to go out of state please send to that address. The ones I’ve been getting are always addresses in Delaware,I’m pretty sure it’s a single scammer or a network of them,they always use a brand new 0 feedback id usually made the same day and sometimes it’s similar to the actual buyers id,they are hoping they are going to get someone to fall for it. I’m sorry you did,but you are going to have to refund the original buyer,it’s not their fault you fell for a scam and as for getting your phone back it probably isn’t going to happen. But you should report the phone as stolen so at least it will be blacklisted and they won’t be able to use it.
Sorry this happened but in the future never send to a different address unless it is the confirmed address on the buyers PayPal account.

Being the user names in the case are almost identical I'm going to say the actual buyer might be a part of this one

“Birth certificates show that you were born. Death certificates show that you died. Photographs show that you have lived.” -Unknown

plantaddict · ‎08-02-2018

As other's have said this is horrible and I'm so sorry this happened to you. It is a costly life lesson but don't sell anything of value on eBay EVER as that is just one of many scams that happen! Especially in high fraud categories such as cell phones. You unfortunately aren't going to get the money back, and it's really hard to tell if the buyer was in on it or not. Maybe someone more knowledgeable will chime in about this but I thought buyers identities were un-disclosed to other users? Like for instance if bidding on an auction or viewing feedback left to others? If that is the case then the buyer was most likely involved and if not and others can see it someone simply scammed you.

You can however report the name and address used for mail fraud. Notify that post office that you'd sent it to and make them aware of the situation. Don't call the USPS 1-800 number as that takes FOREVER just google using the city and zip. Report the phone stolen to the carrier, although it blacklists it within the United States those types of phones just make their way to other countries but at least this way you de-value it for the thief. Call the police both in your town as well as that town and file a police report for theft with the recipient's name and address that they had you forward the phone to as they are who received it. Probably a fake name, but they would have had to pick it up or receive it.

Most importantly with ALL high value items you purchase additional postal insurance just as a precaution anyhow although it would have been irrelevant in this particular case as the PO done their job and delivered it. Anything over $100 I purchase insurance to cover the item in the event buyers claim damage. You need to build up your seller feedback selling small items at low value to get the feel of how ebay operates. They will ALWAYS side with a buyer no matter the proof you have and there are plenty of scammers out there just waiting for their opportunity to strike! Newbies, veterans or anyone in between it doesn't matter. It happens to everyone so try not to be too hard on yourself about it.

flipper2flipper2 · ‎08-02-2018

@1onestopshop wrote:
So I got scammed on ebay, I'm a newbie to selling and well did not know people had such malice in their hearts. A few weeks ago I listed my mom's iPhone 7 Plus on ebay for 565$. A week later it was sold, the buyer paid right away and all was good. A few hours later I received a message saying that he had just bought the iPhone 7 and was very happy about it bla bla but that his cousin had recently gotten into a car accident and he needed to take care of him and that he was not going to be home to receive the item. So..... (stupidly, i know guys don't rub it in this was a stupid rookie mistake of mine), I ended up changing the shipping address and sending the phone. A few days later the item appeared as delivered in which I receive a message from the buyer that he had not received the item and that he thinks I sent it to the wrong address. I PANICKED and I went to go screenshot the message of his request only to realize it was an ALMOST IDENTICAL username but not the same username he had bought the phone from. I knew I was in big trouble then. I contacted the other username(scammer) to please send the phone back or I would need to contact authorities, it has been a week and the person is just giving me excuses. Long story short after HOURS of being on the phone with eBay they basically said that I'm screwed. So in my opinion it was the buyer who scammed me because how would the scammer know the exact identical username of the buyer. So now the buyer is asking for a refubnd and I just lost the phone AND the money. What should I do, is there any way of being able to at least stay with the money? I am DISTRAUGHT to say the least. Thank you all fror your help.

Since user ID's are already scrambled by eBay so that the actual user ID of the buyer is only known by the seller, it seems possible that either a team or possibly just one person set up both ID's at the same time as a prelude to initiating the scam.

I would file a police report with the authorities who are in charge of the town of the original buyer and the town where you actually mailed the phone to.

Let the police sort it out.

Keep a copy of all of your documentation.

Since you did not technically sell the phone to the "scammer's" User ID, you can't request their name and address through the Request Contact Information procedure .... but the police should be able to get a subpoena for that.

Sorry that this happened to you, and good luck with the police.

*madison · ‎08-02-2018

@myangelandmyprincess wrote:
@mcguire58 wrote:
This is a common scam going on on eBay right now,believe me it is not your buyer who scammed you,I get these messages all the time on my listings,it is a scammer who patrols the completed listings then sends a message saying they are happy or hope all is good and their dad or some such is sick in the hospital and they have to go out of state please send to that address. The ones I’ve been getting are always addresses in Delaware,I’m pretty sure it’s a single scammer or a network of them,they always use a brand new 0 feedback id usually made the same day and sometimes it’s similar to the actual buyers id,they are hoping they are going to get someone to fall for it. I’m sorry you did,but you are going to have to refund the original buyer,it’s not their fault you fell for a scam and as for getting your phone back it probably isn’t going to happen. But you should report the phone as stolen so at least it will be blacklisted and they won’t be able to use it.
Sorry this happened but in the future never send to a different address unless it is the confirmed address on the buyers PayPal account.
Being the user names in the case are almost identical I'm going to say the actual buyer might be a part of this one

The buyer is part of it. This scam is becoming common now..

They use an almost identical user name in the hopes that the seller doesn't notice, and the op didn't notice until it was too late..

plantaddict · ‎08-02-2018

If they'd already paid for it they would also have that Name/Address as well. OP stated they opened an INR request so she has both of their information. She needs to contact the police department in both citys/states and report both the original buyer's information as well as the other one who received the item. I thought that it was masked but I wasn't positive. Definitely a scam and one would think Ebay would not allow this since they know the ID's are masked meaning there is NO way they could have gotten a similar ID without being in cahoots together. It was probably only 1 letter off or something along those lines. Sad what lengths people will go to anymore, pathetic!

csbbct · ‎08-02-2018

@par6972 wrote:

. I PANICKED and I went to go screenshot the message of his request only to realize it was an ALMOST IDENTICAL username but not the same username he had bought the phone from.
________

How did the scammer know what username your buyer had bought it with? I suspect if one person with two accounts that are running the scam together.

I agree that this is extremely suspicious since no one can see the original eBay id of the buyer. In feedback they will see something like o***s(252), but within the sold listing of a Buy it Now you see nothing at all about the buyer. "Someone" had to know the original id of the buyer to make it look similar. I'm assuming they just gave you a different address and didn't have the original buyer's name because that, to me, would be proof.

I wish eBay would step up here and help you out. It sounds like you have had further communication with the scammer id since you said " I contacted the other username(scammer) to please send the phone back or I would need to contact authorities, it has been a week and the person is just giving me excuses.". I would hope eBay would have IP addresses for the original and scammer ids that could provide some information for the police (maybe they match, maybe locations can be found for the two, etc.).

For the future, in all my listings under Terms I show "To protect the buyer, packages will only be shipped to the address listed by eBay / Paypal.". I have to admit though that I have accepted address changes after payment but ONLY after sending an eBay message to the original buyer using Contact Buyer within the original listing and not just responding to the eBay message requesting the change. I ask them to return a confirmation that the new address is the correct address. I've asked eBay about these address changes and they told me (I hope they were right) that as long as I had the eBay message (not just an email) asking for the change from the original buyer that Seller Protection would still be in place. I've never had to test it out though, knock on wood! The other option is to tell them you're going to refund their money and they will need to resend their Paypal payment with the corrected shipping address on the payment.

We walk a fine line between wanting to protect ourselves from scams and wanting to be customer focused. Sorry you had this horrible experience!