I got scammed. What did I do wrong?

[chblai-23]

I listed my wife's old iPhone 12.   I noticed somebody had used the buy it now feature.  They had zero feedback.

They emailed me to ask me to ship to a different address.   I responded that I would not.  They said the official address was fine.

At this point I was suspicious, but I felt like it was too late because they had already won.  I contacted eBay to let them know of this suspicious event.  I think I filled out a form of some kind.

I sent the iPhone with tracking and insurance.

I checked my eBay account again and it said the buyer had initiated a return.   They claimed the phone was constantly shutting itself off.   Of course this is not true, this was my wife's every day phone, it was working perfectly.  But the return was already initiated.  By the way, it was "returned" from a completely different city than I sent it to.

I got a notice that the phone was delivered to my door.  I immediately looked, there was nothing at my house anywhere.

I immediately contacted eBay again.   They responded that they can see it was delivered, and to wait for the outcome.

The outcome was that they gave the buyer $700 from my PayPal account.

I have 2 more iPhones to sell.  What can I do to prevent this from happening again?

[bonjourami]

Dont sell expensive electronics here..not being snarky, but electronics are the number one scam items here..especially for a new seller. Scammers see you as easy pickins'.

[lakefor94]

"What did I do wrong?"

The bottom line is you listed an IPhone 

Might want to try listing locally for cash if that is in your wheelhouse. 

[doc-holmes]

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@chblai-23 wrote:

I listed my wife's old iPhone 12.   I noticed somebody had used the buy it now feature.  They had zero feedback.

They emailed me to ask me to ship to a different address.   I responded that I would not.  They said the official address was fine.

At this point I was suspicious, but I felt like it was too late because they had already won.  I contacted eBay to let them know of this suspicious event.  I think I filled out a form of some kind.

I sent the iPhone with tracking and insurance.

I checked my eBay account again and it said the buyer had initiated a return.   They claimed the phone was constantly shutting itself off.   Of course this is not true, this was my wife's every day phone, it was working perfectly.  But the return was already initiated.  By the way, it was "returned" from a completely different city than I sent it to.

I got a notice that the phone was delivered to my door.  I immediately looked, there was nothing at my house anywhere.

I immediately contacted eBay again.   They responded that they can see it was delivered, and to wait for the outcome.

The outcome was that they gave the buyer $700 from my PayPal account.

I have 2 more iPhones to sell.  What can I do to prevent this from happening again?

---

I know this isn't helpful, but what did you do wrong? You answered that question in the very first sentence you typed. 

[gemarakop_trading]

Welcome to ebay where they cannot seem to inform new sellers about the countless scams that they are aware of.

[gemarakop_trading]

This is an old scam ebay knows about it chat with ebay on facebook (real ebay employees)or simply chat/call (not actual ebay employees more or less human robots but again this is known to ebay so they might have something in their script that addresses this) and say you were defrauded. You might get your money back.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

It appears that you are the victim of the 'fake tracking' scam.

The right question to ask is "What do I do now?"

You need to get your ducks in a row and then appeal.

The usual front line reps are useless in these cases, you'll be needing to contact the reps on ebay for business Facebook page.

[ckimodog]

@chblai-23 

If you are using auction style listings, stop.  Use Buy it now, immediate payment required and NO best offers. Another thing also...make sure that your auto refund toggle is not enabled, where returns are concerned.  There's a feature now that will just automatically refund the buyer without any requirement to return the item or to contest the return if you feel it's fraudulent, whatever. 

Make sure you offer free refunds.  That means you accept the return and pay for the return label.  This protects you from situations like this one that occurred...hopefully.  

Tagging on with @bonjourami , new sellers who sell hi-priced items are prey to the scammers.  You've got a big target on your back and they're looking to steal what ever they can from you.  I'm glad to see you didn't go for the switch address scam.  That's an old one.  Honestly, I would just sell something like that locally for cash.  Maybe to a pawn broker or whom ever.  

Sorry you had to experience this bad buy behavior, but it's out there worse than ever these days.  Protect yourself and your account.  

Wishing you better sales and no scammers in the forecast.  😊

[soh.maryl]

First of all, why don't you find out about that phone that was supposedly delivered to your door?

Most carriers, including USPS, have a GPS-like thing that tells exactly where a package was delivered.  You should pursue that issue.  If you discover it was delivered elsewhere, you can get a letter from the carrier stating that.  You can ask the carrier to retrieve it, but don't know how well that works.

Plus there is always the possibility of porch pirates.  

[whiteyswrecking]

DONT SELL HIGH THEFT ITEMS "" PHONES IS ONE OF THEM "" 

[stephenmorgan]

You need to appeal eBay's decision and prove they were wrong for issuing the refund.

See if Post Office will provide you a statement that the Item was not delivered to your address.  File a Police Report about the theft.  Send this information in with your appeal and ebay should overturn their decision in your favor.

Without the above information eBay just assumed you received the Item back.

It would seem that in these types of well known Scams that eBay would allow you time to gather this information before they issue a refund.  It would also seem like they would tell you they need a statement from the shipper stating item was not returned to your address, but they don't.

People loose their appeals because they do not know how to offer evidence to prove eBay was wrong in their decision.

[luckythewinner]

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@chblai-23 wrote:

I have 2 more iPhones to sell.  What can I do to prevent this from happening again?

---

There is nothing you can do to prevent fraud on eBay. Any buyer can steal any item from any seller at any time by filing a fraudulent dispute. 

[gemarakop_trading]

Ebay knows about this scam they do not warn sellers about it. A new seller will have no clue what happened. They should make clear guidelines about what to do in such a case. 

[duffy4444]

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@chblai-23 wrote:

I listed my wife's old iPhone 12.   I noticed somebody had used the buy it now feature.  They had zero feedback.

They emailed me to ask me to ship to a different address.   I responded that I would not.  They said the official address was fine.

At this point I was suspicious, but I felt like it was too late because they had already won.  I contacted eBay to let them know of this suspicious event.  I think I filled out a form of some kind.

I sent the iPhone with tracking and insurance.

I checked my eBay account again and it said the buyer had initiated a return.   They claimed the phone was constantly shutting itself off.   Of course this is not true, this was my wife's every day phone, it was working perfectly.  But the return was already initiated.  By the way, it was "returned" from a completely different city than I sent it to.

I got a notice that the phone was delivered to my door.  I immediately looked, there was nothing at my house anywhere.

I immediately contacted eBay again.   They responded that they can see it was delivered, and to wait for the outcome.

The outcome was that they gave the buyer $700 from my PayPal account.

I have 2 more iPhones to sell.  What can I do to prevent this from happening again?

---

@chblai-23:
      iPhones are one of the most sought-after items on a scammer's list. After reading the details of your post, there's nearly a 100% chance you've been scammed. You've been a newbie here at eBay for just a little over 3 years, with low feedback, and NONE of that feedback is as a seller - only as a buyer. The scammers saw that and licked their chops when they noticed those facts.

    To answer your question at the end of your post, DO NOT sell your remaining iPhones on eBay or anywhere online.  Sell it locally for CASH, or on a venue like CraigsList, where the potential buyer has to meet you in person at a location previously agreed to, the buyer looks at the phone, tests it, hands over CASH, then leaves with a handshake and the phone.

   Here are the mistakes you made:

1.   You sold a highly-scammed item.

2.  You shipped the iPhone even after the scammer requested it be shipped to a different address.

3.  After that you walked right into a returns scam, over which you had zero control.

4.  You shipped it even though with your own suspicions you could have cancelled the order using "Problem with Buyer's Address" (because of the scammer's address change request). If you had done that, there would not be any kind of possible performance mark against you.

   Everything following the iPhone leaving your control is totally predictable and right in line with one of the most common online buyer scams. So now you know.

   You have lost the iPhone and will lose any payment of a forced buyer refund to the scammer - a double loss that really hurts. 

   We're all sorry his happened to you, but it was predictable and easily avoided when your suspicions were initially raised. At that point you should have cancelled the order and put the scammer's ID on your Blocked Buyer's List (BBL).

   Get educated regarding the scam warnings here on this forum and from eBay itself.

Good Luck...

Cheers, Duffy

[philsumm]

Does ebay require signature confirmation on returns over a set amount?