Obviously fake police report submitted to ebay, ebay using it to deny my claim. Any recourse?

[wowsource]

Pretty much at wits end here. Here's what happened:

1) Sold a Garmin Fenix watch on Ebay for $690 to a buyer with an account opened end of September 2020 with no feedback. I'm a top rated seller with perfect 900+ feedback, 10+ year old account.

2) Buyer claims the box was empty on receipt

3) I contact buyer twice for more information, he does not respond.

4) eBay rules in buyers favor, takes $690 from my account. Found out later that he is also using an address that has been reported multiple times. I appeal but eBay say's buyer filed a "police report" so they have to rule in their favor.

5) Managed to get a copy of the police report from eBay. It is obviously fake. The police department doesn't exist, the address is of an empty residential building on zillow, and the phone leads to a voicemail that says "You have dialed police department" in Eastern European accent.

6) Tried to file an appeal and get denied again, they claim that they determined the "police report" was legitimate.

I tried to contact them via twitter, tried multiple times through the phone, and via email. Anyone have any idea what I can do? Does anyone have an experience with small claims or arbitration against ebay?

TL:DR : Buyer submits obviously fake police report to eBay, eBay claims it is legitimate and uses it to steal $690 from me.

[bargainnation]

eBay no longer allow sellers to block buyers with zero feedback. At one time sellers could do so but eBay quietly removed that option.

[bargainnation]

You can also file a report with the Office of Inspector General for the Post Office for mail fraud. Any fraud that uses the US Mail is mail fraud whether it originates in the mail, by phone or online.

eBay might tell you that the case is closed but you have other options available to you outside of eBay that might be able to help right a wrong.

[wowsource]

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I shipped it via Fedex. I'll see if they have a similar system.

I've called/messaged eBay probably 10 times, most of the times I've been given canned responses that doesn't seem like they've read my message at all. I've given up on them doing the right thing. 

What's most frustrating is that this isn't a case my word versus theirs. There is clear, documented, irrefutable proof of fraud and yet eBay still sides for the scammer. I even go as far as to record dropping off manufacturer sealed packages in the mail for proof against INAD claims but it seems like there is no defense against scammers when eBay helps them.

There have been suggestions to contact the police (will do). This post is just to see what other options are there.

[glorybells]

When you have all your ducks in a row with proof of fraudulent police report, etc, try contacting eBay through social media; I’ve had good results with www.facebook.com/ebayforbusiness.  Send them a PRIVATE message with your contact information and a brief description of the problem.

[alcoforever]

There is something I'm not understanding in this case.

If the buyer claimed the box was empty, he didn't need a police report to get ebay to rule in his favor.  Perhaps that is why ebay is ruling in the buyer's favor.

So what was the purpose of the police report?

[vintage-car-magazines]

Try posting to eBay's Facebook page.

"I lost a claim for $690 because a buyer filed an obviously fake police report. The police department does not exist, there is no police department at the address listed on the fake form, the police department phone number listed on the form is only connected to a home answering machine, the police emblem is bogus, a Google search for the accepting officer's name returns a fictional character along with other irrelevant matched, and the police report was not filed in the jurisdiction where the item was delivered.

The requirement is to submit a police report to eBay. This is NOT a police report and I'm asking eBay to the right thing and reverse the decision. I've attached a copy of the fraudulent report with the personally identifying information redacted.

How can I proceed?"

[auctionpet]

If all a buyer had to do to get an item for free and a refund (basically theft), is claim a delivered package was empty, all sellers would be up a creek and there'd be no internet selling.

If ebay claims they have to go by any police report, then they should do the same when a seller presents a report stating fraud, ie the buyer's report is phony and the address provided isn't legit.

In respect to losing paypal's 3% fee, it's better than losing your item and money. It's also the reason I prefer managed payments, they don't withhold any fees when refunding. 

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this. It's clearly wrong. A big business like ebay has an obligation to be on top of buyer scams and thoroughly check things out before making any monetary based decisions.

[wowsource]

I suspect that since he is a brand new account with zero history, while I am a established account, there is a good chance that ebay would rule in my favor. In addition, I can defend against these INAD claims by taking pictures of the sealed box, or recording video of me packing the sealed box and dropping it off at the post office.

The fake police report seems to basically negate anything I can do. It doesn't matter if I have photo evidence of a sealed box, hundreds of thousands in sales, zero negative feedback. They will side with the brand new account as long as they have a fake police report.

Using my $700 item as an example, if ebay rules against them only 50% of the time, they pay $350 per item. After overhead costs to sell the item, they might profit only $150 per item. By spending 2 minutes to make a police report in MS Word, they make 3 times more per item.

[wowsource]

Yes, I will do that. First time dealing with the fraudulent police report problem. I definitely should have gotten a report from my local police saying it was fraudulent before contacting them.

[wowsource]

I appreciate the detailed response. I will definitely contact them with something similar after talk to my local police department tomorrow and possibly get written verification.

I think I just assumed that the police report was so obviously fake that I didn't have to waste an police officer's time to get written verification.

[wowsource]

I appreciate the post. I think it honestly helps to write things down b/c it has been such a frustrating experience.

Also, I hope this post alerts other people of possible scams like this. The fact that "Hueviy police department" shows up as "City of Dover Police Department" on google suggests the buyer is using some SEO techniques. They also set up a voicemail that answers "You have dialed police department" in an eastern european accent. They don't set all that up to scam for a single item.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

Even if they didn't "file" a police report they in turn PRESENTED one as evidence to Ebay, that is fraud. I believe you and I really hope you follow thru with this we are all counting on you! Please keep us informed? Best to you!

[pjcdn2005]

eBay does not take into account the length of time a seller has been here vs the length of time a buyer has been here.  As far as putting something about 0 feedback buyers, please don't that as it is not enforceable and it is just as likely that a 400 feedback buyer will scam you as a 0 feedback buyer.   Someone mentioned that ebay used to allow blocking 0 feedback buyers..that's never been possible unless the block is being used to limit the number of items a buyer can purchase within a certain time period.

Considering that you saw a number of results about problems at that delivery address and being that it is an area where there are freight forwarders, I'm fairly certain that your buyer did have you send the item to a freight forwarder and then on to his country of residence.  Perhaps he has a friend here who helps him with the scam and sets up the phone number etc.  Anyway...I don't know how any of that can be proven but just thought I would mentions it.

I hope things works out for you.

[indiansummernights]

This is going to sound like a dumb question but does the person filing a police report fill it out (I'm not American so my knowledge about U.S. law is extremely limited) because that report does not look like it was written by a cop, the grammar in the narrative section is terrible. If cops are the ones who fill out a police report, I don't understand how Ebay could fall for that fake report. 

[ednbarb5]

For general information: that freight forwarder, I have had customers use them to reship packages to eastern Europe, ie Ukraine and Russia. Never had a problem. The guy probably used it to shield himself from any legal repercussions and hide their true location from the seller. Don't think there is much you can do about them, convincing eBay to pony up a refund on their dime is hit or miss... they generally consider it YOUR cost of doing business.