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.

[dhbookds]

ignore, I misread something

[1tuna]

...........general reply...........

all you need is 1 cop who cares about your problem, they can go into the Law enforemcnt portal and make a report about false police reports

this is the same portal that was used to bring down the criminals in ebay who were harrassing people

[wowsource]

The police write the report based on verbal statements of the victim. What's also funny, on the report "Garmin Fenix 6x Carbon Grey DLC with Black Band Multisport GPS Watch Sapphire" is a copy-paste of the title of the item, with the exact same capitalization. Pretty amazing for a dictated report. 

[wowsource]

Tried to go to my local PD. My local PD (Irvine, CA, not exactly short on resources) apparently doesn't take police reports on eBay issues. They just referred me to the ic3.gov to make a report. I submitted a report and got a copy of my statement. 

I contacted ebay via twitter and got a form reply yesterday. I objected and they responded with "For this case, I have requested a team to review the details of the case and the reports. I will reach out to you with an update when I hear back." Will see what happens, but I'm not really hopeful at this point.

[donsdetour]

Customs, or postal employee stole it????

Possible.

[donsdetour]

Since the address shipped to is a knows reshipper: you should have been covered.

That is a violation of eBay buyers guarantee even with police report.

As for the report" As I have said: Item could have been taken any were along the line.

Report may be valid.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

this was the red flag in your statement!

 Sold a Garmin Fenix watch on Ebay for $690 to a buyer with an account "opened end of September 2020 with no feedback".

[ittybitnot]

Since the address shipped to is a knows reshipper: you should have been covered.

eBay has changed their stance on this.  Having something sent to or using a reshipper address no longer voids the MBG.  eBay wants documentation/proof that the product was indeed shipped out of the US.  It was explained that the "buyer" might just be an employee at the reshipper, or it is someone who simply stores their items there to be picked up at a later time.  Though this is not likely, that is the reasoning presented. 

Guess eBay got tired of the resulting chargebacks/payment disputes that resulted from denying coverage under the MBG for reshipper addresses.  So now they are making the seller responsible for phony SNADS and faulty returns involving the 'cheap trinket from AZ'  delivery confirmation scams. 

For a long time, shipping to a reshipper address was not problematic.  However, it seems to be getting to be more scam orientated as time goes by.  It is not just on ebay, other sites are reporting issues as well.   If you still take PayPal, and do not wish to deal with these at all, you can select in your PayPal preferences NOT to accept funds from buyers without a US PayPal account. 

They can still bid or BIN, they just won't be able to pay. 

Once you are in Managed Payments, the preference is no longer available. 

[jehdii]

I wonder if sending all this proof of fraud to the Attorney Generals of each State involved : the Origin,Reshipper location,and the Destination location  , would be helpful both for added proof to your case and for the protection of others against  future instances of this kind of....Interstate fraud?

[goldguy22k]

@wowsource 

The address you provided is outside the City Limits of Wilmington (thank goodness!) and would be covered by the New Castle County(NCC) Police or the Delaware State Police. 

The "proof' report shows a return address of Dover, De which is an hour away.

That delivery address, the street and area is an industrial park.

I would file a Police Report with NCC Police,  Their non-emergency number is 302-573-2800

or you might want to try the Criminal Investigations Unit Main Number  302-395-8110

I would make sure you tell them this amounts to theft AND the false police report.  Make sure you have the delivery confirmation and fake police report available: offer to share them via email or snail mail.  Be polite, but remember this is the East Coast and being too polite and we'll run all over you.  So be persistent, don't take "No" for an answer!  Keep asking for what else you can do or how you take the next steps.

If they won't take info over the phone, can you mail it?  Certified Mail?  Include and Affidavit stating your case. etc.

[wowsource]

Every police department I've talked to (Dover, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware State) says that I would have to file a report with my home PD. Unfortunately, my home PD in Irvine doesn't take police reports for ebay issues and just referred me to ic3.gov. I submitted a report to them and got a receipt, but I don't know if that's the same as a police report.

I don't know if I can frame it as a different issue (like false police report instead of ebay fraud) so that they will do anything. I think as soon as they hear eBay they refer to someone else.

[wowsource]

Will try that, I suspect they will just refer me to my local PD though.

[wowsource]

Not sure if this is a troll response, but if they did, why did they have to manufacture a fake police report? They also provided no evidence to me that the package was tampered. They didn't communicate at all.

Not only that, but they opened the case a couple days after it was shipped to the Delaware freight forwarder address. No way it could have made it past customs in such a short time period. 

[goldguy22k]

Perhaps you need to enlist the help of your elected officials to get a Police Report filed locally?  Surely there is a City Council or Mayor's Office that has a constituent services function?

Why not forward your ic3.gov report to the NCCP via certified mail, return receipt requested?

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@wowsource. Yes leave EBay out of the scenario, tell your local police dept that a fraudulent looking police report was submitted against you on a "ecommerce site and you want to know if it indeed is a real report. Also again, when talking to ebay, leave out the fact that the buyer just opened an account...Facts and only Facts.