Phishing incident

[karwague0]

Hello, I apologize if this is the wrong place for this post. 

I am a new seller on Ebay, and unfortunately, I was a victim of a phishing scam for the very first item I listed. I wanted to warn others of this scam and ask anyone if they know what further steps I can take to report the issue. I cannot get in touch with Ebay customer service (I keep getting connected to automated messages). 

Here was the situation: 

I listed an old laptop on Ebay for $148. A user contacted me and agreed to pay $200 for it. They told me to send them a money request through PayPal so they could pay for the items, which I did. After, I received an email from a fake PayPal customer service saying that the money had been withdrawn from the buyer's account and that they would add funds to mine after they received proof of shipment. I made the mistake of believing it was real and shipped out the item with a pending payment.

I now realize this was a scam; the money has never been credited and the same email is now asking me to buy and send $200 in steam cards. PayPal has also confirmed that it is indeed a phishing attempt. I have never been scammed in my life and I can usually detect suspicious activity, but this scam was set up so brilliantly and looked so legitimate that I did fall for it.

I am not expecting to be compensated for my loss; I am inexperienced with using both Ebay and PayPal and I should have learned how to use them more properly. I know now that the way the buyer approached me is NOT the way Ebay is intended to be used. However, its irritating that I'm having trouble even reporting this issue to Ebay. The very first person who ever contacted me here turned out to be a scammer, which makes me believe that scammers are rampant here and that the community is not as  safe as it could be because of a lack of customer support. 

Any suggestions on how to report the user to Ebay would be appreciated. Thanks for reading this and please stay safe! 

[trukur_0]

Don't mean this in a bad way but that is an old and common scam.

Here is how far I had to read to spot it:

I listed an old laptop on Ebay for $148.

A user contacted me and agreed to pay $200 

There's your clue right there.

[ohnojoey]

This is a very common scam reported here often.

The first red flag is someone offering more than you are asking instead of just buying it. That's the bait. You know the rest.

Sorry for your loss.

I don't see a computer listed in your solds, just a marker set which apparently sold, then was relisted.

I thought that there was a report buyer button but maybe ebay took that away.

I suppose you could call the customer service and report that way, keep trying.

Does the address give any clues? Maybe alert the local police where the scammer lives just so it's on record but I doubt they would actually help you, but who knows.

If paypal is aware that it's a scam, it's too bad they won't help you, like shutting down their paypal account.

There is also a mail fraud case if you wanted to go through all that.

[bonjourami]

So sorry you fell for this ancient scam,always check PP for your funds before you ship,PP will always give you the ok to ship.If you ever have any questions, come here first..many experienced sellers in here.

[mvls1]

If you shipped the laptop through USPS you may be able to stop delivery and recall the package. I believe you can do that online at the USPS website. If you can't then check at your post office tomorrow morning. I think it will cost around $12.00, but they will intercept the package and return it to you. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[luckythewinner]

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I have never been scammed in my life and I can usually detect suspicious activity, but this scam was set up so brilliantly and looked so legitimate that I did fall for it.

You violated the most fundamental rule of internet security - never believe anything you read in an email. IMHO you are suggesting this scam was "set up so brilliantly" because you need to justify to yourself why you fell for a such a simple and pedestrian scam. 

A quick search of the PayPal site will show that PayPal does not require proof of mailing befopre relasing funds to your account. Even when PayPal does hold money, there is a PayPal transaction. 

Did it ever dawn on you why they did not simply purchase it for $148 through eBay, instead of offering you $200 and asking you to send a money request outside eBay? (Which was an eBay policy violation on your part, by the way). 

Any suggestions on how to report the user to Ebay would be appreciated

There is nothing you can do. All it takes to create an eBay account and send a message is a fake name and a free gmail address.  eBay has no idea who that person actually was, and they are not going to waste any time or effort chasing a ghost. 

[bonjourami]

Scammers look for newbie sellers usually selling electronics..they think they are easy pickins'.

[hawkwind5454]

I realize you are a newbie, but, as you will learn, it's difficult enough to get an ebay buyer to pay what you actually want for an item you're selling, let alone to offer you more than what you're asking for it...Especially, for something as ubiquitous as a used lap-top.

[gracieallen01]

First off, NEVER send a money request for payment - that gives the 'buyer' your e-mail for the fake 'PayPal' e-mail -  besides, ebay gets ticked when they don't get their cut.  ALWAYS check PayPay - BY GOING TO PAYPAL - to see if the payment is there.  Never ship unless PayPal says it's okay.  Those fake paypal 'you'll be paid after tracking is uploaded' have been around for a some time.  Nothing brilliant about it - just good looking, fake e-mails.

[csbbct]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

First off, NEVER send a money request for payment - that gives the 'buyer' your e-mail for the fake 'PayPal' e-mail -  besides, ebay gets ticked when they don't get their cut.  ALWAYS check PayPay - BY GOING TO PAYPAL - to see if the payment is there.  Never ship unless PayPal says it's okay.  Those fake paypal 'you'll be paid after tracking is uploaded' have been around for a some time.  Nothing brilliant about it - just good looking, fake e-mails.

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And, always go directly to Paypal through a separate browser window.  NEVER go to Paypal through any of the links within that payment email or the scammer may get your paypal password and you'll be out more than just your eBay sale!

[annasfunfinds4u]

Always, always, ALWAYS sell THROUGH eBay.  Yes, you should have realized anyone willing to just pay $50 over your asking price was a red flag.  But you went outside of ebay, with PayPal.  That in itself can cause ebay to cancel your listings.  So just beware; ANY time someone asks you to work with them outside of ebay, is usually a scammer.  That goes for messages too....often they will try to get you to email them personally, and give you their personal email address.  Messaging through ebay  means that ALL messages stay within ebay are are proof of what you and/or the buyer is saying.  If you would have messaged him and said something like "I'll change my listing price to $200, you can then go ahead and buy it", then the "buyer" would have disappeared. 

[bonjourami]

Op is naru'd.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

Bet the scammer isn't.

[bonjourami]

For sure..I feel sorry for the op, didnt know what he was doing and got taken to the cleaners,wants to blame Ebay's 'customer support',sad.