Recent Increase in Scammers

[brytnieanntoys]

I've only been selling for just about a year, but this past 2-3 weeks I've noticed a big increase in scammers. I've had a few who bought then claimed it was unauthorized. I had one purchase and do a bait and switch showing a photo of a completely destroyed item instead of the one I sent and had a couple say it was damaged before tracking even shows delivered. On a much smaller note, I'm having quite a few request a return, hoping for a refund, but once I send the return shipping they close the return.

A couple of these I've contacted ebay about, but they took the buyer's side and I had to refund. A couple ebay told me not to ship (but it was a week after the order and I do next day shipping), and then when they opened a case on Paypal, they side with the buyer. I had one that didn't get delivered for a full week after the claim it was damaged was made. Sent Paypal the email from Ebay showing that it was a suspicious buyer as well as screenshots of the tracking - which they had anyways - showing it was international and not yet ordered. And they still took the refund from me.

I was just wondering if there has been a recent increase all around, if it's time of year, or just because my store has grown. Also wondering if anyone has tips for precaution and avoiding these. It gets a bit frustrating!

Thank you!!

[lewisburggold]

They have always been around.  but yes there has been a increase for us also.  Its not the time of year its all the changes that were made a few months back.  It opened the door for a lot of scammers to walk through and get free stuff and money.  Best protection you have is your self.  Best regards

[brytnieanntoys]

Thank you! I wondered that about all of the changes. Even being pretty new, I didn't like them!

[ed8108]

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@brytnieanntoys wrote:

I've only been selling for just about a year, but this past 2-3 weeks I've noticed a big increase in scammers. I've had a few who bought then claimed it was unauthorized. I had one purchase and do a bait and switch showing a photo of a completely destroyed item instead of the one I sent and had a couple say it was damaged before tracking even shows delivered. On a much smaller note, I'm having quite a few request a return, hoping for a refund, but once I send the return shipping they close the return.

A couple of these I've contacted ebay about, but they took the buyer's side and I had to refund. A couple ebay told me not to ship (but it was a week after the order and I do next day shipping), and then when they opened a case on Paypal, they side with the buyer. I had one that didn't get delivered for a full week after the claim it was damaged was made. Sent Paypal the email from Ebay showing that it was a suspicious buyer as well as screenshots of the tracking - which they had anyways - showing it was international and not yet ordered. And they still took the refund from me.

I was just wondering if there has been a recent increase all around, if it's time of year, or just because my store has grown. Also wondering if anyone has tips for precaution and avoiding these. It gets a bit frustrating!

Thank you!!

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It has been the opinion of some sellers that ebay appears to almost regard scammers as a protected class.

It would be logical to assume the number of scammers has & will likely increase until ebay undertakes to focus more on deterring scammer activity.

Where possible, local Pickup with cash only payment  is the best precaution.

Good luck selling

[bigdeals.etc · Accepted solution]

Yes there has been an increase of "issues." I don't want to classify them all as scammers, because I want to include buyers who just impulse buy nilly willy, then demand a full refund because they realized they didn't get what they wanted, accidentally bought a wrong color/size, or turns out they didn't pay attention to the price (I guess) and thought they were paying much lower than they did.

These issues are due to the highly lenient and abused ebay policy, as well as your growth. When your business grows, all the issues grow with it. I'll comment on what I can regarding protection from your scams... some you may already know how to protect. Some have no protection sadly.

Unauthorized is the easiest... upload tracking that shows delivered and tell Paypal that you are well aware you are covered by Seller Protection and expect your funds to be released within 7 days. If someone claims SNAD before item got delivered, call ebay and show them this. Hopefully you will get lucky and get an agent that will help. Ones requesting partials or refunds obviously hope that the item isn't worth you paying for the return shipping price. Sometimes calling their bluff makes them go away. Pretty much all Paypal cases will end up siding with the buyer, except unauthorized.

Also make sure you report ANY buyer you feel is violating ebay policy. I know alot of sellers (even personal friends who sell) are very pessimistic about reporting buyers... thinking it won't amount to anything. But just as long as you did report them, I'm happy. Just think... what if that one small report you made put that buyer to the point that ebay will finally act in suspending the buyer. You just saved any future seller this buyer may have targeted to suffer what you just suffered.

We can never actually know if ebay actually does anything about it... much like how ebay won't give out your transaction details to other members too. It's a security thing, but that still doesn't mean I'll hope for the worst and give up on the reporting system. We need to be vigilant otherwise we're also at fault for the amount of scammers here.

[brytnieanntoys]

Thank you for the excellent response. It gave me the confidence that I'm doing what I can. I do report buyers, even though it doesn't effect me at the moment, if everyone did this, we would be helping each other out in the long run.

[vintagecraze50]

A credit card and a 180 day return policy = it's a free for all for some folks who want to scam on the internet.  Report anyone doing such scams and perhaps in some cases a credit card company will remove people's chargeback priveleges or close their account indefinately. Send stuff signature tracked to avoid, I did not get it claims. Insure items for all the it's broke when it came when it really wasnt claims. Do not sell EXTREMELY expensive stuff on the internet unless you sell A LOT of extremely expensive stuff and you can write off your losses. 

[lunalapin1912]

I've often had items delivered and the tracking doesn't update for hours and sometimes says I received an item hours of even a day before. You have to take into account time zones, USPS downloads of tracking info, etc.
There is a reason that your credit card doesn't put much faith in tracking and will do a chargeback.