SCAM, SELLERS PLEASE BE AWARE!

[shop_happy_shop]

Sellers! Do NOT ship your items to: 

This is not a physical address of the customer, this is a Freight forwarding warehouse that scammers use often for scam. We are only warning regarding this particular location!

As soon as you sold the item mark it shipped,  but wait to ship the item for 2-3 days. Most likely,  buyer will ask or open a dispute outside of ebay as soon as he/she see the item was shipped.  Also, do not change the address of shipped item if the buyer will ask to change it. Next, do not accept a return or refund request associated with this location.  Call ebay immediately and say the buyer used Freight forwarding services from this address, thus no refund or return is allowed as it was not a customer physical address.

It has come to our attention that a particular freight forwarding service has been involved in at least 780 cases since 2017, primarily affecting eBay sellers, Amazon, and other platforms. While our shop has not suffered any losses, we believe it is crucial to alert the seller community about this alarming address.

Here’s how the scam typically unfolds:

1. Dispute Initiation: Once the seller ships the item, scammers open a dispute with their financial institution, bypassing eBay’s resolution process. This action puts the seller’s funds on hold for 2 to 8 weeks.
2. Package in Transit: During this period, the package is in transit to the freight forwarding location.
3. Return Attempt: Upon arrival, scammers attempt to return the item, citing various reasons. They manipulate shipping information to falsely indicate that the item was returned to the seller.
4. Investigation Delay: The seller, noticing discrepancies, initiates an investigation with the postal service, which takes additional time.
5. Refund Issued: Meanwhile, eBay often sides with the buyer and issues a refund, leaving the seller without the item or the payment.

Additionally, scammers frequently use stolen credit cards to make these purchases, further complicating the situation. We strongly advise eBay sellers to be cautious when dealing with this specific shipping address, especially for items valued over $200, aso we practice mark it as shipped for a day or two, but not releasing the item right away. Most times, scammers will initiate the dispute and try different approaches to confuse the seller as soon as the item will be out hands for shipping. 

According to data from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), most complaints against this freight forwarding service remain “unanswered,” indicating that the company does not respond to or address these issues, nor does it protect its business reputation, thus cases are piling up or simply closed without resolution. Cybercrime units SC3 and SC1 report approximately 200-300 cases linked to this location. Additionally, data from the Miami and New York local police departments show hundreds of fraud and theft reports associated with this address (including Amazon and Sporting Goods data). When combined, these sources suggest close to 780-1000 cases all together (that we stumbled  upon our investigation), highlighting a significant concern.

The primary reason scammers frequently use this location is the company’s lack of response to claims and poor communication with claimants and customers. Overall customer ratings for this service are extremely low. We have also identified a common scam linked to this location, where scammers manipulate shipping information to falsely show that items were returned to sellers, leading to financial losses. We hope some sellers will find this information helpful and be extra careful. We urge eBay sellers, especially those dealing with items over $200, to be cautious when shipping to this address. Numerous stories from affected sellers can be found with a simple Google search upon location, providing further evidence of the issues associated with this freight forwarding service.

[fbusoni]

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@shop_happy_shop wrote:

As soon as you sold the item mark it shipped,  but wait to ship the item for 2-3 days. Most likely,  buyer will ask or open a dispute outside of ebay as soon as he/she see the item was shipped.  Also, do not change the address of shipped item if the buyer will ask to change it. Next, do not accept a return or refund request associated with this location.  Call ebay immediately and say the buyer used Freight forwarding services from this address, thus no refund or return is allowed as it was not a customer physical address.

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I am obligated to ship same day or within 24 hours.   Perhaps I should use signature receipt?

Also, how does the buyer open a dispute outside of eBay?   Thanks.

[shop_happy_shop]

Hello, 

When we receive an order with a freight forwarding address, we typically mark the item as shipped but wait 2-3 days before actually releasing it to the carrier. While this may be inconvenient for the customer, it helps us detect potential scammers. Most scammers open a dispute with their financial institution outside of eBay as soon as they see the item is marked as shipped. This tactic places your funds on hold, as the external investigation can take 2 to 8 weeks to complete.

For this particular freight forwarding location, we do not ship due to the high risk of fraud associated with this business. If we identify this address, we cancel the order and apologize to the customer. If the buyer does not require an explanation for the cancellation, we simply state that we are unable to ship due to undisclosed difficulties. If the buyer asks for more details, we honestly explain that this business is marked as high risk by reports. 

In case of any further issues, we contact eBay to explain the situation and seek advice. Unfortunately, some of eBay’s policies tend to favor buyers over sellers (ebay is working on it ) so we do not take for granted the assurance of “go ahead and ship the item, you are protected.” Scammers are constantly evolving and finding ways to manipulate shipping or other phases of transaction.  Specifically, scammers  target sales of cellphones,  other high-priced electronics, and jewelry.  

As a seller, you can always weigh whether your sale is worth the risk of potentially losing the item and if you can afford those risks. If anything is unclear, we ask eBay for advice on further actions. By the end of each transaction, it is important to remember that you are in charge of the transaction, and eBay’s platform acts as an intermediary to introduce the buyer to the seller but does not always protect either party due to imperfections and loops in policies. 

According to eBay, if sellers are transparent with their services and act openly in accordance with eBay’s policies, it is encouraged to be proactive. This approach helps prevent fraud and reduces the need for eBay to provide unnecessary coverage under their protection policies. By taking preventive measures, sellers can contribute to a safer marketplace for everyone.

[mam98031]

I get it.  But you also need to understand it is highly likely they do a whole lot more transactions than that in the same period of time.  It would be hard to believe that doing a little over 100 transactions a year would keep them in business.  Again, it is NOT the FF committing the scams, it is the customers they have that are doing it that are the buyers that are purchasing from sellers.

IDK that because this FF doesn't respond to these various reporting agencies that it means they are somehow part of the problem.  IDK if one has to do with the other.  Their customers are international buyers, so that would be who is rating them.  If it is your opinion that the FF is involved, you have the right to feel that way and to never do business at that address again.  I would encourage you to do that if you feel your products or money is at risk.

[mam98031]

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@fbusoni wrote:

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@shop_happy_shop wrote:

As soon as you sold the item mark it shipped,  but wait to ship the item for 2-3 days. Most likely,  buyer will ask or open a dispute outside of ebay as soon as he/she see the item was shipped.  Also, do not change the address of shipped item if the buyer will ask to change it. Next, do not accept a return or refund request associated with this location.  Call ebay immediately and say the buyer used Freight forwarding services from this address, thus no refund or return is allowed as it was not a customer physical address.

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I am obligated to ship same day or within 24 hours.   Perhaps I should use signature receipt?

Also, how does the buyer open a dispute outside of eBay?   Thanks.

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They are called Chargebacks.  When a buyer goes to their funding source, usually a credit or debit card and file a dispute.  Fortunately for sellers we have Seller protection for this kind of stuff when the item was shipped from the FF to the buyer at their address.

[ckimodog]

@kensgiftshop 

I believe this is just another Nervous Newbie who perhaps doesn't understand how FF's work.  Nothing personal.  I also believe most here are correct that it's probably another possible scam buyer.  @shop_happy_shop  although your warning is appreciated,  in the future, don't add peoples names, addresses or eBay ID's here on this forum.  It is against forum policy and obviously was removed.  Thanks again for bringing this issue to our attention.  

Happy Selling

[isaiah53-57]

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@shop_happy_shop wrote:

Sellers! Do NOT ship your items to: 

This is not a physical address of the customer, this is a Freight forwarding warehouse that scammers use often for scam. We are only warning regarding this particular location!

...sources suggest close to 780-1000 cases all together (that we stumbled  upon our investigation), highlighting a significant concern.

The primary reason scammers frequently use this location is the company’s lack of response to claims and poor communication with claimants and customers. Overall customer ratings for this service are extremely low. We have also identified a common scam linked to this location, where scammers manipulate shipping information to falsely show that items were returned to sellers, leading to financial losses.

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Those numbers are likely far beyond that of this and most freight forwarders - We researched one FF with tens of thousands of potential fraud cases associated with it - Mind you, these numbers include only reported cases, which are likely  1 out of every 8-10 cases - they also may not include numbers from all sources - and they likely dont include a lot of chargebacks that could only be speculated as fraudulent.

We had a quick easy way to deal with freight forwarders - Stated in our listings we do not accept payment from any overseas accounts and we do not ship to any locations that forward to overseas accounts. If one came through, we canceled sale as "Something wrong with buyers address" - Our items were in high enough demand where we could be choosy to eliminate time wasters like potential returns and fraud.

And not only to lessen fraud, but also to eliminate the possibility of being involved in the overseas shipping of banned or restricted items, especially considering we were selling a large amount of Vietnam Era military equipment.

[mam98031]

There is no block on Ebay that allows for blocking Buyers that use Freight Forwarders.

To misuse the Cancellation process is at your risk.  Ebay has been cracking down on abusing this process.  You may or may not get in trouble.  Just depends if they catch you.

[itscalledapostingid]

Any one of those freight forwarding businesses probably has tens of thousands of customers whose mail they handle every year. The people filing BBB complaints against the FF business are just clueless. How would you expect them to respond? Just pay off people who make these misplaced complaints? 

[reallynicestamps]

... data from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), most complaints against this freight forwarding service remain “unanswered,” ...

The Better Business Bureau is a franchised commercial operation which sells memberships to local businesses. In return they offer a plaque which reassures the business' customers and a mediation service if necessary.

It is not a government operation. It has no enforcement powers.

It is a mediation service with less power than Small Claims Court which is government backed.

More like marriage counselling services.

No business has any particular reason to respond to any contact from the BBB, with the possible exception of a local business with a local customer with a local problem.

Forwarding services by definition are not local and their customers are overseas.

Full disclosure: We were members of the BBB from 1978 to 2014 when we retired and closed our shop.

And fun fact; The Toronto ON BBB was closed down because of its own fraudulent activities.

https://canlaw.com/caveat/index.html

[shop_happy_shop]

We appreciate your post, but you are mistaken, nothing personal

 

Thank you, We have been selling on eBay for 14 years, and freight forwarding (FF) is not new to us. We manage group business on eBay and operate multiple shops. We did not include any personal information. By investigating this particular FF address, we prevented a significant financial loss to both ourselves and eBay.  FF address is a Business address.  Reviewing businesses and leaving public reviews is a right guaranteed by the US Constitution under Freedom of Speech. This business, directly or indirectly, is involved in fraudulent activities and targeted by scammers for several reason explained in other comments. By investigating this address sellers can be alarmed of potential scam. Not saying FF is a scam, but this address frequently and consistently used by scammers, just heads up. 

[shop_happy_shop]

You are obligated to ship within several businesses days, ebay specify the due date under your shipping management. 

A buyer can open a dispute within their financial institution and claim they did not recognize the transaction. 

However, buyer-scammers also can use stolen credit card, in this case it gets complicated,  as another inosennt party is involved.  In this case, most likely seller will not fall under sellers protection program.  The financial loss of a seller can be covered by requesting to apply "sellers fees" curtesy as allowed once a year. 

[shop_happy_shop]

Absolutely, I agree, I understand the frustration sellers face when trying to recover their losses. Misplaced complaints often stem from the lack of available support. When the number of complaints with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is high, the business gets notified. It’s then up to the business to choose whether to respond to these complaints.

This freight forwarding (FF) location is a busy hub with a significant network, and they have the capability to publicly state that they are not involved in any fraudulent activities. However, our attempts to contact the company owners were unsuccessful, which in itself speaks volumes about the business. This lack of response raises concerns about their operations and transparency.

[shop_happy_shop]

 SELLERS have a right to be alert it is a potential scammer using Freight forwarding services as a tool for scamming, specifically if they are buying cellphone, electronics, or jewelry. 

[ckimodog]

@shop_happy_shop 

Appreciate your reply, but don't believe everything you read on the internet.  Most here have had no problems with FF and the MBG that is offered by eBay is void if a seller chooses to use one.  So in turn, the seller is protected.

Happy Selling

[ckimodog]

@shop_happy_shop 

I meant buyer chooses to use one.