SCAMMED - Delaware shipment

[cheswick2112]

Hi There

I know it is my fault, so I don't need to get a ton of posts, stating that...  I am posting to make other people aware - so they won't be scammed.

I was selling Dr Dre Headphones, someone bought them, then I received an email stating they won the bid and...

"i have one problem here...the day after tomorrow i'm going on my training courses in delaware state for about 3 or 4 months. can you change the address if you haven't shipped yet looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible."

It was late, I didn't think and wanted to get the postage done as I had another thing to ship, so I changed the ship to (This is were I hit my head with a hammer)

Their account was located: West Helena AR, United States (now removed)

and they wanted me to send them to: 

New Castle, Delaware, 19726

I am not sure if that is his real name or not but I would love to bust this guy, as I am now out $200 worth of headphones.

Any ideas on how to bust them?

Much Thanks

[datemike1]

I don’t disagree with anything you’re saying.  And no, of course it’s not acceptable.  My question is, that no one wants to answer, what is eBay supposed to do to warn sellers that they aren’t already doing by warning that changing the address voids seller protection and having a page devoted to selling safe and avoiding scams???  Y’all are throwing a tantrum about eBay not doing enough, well what else do you want them to do?  If you have realistic suggestions for things eBay should be doing that they’re not, then great, let’s hear them?  

[a_c_green]

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@datemike1 wrote:

Y’all are throwing a tantrum about eBay not doing enough, well what else do you want them to do?  If you have realistic suggestions for things eBay should be doing that they’re not, then great, let’s hear them?  

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@dsha3764: Also, this is Wednesday, and the Weekly Chat with eBay staff is coming up less than three hours from now, so this would be an ideal topic to raise there. (This forum here is primarily member-to-member, not member-to-staff.) Here is a link to the upcoming chat location: 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Reminder-Post-Community-Chat-January-29-1-00-pm-PT-General/m-p... 

[dsha3764]

@datemike1 

eBay is a multi-billion dollar company they shouldn't need our opinions to put a fix in place. But for starters they could: 

Do a better job of filtering messages, to prevent them from going to the end recipient.  eBay could implement shadow banning where the sender does not know whether their message went through, that would complicate the process of scamming. 

Also eBay could put security steps in place to block unverified accounts from sending messages on sold items. eBay prevents accounts from bidding / buying without proper verification.

[datemike1]

Large companies seek the input of their customers all the time because by the nature of being a large company, they often don't see the finer points of operation.

And your suggestions aren't bad, and don't get me wrong, I think eBay can do A LOT of things way better than it does, but what you're suggesting would just add a small speedbump to a scammer.  So lets say eBay makes you verify your email address to become a verified account.  Do you think that will stop a scammer from continuing the scam?  They'll just create a new email address and new eBay account and use it until they get blocked, but how many people will they have been able to email before that happens?  

Again, you can't expect eBay to do the thinking for you.  If you get an email from someone asking to change the address and you don't verify that the account that emailed you is the account that purchased the item, eBay can't be fully at fault.  Aside from eBay setting up a specific page of common "buyer scams" and what sellers should know, or perhaps adding a part of the warning when trying to change the address to warn sellers if they received an email asking to change the address to verify it came from the same account, i'm not sure what else they can do.  But because not every request to change the address is a scam, eBay can't make blanket policies assuming every buyer who wants to change the address is a scammer.  I have wondered why eBay even lets you alter the address.  They could probably solve the issue by not allowing sellers to change the address, though i'm not sure of the implications of a change like that.

[a_c_green]

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@dsha3764 wrote:

Do a better job of filtering messages, to prevent them from going to the end recipient.  eBay could implement shadow banning where the sender does not know whether their message went through, that would complicate the process of scamming. 

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That might already be in place. That would explain some of the address-change messages quoted here, where the reshipper's street address is interrupted by stray random characters such as slashes and punctuation marks, presumably added in the hopes of defeating pattern-match filters.

As the sellers are receiving those messages, it looks like the disguised addresses are indeed defeating the filters, but there is no longer any way to easily report the messages that get through.

[inhawaii]

Did i miss the part about - it wasn't even the buyer requesting the address change?  If so i apologize. If that is the case, then the seller would have to be CRAZY to oblige. No sympathy from me. 

If tht were to happen to me, i would be "... and who are you?"

[mesodude]

“What are the chances that this was a legit buyer who made a legit request and everything will be just fine?”

The scammer is messaging the address change request from a different account within seconds of the legit buyer making the purchase. A legit buyer, in theory, should know they can/should edit their address before or while paying.

[mesodude]

"So I’ll ask you again, aside from eBay warning you that changing the address voids seller protection and a “whole section of the site” devoted to protecting yourself from scams (https://pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/stay_safe.html), what else should eBay be doing that they’re not doing to protect sellers from scam buyers?"

Well, in a perfect world eBay would be as forgiving of sellers who perhaps haven't made the time to visit the security center page as they are buyers who ignore the virtual "blinking lights" and "solid red warning screen[s]" that appear in listings all the time. Realistically, though...since changing the address can be something of a fatal error, I think it might be a good idea to remind sellers again at that point to be mindful that they aren't being scammed.  Instead of simply warning sellers that they'll void their protection if they change the address at that point, why not remind them to confirm that the request is coming from the legitimate buyer and also remind them that if the buyer hasn't yet paid, they can easily edit their address.

"You literally proved my point for me..."

I believe your point was that sellers who aren't vigilant enough to stay abreast of each and every new scam that comes along don't deserve any sympathy and shouldn't be allowed to sell on eBay.  I don't think anyone here believes you've proved that.

[vintagecraze50]

For new sellers it might be a good idea that within that warning message pop up that instructions should be given to cancel the order and instruct the buyer to add the address they want shipped to to their account on PP, managed payments if that is used.

[cheswick2112]

OK - SO I think people did not read my first line where I said that "I SCREWED UP, MY MISTAKE".  It is not Ebays fault that it happened, I bypassed the warning, etc.  (Glad to know, others never make mistakes, and while I am no mega store, I have done 100s of transactions thru ebay)

The question is:  What can be done now?  I refunded the money, so the buyer is fine but someone has the goods.  Can we go after the person as it seems in the address they listed info that could identify them to the freight forwarder?

[dsha3764]

@cheswick2112 

One you've been scammed nothing can be done. You can try contacting the police, but you won't get far with that.

Yes, while it is technically your fault for being scammed. A lot of new sellers don't even realize the it's not the buyer who sent the message until it's all over with. Hell the first time it happened to us the seller accused us of working with the scammer!