eBay

huqingfeng2001 · ‎06-26-2018

I ran into a very complicated situation and hope someone here can help me out. I am not a native english speaker, but I will try the best I can to explain the whole thing here.

I am an Ebay seller. Someone placed an order to purchase a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L II USM Lens from me for $1315 in 04/25, so I printed the shipping label via PayPal and shipped it out as usual. The order was placed on 04/25. A month later, the buyer filed an "Unauthorized Transaction" dispute with his financial institution On 05/30. Then PayPal issued a chargeback to the buyer's bank since the package was not delivered to the buyer's address on PayPal. I checked the tracking number and it shows the destination address was changed somehow while the package was still in transit and delivered to a address in a different state. I wasn't aware of that until now and I don't know who did that and how the package was rerouted mid trip.

I tried to contact the buyer via eBay email and no reply. I also tried to contact the phone number on the buyer's eBay account and the person on the phone told me that he didn't know anything about the order. Then I showed some screenshots of the buyer's information and the order to him. He said those are his address and phone number, but it is not his eBay account, which means the buyer was using another person's information (address and phone at least) on eBay and PayPal to place the order. He and I both believe it is definitely a scam. He asked me to call eBay and have them call him.

I did call eBay and PayPal several times and told them the buyer was using faked address and phone number on his account. They just kicked the ball back and forth without doing anything. eBay said they can't do anything about it since PayPal has already issued a chargeback and they didn't even want to open a case and do any investigation. PayPal told me they can't cover it since the package was not delivered to the buyer's verified address on PayPal. The most ridiculous thing is that the so-call verified address is faked and actually belong to a different person. I told them that, they just said they would dispute with the buyer's bank on behalf of me and it would take 75 days. I don't think I would get anything back after 75 days.

This is all I have known so far. I don't know if it was the buyer who placed the order and did all those things himself or someone used his eBay account to do that. But I am the only victim of the scam since the buyer has gotten his money back if his eBay account was compromised. eBay and PayPal simply don't want to do anything or take any responsibilities. I have been an ebay user for almost 10 years. I bought and sold more than a hundred thousand dollar products on eBay, and they just don't do anything to help me when things go wrong.

I am so disappointed and frustrated. What should I do to protect my own rights and interests? I would so appreciate if anyone can help me. Thanks so much in advance.

huqingfeng2001 · ‎06-26-2018

Thanks so much for your help. Here is what I found about the seller's protection policy on PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/seller-protection). It says "To help ensure you’re protected, ship within 7 days to the address indicated in the transaction details, and provide an accurate delivery estimate.". It doesn't mention what they would do if the package was redirected mid trip.

agent006140 · ‎06-26-2018

does 'intercepted' means someone files a request on USPS website and pay like $13.95 to have the package withheld at local post office,return to the sender OR sent somewhere else/

and who can initiate an interception?

huqingfeng2001 · ‎06-26-2018

I think it is. I asked some people and they told me you can simply pay USPS to redirect a package as long as you have the tracking number and seller's information. I filed a claim with USPS online for missing package, but I think the posibility for them to get the item back is very low since it has been two months.

myoasisjewels · ‎06-26-2018

if i ship a package to location A via usps, and this package ends up being delivered to location B in spite of me clearly putting location A address as the deliver to address on the label, i would file an insurance claim with usps. when doing this, please also involve your local usps consumer affairs office.

dtexley3 · ‎06-26-2018

@agent006140 wrote:
PayPal told me they can't cover it since the package was not delivered to the buyer's verified address on PayPal.--------------------------------
---------------------
Paypal rep often does not know what they are talking about,unless it has changed its policy,then seller proetction for UA is that you proved you have sent the item to his Paypal address in the payment notice .
It does not have to be delivered or signed for,just prove you have shipped to that address.

You said you printed the lable using Paypal,what address did you use,where did you get the address?

Paypal recently changed their policy on Seller Protection due to redirection and/or forwarding of the package. They subsequently walked that policy back and I'm wondering if all CS agents at Paypal know that. Get the detailed tracking history from your post office that shows the redirect request. Appeal this and push hard on the fact that the SCAM BUYER changed the delivery address so this should be covered under Paypal's seller protection.

Once again the seller has no control over the carrier even though we are held responsible for everything they do. Be sure to file Mail Fraud, IC3.gov complaints and police reports as well.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

feefoo72 · ‎06-26-2018

Most likely it was redirected by the buyer since the USPS allows the recipient to do that without the shippers permission.

It was delivered to LSA Inc, a storage facility, which has dozens of complaints against it for defrauding ebay sellers with the same complaint you have. It seems that that location is a hotbed of criminal activity. They need to be shut down.

It seems a mail fraud claim is your only action, start with the post office/online complaint/ postal inspector as others have said.

This is a scam that seems to be happening more and more. Sorry you were affected.

turquoisetulips · ‎06-26-2018

@huqingfeng2001 wrote:
I ran into a very complicated situation and hope someone here can help me out. I am not a native english speaker, but I will try the best I can to explain the whole thing here.

I am an Ebay seller. Someone placed an order to purchase a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L II USM Lens from me for $1315 in 04/25, so I printed the shipping label via PayPal and shipped it out as usual. The order was placed on 04/25. A month later, the buyer filed an "Unauthorized Transaction" dispute with his financial institution On 05/30. Then PayPal issued a chargeback to the buyer's bank since the package was not delivered to the buyer's address on PayPal. I checked the tracking number and it shows the destination address was changed somehow while the package was still in transit and delivered to a address in a different state. I wasn't aware of that until now and I don't know who did that and how the package was rerouted mid trip.

I tried to contact the buyer via eBay email and no reply. I also tried to contact the phone number on the buyer's eBay account and the person on the phone told me that he didn't know anything about the order. Then I showed some screenshots of the buyer's information and the order to him. He said those are his address and phone number, but it is not his eBay account, which means the buyer was using another person's information (address and phone at least) on eBay and PayPal to place the order. He and I both believe it is definitely a scam. He asked me to call eBay and have them call him.

I did call eBay and PayPal several times and told them the buyer was using faked address and phone number on his account. They just kicked the ball back and forth without doing anything. eBay said they can't do anything about it since PayPal has already issued a chargeback and they didn't even want to open a case and do any investigation. PayPal told me they can't cover it since the package was not delivered to the buyer's verified address on PayPal. The most ridiculous thing is that the so-call verified address is faked and actually belong to a different person. I told them that, they just said they would dispute with the buyer's bank on behalf of me and it would take 75 days. I don't think I would get anything back after 75 days.

This is all I have known so far. I don't know if it was the buyer who placed the order and did all those things himself or someone used his eBay account to do that. But I am the only victim of the scam since the buyer has gotten his money back if his eBay account was compromised. eBay and PayPal simply don't want to do anything or take any responsibilities. I have been an ebay user for almost 10 years. I bought and sold more than a hundred thousand dollar products on eBay, and they just don't do anything to help me when things go wrong.

I am so disappointed and frustrated. What should I do to protect my own rights and interests? I would so appreciate if anyone can help me. Thanks so much in advance. op - unquote

Wow ,, so sorry this happened . I've never experienced this before and I hope I never do . One thing you should do is take the advice of some of the more seasoned sellers replying to you . One thing you shouldn't do is take an English language course . Your writing is fine . Tulips

a_c_green · ‎06-26-2018

@agent006140 wrote:
does 'intercepted' means someone files a request on USPS website and pay like $13.95 to have the package withheld at local post office,return to the sender OR sent somewhere else/
and who can initiate an interception?

The shipper can file an intercept notice to get the package reclaimed, and the fee is due if the intercept and recovery is successful.

The recipient can file a forwarding order and get the package rerouted to a new destination. It's also possible to have the package redirected locally via their on-line form, although I think you can only do that within the same ZIP code.

In this case, tracking shows that the package originally went to Lilburn, GA, where it shows as "Intercepted" there, but not by the seller, as it then went to a reshipping address for Meest America. It's probably out of the country now.

There has been talk recently of scammers using the name of an eBay employee tied to the eBay Shipping account (it's technically eBay's account, not that of the seller printing the label) to get their packages redirected like this. The eBay employee (whose name escapes me at this moment) has posted recently to say that they're aware of the impersonation and are looking into it. Sorry, I don't have a link to more details at this moment, but I just realized while typing the above that this problem fits the description of the other redirection scams that the eBay employee's name was involved in. Hopefully someone else here can fill in the gaps for me...

readabouthorses · ‎06-26-2018

The Ebay employee is Nate and there is another thread where he posted that it definitely is not him redirecting these packages.

I wonder if the seller would put DO NOT FORWARD on the package would that stop this? And if it did get forwarded after putting that notice on the package would USPS be responsible for making the sender (seller) whole again?

We are seeing too many of these here on these boards which makes me wonder how many sellers are out there who don't know to even come to the boards for help?

ersatz_sobriquet · ‎06-26-2018

I am concerned that "Do not forward" will do nothing if the package is redirected from the computer system, just like "fragile" doesn't protect anything from a vicious conveyer belt....

But we need an answer on how to protect ourselves in these cases or I'm going to have to reduce my dollar risk amount on ebay even further than I already have!

1stufftobuy · ‎06-26-2018

This person hacked into my account and changed my address to this one. Fortunately, i did not add any purchase acct info so they could not purchase. I read these reviews and called ebay to give them this this hackers information. If you have to deal with this, you should call ebay and give them this "person's" info.

After many attempts to intercept a package going to that fraudulent address 460 Copper Drive Newport, DE 19804., the Newport post office 19804 knew it was fraudulent and delivered it there
anyway., according to postal worker there, (Quandelle Coswell) I've reported this to the postal inspector and received a letter that they are investigating it...

If your hacked by this address... for now, there is nothing you can do.

Someone hacked into my eBay account and bought $62 worth of air fresheners and sent it to this business. My bank and credit card company are looking into whoever scammed me. Hopefully they catch the loser that bought them.

Beibg use by some ebay scammers, absolute scum whoever's the culprit should be locked up,probably some fake address

Hacked my e bay account and spend over $1500 on go pro camera and An I Phone was doing it while i was online canceled it but was sending it to this address so this has been the thief's warehouse and nobody is doing anything about it.

SCAM ADDRESS!! This person has been scamming people through eBay for over a year now and using different names and hacking PayPal accounts. Not sure why the police haven't investigated this or arrested anyone attached to this horrible scamming ring. Lets just hope this person gets what's coming to them.

This person tried to buy $3500 worth of stuff on my Ebay account and send it to this address. Pathetic

stole 71.00 from my erb store with fraud card

and it goes on and on and on.

Police report to New Castle County Police, Delaware State Police and United States Postal Inspection Service.

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/investigations/MailFraud/MailFraud.aspx

Get reports from each and then contact PayPal with documentation.

readabouthorses · ‎06-26-2018

@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:
I am concerned that "Do not forward" will do nothing if the package is redirectly from the computer system, just like "fragile" doesn't protect anything from a vicious conveyer belt....
But we need an answer on how to protect ourselves in these cases or I'm going to have to reduce my dollar risk amount on ebay even further than I already have!

So if the USPS missed the Do Not Forward then would that not make them responsible? As the sender I have a contract with USPS and they did not follow my instructions.

Just throwing things out here because this does seem to be something that no one wants to take responsibility for and the sender ends up losing. Also I think we've seen a few posts where the buyer ended up not getting their package because it was somehow redirected.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎06-26-2018

@huqingfeng2001 wrote:
I think it is. I asked some people and they told me you can simply pay USPS to redirect a package as long as you have the tracking number and seller's information. I filed a claim with USPS online for missing package, but I think the posibility for them to get the item back is very low since it has been two months.

Someone correct me if i’m wrong, but i believe filing for a missing package will not help you since the tracking shows delivery. It is not lost or missing. It was intercepted, yes, but it was delivered.

You might have better luck talking to your postmaster about how the interception defrauded you. I believe the person who makes the contact for the intercept must give a credit card to the USPS. Then that card is billed after a successful intercept takes place. (The scammer may have used a stolen card but maybe not. Either way, there is a record of all that transpired that the Postmaster can access.) Good luck to you and so sorry this happened.

ittybitnot · ‎06-26-2018

Paypal recently changed their policy on Seller Protection due to redirection and/or forwarding of the package.

Yes, there was a post I read here yesterday where the buyer was thrown under the bus for same. Unathorized Use only requried PROOF OF SHOPPING to the address provided by PayPal. Seems they got tired of holding up their end of the bargain. eBay says it is a "PayPal probelm", which has now become a seller problem.

ersatz_sobriquet · ‎06-26-2018

@readabouthorses wrote:
@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:
I am concerned that "Do not forward" will do nothing if the package is redirectly from the computer system, just like "fragile" doesn't protect anything from a vicious conveyer belt....
But we need an answer on how to protect ourselves in these cases or I'm going to have to reduce my dollar risk amount on ebay even further than I already have!
So if the USPS missed the Do Not Forward then would that not make them responsible? As the sender I have a contract with USPS and they did not follow my instructions.

Just throwing things out here because this does seem to be something that no one wants to take responsibility for and the sender ends up losing. Also I think we've seen a few posts where the buyer ended up not getting their package because it was somehow redirected.

I don't know the answers here, but something has to be done or eccommerce is toast. Who wants to mail off sales that can be redirected at anytime and the seller is out the money?