Scam! Help Please!

[huqingfeng2001]

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.

[whatmodernwas]

@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.

PayPal owes you an immediate refund, as an "unauthorized use" credit card claim requires only proof of shipping for a seller to win.

[agent006140]

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@huqingfeng2001 wrote:

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.

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if it does not say anything about redirection ,then it should not apply to your case,your case is an UA case.

In a non UA case,if package is redirected ,ebay will deny the buyer his MBG,but Paypal is different,if redirected,seller lost his protection.

call Paypal and read them the UA seller protection,dont mention intercept.

[agent006140]

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@dtexley3 wrote:

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@agent006140 wrote:

PayPal told me they can't cover it since the package was not delivered to the buyer's verified address on PayPal.--------------------------------

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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?

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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.

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I am afraid Paypal seller protection on redirected pakage differ from Ebay,seller lost his protection,never understand why.

but OP case is UA,so argue that she should be protected as she shipped to buyer Paypal address in a timely manner using Paypal to print a label.

OP-you need to make a hard copy of the USPS tracking as USPS cannot retain it forever.   

[huqingfeng2001]

Thanks for sharing the information. I really hope eBay and PayPal can do something to protect sellers from fraud like this.

[huqingfeng2001]

Thanks for all the information and advices. I just want to get some compensation from eBay or PayPal, but it seems the posibility is very low. I will consider it as a learn and hope to avoid it from happenning again.

[Anonymous]

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

@Anonymous

alan@ebay

Another buyer redirected package with the seller left hung out to dry...

Is there any way Ebay can get with Paypal on this? This is a disaster for sellers!

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Hi @southern*sweet*tea, there is no additional informaiton eBay can provide to PayPal in a situation like this as PayPal will have access to the details they need to defend the seller in a chargeback. A seller in this situation will need to keep working with PayPal and the financial institution in the dispute that was filed. 

[sin-n-dex]

@agent006140 wrote:

Yes,it was intercepted.

you need to call 1-800-usps customer service to learn more.

PAYPAL offers seller protection for unauthorised transaction if you prove you have shipped the item to the address on his paypal payment notice,not necessarily has to be delivered to that address.

did you ship to his Paypal address?

do you stil have the payment notice and what is the address in the notice.

go to Paypal and read how it protects seller on unauthorised transaction.

more members will come and chime in.

Forget police reports, mail fraud reports, and all that. Your item is gone. The interception occured to send it to a freight forwarder, so your lens could be on it's way to Ukraine, Nigeria, Russia, China... somewhere outside of USA. You have no recourse with the buyer.

I'm concerned about the interception issue. What does a buyer have to do to intercept an item? Do they at least need to know the mailing address and details to be able to do that? Or is a tracking number and delivery address enough?

Someone please clarify this, this seems to be a glaring security hole for sellers.

Cheers, C.