String of fraudulent purchases from dozens of new accounts to the same unverified address

[4yourconsideration]

So, I have endured a string of dozens of purchases from new accounts that are clearly fraudulent accounts.  All accounts were only a day or two old, all bought one or two .99 cent items and several new accounts are using the same first name with all different user IDs.  The biggest give away was that all the accounts save one, were to have the item(s) purchased be shipped to a remote location in Oregon - 

13822 NE Airport Way
Portland ,  OR 97251-9614

I looked up this address, it claims to be a business called "ReShip".   I checked the BBB for information on this company and the BBB had only this information taken from the BBB website - 

Licensing:

On 12/16/2016 BBB confirmed that ReShip.com had not obtained a necessary license from Oregon Secretary of State. BBB encourages you to contact the following agency or agencies to confirm this information - ID # 5039862200

Furthermore, all the accounts had names that DID NOT correspond to the name on the Paypal payment.   As a seasoned eBay seller, it was clear that all the accounts were fake and were more than likely using stolen credit card numbers and purchasing small value items to "test" if a stolen credit card works.  

ALL the buyers had a similar string of gibberish after the first name under the shipping address

- BSFMZZMZ

and others had this one 

-  NST610

I would not be surprised if others show up or have shown up elsewhere.  I want to hear from other eBay sellers if they are experiencing similar issues.  I cannot find any way to report a fraudulent "buyer" account, eBay does not have that option anywhere that I can find.  They only offer the ability to report fake "seller" accounts and spoof emails.  This does not help one bit when you are constantly having to cancel and block fake buyer accounts.  It starts to waste precious time having to do all this and have no way to report it or stop it.  eBay needs to get off its gold plated rear end and do something!  They should be able to spot patterns of fraudulent accounts.  All these accounts have similar things in common with all different names.  They are being created to "test" purchase to see if stolen credit cards work and it needs to stop ASAP eBay!

[alseyf-73]

eBay itself doesn't take credit cards, which are processed by 

1. PayPal on behalf of either eBay or the seller in the previous system, or

2. payments processors Pay Adyen, Pay Apple, Pay Google, or Pay Pal.

The card issuer is involved every time a credit card, legit or stolen, is added and then first used at these payments processor, so the anos is on the payments processors, not gold-plated eBay, if the payment is approved.

That address is a freight forwarder, and if tracking is delivered, you're protected from a false claim of INR, and if the item is reshipped onward, the buyer loses it, as eMBG protection is not covered. The previous scam at this address was that USPS validated it with one zip code, whilst USPS delivered the address as a different zip code, allowing the buyers to claim misdelivery.

[reallynicestamps]

Generally freight forwarders are the second safest* addresses you can ship to, since the buyer's Money Back Guarantee protections end when the forwarder accepts the package.

The BBB note is four years old, and the company has not been closed down. Whether they have obtained a license or not, they now have a track record and no BBB  complaints. A plant near the airport would be an ideal location for a freight forwarder and Portland is a fair sized town and not "remote" by any means.

all the accounts had names that DID NOT correspond to the name on the Paypal payment.

New accounts have names assigned by eBay. They tend to be a mixture of letters and numbers.

ALL the buyers had a similar string of gibberish after the first name under the shipping address

That would be the forwarder's code for the account.

Have you Blocked non-US payments? Since you pay 4.4% when an overseas** Paypal account is used. I've never bothered because most of my sales are international, but I understand you can do this on the Paypal site.

Now.

This could be an honest but somewhat stupid foreign buyer who does not understand that she doesn't have to make a new account for every purchase.  That almost all the accounts have the same code indicates to me that the buyer has one forwarding account, but is opening a new account for each purchase.

But on the other hand, she was bright enough to open an account with a forwarder, which allows her to buy from sellers who don't normally ship overseas, although she is giving up her Buyer Protections by using a forwarder.

Since you are uncomfortable with the purchases, you can cancel them as Problem With Address without getting a Defect.

It may take a day or so for your new-found customer to stop finding new treasures in your stock.

*The safest are post office boxes, since the buyer must pick up the package from the clerk at the counter and often has to show ID and sign for it.  (Envelopes will fit in the mailbox, but the holder still has to have a key.)

** You also pay a smaller premium for Canadian payments.

[fashunu4eeuh]

 It is very likely that nothing nefarious is going on here. What you have is an international buyer(s) from a country you don't ship to, using a freight forwarder. Most everything you just described is routine for a reshipper, 

Zero feedback accounts are not fraudulent in and of themselves. More new sellers are coming here to shop than ever before. The pandemic is driving this resurgence of ecommerce sales. Since scammers come in all shapes and sizes, just like legit buyers, it is impossible to know if a buyer with no history is going to defraud you until they tip their hand. But tip it, they always do. Most buyers are honest. The dishonest ones are more obvious than not.

Keep in mind, you are an established seller, and not an attractive target. Your level of experience would ward off seasoned scammers to troll elsewhere, looking for easier prey. 

 You offer some pricier jewelry in your store, but these sales are for lower cost things. Yes, it could be as you say, they are testing the waters with a stolen credit card. Scammers normally go for high-dollar items like computers, smartphones, cameras, diamonds, etc. Not saying it is impossible for your items to be targeted, but it is improbable. As for the different names, reshippers may also be buying for overseas clients. Some buy many things until the shipping container is full and ready to send. The names don't have to match for the sale to be legit.

My concern is that you could be shooting yourself in the foot by canceling these transactions. You have some beautiful items in your store, and I believe these sales could be happening as a result of your hard work, rather than as a result of fraud. Below is an article that discusses the reshipping business that may be helpful.

https://www.riskified.com/blog/how-understanding-reshippers-can-help-boost-international-sales/

[4yourconsideration]

I have now had 40+ sales in the last 24 hours of the same .99 cent item to be shipped to the same address under 30 different new user ID's (Yes, 30...so far.  The **bleep** payments keep coming in) with little to no feedback at all and with the same shipping address with completely different names to both the eBay user ID's and the Paypal payments.   There is nothing legit about that.  Three different names for each sale - Name of the person on the invoice, a different person's name listed as the buyer, and yet another different name on the payment from Paypal.   So far about 22 different names altogether with the same address and 30 different brand new accounts purchasing the same thing in a 24 hour period.   If anyone thinks that is normal, they have never been hit with fraud. 

Another thing that is suspect is that I have messaged every single user about my cancellation of the item they bought under suspicious terms and not a single one has messaged me back or argued the cancellation.  Not a single one.  30 different accounts...so far, the sales from new users with different names keep coming in.  I have owned my own business for 40 years before I started selling on eBay 20 years ago.  I know fraud when I see it.  I had been subjected to this kind of thing before, just not on this scale. 

[4yourconsideration]

This is not normal - I have now had 40+ sales in the last 24 hours of the same .99 cent item to be shipped to the same address under 30 different new user ID's (Yes, 30...so far.  The **bleep** payments keep coming in) with little to no feedback at all and with the same shipping address with completely different names to both the eBay user ID's and the Paypal payments.   There is nothing legit about that.  Three different names for each sale - Name of the person on the invoice, a different person's name listed as the buyer, and yet another different name on the payment from Paypal.   So far about 22 different names altogether with the same address and 30 different brand new accounts purchasing the same thing in a 24 hour period.   If anyone thinks that is normal, they have never been hit with fraud. 

Another thing that is suspect is that I have messaged every single user about my cancellation of the item they bought under suspicious terms and not a single one has messaged me back or argued the cancellation.  Not a single one.  30 different accounts...so far, the sales from new users with different names keep coming in.  I have owned my own business for 40 years before I started selling on eBay 20 years ago.  I know fraud when I see it.  I had been subjected to this kind of thing before, just not on this scale. 

[udba78]

I have buyers asking to pay me directly through my personal paypal and wanting to send me extra funds to purchase the gift cards from ebay or Itunes. I am not sure how to block that from happening. Many are at the same address.

[4yourconsideration]

Also,  I just found out that there is nothing at the address the items are supposed to be shipped to.  The address is not for ReShip as google suggested but rather it used to be a company called Mercer Distribution which was permanently closed.  I had a friend in Portland swing by the address and I just heard back from them 5 minutes ago that nothing is there, it's an empty building so... Guess my gut feeling was right after all, the purchases from these accounts are definitely fraud.  

[gwzcomps]

Have you talked with Trust and Safety?  You can report fraudulent purchases if you have a transaction.  Same way you would report any buyer you have a problem with.

[4yourconsideration]

You should be able to block any buyer/bidder that you suspect of making unreasonable demands using the link below - 

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/blocking-buyer-ebay?id=4082&st=3&pos=1&quer...

You can also report the buyer for making unreasonable demands at this link - 

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/report-issue-buyer?id=4084&st=12&pos=1&quer...

[patd3283]

Sounds like you are being inundated by a scammer.

Clues:

- Asking for gift cards

-Wanting to send money to your PayPal account.

Do NOT give them your email address for PayPal.

Contact Trust and Safety as stated above.

I know it is a PITA but put all bidders on your BBL.

File unpaid Item on each purchase.

[plonlnak0]

If the items are paid for they need to be shipped.

[savviestseller]

Relax man, that’s a reship company for sure.  I’ve sent multiple collectibles to that address on my other accounts and have NEVER EVER had a problem.  

[coolections]

I believe you are terribly mistaken as that is a freight forwarder. There is a good possibility you will be booted from Ebay soon for not shipping.

[4yourconsideration]

48+ new user accounts all with the same name buying the same item to "test" a payment then going over to other sellers stores that sell very expensive stuff and they buy 2-3 items from them then....they close their eBay accounts.  We have sold on eBay long enough to know a fraud ring when we see it.  The same person does not open 40+ (And counting...) new accounts to buy the same thing then close the accounts once they have purchased a few very expensive items shortly after using our products as a payment "tester".  No one does that unless it's fraud-related.  Not a single one of the fake purchases disputed my cancelling the order.  Not a single one and the final nail-in-the-coffin that proves I was right...I finally got a notification that several of the payments were disputed by the people who's credit cards were stolen to purchase the goods without their authorization.   Never ship anything that is even remotely suspicious.  Cancel the order, the seller has every right to do that if the transaction has every indicator of being invalid.   All 40+ accounts had 3 different names attached to them and that alone is a red flag indicator.   For example,  the name associated with the user ID might be John Tipton, but on the shipping, invoice says Xu Xing and on the Paypal payment says Charles Maxwell (I did not use exact names for identity protection reasons but they are similar).  Sorry, but those kinds of transactions should be avoided at all cost.  We have already been through something like this more than once in the past so we know the red flags well.