This is weird. One of my buyers sent me a package full of empty boxes/accessories

[goosegosnell]

Quick backstory on this buyer. He purchase a new/sealed Galaxy Z Fold 3 from me back on October 15th. USPS took forever to get the item to him. So he filed for a refund on eBay while it was in transit. I denied the refund and the item finally arrived a couple of weeks late. eBay closed the case in my favor, without any refund to the buyer. So he got his phone, and I received the full sale amount. No big deal.

I just received a package in the mail from this buyer. He stuffed the empty Galaxy box, an iPhone 13 pro max empty box, a 13 pro max case, random charging cable, and another random smartphone empty box in a 12.3x3x15.25 priority mail box. The label was addressed to the buyer, with the “from” address being my address. Also, there is a postal code “93996” sticker stuck on the front of the box.

I am so confused on why I received this package (and not who it is addressed to), and why he would have sent me a bunch of damaged, empty boxes. Any ideas?

[ittybitnot]

There is no tracking history of the package coming back to me at all

@goosegosnell 

Ok, make a screen shot/copy of that history. 

[goosegosnell]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

@goosegosnell 

Thanks for the screenshot.  It is a bit more clear as to what is going on.   It appears now, that perhaps the item was forwarded to the buyer, the contents replaced,  and marked "Return to Sender".  

I suppose now you need to basically hang on to all that stuff, and wait for it.  Since the products are NOT what you sent anyway, I would have no problem with rendering the air tag "to dust". 

There IS some seller protection for phony eBay claims made by users of freight forwarders if one knows where to plead their case (not regular customer service).   However, if a Payment Dispute ensues, it may be more difficult, but not hopeless. 

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Thanks so much for the help. I destroyed the AirTag. I will hang on the the boxes in case something happens. 

[ittybitnot]

Thanks so much for the help. I destroyed the AirTag. I will hang on the the boxes in case something happens. 

@goosegosnell 

Good plan.  Are there any documents (customs forms, date stamps, etc.) that would indicate when the parcel was forwarded by the freight forwarder to the buyer?   Those may become important as well.  

Come back if the need arises in the future. 

[soh.maryl]

So the actual address of the recipient is that of your buyer and the return address is yours? 

Why would the USPS deliver it to you then instead of to the buyer.  Might start there.  Or contact the buyer and get his input.  

[soh.maryl]

Can you please explain the seller protection for phony eBay claims made by users of freight forwarders if one knows where to plead their case (not regular customer service)? Where would be the appropriate place to plead their case, and why is it a secret? 

[goosegosnell]

There is nothing in the box except for all of the garbage. There wasn't a slip of any kind or anything like that.

[goosegosnell]

Yes, the from address (top left) is my home address. The To address (center) was the buyer's forwarding address. 

Also, I will not be contacting this buyer. eBay had instructed me not to during while the item was in transit because the buyer was aggressive with name calling, etc... Contacting him will not help.

[goosegosnell]

I would most likely file a police/mail fraud report on this buyer. eBay hates this and will normally give you a refund if you come loaded with something like that.

[a_c_green]

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@goosegosnell wrote:

It only shows delivered to the freight forwarding address. There is no tracking history of the package coming back to me at all.

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That's most likely because the refusal sticker with the Mexican post code is covering up the tracking barcode. However, the return address was visible, and there's that honking big "RTS" (Return To Sender) notation and big black arrow on the box, so it made it back to you without any tracking indication that it was returned.

That, in fact, would not help the scam, since the buyer has no on-line proof that he has returned anything, regardless of whether the box actually had the returned item in it.

I agree that including the Air Tag was a bit weird, since it could conceivably reveal its location by pinging any Bluetooth device within range, but (1) the buyer already knows where the package came from and is going back to via the return address, and (2) the high-value phone wasn't in the package anyway. It's a bit of a stretch for nefarious evildoers from another country to come after one phone sale in the hopes of finding more in, what, your garage?

I thought the idea of planting an Air Tag and tracking it down later for theft had a whiff of Urban Legend to it, but Googling turned up an article from December 3 in Canada where car thieves were apparently doing exactly that, tracking their target vehicles to quieter places where they'd have time to break in.

Ref: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/12/03/airtag-linked-to-car-thefts/ 

[lacemaker3]

I have read some news articles from reporters who  used similar tracking devices to follow the path of packages that were returned to Amazon/other online sales sites, and they were able to follow some packages through being sold to resellers, and on to later purchasers on other sites.

Since this package was sent back "Return to Sender", after being delivered to a freight forwarder and (apparently) exported to Mexico. I'm not sure what this means. Apparently, the return to seller was not scanned by the USPS, but the person who sent it now knows that it has been received back by the seller. Possibly, this is being set up for a chargeback claim, where the person will claim that they returned the phone to the seller.

Just FYI, here is more info about airtags, for those who didn't know. There's a lot of info here about possible security issues, and how to disable them. Click the link for more info.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/apple-airtags-can-be-used-to-track-you-heres-how-to-...

...

Disable the AirTag

If you find an AirTag on you, you can easily disable it to stop sharing your location by twisting counter-clockwise on the back by the Apple logo and taking the battery out. The person on the other end will no longer be able to see your location. 

...

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[lacemaker3]

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@goosegosnell wrote:

Here is the tracking number: 9410808205497670923882

It only shows delivered to the freight forwarding address. There is no tracking history of the package coming back to me at all

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Based on the photo you posted of the returned package, it appears that the freight forwarder put an international shipping label (in a sticky-back clear-plastic holder) over your shipping label, and sent it on, apparently to Mexico. Was the buyer registered in Mexico?

Once it was received, it appears that the buyer emptied the package, put the airtag into it, with a bunch of junk to disguise the presence of the airtag, and removed the paper international label from the clear-plastic holder. That left your original shipping label visible through the clear-plastic holder, and they then scrawled "RTS" (Return to Sender) on the package, and gave it back to the post office in Mexico.

Airtags are pretty expensive, around $25 each, so they wouldn't have included it if it wasn't functional and they didn't want to use it for something. I can't think of a legitimate reason they would have done this.

I'm surprised that it was accepted, but apparently it was, and the Mexico post office put the orange sticker on, which is supposed to show the reason for it being returned. They didn't check any of the reason boxes, but they did fill in the "Return from" postal code.

The orange sticker is covering the tracking # bar code, so the automatic scanning machines were not able to read the bar code, so it never got scanned or detected on it's way back to the seller, and the tracking history was never updated.

If the buyer doesn't file a chargeback or payment dispute now, it may be that the placement of the orange sticker over the bar code has saved you from that.

[lacemaker3]

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@goosegosnell wrote:

Here is the tracking number: 9410808205497670923882

It only shows delivered to the freight forwarding address. There is no tracking history of the package coming back to me at all

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I checked the tracking history, and that package is eligible for USPS Tracking Plus. That means that you can pay a small amount of money, before the tracking history expires, and they will keep the tracking history  available for a much longer time.

You can get extended tracking history for between 3 to 10 years, depending on how much you want pay, ($4.59 to $12.99).  I would recommend that you pay for this, in order to protect yourself. Otherwise, the tracking history will not be available after a few months, and that's a prime time for a scammer to start a chargeback, because you can no longer prove that you delivered the item to their shipping address.

[ittybitnot]

 Where would be the appropriate place to plead their case, and why is it a secret? 

@soh.maryl 

 Though I do not wish to get this thread off topic, It is certainly "no secret".  The staff that monitors the SEND MESSAGE feature at this link have been especially helpful with seller issues involving fraud that involve buyers using freight forwarders AND buyers that are victims of the "fake tracking scam".   Unlike the regular CS reps, these people do not have to "stick to the script" and actually have the authority to help. 

https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness

[soh.maryl]

Thank you.

[dbfolks166mt]

Read the following seller protections regarding chargebacks. Since eBay already close a case that was filed with them you are probably also covered for any chargebacks depending on what the eBay case was for INR or NAD. This went through a FF so as long as it was delivered to the FF you are pretty much covered anyway. 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/payment-dispute-seller-protections?id=5293