Nearly Got Had!

[TWINSET]

Had a mobile phone for sale on eBay, it was 'bought' last nite.

Buyer had paid by Paypal, but was requesting postage to an unconfirmed address, which always gets me a bit suspicious to start with.

So, I requested the buyers contact details.

Their registered details were up in Yorkshire, but they wanted the phone shipped to Nottingham, approx 80 miles away

I then looked at what else they'd bought - amongst the items was another mobile.

So, I emailed the buyer, just to say I couldn't post next-day due to post office not being open.

Reply back was that's ok, "please post Thursday, to my boyfriend's address"

Wierd thing was, the 'boyfriend's' name wasn't part of the eBay ID - vicky-matty, but post to a guy called Richard.

Anyway, that was all at around 23:00 last night

This morning I have the following via eBay messages;

hi have u already sent this item out as i wasnt me who bought the phone but it was my account that was used some one has stolen my details and emptied my account yesterday is there anyway u could please cancel the payment going through. I am going to the police station today.

Sure enough, Paypal have taken the funds back out of my account.

Now, last night I had replies to emails, not just eBay messages, so whoever had her ebay details also had the password to her email address and paypal account!

Although I don't know, I'm guessing they either lost a computer with all the info stored in it or were daft enough to write it all down somewhere and lost it.

Even better, I've just had another eBay message asking me to post the phone to a different address again, this time in Kent.

Best bit of all though? I can't claim the final value fee back yet, as eBay say the goods have been paid for!

As of today, the account has won 4 mobiles totalling about 600 and a 200 gold chain

So, never be in a hurry to post nuthin'

[thesnake505]

i sold a mobile about 3 weeks ago, got an email requesting to post to germany, so i twent to post office got a price, emailed them the total ammount due, ten minutes later i got a paypal email, looked very good saying 130 had been aid in to my account, which was odd as pone and ostage was only 80, so checked paypal and nothing, knew at once what was going on, contacted ebay and with in ten mins there account had been closed, but for a week i was reciving fake paypal and ebay emails, saying my account had been closed etc! some of the emails they have sent me were very real looking, a couple of the ebay ones had me going, luckly i always type the ebay address in the top bar and log in threw that never threw a link!

[Taman]

There are some real dodgy ppl out there EBay say that if it's not in your EBay messages then its a fake, so I run by that rule now or I just send it to their spoof@ebay email address and have them check it out.

Mind you I lost $150AUD on a NIB Jag XJR-12 never recieved and that was from a seller with 35+ feedback who just decided to go bad

SO what would have happened if you HAD sent the phone? Is that then considered to be your bad luck??

[ryanbored]

Mind you I lost $150AUD on a NIB Jag XJR-12 never recieved and that was from a seller with 35+ feedback who just decided to go bad

Can you not claim thru paypal?

[WillyChang]

that was that "penang" twit wasn't it... paid via direct bank deposit? no further news?

[ChrisB]

A timely warning as I have currently got my old phone on ebay. These days I put in my auction description dispatch up to 5 working days after receipt of cleared payment - mainly because I only tend to get to the post office on Saturdays, but its also handy to make sure any paypal payments that hit my account are still there a few days later.

I also tend to get into the habit of transferring any paypal cash out of the paypal account as soon as I can, as well as only funding my paypal via my credit card (have purposely not set up bank funding).

Anyone know what the score is if Paypal do a charge back and there isn't enough cash in my account, so it results in the money coming off my credit card? Can I claim against the CC company - or am I just stuffed?

I have stopped offering non trackable postage also after a recent buyer got a bit shirty about something not having turned up after 2 days after being sent ordinary first class. It was at that point I read the paypal/ebay rules and realised I would be completely screwed if it didn't turn up, or even if it did, but the buyer just said it didn't .

I am sure only having tracked postage options puts some buyers off because of the cost..... but these days ebay is not only getting expensive for sellers, it also seems to be rife with scam buyers.

[Incredible_Serious]

that was that "penang" twit wasn't it... paid via direct bank deposit? no further news?

I got hit by that guy too.... dammit.

[Taman]

that was that "penang" twit wasn't it... paid via direct bank deposit? no further news?

Yep that was the "penang" twit

I just sold my Super CHamp and made sure it was sent with a tracking number, its only $5AUD more than normal airmail so I'll be using that option from now on. At least that way Paypal should cover me (fingers crossed)

I'm still suprised Paypal can just take the money off you when it appeared to be a legit transaction? I would think it would be Paypal or the buyers fault (if he gave out the password etc) for the account being used incorrectly? I dont see why the seller should lose their money if messages went through Ebay messages/ Paypal etc.

[Big Al]

The same exact thing happened to me! I sold a fully hopped up F103GT to some guy in Singapore for $300 and the day after I shipped it, I got the email telling me that it was not her who purchased it and all of her accounts, email, paypal, and ebay were hacked. I fought with PayPal over this for months and found a loophole in the Seller Protection Policy and called them out on it...the next day the loophole was corrected and they screwed me over. So I was out $300 and the car! UGH!!! I am still furious over this and it happened about 5 months ago.

[Taman]

The same exact thing happened to me! I sold a fully hopped up F103GT to some guy in Singapore for $300 and the day after I shipped it, I got the email telling me that it was not her who purchased it and all of her accounts, email, paypal, and ebay were hacked. I fought with PayPal over this for months and found a loophole in the Seller Protection Policy and called them out on it...the next day the loophole was corrected and they screwed me over. So I was out $300 and the car! UGH!!! I am still furious over this and it happened about 5 months ago.

That Bites! so that will now be the new scam....just email paypal and go "hey I didnt order that, my account got hacked". So the basically the seller isnt safe no matter what you do. If I get bank deposit in Australia at least I knew the money was mine.

Edit: So are you covered if its sent to a confirmed address?

[thesnake505]

That Bites! so that will now be the new scam....just email paypal and go "hey I didnt order that, my account got hacked". So the basically the seller isnt safe no matter what you do. If I get bank deposit in Australia at least I knew the money was mine.

Edit: So are you covered if its sent to a confirmed address?

if u had sent it via recorded delivrery, u can prove they have recived it??? and then inform the police, cause technicly by keeping it they are stealing??? although they them selfs did not win the auction etc, they are keeping smthing thats not rightfully theres, and thats steaing in my books#?

[jozza]

Anyone know what the score is if Paypal do a charge back and there isn't enough cash in my account, so it results in the money coming off my credit card? Can I claim against the CC company - or am I just stuffed?

The protection that the card company provides only covers what you immediately paid for, so if Paypal are within their terms and conditions, regardless of the goods the payment relates to, the card company won't issue a chargeback unless the Paypal service was at fault. So you have to let Paypal go through their agreed processes first, and only if the Paypal process isn't followed/honoured can you get a chargeback. During this time, your money is in limbo and if it means you have to make a payment to the card for the money taken, you still have to.

Another thing to watch out for; if you purchase goods from a shop using Paypal and a credit card, rather than a direct card payment to the shop, your card's protection doesn't cover you if the goods are faulty or the shop doesn't provide the goods due to liquidation.

[ChrisB]

The protection that the card company provides only covers what you immediately paid for, so if Paypal are within their terms and conditions, regardless of the goods the payment relates to, the card company won't issue a chargeback unless the Paypal service was at fault. So you have to let Paypal go through their agreed processes first, and only if the Paypal process isn't followed/honoured can you get a chargeback. During this time, your money is in limbo and if it means you have to make a payment to the card for the money taken, you still have to.

Another thing to watch out for; if you purchase goods from a shop using Paypal and a credit card, rather than a direct card payment to the shop, your card's protection doesn't cover you if the goods are faulty or the shop doesn't provide the goods due to liquidation.

I think I suspected as much. Just goes to show that as a seller Paypal as a method of payment is not only expensive in terms of fees, but also gives you little or no protection. I have noticed more and more online stores using Google Checkout these days, but again as a buyer/seller I am not sure what the costs / advantages / disadvantages are over something like Paypal. I find it hard to believe they could be any worse though Do Ebay allow you to put Google Checkout as a method of payment on your auctions I wonder (using the "other" option, with a link in your auction text.....? Somehow I doubt it.

[amigamad]

Had a mobile phone for sale on eBay, it was 'bought' last nite.

Buyer had paid by Paypal, but was requesting postage to an unconfirmed address, which always gets me a bit suspicious to start with.

So, I requested the buyers contact details.

Their registered details were up in Yorkshire, but they wanted the phone shipped to Nottingham, approx 80 miles away

I then looked at what else they'd bought - amongst the items was another mobile.

So, I emailed the buyer, just to say I couldn't post next-day due to post office not being open.

Reply back was that's ok, "please post Thursday, to my boyfriend's address"

Wierd thing was, the 'boyfriend's' name wasn't part of the eBay ID - vicky-matty, but post to a guy called Richard.

Anyway, that was all at around 23:00 last night

This morning I have the following via eBay messages;

hi have u already sent this item out as i wasnt me who bought the phone but it was my account that was used some one has stolen my details and emptied my account yesterday is there anyway u could please cancel the payment going through. I am going to the police station today.

Sure enough, Paypal have taken the funds back out of my account.

Now, last night I had replies to emails, not just eBay messages, so whoever had her ebay details also had the password to her email address and paypal account!

Although I don't know, I'm guessing they either lost a computer with all the info stored in it or were daft enough to write it all down somewhere and lost it.

Even better, I've just had another eBay message asking me to post the phone to a different address again, this time in Kent.

Best bit of all though? I can't claim the final value fee back yet, as eBay say the goods have been paid for!

As of today, the account has won 4 mobiles totalling about 600 and a 200 gold chain

So, never be in a hurry to post nuthin'

I think phones are one of the worst items for scams apart from the fee,s at least you never lost the phone by sending it off .

[B.M.T.]

Don't go all heavy on "unconfirmed" paypal accounts. Paypal won't offer confirmation for Australian accounts, so we have no option.

I got done by Crown Jewel Penang, as well. But, it was only $7 for chromed TLT axle housings.