Foiled a amazon scammer, yay!

ovidiu · #1 10-30-2015

So sold some software on Amazon, it was shipped second day, and this morning the buyer sends a message before I woke up saying the software disc is just malware and does not have the actual program he purchased on it. By the time I wake up and start reviewing this, there are two more messages from the buyer and TWO different return requests have been opened for the same order (one by him, the other by Amazon customer service, who he apparently contacted in a BIG hurry telling them how it's all a big phake loaded with Trojans and browser hijacks and viruses).

I email him asking, "hey what's up this item is genuine what are you talking about?"

He starts off in his reply by saying he doesn't want to open an a to z claim, but the item is what it is, and TRUST him when he say's it's malware. Would I provide a FULL refund, including shipping, and not force his hand?

I reply asking how can a genuine, silver-pressed disc from 2009, when browser hijacks didn't even exist, load up his system with all this? And could he run malwarebytes on the disc and provide me with a log of the results?

This is where it gets interesting. He replies saying it was really just a burned disc with a label on it and the key code on a label on top of that. He also claimed he purchased a download version of the program from another vendor and it worked just fine (this particular software has never been authorized to be distributed digitally by the manufacturer, btw) Knowing that wasn't what I shipped him, I replied apologizing for the inconvenience and how I would be opening a case with the US Postal Service Inspector's Office to investigate this serious crime.

An hour later, he replied saying he ran malwarebytes and nothing turned up on the disc. All the other malware magically got cleaned up and he said that the viruses must have come from somewhere else and been activated by his inserting the disc and running the software he purchased from me. Uh huh, whatever, I nod along to this story and extend my sympathies, also advising him to get a refund for the "downloaded" version he supposedly got. No more on the supposed burned disc with a label that I sent him.

The sad part about this whole scam (yes, it was undoubtedly an attempt to scam me) was that the buyer (I looked him up) is a distinguished engineer with an advanced degree, hundreds of publications to his credit, and awards left and right. Go figure. Like one of the members on this forum's signature says, give someone a little bit of power and you will find out their real character.

halfevil333 · #2 10-31-2015

Nothing new, I sold a uk store exclusive to someone at - I think it was Microsoft or some other major name like that - in Belgium just a day or two after it was released. The next week I get a mail stating that the recorded delivery envelope had arrived empty and was signed by the companies postroom in that state. He also pointed out he did not need a replacement as he came across exactly the same dvd in some local record shop in Brussels on his way home on Friday (the day of the delivery of the empty envelope).

ovidiu · #3 10-31-2015

What made him decide that he "luckily" found a replacement by chance in a record store?

halfevil333 · #4 10-31-2015

Well, he had to come up with a reason why he needed a refund and not another dvd. Generally a giveaway that you are being scammed when they do not want a replacement, after all what's the point ordering something in the first place if you don't really want it?
But the most unbelievable story was made by an indian bloke who purchased a 70s sitcom notorious for being as politically incorrect as it gets. The only sale I had to someone of indian origin in more than one thousand sales of this title. initially he claimed non-receipt and opened an A-Z, which was turned down when amazon saw that he himself signed for it. Then he managed to reopen the claim again and it was again closed and then he managed to have it reopened for the third time, so eventually amazon refunded out of their own pocket.
Well, shouldn't complain, by the time amazon refunded he had sent the dvd - now in used condition - back to me, so I got a free used dvd for resale.

ovidiu · #5 11-01-2015

I have found that mailing to India is one of the worst things you could do, no tracking, unreliable postal system, individuals who are confused by basic English, wide open for item not received claims.