confronting a scammer

[ebaywanton]

A buyer messaged me today stating they received a empty package and that the seal was broken (mobile phone). I knew immediately it was a scam, especially since the message was poorly structured (and my gut never lies).

Since i have a business account, you can find the buyers number, so i called it, they answered and i spoke to them firmly letting them know ebay sellers can be mean too haha!

Fair to say he won't be back. If this happens to any of you to a high value product, just bombard them with calls and use their address as leverage (soft threats). ONLY DO THIS IF YOU KNOW YOU ARE VICTIM OF A SCAM.

Scam buyers are the pitfalls of this universe.

I knew the phone was in their household since we track the serial numbers during transit, so they definitely had it.

Moral of the story, just constantly phone them, use their address as leverage, and make a soft threat if you have to.

DISCLAIMER; I AM NOT PROMOTING VIOLENT MEANS, DO THIS ON YOUR OWN ACCORD LOL.

[barbarosserbest]

I'm seeing some Facebook groups doing the same thing for amazon how can you keep the money and the product at the same time because we are generally selling cheap stuff never experienced one. Good luck.

[ebaywanton]

Indeed, they can open cases and return nothing, but then bombard their address and number etc.

[Pandoras_box]

Good thing you have the scammer off your back. But an experienced scammer may call your bluff.

I won't be selling expensive stuff on eBay that I cannot afford to let go. But should I ever be in your shoes for an item that's expensive, I'd announce to the buyer that should they pursue it, I'd drag them to the small claims court and ask for the cost of the phone including court cost.
I'd really follow up if the call my bluff.
Babz Media used to get hit by these sort of scams and they followed through with small claims.

[agent006140]

if this is an Ebay transaction,all they have to do is open a case of INAD and return your item,if you call them and act mean,they will just destroy your phone and return it ,Ebay with refund them in full and you pay return shipping ,plus getting back a phone you cant sell.

[Hank]

Originally Posted by ebaywanton

I knew the phone was in their household since we track the serial numbers during transit

Can you tell us how this is done please?

[somanyquestions]

Originally Posted by Hank

Can you tell us how this is done please?

I figure since you have the IMEI you can trace where it is by contacting the phone company. It's a general location like an IP address. It's probably not that hard to figure out.

[ebaywanton]

Indeed, that as of above. The IMEI would give a rough geo-location.

[james_112233]

Originally Posted by Pandoras_box

Good thing you have the scammer off your back. But an experienced scammer may call your bluff.

I won't be selling expensive stuff on eBay that I cannot afford to let go. But should I ever be in your shoes for an item that's expensive, I'd announce to the buyer that should they pursue it, I'd drag them to the small claims court and ask for the cost of the phone including court cost.
I'd really follow up if the call my bluff.
Babz Media used to get hit by these sort of scams and they followed through with small claims.

Small claims won't work against a veteran scammer.

All the thief has to do is claim they had another witness that saw them open the parcel which revealed an empty box so now it's 2v1 in court.

Threatening with violence will also get you charged with malicious communications.

[ebaywanton]

Even if the scammer takes it to court, the weight on the receipt says otherwise, so i guess the seller would get their way.

[Hank]

Originally Posted by somanyquestions

I figure since you have the IMEI you can trace where it is by contacting the phone company. It's a general location like an IP address. It's probably not that hard to figure out.

I see so its the IMEI that is tracked not the serial number. How is an IMEI tracked?

Can this be done if the phone is switched off as it is during transit? Can this be done if no SIM is inserted and activated?

[Pandoras_box]

Originally Posted by james_112233

Small claims won't work against a veteran scammer.

All the thief has to do is claim they had another witness that saw them open the parcel which revealed an empty box so now it's 2v1 in court.

Threatening with violence will also get you charged with malicious communications.

It should work 100% if you do it right and present insurmountable evidence.
Small claims will work with facts and not your own eye witness especially when you're the accused.

As discussed, Babz did it all the time.

I would not offer anything on eBay that I am not prepared to lose, but if I did and got scammed, I'd go the small claims way without hesitation.

And yes, threats of violence or even verbal / written abuse is a no no.

[james_112233]

That's the thing though ... Insurmountable evidence.

It's tough to provide that otherwise eBay or PayPal would have helped.

[theintersect]

how do you go about small claims if you don't know their actual name?

[Pandoras_box]

Originally Posted by james_112233

That's the thing though ... Insurmountable evidence.

It's tough to provide that otherwise eBay or PayPal would have helped.

Insurmountable evidence is proof of delivery + listed weight on receipt.
A £500 item is most likely going to weigh more than an empty box.

[agent006140]

I can print a label and pay for a 10 lbs item,but ship nothing,as long as I am willing to pay the postage,it is no proof of what is inside.
unless it is a laptop and seller ship a thin envelope.

[Pandoras_box]

Originally Posted by agent006140

I can print a label and pay for a 10 lbs item,but ship nothing,as long as I am willing to pay the postage,it is no proof of what is inside.
unless it is a laptop and seller ship a thin envelope.

No live tracking, no receipt from postal service showing the weight of what you sent and consequently no leg to stand on as a seller. If that was possible, eBay will be rife with sellers scamming buyers.

As you well know, eBay covers buyers against that type of loss or fraud.

On the contrary, if I sold high-ticket items, what I'd be most afraid of is a stealth buyer. There's hardly a credible way to avoid a loss when the buyer is stealth.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by theintersect

how do you go about small claims if you don't know their actual name?

The point you're making is right in what you have written...