Forum

Help - victim of mock auction on EBAY - paid for item, did not receive - scam scammed
 

I think I might have ran head first into my first ebay scam. This was about 3 weeks ago, and after the seller not answering my e-mails, I figured its safe to say I lost 300 bucks.


It was a used laptop. Something I really needed for I sell electronics. It was a good deal, the seller had no feedback and was pretty much new. Anyways, after talking to he said he wanted half the money on paypal and half via western union. I agreed, he sounded sincere and I figured with the paypal I could get my money back, which im sure I will. Now after no response to my e-mails, no response the the claim on paypal. I'm wondering if I could possibly take legal action against this guy or better yet have him aresseted... anyone have any ideas?

Yeah you lost out on western union... you can probably get your Paypal money back if the seller hasn't withdrawn it yet, but it doesn't look good. Follow what Modee's advice and maybe you'll get some of it back.

It's sad, there is so much fraud out there it's crazy.

Thing is, we ended auction out of ebay... Im not really worried about the money, just the principle...

Well.. firstly, the above comment says it all... we all do deals outside of Ebay, but to have the seller Stipulate payment terms, in 2 different processes would have had me reaching for the "bollocks to this deal" button, and any mention of Western union, and i do not even entertain..

Learn the lesson and move on.. you will spend more time devoted to "your principles than $300 justifies.."

Friend Used Paypal Got Scammed (Told Him So)
 

So my friend is in some real crap. Bought a laptop off ebay for like 1500. I told him if he was going to use paypal to only use his credit card but apparently interest fees were higher ranking than his safety.

Fast forward, hes out 1500 and the guy never sent the item. The seller's ebay account is suspended now and we are trying to see if theres anything that can be done. He did the information request thing with ebay and we googled it but the address doesnt even exist. The guy was paypal verified so it was attached to a real bank account.

Whats the next course of events. He's gonna file all the police reports and such but ive heard that unless its over like $5000, they wont even move and even if they do it may take them years to get to him. Any suggestions.

Good luck if he used a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ eBay/PayPal account (most likely the case). Short of going to court, nobody will trace him back to his bank account. Banking laws prohibit that.

I may be un-educated on this type of thing, but how much of this goes on, ⊗⊗⊗⊗ ebay/pp scam. ex. selling a non-exisiting item or an item without ever intending to ship it. Why can't you link it back to the bank account??? I can see where a large purchase $1000 or more can be pursued thru the legal system, but a $200-$300 purchase and your basically screwed???? that would really suck.

why would you ever western union someone money on ebay.
the moment someone asks you to pay by western union = SCAMMER

I tried to sell a piece of yard equipment on Craigslist. Nobody legitimate wanted it. But I get lots of emails from people who said they would send me a money order if they have their shipper come and pick it up and I pay the shipper cash and they would cover the cash in the money order.

anyone that asks about WU on ebay is 100% Nigerian scammer, or just plain scammer