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Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Hello everybody.
Although this topic is not exactly linked to the most common discussions of this forum, I don't think anybody better than you people here, could advise me on the matter.
I've been scammed on ebay/paypal.

I'm based in the UK and I bought an item on ebay of a couple of hundred pounds from a user with only 6 feedbacks. I bought the item and paid with paypal. The purchase was soon cancelled and the item re listed. I also received a refund (still pending on paypal). The seller explained the cancellation saying that his paypal account holds his funds because it's new, so he suggested me to pay him through 'family and friends' and gave me his paypal address (which later I found out is different from the one linked to his ebay account). Unfortunately I proceeded.
Having said this, you expert people can already guess the rest of the story.
The same night or the next night the ebay transaction was cancelled by the seller, and when I asked him about it, he told me not to worry, and that in his ebay settings, orders that do not receive payments after a certain time get cancelled automatically. He promised the item would be dispatched the next day afternoon.

I still have not received the item, and the seller has stopped replying.
I opened a case on paypal, attached all the screenshots of the messages and wrote the story.
What else can I do? Is it over? I searched on google, and it clearly says that paypal cannot protect me and issue any refund when money are sent through the family and friends method.
I read that if you pay through credit card you can make a claim and get the money back. In my case paypal took the money from my debit card.

I think nowadays these SCAM people should be easily traceable, unless this guy is a genius of technology.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Why on Gods good earth would you send someone money via Friends and Family for an expensive item? You weren't scammed, you were talked (played) into doing something that you should not have done...and you probably knew it wasn't a good idea, didn't bother checking with the forum before doing this?

Traceable?, listen....Paypal isn't going to trace this person down for you.....

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Is your answer the equivalent of 'You can't do anything, you lost your money'?
Any advice?
Traceable by the police.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

In my honest opinion, there isn't much you can do.....I mean you were "talked" into sending the seller the money. The police aren't going to "trace" this person down either. You can call PayPal and see what they have to say but to me, it's done.....game over.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Thousands of charge-backs happen everyday honest or dishonest reasons. Do you see the POPO investigating on each one?
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Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Call PayPal right away. Even if you cannot dispute personal payments, PayPal themselves can still open a dispute if you have a valid story and evidences.

But as everyone has been saying, don't be so trusting towards strangers on the internet.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Excuse my ignorance but like I said the money was taken from my debit card, not credit card. Is it the same? I've also been told that if you open a claim through your card (do the charge-back I guess), paypal gets upset and will not allow you to use it anymore. Can you please explain? Thanks

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Yes I've opened a claim and attached the screenshots of the messages between me and the seller. I've also written the whole story.

But do you think paypal will not refund me? I think opening a case will only make paypal ban that person's account...

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

If you paid using a debit card from a bank, you can let them now and they will process a chargeback for you.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Can they actually do that for debit? I know they have a procedure for fraud, but does OP's story qualify for that?

OP, very sorry to hear about your situation. Wish you hadn't sent the $ via the friends option. Definitely try the chargeback method if it's possible


Your bank will always go the extra mile for you. IMO, they're always the best bet to get a credit compared to PayPal.

What you're saying is not really true. You can still use your PP just fine. However, if you first open a dispute with your bank, PP policy says they won't look at the case afterwards if the chargeback fails (only one option). As opposed to first going through PP, getting the inevitable denial, and then going to your bank (two options)

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

So you obviously suggest me to call paypal first, wait for what they say and then after denial go to my bank? Will paypal answer take long? Like a week or even 30 days? Also, in case of denial, do you suggest to persevere and call again, hoping for a more compassionate rep?
Thanks

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

I would start by calling the bank. See IF they have a way of helping you in this case, and if so, what their deadline is. See if they have a way to reverse debits/credit your account and if it would be possible to categorize this as fraud (if not, find out how they would process it). And also ask them how long you have to file a dispute on the transaction... Paypal's window, IF they choose to accept it, is 180 days I think. The bank's window might not be so generous.

Then I would also call PayPal and ask what kind of help they can provide in this scenario, if any. I really don't know if they can, as they go out of their way to tell buyers not to use the "send Money" option for payments. But Binary's post is encouraging and I hope that it is true.

Then, based off what each provider can do for you, make a decision from there. Yes, PP can be very slow, so make sure their timeline doesn't conflict with the bank's deadline

Re: PP perseverance, I dont think you'd have luck in reaching a more compassionate rep (maybe you would). Your best bet might be to appeal the decision, speak with escalations department, things along those lines

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Do you think I can be totally honest with the bank, telling the whole story from ebay to paypal/family and friends method?

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

You are wasting your time in talking to us with this, go to the bank and call paypal. You just wasted an entire day on writing this, less talk more action.

And never send money via "friends and family" when you dont know the other person.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

It was night here in the UK. I couldn't call anybody anyway. I used it for my preparation.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Who's know those Feedback was Fak3 i mean he gives money ( someone ) to put reviews
anyways you should not trust Strange peoples or those you don't know
come to the point. In my opinion you should open a topic on PAYPAL'S official forum and put the entire store on it Rather sending them mails

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

even when a case is opened for a friends & family payment, the paypal case will still ask for proof of delivery from the seller.

so you still have hope. I myself have lost these cases when i used to accept paypal on the forum a few years back, which is a main reason why sellers on here dont accept it anymore.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

Guys. This it he result I achieved today. So far seems very positive.
I called my bank and the guy on the phone was very nice and easy to deal with. I asked for my chargeback, and he said I would likely receive it this evening, and yes I can confirm that it's in my bank account.

Now...

Asking to the guy how the chargeback works (excuse my ignorance), the guy told me that what the bank gives you is a temporary refund. After that, the bank approaches paypal to get the money back from them. If things don't work out between them, then the bank might ask those money back from me. It doesn't seem likely, but that could happen. What is your experience/knowledge on this?

Paypal in response to the case I opened sent me an email saying that obviously they can't help me, and that I don't have buyer's protection.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

You just prolonged your problem. As far as I can see, the root of the problem can be solved by PP and not your bank. If PP says no, problem not solved and vice versa.
__________________
How to use Paypal correctly
Run multiple portable Firefox, 1 user account
How to add new PP to eBay
How to clean photos
Best image resizer

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

What do you mean? I have the money in my bank.

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

So what they issued you is a temporary credit. This is pretty common. Often times, when the buyer initiates a chargeback, the bank will automatically credit your account the disputed amount. they will then conduct an investigation. If the results are in your favor, you keep the credit. If they are not, they reverse the credit.

As far as "asking PP for the money back", I have no experience with that. I suppose in rare cases PP could put the scamming sellers account into a negative balance, but I suspect that won't happen since you used the friends and family method. But who knows.

I don't know what will happen if Paypal "Doesn't give the money back". From the way you phrased it, it seems it would be up to the bank's discretion how they want to proceed. Hope it works out though

Re: Been scammed on a purchase from ebay/paypal. Need your advice
 

i have no clue what empirestate means either..

but if you open a payment dispute with the bank, (because its not a credit card payment) usually the money goes into your account balance'.

so your bank will leave it this way while they investigate the payment.
your bank should contact paypal and paypal have to prove your claim, which would mean they would require more information again from the seller.

you will most likely win this, it just takes a while.