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Attempted scam on eBay
 

So I sold a few GoPro 4 Hero cams on eBay, I had them on a buy it now feature which 1 person bought 1 camera then bought 2 more the day after. Emailed me asking me to ship in one box. I said sure. The second buyer bought 1 camera and emailed me asking why the tracking number had not been updated to show any activity. I replied and said it takes 1 day or so before USPS updates it.

Sooo.....

Today I'm hit with 3 Unauthorized disputes from those two buyers!!! The one that bought 3 cameras on 2 separate orders and another one that just bought 1 camera. I contacted PayPal and gave them the tracking numbers (which had already been added on PayPal and on eBay) I gave them to her over the phone... She said to wait 24 hours for them to investigate the claim.

I then send the screen shots of the eBay messages they sent where one asks me to ship the 3 cameras in one package and the other guy asking about the tracking. I call back again and they say I have to wait till they show delivered in order for them to release the funds.

A few min later I get an email on eBay that one of the accounts i shipped to was "compromised" and that eBay was in process of getting the account back to the OG owner. I'm not sure if the account was really compromised or not. But I was told i'm protected as a seller and that i'll get paid on those cameras. Should I be okay?

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

If they said you'll get your money back, keep hold of that email. Dont let it go. I would assume you should be find.

Account compromised - was the ship to address on paypal confirmed?

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Yes on both buyers it shows confirmed

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

hmm.. hard to judge.

It happen to me once, for just one item though. I got my money back after a week or so. But most interestingly, once the account had been returned back to the 'original owner', I sent numerous messages via ebay to establish what happened, but all were ignored.

I got a feeling lies were told. :shhh:

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I'm calling malarkey on the whole "compromised" thing. Its clearly the same person who made the purchase. They're just trying to pull a fast one. Dont think i'll be selling on eBay again. This is the 3rd time this has happened to me. I'm going to lose the account

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I always sell high risk items in person. GoPro has made it into the high risk category IMO. Once you have a little experience in selling, you'll know what attracts the wrong attention. :spy:

I also assume the buyer has been an established member on ebay? as was my case.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

yeah both members have over 60 in feedback

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

good luck. i only sell this stuff in person for the same exact reasons. sca.mmed numerous times and just accepted the fact that majority of people shopping for these types of items are absolute scum of the earth.

that person is 100% attempting to sc.am you

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

You were told that you were protected as a seller in the e-mail from eB, correct?

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

To the OP:
Go to USPS.COM and get a MAIL INTERCEPT on those packages today.

Also first thing tomorrow morning is to call the local post office at the buyer's zipcode and ask for the manager. Explain to the manager that you put a mail intercept on those packages and don't deliver them.

I would rather get my packages back than to wait for paypal to make their holy decision.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I've actually done that, it helps doing it ASAP.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

No i wasn't told via email but both the paypal reps i spoke with said I'm protected 100%. But then again who really knows

But If I call the USPS and intercept the packages wouldn't that affect the claim?

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

To be honest I think you are better off Intercepting the package and getting it back, who knows paypal may still give you your money back even if you get your item back.
I would intercept it now.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I just tried online via the USPS page but it says theres not enough info on the tracking number to intercept, I tried on both. It asked to confirm the addresses where they were going which I did and chose my home address to have it sent back. Didn't let me intercept, I gave them the right info so not sure why it didn't allow me to do it....:rant:

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

You can always call usps tomorrow morning 1-800-275-8777.
The rep will do it for you after taking your info.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Do i just refund the money if and when i get the packages?

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Now that paypal cases are open I'm not sure you have the ability to refund at this point.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

What do you suggest I do at that point? I'd hate to lose the account over these scums

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I hope you don't lose the account. Just make sure no more cases happen too soon.
I would suggest you try to retrieve your packages, but usps can be very slow and end up delivering them so make sure you call usps first thing in the morning

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I hadn't had any disputes in almost a year. I think this is the first dispute this year. I guess i should be okay

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I would definitely choose to intercept the packages if at all possible. Because regardless of anything, if you broke ANY of eBay's shipping guidelines, regardless of whether it was at the customer's request, they could simply refuse to cover you under seller protection. The email you have is probably not set in stone. The next one could say "Unfortunately, upon further review, we have determined that you are NOT covered under the seller protection program."

Now, if you are sure you followed all of the rules and got signature confirmation (I don't know what the value is on the cameras, so I don't know if you need it or not) then you should be covered. But I wouldn't pin everything on that letter you got from eBay.

If you can get your merchandise back, do so and let eBay know. You can always re-sell the cameras. It is not worth a lost account. That is the only way that I can see you would be 100% made whole (well, minus the shipping fees).

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

you need to try and get them back no matter what. you know the sca.mmer ain't gonna send them back to you. so do whatever you can to gain some control here.

i've tried intercept with USPS but they failed to help when i did it. get someone on the phone as recommended above

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I just called USPS but they said its not possible to intercept, because i purchased the shipping through a third party in my case paypal it doesn't show them what the weight is. So i'm SOL on that end. I did purchase signature confirmation on both packages so that has to help me. I don't have a choice but to rely on paypal to help me out. I didn't get an email about the seller protection, i was only told on the phone by the two agents that i'd be taken care of regardless. Lets see what happens

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Good move on the intercepting as recommended by other ppl here.

Thanks for clarifying - so it was just "speech" by paypal reps....I would not take it for much value unless written - many of the CS Reps there are out of touch for some issues

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Send an email to paypal. Get it in writing. Cover your back as much as you.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I just emailed

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

I got an automated response. Since I selected Seller Protection from the email options. I did notice this at the bottom


With "Eligible" transactions, you are fully protected if your buyer doesn’t receive the item you shipped or if an unauthorized payment was made.

And from I recall all 3 were eligible

Only thing that concerns me is that on the buyer that bought the 3 cameras, he bought 1 then two later. I ended up canceling one of the labels and went with only one. On paypal it shows that im requesting to refund it but when I called paypal I gave them the same tracking number for both packages. Which I updated on eBay right away (Not sure if that even matters at this point) I hope they don't hold that against me.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Respond to that auto response. Any email sent to Paypal always come back with an automatic response

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

UPDATE: I called PayPal once again today and spoke with someone who looked at the notes and said that the packages were being shipped to the right addresses so I'm protected. He said he would escalate the case to have the money released in my favor, he claimed he didn't have the power to close the dispute himself it would have to escalated to a higher up. Not sure how true that is. It should take 24 hours according to him. I won't believe it till I see it but he gave me hope. I'll update once anything changes.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Update: Well after calling PayPal almost everyday they finally closed all 3 cases and released my funds. I was covered under the sellers protection. The scammers also did get the money back as well. I got two emails on eBay a few days ago that the accounts of the buyers had become "compromised" and were being returned back, Too bad i didn't get that message before I shipped out the cameras. Not sure if it was really true they were hacked or not but i'll be mailing a box animal feces to both buyers for causing me so much stress and having my money held for over a week. (there's a website where you can have animal feces shipped to whoever you want and they take PayPal) Lesson learned. Will not be selling anything of high value on eBay. Too much risk any more of those claims and my account will be closed. Thanks to those that offered their help.

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Yeah, not to take this in a different direction, but since you mentioned GoPRo's, and I'm not going to handle them (ever) again, I sold about 15 of them at one point, and at least one out of 5 were bought with an unauthorized account (which I think was just a claim, I didn't think the accounts were hacked, just scam disputes). I went through this EXACT problem, and had to follow up step by step to get my payments back which I ended up getting all but one out of 4 or 5 disputes. So frustrating, if you list them at auction, the high bidder is a zero fb from china, if you do a BIN, they grab them then dispute them. That was a nightmare product for me. Anyway, so much sweat to sell a handful of easy to ship items. You have my heartfelt sympathies, my friend!

Re: Attempted scam on eBay
 

Oh man I KNOW!

I'm honestly afraid to sell a hammer on eBay at this point

I had the cameras on BIN. Only 1 out of 5 cameras was a legit purchase. I honestly don't believe those accounts were stolen. Just a claim to get them for free. Which they did, since they got the refund too. Its a crying shame. I currently have 7 Galaxy S7 phones but I wouldn't dare putting up for sale on eBay. I might go with swappa. I have them on craiglist and on the Letgo app but i get nothing but scammers asking me to ship it to Africa and they'll pay me with Paypal, Seems legit right? What can possibly go wrong!