Forum

Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

As the title says, I have been scammed by a buyer and been let down ebay.

To make a long story short, I sold a brand new (not sealed) iphone Xs on ebay 2 weeks ago for £920. The buyer paid immediately and I sent the phone next day by special delivery. A few days later the buyer opened a case saying that the phone "wasn't as described", I told her that I didn't accept returns but she escalated the case and I was told that I have to accept the return. 2 days later I receive the package with the iphone xs box but inside the box was a completely destroyed iphone 6... I sent pictures to ebay and called them telling them what happened and they said they told me not to worry and that they will investigate it. Got an email a day later saying that ebay had sided with the buyer and sent her a refund...

I appealed and was told to send them evidence so I took pictures of the broken phone and sent it to them. I also called them up again and was told by the agent that there are MANY BUYERS WHO DO THIS and that they will further investigate. Low and behold, I got an email today saying that they have once again sided with the buyer because I can't prove what I originally sent to her.

I just want to know, am I screwed? Because I have been having panic attacks all day. My paypal account is £800+ in the red and I already used the money to pay off bills so I literally do not know how I'm going to pay paypal back. Is there anything I can do? The accounts are both stealth accounts and don't have my real name on them. Would I be able to report this to the police some how? I still have the receipt for the Iphone xs so maybe I could send it to them? But I don't know ='(

Any advice would be appreciated, Ian.

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

File a police report against her then present it to ebay and paypal - Sometimes a police report will scare ebay and paypal into 'resolving it' by giving her the phone and taking the loss themselves.

Report her to IC3 as well and phone her up to let her know that you are going to take this to the absolute limit

Contact the post office and let them open a fraud case against her.

And for future reference, only let them pay in cash in a populated location and count each and every bill in front of them.

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

Welcome to the forum - all the best as you master stealth :thumb:

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

eBay is unlikely to do anything. They'll tell you take this matter to a small claims court.

You can continue trying. I was in a similar situation and I just had to eat the loss after months of disputing. For me it was a matter of principle, but eBay's views are much simpler - side with the buyer.

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

Police report is the best thing to do

You can also get the phone bricked the it’s usless to the buyer

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

Thanks for the replies everyone.

This is what I'm hoping for but would ebay really take a £920 loss? I didn't know the post office could do that so I'll definitely look into it. The other problem is that the address I sent the phone too wasn't a residential address but a forwarding delivery company called Mapcargo. I didn't realise it or look into it at the time, I just thought it was someone wanting the phone sent to their business or something... I'm going to contact Mapcargo and explain to them what happened, maybe they can give me the address the phone was forwarded to.

Mate, I would be to nervous to sell anything out on the street lool.

I'm a university student and genuinely cannot afford to take the loss. My paypal is negative £811, I don't have the money to pay paypal back and I'm scared about whats going to happen. Like I'm not a business seller, I literally just sell random things every now and then and I'm not working at the moment. Will paypal send debt collectors to get the money? Its a stealth account and doesn't have my real name or address but the paypal account has my Natwest savers account on it and they can request my details from Natwest right?

How would I be able to brick the phone though?

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

I am assuming you got the phone on contact?

Or did you buy it from Apple directly?

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

The Phone was sent to MapCargo?

This suggests the phone was to be forwarded out of the country. Quite possibly to Africa.

Yet a few days after delivery to MapCargo a SNAD was opened?

Unless someone at MapCargo wanted the phone?

Needs clarifying. Is the actual buyer in or outside the UK?

Was there a return address on the returned package containing the Iphone 6?

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

My opinion if you have picture if the phone before and after you ship it send it to paypal so paypal can do some investigation about it

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

mate, I support you with this case:) GL!

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

hope you get this sorted!

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

In that case my advice is to continue to pester eBay, send them any proof possible.

Did you take pictures of the item when it was brand new? did you post those pictures up on eBay? This would help your case as it would show it was new when it was being sold.

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

The phone was returned to the seller/OP so I see no point in bricking/blocking the IMEI.

However, if the phone that was returned has a different IMEI to the one that was initially sent out... that would be a good idea.

But... if phone's been sent out of the country, I doubt it will have much affect as the block only works within certain countries.

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

OP sold an iPhone X and got an iPhone 6 back. I suspect its no longer the same phone :typing:

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

The only time something like this happened to me, Paypal sided with me in the end. Thank goodness.

Sold an new amplifier, and they sent back something from the 70s or some sh1t...

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

Ha, didn't notice that. :doh:

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

What did you do to convince them buyer was at fault?

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

Took a picture of the item they sent me, and sent it to paypal.

I could have been lying, as well, but they sided with me.

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

Fair enough. Congrats on the win nonetheless :thumb:

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

i sold some trainers(around £100) buyer opened up return case, forced to accept because ebays dumb business seller policy forces you too.. got parcel back with some scuffed up different shoes.

i sent pics to ebay but they didnt care, nor do anything, never bothered chasing it up though.

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

First of all, I just want to say thank you for all the advice and all the kind words :) it really means a lot.

Ebay have pretty much made it clear that there is nothing I can do and I also got in contact with Mapcargo but was told that they can't give me the address of the person the phone was sent to. I've kind of come to terms with the fact that the phone is gone and its pretty much my fault. I never took a picture of the iphone it self, only took one of the box. I will also make it clear in the description that I will only ever post items to the buyers house, not a forwarding company.

I spoke to my dad about all this and he said that this is just one of those things that I need to learn from and remember in the future whenever I'm selling something. But it just sucks because I owe £811 to paypal now and I keep getting emails asking me to resolve the negative balance. Like what do I do in this situation? I don't have the money to pay them. My dad said to ignore any debt collectors letter but its a stealth account and they don't have my real address.

Has anyone been in this situation with a stealth paypal account? If so, were they able to track you down to recover the funds? Also, can a paypal debt hurt my credit score?

Re: Scammed on ebay and need advice.
 

Stealth account? Phuck em...move on and start over!