|
|
 How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Starting May 1—get up to 2,500 FREE listings* every month with an eBay Stores subscription
eBay has reduced the upfront cost to sell for Store sellers! With eBay’s new everyday rate plans, you get from up to 150 to 2,500 FREE listings* per month—no insertion fees, auction-style or fixed price—with an eBay Stores subscription. You pay a final value fee only when you sell! Plus, the final value fees for Stores have been streamlined to just 5 competitive category-based rates as low as 4%—and never more than 9%—regardless of how you sell.
Learn more about everything eBay Stores have to offer, then use the Fee Illustrator to find the best Store option for you! Watch this tutorial to learn how.
*Pay no insertion fees for your allotted free listings per calendar month. Optional fees, including advanced listing upgrades and supplemental service fees, still apply. Pay final value fees only when you sell. Motors Vehicles, Real Estate, Heavy Equipment, Concession Trailers & Carts, Imaging & Aesthetics Equipment and Commercial Printing Presses are excluded. 12 free pictures does not apply to Motors Vehicles listings. Terms are subject to change. Learn more.
|
|
How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Jun 21, 2007 03:53 AM
|
This advice relates to a particular scam carried out by some people living in Nigeria but elements of it may be useful for other scam buyers.
HOW THE SCAM WORKS
The scammer lives in Nigeria but because they're pretending to live somewhere else they ask for the item to be sent to a relative or friend in Nigeria (really themselves).
They persuade the seller to send the goods on receipt of a fake payment confirmation email, usually from Paypal but also from various banks, Western Union or other payment services. Or just by promising payment. The seller sends the item to Nigeria but the promised payment never materialises. They target new sellers of relatively expensive items, especially cell phones and other electronic goods.
Some of them will have newly registered IDs with fake addresses in various countries. A growing number are now also using hi-jacked accounts. These can be identified by the ID having been dormant for some time and/or a sudden change in items being bought.
Check the rest of their purchases using Advanced Search (top of any page) > Items by Bidder (include completed items). If they have bought a large number of similar expensive items over one or two days then the odds are they're scammers.
HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM
1. The idea is to get the scammer suspended first to make it quicker for you to do the Unpaid Item process in order to get your final value fee back. So first report to eBay using this link:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_us/_base/index_selection.html
Select: Selling and managing your item > Continue > Fraud and transaction problems > Buyer paid or attempted to pay with fake/stolen funds > Continue > Email Us.
And then report their fake contact details here (the report link is at the bottom):
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/identity-false.html
2. After that they should be suspended within a couple of days. Do not bother to reply to their emails. Keep an eye on their ID and when it says "No longer registered with eBay" beside it you will be able to do the Unpaid Item process immediately to get your final value fees back, here's that link:
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CreateDispute
3. After that you can relist and if it sells the second time your relisting fee will be refunded too. If you relist before completing the Unpaid Item process you will not be eligible for a relisting fee refund. If for some reason the scammer is not suspended quickly you will have to wait seven days to start the Unpaid Item process in the usual way.
4. You can make a Second Chance Offer before they're suspended and before doing the Unpaid Item process, if that's what you prefer to do but make sure the underbidder isn't a scammer too. To check a bidder have a look at what else they're bidding on. Click on Advanced Search (top of any page), then on Items by Bidder, put in the ID, tick "include completed listings" and then click on "search". If they are newly registered and buying large quantities of the same sort of expensive items, then the odds are they're also scammers.
5. If the scammer has used a hi-jacked account eBay will temporarily suspend the account and the transaction will usually be removed from their database. If so your final value fee should automatically be refunded to your seller account and there will be no need to do the Unpaid Item process. Check for your fee refund at My eBay > Seller Account > View Account Status. If it has not been refunded contact eBay's live help and ask them to do it manually. Here's their link:
https://cschatlb-na.corp.ebay.com/chat.asp?profile=15
If the transaction has not been removed you will need to do the Unpaid Item process to get your final value fee back. If you have received notification from eBay that the account was hi-jacked it should mean that by then the account has been returned to its rightful owner. In that case if possible use the "mutual consent" option which the real account holder has to agree to. Email them first to warn them.
If you get no reply or you believe the account has not been returned to the rightful owner do NOT use the "mutual consent" option, do it in the usual way, starting seven days after end of auction.
TO PREVENT IT HAPPENING AGAIN
1. The only effective way against hi-jacked accounts is to use Immediate (Paypal) Payment on your listing, then the listing cannot end without payment being made. To do that during the listing process select to sell Fixed Price Only (or Buy It Now and auction but then you must use a reserve - minimum £50 - to keep the BIN and Immediate Payment if a bid is placed.) and you'll see the link to use Immediate Payment just below the Paypal logo. To use Fixed Price/Buy It Now you must have a feedback rating of 10 or if you have a Paypal account and accept it as an option on your listing a feedback rating of 5 or more.
2. Other options will work if the scammer has registered a new ID for themselves, eg. block zero or low feedback bidders with no credit card on file, buyers in countries where you don't ship and those without Paypal accounts, all on here:
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences
3. If you are not using Immediate Payment do not use Buy It Now. Then at least you might have the chance to cancel unwanted bids.
Please also be aware of credit card scams, usually (but not only) from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, where they pay using Paypal but use stolen or fake credit cards so the money is withdrawn by Paypal later. Do not accept Paypal payment for expensive items from these and other scam areas. If necessary issue a refund and report fake funds to eBay as above.
If in doubt about a buyer please ask for advice on the Trust & Safety board.
|
|
|
|
(624 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Aug 5, 2012 05:58 AM
|
chicof, excatly how does one file a ripoff report??
|
|
|
|
(625 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Aug 5, 2012 06:02 AM
|
Who said scammers don't have paypal accounts?
ROTFL LMAO!
That is how they screw sellers, by filing bogus complaints with paypal!
Paypal is the scammer's friend.
|
|
|
|
(626 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Aug 6, 2012 03:43 PM
|
Thank you for your good advice, peaseblossom--however, I just tried eBay's phone process. I did succeed, after holding on for a very long time to convince a customer service rep that my bidder was fraudulent. She then decided (and this is an unusual favor by them) to transfer me to Safety & Trust, where I held on for over 30 minutes and then had to hang up out of frustration. So, to conclude, eBay apparently really had no interest in investigating fraudulent members---in the first place, they allow them to become members without valid names (or, rather, their servers accept all and any!),
|
|
|
|
(627 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Aug 15, 2012 09:44 PM
|
also got message from seller Nigeria
|
|
|
|
(628 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Aug 15, 2012 11:52 PM
|
Yes, I've noticed. Horrible.
Kitty's Jewelry - Etc.
Alt. Fashion 4 Less.
Google us!
|
|
|
|
(629 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Aug 20, 2012 06:29 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
(630 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Aug 26, 2012 02:33 PM
|
the person who stole from me, his ebay user name is aj0hns0n
his name is allen johnson, from gary IN. his paypal email address is vsj2674@sbcglobal.net so beward. ebay nor paypal did not help me in my case. i sold a samsung galxay note unlocked white for $600. i ship this cell to allen johnson, it was delivery and he said he never received the cell. so ebay refuned him the money because i just had confirmation number, not signature confirmation. ebay says they cant do any for over $250 with out signautre, never knew that. so if you selling something and dont put signature required, that buyer can steal it and open a case against you. if you open up a new browser, go to google, type in usps tracking number, look for usps track and confirm, a box comes up, if you put this tracking number in, you can see my cell was delivered. but because i had no signature required, ebay allow this person to steal from me. the tracking number is 03030130000285548673 . as you can see, buyers who are scammers steal. beware of this person, and beware, when shipping something. put signature required. thank you.
|
|
|
|
(631 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Aug 30, 2012 07:26 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
(632 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 1, 2012 12:07 PM
|
So yes I was duped by Brad Wenzel 14232 Marsh Lane #159 Addison, TX 75001 We sold him a Rolex DJ Oyster band in pristine condition and it was delivered to him signature confirmation just for my peace of mind because I discovered when preparing his shipment that he is getting his mail at the Eagle Postal Center in Addison, TX which is his way of winning claims with Paypal against sellers! (ALTHOUGH WITH PAYPAL YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED A PO BOX ADDRESS....BUT HIS WAY AROUND THIS.... IS THIS EAGLE POSTAL CENTER GIVES HIM A PHYSICAL ADDRESS) He is getting his mail at a PO BOX located inside of the Eagle Postal Center and when I realized this is where the watch was being shipped to I chose to get signature confirmation...being that the post office should not have accepted anyone else's signature except Brad Wenzel's correct?!?? .....WRONG! Mark Winstead is who signs for Brad Wenzels packages at this location....well then Brad Wenzel can claim that a package was opened and there was no watch inside or he got an empty box...so on and so on..... and then he automatically wins the claim with paypal...he has figured out a loop hole...and I PROMISED PAYPAL AND EBAY IF IT TAKES ME TO MAKE A EXAMPLE OUT OF BRAD WENZEL AND HOW HE IS FRAUDING SELLERS AND PAYPAL ALIKE I WILL MAKE IT MY POINT TO DO SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS WILL NOT END HERE I WILL NOT LOOSE MY WATCH AND MY MONEY LIKE THIS!!
IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER PLEASE I BEG OF YOU TO CONTACT ME!!!!!
I CONTACTED THE ADDISON POLICE DEPT. THEY WILL NOT TAKE A POLICE REPORT VIA TELEPHONE AS THEY CANNOT VERIFY MY IDENTITY! I AM ONE RELENTLESS CHICK AND HE HAS BUCKED WITH THE ABSOLUTE WRONG CHIC! IF I HAVE TO GET A PLANE TICKET TO ADDISON,TX I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THIS MATTER RESOLVED!!! THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!!!!
|
|
|
|
(633 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 4, 2012 10:40 AM
|
I'm having trouble posting my ideas...
|
|
|
|
(634 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 5, 2012 11:08 AM
|
We're more concerned with the scam buyers who demand free stuff with the threat of negative feedback for those who refuse to give in to their bullying.
Peter Egan of Egan Healthcare
|
|
|
|
(635 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 14, 2012 03:00 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
(636 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 14, 2012 09:59 AM
|
in reply to:
So yes I was duped by Brad Wenzel 14232 Marsh Lane #159 Addison, TX 75001 We sold him a Rolex DJ Oyster band in pristine condition and it was delivered to him signature confirmation just for my peace of mind because I discovered when preparing his shipment that he is getting his mail at the Eagle Postal Center in Addison, TX which is his way of winning claims with Paypal against sellers! (ALTHOUGH WITH PAYPAL YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED A PO BOX ADDRESS....BUT HIS WAY AROUND THIS.... IS THIS EAGLE POSTAL CENTER GIVES HIM A PHYSICAL ADDRESS) He is getting his mail at a PO BOX located inside of the Eagle Postal Center and when I realized this is where the watch was being shipped to I chose to get signature confirmation...being that the post office should not have accepted anyone else's signature except Brad Wenzel's correct?!?? .....WRONG! Mark Winstead is who signs for Brad Wenzels packages at this location....well then Brad Wenzel can claim that a package was opened and there was no watch inside or he got an empty box...so on and so on..... and then he automatically wins the claim with paypal...he has figured out a loop hole...and I PROMISED PAYPAL AND EBAY IF IT TAKES ME TO MAKE A EXAMPLE OUT OF BRAD WENZEL AND HOW HE IS FRAUDING SELLERS AND PAYPAL ALIKE I WILL MAKE IT MY POINT TO DO SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS WILL NOT END HERE I WILL NOT LOOSE MY WATCH AND MY MONEY LIKE THIS!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am really sorry to hear people have to post stuff like this.
I am on the look out for things like this happening to us.
I am from Chicago and I know this is kind of a seedy area to begin with. Ewww. Again, my husband and I own www dot kittysjewelry dot net and we are not listing things on e bay as much as we used to because of scammy "buyers". We get bidders that end up not paying and that ties up our inventory. I try really to put things in our terms and conditions of sales but it seems that no one reads them. It is getting really horrible. Out of ten winning bids, six or seven end up NOT PAYING.
Kitty's Jewelry - Etc.
Alt. Fashion 4 Less.
Google us!
|
|
|
|
(637 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 17, 2012 07:47 PM
|
I wANT TO WARN EBAY MEMBERS AND PEOPLE WHO USE THE CLASSIFIEDS-i RECENTLY HAD A BUYER FROM MY CLASSIFIED AD THAT WANTED TO BUY MY ITEM. hE SENT ME A CHECK FOR $3,999.00 AND ASKED ME TO TAKE MY PRICE FOR THE ARTICLE AND SEND HIM THE REST. RED FLAGS WENT UP, AND WHEN THE MAN (SAID HIS NAME WAS RICK JOHNSON) SENT THE CHECK BY FED EX I ALMOST BELIEVED HIM. I HAD MY BANK CHECK IT OUT, IT WAS VARIFIED AS A PHONY CHECK FOR MULTIBLE REASONS. REPORTED IT TO THE POLICE BUT SINCE IT WAS ONLY AN ATTEMPTED SCAM I COULD NOT FILE ANYTHING. HOWEVER I WANT TO WARN YOU ALL OUT THERE.
THE CHECK HAD NO ADDRESS FOR THE BANK, THE # ON CHECK WAS LOW, AND THE ROUTING # DIDN'T EXIST. IM DID A CHECK ON GOOGLE AND THE NAME AND ADDRESS OF ANOTHER PERSON ON THE CHECK TOP CORNER WAS VALID. I DON'T KNOW IF HE WAS INVOLVED OR NOT AND BY THE TIME I FINISHED I HAD 3 NAMES AND ADDRESSES BUT NONE FOR A RICK JOHNSON. SO LOOK FOR THESE SIGNS, GO TO YOUR BANK TO CHECK, DON'T SEND MONEY UNLESS IT IS WITH PAYPAL OR YOU KNOW THE PERSON PERSONALLY.
|
|
|
|
(638 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 24, 2012 01:43 PM
|
My first sale was to someone trying to change their address to Nigeria, fake Ebay and Pay Pal saying the money was going into my account....etc., etc. Luckily I figured it out quickly and did not send the phone that they supposedly bought, but my problem is with Ebay. They are still showing a sale and it is keeping me from being able to list the item again and it has been 17 days now!! Please help!!
|
|
|
|
(639 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 24, 2012 01:47 PM
|
You must cancel the sale through e bay.
Kitty's Jewelry - Etc.
Alt. Fashion 4 Less.
Google us!
|
|
|
|
(640 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 25, 2012 08:44 AM
|
I was just scammed by lukiegames over a sale and eBay did nothing but help them get away with it. I've never had this problem before and didn't think it would be so easy for them to get away with it. eBay admits they have large numbers of companies scamming smaller sellers and are doing nothing about it. I have lost all faith in eBay and don't know what to do. I'm close to closing my accounts which have been in perfect standing the entire time I've been with eBay until now.
|
|
|
|
(641 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Sep 26, 2012 03:31 PM
|
I cant believe after 5 years they are still doing the same trick.
I'm now dealing with a buyer that wants me to ship the item to Nigeria to her Grandson too. All the confirmation email of payment got moved in Spam mail by my Gmail so I'm searching to see if anyone was in the same situation, and what to do with the Scam Buyers like that.
Her account name is new registered na-shaw4us2013
Her paypal account is natalieshaw316@yahoo.es
Here is the address in Nigeria she wants me to ship my item to
NAME.............Dami Williams
ADDRESS.......No 39 Unity Road..
CITY............Ikeja
STATE.............Lagos
COUNTRY............Nigeria
POSTAL CODE...........23401
NUMBER..............+2348027185634
Thank you for all your good advices and informations. And hope more sellers can read this and don't fall for scammers.
|
|
|
|
(642 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Oct 28, 2012 11:59 AM
|
The ebay dispute process is very unfair to the seller. I just had a buyer who bought a LOT of jewelry, one of which she freely admits to have broken when she dropped it on the floor.She had already given me good feedback, because the lot was perfect. Ebay took the decision that the customer breaking her jewelry was MY fault and refunded her. Plus she gets to KEEP the other jewelry in the lot. So basically she has stolen the goods from me.
Very unfair Ebay.
|
|
|
|
(643 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Nov 3, 2012 09:52 PM
|
@hoamy196
This is clearly a scammer. Tell them that you can ship it to the original billing address & then they can send it to their son. Or simply refund the transaction if you find it posses a risk to you.
|
|
|
|
(644 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Nov 5, 2012 09:34 AM
|
I don't have a problem with the Nigeria scam- I have another one. I sold a pair of cowboy boots to a guy in Canada. A pain from the start. Then he gets the boots and emails me saying the toe of the boot is damaged. I sell alot of boots so not remembering exactly, I take a look at the description and pictures. I do my best to describe any and all damage so they know what they are buying. All I mentioned was slight wear to the soles. The pictures have a greta shot of the toes and there is clearly no damage. But my first response was send them back for a refund. I knew boots in this good of shape would resell easily. He gets nasty now demanding if I want them back I have to pay for their return and threatens my feedback if I don't give him a reply by next day noon. I told him holding my feedback hostage was aginst the rules and was going to report him. He emails me pictures of the damage. Now I've got him! These are clearly NOT my boots! If you just look at the shape of the toe, you can see these are not my boots. I tell him I don't know what he's trying to pull and contact ebay. They tell me no return, no refund. Now the guy has opened a case with paypal. I have dealt with ebay's dispute process before. They BLINDLY back the buyer while making their money on the seller. What protection do we get? I tell them, look at our emails, look at the pictures, look at HIS feedback. Another seller says he is a scammer who wants something for nothing. I don't know how this will play out. I know of NO company who gives refunds when an item is not returned. Only on ebay! Then to make matters worse, we can't leave negitive feedback for a buyer. We can't warn other sellers. This whole thing is wrong and has me VERY upset! Anyone got any advice?
|
|
|
|
(645 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Nov 5, 2012 09:40 AM
|
I'll tell you, I got so pissed one time for a scammer I opened a case with the postal inspectors. What these a holes don't understand is recieving something and saying they didn't is fraud. And fraud on the postal service is a federal crime. If you have proff it was delivered, I would opena case with them. I never heard what happened with mine but I left the buyer a message that they may have successfully stolen from me since ebay blindly backs the buyer while making their money on the seller, however I would have the last laugh whena postal inspector came knocking on their door! I think we should all get real nasty with ebay anout this. It just seems dead wrong that they make their money on us with HUGE fees and yet WE get no protection or help from them!
|
|
|
|
(646 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Dec 2, 2012 07:12 AM
|
Please I need some help,
I sold an item on ebay, shipped to US (I am in Uruguay) I provided tracking number, the USPS web said the package already left Uruguay. Buyer never get´s the item (sold one month ago) and open a case saying I never response to email (lie). After that Ebay took my money from PayPal!!! They states that I did not provide tracking number, which I did!!!!
I there any kind of seller protection?
This is the second time it happens to me.
I have 100% positive feedback mostly as a seller.
Does this happens so US sellers also? Or should this be some kind of discrimination from Ebay?
I shown proof of shipping and they just believe in the word of the US buyer???
|
|
|
|
(647 of 665)
Re: How To Deal With Scam Buyers
Dec 29, 2012 01:33 PM
|
Hi first of all.
I am a new seller on eBay. I am pretty nervous about scams myself after reading things that other buyers have experienced. Still, I want to make a re-sale business. So! One thing I am doing is to list the shipping as a time frame of 21 days (which is an option to buyers on eBay: see the pull down list on shipping). Now, some buyers will not buy from me (I realize), but doing so allows me some amount of protection from fraud buyers.
Hope that helps you.
Hope it works out for you.
|
|
Trust & Safety links Didn't receive item as expected? Buyer didn't pay? Seller refused to sell? Report a Hijacked Account Suspect an email is a spoof? Identity theft - Protect yourself Paying Safely Recent eBay successes in catching scammers & defrauders Security & Resolution Center
|
Starting May 1—get up to 2,500 FREE listings* every month with an eBay Stores subscription
)
)
)
)