@run-away3 wrote:
If a seller creates an ebay account and an empty paypal account then proceeds to scam a buyer by not sending an item can the seller avoid reinbursment by spending or transferring the funds they have scammed thereby having no funds to reinburse the dispute?
If Ebay can't source the funds from the seller to reimburse the buyer is the buyer not reinbursed at all?
Thanks, any information is appreciated.
My understanding is that a person with a new ebay account has their payments from any sales on hold for 21 days.
That would mean in most cases that whatever they sold should have had plenty of time to arrive. I believe that if a buyer gives positive feedback or the seller can show tracking proof that something has been delivered, they might apply for the funds to be released earlier. A scammer though would not be able to show that proof.
In fact, if someone paid for an item and it had not arrived after 21 days, they may even open an item not received claim and if they did that, I doubt the funds would be released even after 21 days.
I suppose it is very possible that a buyer might be a bit slow to open a claim as some sellers have been known to string buyers along with false promises. In that case the funds might be released after 21 days and the seller may transfer the funds out of paypal. I think in that case, paypal would have to honour the buyer's claim and reimburse out of their own funds, but they certainly would not like that.
It has probably happened, but how far they pursue it with debt collectors etc I do not know. I wouldn't like to test it though as I think they would pursue debts. They have the money behind them to be able to do that.
I don't think emptying a paypal account would be a reliable scam as such, certainly not one that would work for long anyway. A better one would be to persuade people to pay into bank accounts, rather than use paypal.
