topic Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller in Buying

Question About Possible Scam Seller

fishingpal — Mon, 31 May 2021 10:34:17 GMT

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

fishingpal — Mon, 31 May 2021 10:47:49 GMT

Hi all. I purchased a Sony a6300 mirrorless digital camera on the 23rd of May, paid for straight away through PayPal.
It took a couple of days for payment to go through and the seller marked it as sent on the 25th of May and also added a tracking number for UPS, UPS tracking #RV574279521CN

The thing is that they are a new seller with no ratings and while the listing description looked ok and the item seemed reasonably cheap, I thought it was fine until I checked the tracking number through UPS website. The number is not valid and UPS does not use this type of number from what I can see on their website. I messaged the seller a few days ago for the correct tracking number on the 28th of May but have had no reply. Also it says that they are based in Moldova but Shipping says from China/Hong Kong/Taiwan.

So I suspect I've been had, second in a row...

My question is do I just wait out the 6-8 weeks and go through the usual dispute to get a refund?

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

davewil1964 — Mon, 31 May 2021 11:16:36 GMT

Almost certainly.

A few triggers - Registered in Europe, shipping from SE Asia using a service that doesn't apply to those regions.

Second time? Maybe look at a seller's feedback and registered country BEFORE buying reasonably cheap.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

fishingpal — Mon, 31 May 2021 11:36:58 GMT

Your reply doesn't help at all davewil1964 but what I will say now is this, is there grounds for me to get a refund earlier or should I just wait for about 6 weeks and go through the usual refund process through PayPal?

btw on the listing it didn't say what courier they were going to use.
Some sellers may state that they are in one country but items are actually coming from/being posted from another, usually Asia.
Being a new seller doesn't mean scammer but I can now accept that I've been scammed $350! It's not the first time and probably won't be the last. I'm only human.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

eburtonlab — Mon, 31 May 2021 14:53:06 GMT

Being new does not automatically mean the seller is a scammer, but the fact that a seller has no previous track record should be a warning sign to look more closely, particularly if you are purchasing an expensive item that appears to be a very good deal.

In general, you can avoid a lot of headaches by choosing to purchase only from established sellers that have recent and past positive feedback as a seller for selling items in the same category that you intend to buy. If someone is selling a dozen apple watches, but has no feedback, or only has feedback as a buyer, or only has feedback for selling dress patterns or fishing lures (actual examples I have seen), perhaps wait until they have a track record of positive feedback for selling electronics before you buy from them.

You might miss out on a good deal from a new seller once in a while, and nothing can guarantee that you won't still run into a scammer anyway, but you can avoid a lot of potential problems by choosing to do business with established sellers. Anyone can put together a listing that looks nice -- it is not hard at all to simply copy an existing listing -- but it is much harder to create a history of consistent sales and positive feedback.

If you have made a purchase from a listing that you think may be suspicious:

Rules vary by country, but typically you have to wait until the last estimated delivery date has passed to start an Item Not Received claim on eBay; if the seller is removed and eBay does not send you a message about that, and if you can no longer find the item in your Resolution Center or Help & Contact link, you can start a similar process through your PayPal account (if you used PayPal) or through your credit card or other payment source. There are various deadlines that have to be met at each stage, and you must take care not to make more than one claim about a single transaction through eBay or PayPal or your funding source at a time or your claim may be dismissed.

If the seller actually ships something (but not your item) and can provide a tracking number that shows delivery, you must file a Significantly Not As Described claim (and typically return the item), as a valid tracking number that shows delivery would cause you to lose an Item Not Received claim. There are other scams that involve shipping an item to another location in your area which can complicate matters further.

If possible bookmark the seller's feedback page so that you can monitor that to see if the seller's account has been removed from eBay, just in case the item listing disappears.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

fishingpal — Mon, 31 May 2021 16:17:52 GMT

Thanks eburtonlab, I have bookmarked their feedback page.
Estimated delivery: Wed 9 Jun 2021 - Thu 29 Jul 2021.
Now you state that I should open a claim just after the last delivery date (29th July), that's well over 2 months since I payed, will I still be covered with buyer protection through PayPal? I payed with PayPal and I'm quite sure PayPal have extended their buyer protection time due to covid and the increase in online shopping sales.

The last time this happened I was still waiting to receive my item, about 3 weeks after paying and their account was removed and the item listing vanished with a message saying I needed to check my messages for further action (or something similar). I checked my messages and there was nothing from ebay which I found strange. I then opened a case for item not received, typed a brief message as to what happened and received a full refund within 24 hours. There was no message to explain what happened or what I needed to do next.

I have read about the other scams sending to a nearby location, hope it's not going to be one of those. Going by what's already happened with the transaction and the facts at hand I'm hoping it will be straight forward and painless.

I may need to come back to this thread depending on what happens next. I'm hoping they will pickup on it and do what they did to the last one. For now it's a long wait... ‌😐‌

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

eburtonlab — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 03:57:54 GMT

Now you state that I should open a claim just after the last delivery date (29th July), that's well over 2 months since I payed, will I still be covered with buyer protection through PayPal?

PayPal typically offers protection up to six months from an item transaction, so if you are unable to pursue a case on eBay or your eBay case is unsuccessful, you should have time to open a case with PayPal after your eBay case is closed.

You may want to check with PayPal's site directly for details, just in case rules are different in your country.

Once you open a case with PayPal, you will no longer be able to open a case with eBay about that transaction -- so be sure to try things in the correct order if at all possible.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

countessalmirena — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 16:50:54 GMT

@fishingpal,

Your eBay MBG protection timeline is based upon Estimated Delivery Date (EDD) or Actual Delivery Date. If the item arrives (and presumably its tracking shows delivery), then that is the starting date of your 30 days, within which time any claim under the eBay Money Back Guarantee must be made. As eburtonlab has said, if something arrives, then your claim must be SNAD / INAD (Significantly Not As Described / Item Not As Described.

If the item simply does not arrive, then your claim under eBay's MBG must be made within the 30 day period beginning from the latest EDD.

You quite literally have no leeway at all, so it's best to lodge well within the timeframe. Make sure you are guided by that EDD for an eBay claim, and you should thoroughly read through the eBay Money Back Guarantee help page.

(PayPal timeframes begin from the date of the transaction itself. If it turns out that you need to lodge a PayPal claim, it must be opened within 6 months of the transaction date. As said, you cannot open a dispute both in eBay and in PayPal at the same time. As also said, you can't open an eBay dispute if you've already opened a PayPal dispute; however, the reverse is not true. That is, you CAN open a PayPal dispute if you've been unsuccessful in an eBay dispute.)

By the way, davewil's advice is important to prevent yourself from ending up in this position again. Take note of where the seller is located (by clicking onto their feedback percentage, which leads you to their profile page and shows you where the seller is registered); be wary of items listed for a price that is really too good to be true. Look at the seller's selling history. Ask on these boards. I promise you that the regular posters here are more than happy to help out by checking a listing and giving some experienced perspective on whether or not the listing is a scam.

Good luck! Please post back here with the outcome, as that helps other buyers and also helps the responders here to be sure that the processes are still giving the appropriate outcome when done in time.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

papermoon.lady — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 19:02:44 GMT

The tracking seems to be from China, ending in CN. I checked tracking sites for China as well as international tracking sites, and they can't find it either. What I find a bit weird, is that they gave you a fake tracking number from China. Why not from their country?

At this stage, I think that you can only do what other posters have suggested, that is to say wait until the last day of the estimated delivery and open a case.

I don't know if there are exceptions to the rule (waiting until the last day of the estimated delivery) if a tracking number is obviously fake. You can't really open a case, but maybe you can try talking to eBay via live chat and tell them that the tracking number is fake.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

papermoon.lady — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 19:19:51 GMT

By the way, there is a forum for China Post where you can ask if a tracking is fake and people who work for China Post can confirm whether a tracking number is fake or not and whether you have been scammed or the item has just not been scanned yet.

https://track-chinapost.com/?page_id=242

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

fishingpal — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 04:17:59 GMT

Hi again guys, I'm a bit upset with the current situation in regards to a purchase that I got scammed on.

It has been 2 months since my purchase from this scammer and there is no mention of this purchase now in my Purchase History page, it's disappeared. The only way I could get to this item was through my messages when I asked the scam seller to pass on the correct tracking number (which they didn't). So I can see my Purchase Order but there is no way to claim back my money, there's no Item Not Received option even when I click on Show Additional Actions.

So I logged in to Paypal to do it through there and there is only a link that goes back to Ebay US site that goes to my Purchase Page which is exactly the same to my Ebay Australian Purchase Page. There is no purchase listing there for it. I'm just going around in a never ending circle!

I tried to do a Item Not Received a couple of weeks ago but received a message that I couldn't and had to wait for the 2 month delivery time, or a similar message. I can't believe this as I've done nothing wrong, I've done what I've supposed to do and I've now been left high and dry with no item and out of pocket over $350. This is disgraceful by all involved!

How do I now claim Item Not Received from a scam seller and get my money back???

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

sandypebbles — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 04:22:39 GMT

Just to confirm, have you changed the time period in the drop down menu in your purchase history?

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

jellybirddesigns — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 04:32:43 GMT

Sorry this is happening to you!

One option is if you paid with a credit card through Paypal, then contact your CC provider.

Personally, I have my CC linked for payment via Paypal, in case anything goes south, then I have options in terms of raising a dispute.

You could contact Paypal directly - I had a look on their Contact page and it seems you can phone them. Might be worth a try?

You could also contact Ebay customer service on chat, although it can be a hit and miss with them.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

fishingpal — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 04:42:16 GMT

ok thanks sandypebbles, yes I can see it now but I do not have an option Item Not Received under the More Actions button. There was a way I found through the Resolution Center for my purchases, can't remember how I got there now but apparently I still have to wait until the 28th of July to do anything. From what I remembered when I tried to claim before the EDD Estimated Delivery Date there was only one option and that was to contact the seller for a replacement item. There's no way I'm going down that road and go through all this again for over 2 months. I just want this over and done with.

I'll need to come back to this in 5 days time. Hopefully I'll then have an option to get a refund. Cheers.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

*sons_and_daughters* — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 13:47:15 GMT

The tracking number you supplied above, means the item is coming from China. The CN on the end is a dead giveaway. In future, check where the seller is registered, by checking their feedback page. If it says the seller is in an Asian country, you can be pretty assured, that's where it's being sent from.

At this point, all you can do is wait until the estimate date has arrived, and try then to open a item not received dispute via ebay. If you can't, then your other option is to open a dispute through PayPal. Be aware though, sellers only have to provide a tracking number to win a PayPal case. It doesn't have to say they item is delivered, just that it has been lodged.

If you paid using a credit card through PayPal, then you may be able to do a chargeback from your bank. Use that as a last resort though.

In future, remember the golden rule. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

fishingpal — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 13:40:48 GMT

the estimated delivery date has now expired and I tried to open up the resolution center page from PayPal and the ebay US site which is where it's sending me from the paypal link is not allowing me to log in to Ebay US to the Resolution Page.

There is no option on my purchase page now for the item for "Item Not Received" as it's been too long I guess.

I need help...

The only thing I can do now is to through the automated ebay chat and try that way or phone paypal which I have no idea how long that would take to speak to an actual person.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

fishingpal — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 13:59:01 GMT

I've managed to get to the Resolution Center on the AU ebay site but it doesn't look like I can do anything apart from Contact seller and ask for a refund which I've done. What a joke!
Going around in circles again with nobody wanting to know about seller problems.

I have "Reported an Item I Didn't Receive", clicked on the item and this is what I get. What am I doing wrong? The estimated delivery times has passed.

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

sandypebbles — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 00:05:46 GMT

If the ETA was July 28th, the 'system' may not allow allow a dispute to be opened the same/next day

All I can suggest is to keep trying

It is suppose to give 30 days after the ETA to open a dispute

Plus also, if you try today, keep in mind Friday is eBay fiddle day and there are always a lot of Gremlins so that may have caused an issue in any case

Re: Question About Possible Scam Seller

padi*0409 — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 00:37:00 GMT

I do hope you haven't opened a Paypal dispute, because if you have then you can't open an eBay dispute and if you try to open both of them they will both be closed in favour of the seller.