Ebay scams

[wardropcons2qiu]

I've been scammed  by e-bay "seller" <removed> - no item sent, no replies to e-mails and a 'tracking number' that leads nowhere.  When leaving negative feedback I noticed that there was another almost identicle complaint just a few days earlier than mine.  Does ebay have a mechanism for cutting these people off early or even at all?  For those of us who regularly order from overseas the 45 day cut-off for dispute resolution is a joke (I live in Oz where .60 day plus deliveries for heavy items is normal).

[speedglas]

lol its the biggest joke i agree the wating time to get a refund is a bigger joke 10 days ? id give em 4 days max . i got scammed aswell recently along with hundreds of others , reported it to paypal and most likley other have reported this dude as well, how hard is it to see that the seller is a fraud that further investigation and waiting time needs to be added to gt a refund ? stuff the waiting time its a clear shut case of scamming fraudsters and money should be refunded instantly . now reading this guys feedback is saying the buyer was sent a little toy instead of his flashlight torch ? these sellers are all the way in china so they dont care by the time they have collected all the money from the sales they have dissapeared . most of them even have multiple ebay accounts selling the same stuff and then leaving themself an their buddies positive fake feedback scores, and you can tell because all the words they use in the feedback are the same kinda wording and the buyers  which is  also their fake accounts have low feedback scores . its not that hard to pick up on but hell now i know this i will be more cautious .

[mikisftf]

>"the buyer was sent a little toy instead of his flashlight torch"

This is how these scams 'work'.

Scammer offers hundreds - sometimes thousands - of an item at too low a price.  Say a $75-$99 hard disk for $30-$40.

If/when buyers open an item not received dispute in PayPal - scammer is notified by PayPal and then sends a small item to the buyer. A coin or more likely a piece of costume jewlery or a small toy.

Buyers have to now change their PayPal dispute to Item Not As Described, and escalate to a claim.

PayPay then instructs buyers to return the item to the seller in China.

However, the return address is fake/non existant.  PLUS the cost of sending even a small packet to China by Registered International Mail is prohibitive considering the original money lost (around $30).

If the buyer is stupid enough to send the item back - they lose another $30.

[silversterio2]

wardropcons2Qiu

"no item sent"  .........because there are no helmets.

They're fraudulent listings for non existent items using copy/paste of real sellers' listings.

Log on to Paypal and file a dispute immediately. Escalate to a claim as soon as you can.

Beware of spoof/phishing emails you may receive and change your passwords and run all your spyware and virus protection very regularly.

[speedglas]

yes the item can be sometimes very cheap tricking the buyer they're getting a good deal , but now they're getting more confident charging more like $145

[phorum_junkie*]

If you haven't received an item within 40 days then you open a dispute, it doesn't mattter if you think it is going to take 60 days to arrive (which it won't unless they are using surface mail) and then you can wait another 19 before escalating to a claim if you want, that is 59 days.

If the seller responds to a dispute with an invalis tracking number a quick phonecall to Paypal sorts that one out.

[mikisftf]

>"If the seller responds to a dispute with an invalis tracking number a quick phonecall to Paypal sorts that one out."

Correct.  However, in some cases, they use a valid tracking number and actually send a small item.

Then the buyer has to change/renew the dispute to/as Item Not As Described.  The Buyer still has to call eBay to explain that the item can not be returned due to false/fake return/PayPal address nd excessive cost of return.

[davewil1964]

Well, buy from the same seller outside of eBay using bank deposit and see how you go.

You seem to be the only one complaining about this.

Maybe buy from Australian suppliers, who have a registered ABN. That way you will have recourse through Fair Trading. Or maybe buy from a real shop where you will know what you're buying.

[massrodder]

There are also alot of scammers when buying vinyl(records).So becareful.