Fraudulent Seller I lost $1350AU

[jcrosthw]

I have been scammed and lost $1350AU which is about $1000US. The scammer listed an Ipad pro and provided the only option for payment to be direct bank transfer. I decided to proceed with the transaction using the bank details provided through the ebay site itself. I based my decision to proceed on the seller feedback.  The seller was shown as a member of ebay for 10 years and had 115 feedback items all positive some of which were highly commlimentary. Soon after I paid I recieved an email from ebay who had just identified this seller to be suspicious and immediately de-listed the the item I had just paid for. I have put in a non-delivery complaint to ebay and made an official compliant about the seller. I have also request return of the money through my bank as the transaction was conducted within Australia. Unlikely to to have any success there. This is a considerable sum of money and ebay have not responded to any of my complaints. Is there any other way I can contact ebay and ask for immediate action about this scammer.

[davewil1964]

Problem is that the 'seller' is likely not in Australia, as the OP stated the cost as $US1000

[jellybirddesigns]

At first I thought the seller was overseas, but then was slightly confused as OP said transaction was conducted within Australia. 

Buyer will still have all the banking details though, and of course his bank can trace where it went. Hopefully he can raise a fraudulent case as per my above message and gets a positive outcome.

I just need more coffee to get through today!

[jellybirddesigns]

Actually, I'm just wondering if the OP can contact the overseas bank where it went to a raise a case with THEIR fraud department?

Might be worth a try.

[katistrophik]

And there is actually a way eBay can STOP this,  but they don't.

I agree NEVER pay via bank deposit, but the fact that sellers are able to CLAIM they accept a credit card with the click of a button (hereby allowing bank deposit to be added to pmt options) is a scammers dream!

It can be prevented by eBay requiring the proof of 'Merchant Identification Numbers' off the sellers before registration of CC payment is allowed. Other selling platforms do this and I can't see why eBay wouldn't, it isn't rocket science.

Just sayin'

[davewil1964]

My understanding was that eBay withdrew merchant CC acceptance years ago. Maybe that was only in Australia.

Either way, as you said, it is an easy fix. Maybe something the call centre staff could do while not answering the phone. They couldn't be worse programmers than the work experience kids.

[jcrosthw]

Thanks for the input but I am confused. I definitely paid the money to an Australian NAB bank account number. The bank details came up inside the ebay site after I purchased it. So how did that happen if ebay no longer allows this type of transaction? No account in Australia can be opened without 100 points of identification so the owner of that account is a fraud......

[jellybirddesigns]

You need to give us a little more info.

Where was the seller registered?

Where was the item located? (they can be 2 different things)

Can you give us the item number, so we can see for ourselves?

[padi*0409]

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@jellybirddesigns wrote:

Can you give us the item number, so we can see for ourselves?

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I doubt if the OP can do that since eBay delisted the item.

[davewil1964]

Any seller can offer bank deposit. I do.

The trick is if you don't know and trust the seller, you don't use bank deposit, as eBay won't cover you.

Try going through your bank, as that is the only option you have. Whether you get your money back is another issue.

For future reference, which hopefully won't happen, if you buy in $A and pay in $A to an Australian bank account, the $US value is irrelevant. It could lead responders (like me) to think it was an international transaction, where different rules apply.

Except the one about not paying by bank deposit. And to not buy phones/pads/tablets online except from licenced resellers who sell new items with a warranty.

[countessalmirena]

@jcrosthw,

Even if the bank account is an Australian bank account, that means zippety doo-dah in terms of being able to trust the seller and trust that the transaction is legitimate.

Many scams use this sort of method. Sometimes the bank account holder is an intermediary. Sometimes the bank account holder has been hacked. (Identity fraud.) The money would have no sooner touched down in the bank account than the funds were moved and I would guess that the money is no longer able to be traced or retrieved.

I'm so sorry that this has happened to you.

It's not that bank transfer is risky in itself, if you are dealing with a seller who is trustworthy. Let's say, for example, that you are purchasing from - say - David Jones, and you decide to make the payment by bank transfer. (I don't know if DJ offers that, of course, but this is just an example.) You'd be safe in doing so.

But paying a complete stranger on eBay via bank transfer...? No. There are inherent risks in purchasing from strangers, and purchasing online. eBay offers you risk mitigation by providing you with Money Back Guarantee protection as long as you pay by one of the "safe" methods, and bank transfer is - in this context - NOT a safe payment method.

I do not have any issue with sellers offering bank deposit as one of the payment methods, but I would rarely pay using that method. If the seller is an Australian business seller, and I didn't have any cause to think the seller was about to go into administration, and I'd done business with them before, bank transfer would not be something that I would absolutely rule out... but if a seller ends up ONLY offering bank transfer, that would already be ringing a dire warning in my ears.

• Seller only offers bank deposit - RUN AWAY!
• Seller offers PayPal and bank deposit, but there's a problem with the PayPal account - RUN AWAY!
• Seller offers card payment for AMEX and bank deposit - RUN AWAY!
• Seller has 100% positive feedback but their sales history doesn't show them selling these sorts of items / their current activity is different to their previous activity - BE VERY CAUTIOUS AND PREPARE TO RUN AWAY!
• Seller is selling item at a much lower price than you'd expect - BE VERY CAUTIOUS AND PREPARE TO RUN AWAY!
• Seller is registered in China or other country (not Australia) and is selling electronic/tech items - - BE VERY CAUTIOUS AND PREPARE TO RUN AWAY!

Basically, do not buy this sort of item on eBay unless the seller is an authorised Australian seller of that item. Don't think that you can obtain this sort of item for way way below RRP legitimately. If you buy, pay via PayPal, with your funding source being your c/c.