iphone5s scam *****urgent*****

[delinquent77]

Last night we were scammed when we purchased an iphone from someone with the username <Removed>. Usually we are very careful when buying anything from ebay, but last night we got duped  about an hour after we bought the phone we got an email from ebay saying the item had been removed, then when we went to contact the seller we discovered they had deactivated thier account. On further investigation today we discovered that this user duplicated an ad that actually belongs to an online ebay store <Removed> who are legitiamte ebay sellers. They even used thier location, and terms and conditions etc.  I spoke to <Removed> this morning who informed me they had been getting calls all morning about this from other ebay users who also bought the item.  I have taken the appropriate steps, with both ebay and paypal to get my money back but it will take a couple of weeks. I have read today that ebay is having alot of problems with iphone 5s scams.  I did speak to ebay last night but they were uselss and couldn't give me any information. They couldn't even explain to me what the email that THEY sent me meant.

I would be very interested in hearing from anyone else who got sucked in by these same people  or any similar stories as they may be related. 

[the_great_she_elephant]

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@go-tazz wrote:

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

Is eBay legally obliged to give a reason for rejecting or cancelling a listing?

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As far as I know it's always been their site,their rules,(so that means IMHO that they can remove ANY listing that

they want too).

The scammers being Chinese is the only reason that I can think of why these listings aren't removed,

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So if that's true, then any argument about them being unable to remove scammers for fear of  possible litigation is actually irrelevant.

[trusteduserid]

First of all, as the saying goes- Innocent until proved guilty. You cannot convict someone of online fraud merely by reporting them. Obviously an investigation has to take place. This would not be a fast process, no matter how obvious the ''fraud'' listing looks. I highly doubt that eBay would investigate reports themselves without legal advice. This would leave them open to court action.

Secondly, it does not matter what is in the terms and conditions, it matters what the state/territory laws states.

Just because a silly ebay rule is in place, it does not mean that users cannot take court action! State law trumps any silly eBay rule or regulation.

I can see how it may look like eBay is profiting from fraud and incouraging fraud, but seriously, do you really believe eBay would put millions of users at risk for the sake of getting a small profit from fraud. Come on, let's be real here.

[trusteduserid]

About the rose seeds- how do eBay know that they have not made their own variety of black roses etc. There is no way of knowing until the seeds are grown, that will take time. As obvious as it may seem to a sensible person, it still needs to be proved that the seeds are fake. Anyone who fools for this is asking for trouble anyway IMO.

Removing a listing because it does not meet policies/guidelines is one thing (hardly a criminal offence), accusing someone of online fraud is another. If the listing is inside there policies/guidelines, they have no reason to remove the listing, even if Joe Blow says it's fraudulent.

[trusteduserid]

Don't get me wrong, I still think eBay should grow a set of **bleeps** and get rid of these scammers!