"I think I have been scammed $6,000"

[michaelg38173]

PAYPAL GAVE MY $6000 to a sender that was an obvious scammer who didn't even ask for my address & sent the item to skycity posbox without so much as my name on it. There' no excuse for this theft as I told paypal "confirm the delivery address with the seller, he doesn't even know my address". He was in Germany & I am in NZ. Paypal responded with "sorry I know it's not the outcome you hoped for". (DISGUSTING) "but the seller has provided information proving the item was delivered to the general area"! COME ON!!! To make it worse I paid for the item 1/1/15 & the seller canceled it & advised me to seek a refund from paypal & he would agree, after which ceased to answer any more emails, this was due to the fact he didn't want to give paypal his financial & bank info. So 2 weeks past & I called paypal to see where my $6000 refund was, surprisingly they gave me a tracking number from the seller (remember I was told it was cancelled) I immediately rang NZPOST & they found the item ready to go for delivery the next day, without signature confirmation, unfortunately, they could only tell me it wasn't my name or address & it was going to skycity pobox 25km from where I live (general area)? On the paypal receipt for payment it has Terms & CONditions: courier with signature confirmation only & insurance. Paypal gave my $6000 to this scammer, closed the dispute & 1 day later closed my appeal, they had all of the relevant information but decided to break their promise of "weve got your back 100%, if the goods don't arrive we'll give your money back". NZPOST investigator Zoran said "we know what has happened but can't give you any documentation stating where the item was delivered, only the sender can request that info", the info is on the computers waiting for somebody to investigate, it is even noted on the computer that the lady I first spoke with had somebody physically look at the package & confirm it wasn't my name or address. Paypal has said they need to see the info & would reconsider when they receive it. The police won't get involved , so, how many people in the world get scammed like this everyday & have paypal renege on their contractual promise due to a small gap in the system that paypal & others leave open (for what reason) this is paypal knowingly facilitating international criminal activity. OBVIOUSLY THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF THE SENDERS GOODS BEING DELIVERED TO THE BUYER I WANT MY MONEY BACK PAYPAL

[aranham]

eBay owns Paypal and promote their buyer/seller schemes. It is about time that the two combined to ensure, cross border transactions, are forced to use, propriortery delivery services. That is, be forced to use eBay controlled or fail proof organisations.

This should apply to all transactions, above a certain USD value, maybe they can do it by upping the ante, so that goods worth - say USD1000+ will incur an additional levy, from both eBay and Paypal. They could then collude to use this extra income, to guarantee safe delivery. In the long run they would get to decrease their corporate insurance costs and hopefully employ more people, worldwide. Hope this makes sense.

On your case Michael, for that amount I would not have paid immediately. I would have bid, then if I had won the auction, awaited an official invioce from the seller, which would have been very specific, as to the address, for delivery.  From your history, you seem to be new to eBay.

All the same, the very best for a good resolution.

[putney32]

whilst it is very sad that this has happened to you there are a few things to mention

1.  YOU, the buyer fill in your name and full address when making the paypal payment before it is forwarded to the seller.

did you check your name and address were correct when you went thru paypal checkout?

2. that was a lot of money to spend with a seller with little or no Sales Record.  that guy has previously only sold a dozen or so $2 items

and then all of a sudded a $6,000 item?  always a bit suss.

good luck with persuing paypal thru the NZ Banking authorities.

[lyndal1838]

Why would the seller ask for your name and address.....those details are automatically given to the seller by ebay when you win the item and by paypal when you pay and confirm the address to which the item is to be sent.

[go-tazz]

It would've been a hijacked account and the scammer might have sent a Paypal payment request through a

phishing Email,(hence why they didn't worry about an address).

This sounds like that Chinese scammer that was doing this with high end TV's last year.

The real item wouldn't be in the package,(which could contain anything).

[michaelg38173]

Nice answer thank you.

Yes the delivery to a busy address is the only way this scam could work & it is obvious that's why they do it this way.

Do you mean the financial ombudsman?

I thoroughly discussed it with paypal on the phone many times & checked paypals policies on returns & non receipt & they led me to believe it was a safe transaction & they would hold my money until it was received & verified authentic. They completely scammed me also.

[michaelg38173]

Yes great idea for afe shipping & something ebay & paypal would have thought about, so very intriguing as to why they haven't implemented it ????

The official receipt from paypal was signature courier & insurance which was ignored.

Yes new to Ebay which i why this little loophole should be tied up, it probably targets the new users.

[michaelg38173]

Hi. I don't actually recall filling in the name & address when making payment but the delivery name & address were correct on my paypal account, The tranaction was cancelled by the seller as soon as I made payment so I was expecting a refund & didn't even get a chance to email him the address details & paypal respond that they don't give the details, so I don't think the seller had them.

NZPOST physically saw the package & it didn't even resemble my details , being addresed to skycity POBox.

[michaelg38173]

He didn't ask for them & I didn't give them. Paypal told me they don't give thoe details?

[michaelg38173]

Yes it was a legitimate Paypal request & payment.

[i-love-my-sheep]

As soon as you buy something, the seller gets an email saying their item has sold and in that email is your postage details. When you pay via PayPal, that also contains your details. Providing you had given your correct address in both eBay and PayPal (which I'm sure you did), then the seller would have had your correct address. 

I would be contacting the Financial Ombudsman and seeing what they have to say. There are a number of Chinese scammers at any given time advertising cheap items, which suck newer buyers in. For example, an 18V Makita cordless drill with all sorts of accessories for $19.99. These scammers list them in categories with no buyer protection (in categories in the cars section). Most buyers try to make a claim through PayPal when they discover they have been scammed and are promptly told there is no buyer protection and they can't have a refund. 

Some buyers are smart enough to push the issue and end up getting a refund, but most just write it off to bad luck and the scammers run off with their money. This is why you need to keep pushing the issue.  Don't just say "oh well, I've lost my money", hound the daylights out of them. Submit a report with the Ombudsman. Do whatever it takes.

In future, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check a sellers feedback, especially if they are low feedback sellers. Yes, we all had to start from 0, but always be suspicious of someone who has low feedback and selling a high ticket item.

Good luck and please keep us posted.