I have a feeling we fell for a scam - buyer claiming counterfeit on a genuine very expensive item

[bright_tomato]

I have listed my husband's very expensive phone (it's over $5000 brand new) and finally sold it at best offer for only $1300, much less than what we were hoping to get. But we really needed the money. I took all precautions - took very detailed photos, sent the buyer the IMEI number  and tracking number, insured the phone for $1300 when posted. She received the phone and literally the next day I receive a message that she believes the phone to be a copy or a fake. I am in a state of shock, I am not a retailer, I only sell my own second-hand goods and this phone was a gift from a close friend of my husband's. There is absolutely no chance that it is fake or a copy. She didn't even investigate,  i suggested that she takes the phone to a TAG store to check and she completely ignored that. I have a feeling this is a scam artist who is now requesting a return for refund and will send us back a fake phone to scam us.

My questions is, does anyone has any experience with what kind of process ebay/pay pal follows when a buyer claims the item to be fake? I listed the item with "no returns accepted" condition so I am also wondering - am I able to reject her return request?

[bright_tomato]

It was a gift though, we didn't purchase it, there is no way my husband would be willing to contact the friend who bought him the phone and ask for an original receipt (we would have to explain that we sold the phone), it would hurt his feelings terribly I would think. I have no idea how to even find that store, don't know exactly where he bought it, I think it was in Italy somewhere when he was travelling.

[5kazam2]

I could be way off the mark here - but surely if you contacted the manufacturer (Samsung or whoever), gave the IMEO number or whatever it was - they should be able to track it back to where it was purchased.  I'm pretty sure those sort of records are kept to avoid potential scammers/thieves saying their phone was stolen/lost, please give me another, etc. etc.

[bright_tomato]

yes, I guess, I could give it a go. I will call TAG Au.

[bakeandfry]

To block the IMEI on the phone, first contact the provider that suppled the sim card, that is the very first carrier that the phone was set up through, only they will be able to block the phone.

[bright_tomato]

OMG, she or he just sent me a photo of a completely different phone which is not what I sent at all! So yes, scam, scam, scam!!

Called Australian police and they told me that unfortunately, until I am actually out of pocket (until ebay rules against me) I can't even open a case against them here. And even if I do the IMEI will only be blocked in Australia not anywhere else :((( AWFULL!!!

[lizzy6107]

I really want to know who this buyer is! What does her feedback history look like?

[bright_tomato]

1993goodfellas is their user name. In hindsite it is my fault, they only have 7 feedbacks but it was so hard to decide who to accept an offer from, who is genuine and who isn't. I kind of fell for the fact that the offer was from Canada and the person sounded well spoken and genuine over email. (many others didn't). I just can't believe how elaborate this scam is!!! Incredible! If this works for them and they scam me out of a genuine expensive item it means that anyone on ebay can essentially do the same thing - buy a genuine expensive bag/watch/phone/anything, claim they receive a fake, take a photo of a fake and send a claim to ebay. Let's see what ebay does, I will keep everyone posted. Maybe it will save another person from making the same mistake.

 My husband and I had a little cry over lost money already but resolved that this will be an experience for us worth noting. Time to be thankful for what we do have - our loved ones. And carma always catches up with scam artists.

[lizzy6107]

It's such a shame it's so far away!

Could there possibly be some other explanation, perhaps they bought another phone from someone else and got things mixed up? Have you told them the photo they are showing you is not the same phone? ( is it a totally different phone/ model/ brand?).. did you ask if there was any evidence of tampering of the package?

[clarry100]

If they are claiming you sent a fake then surely they must have the onus of proof it is fake. So they would have to present their own fake one to some verification authority (TAG in this case) to have it verified as fake. Not just a photo be accepted as proof. And you would have no history of ever having connected their fake phone IMEI to any network you have used because its never been in your posession.

You also have a photo of what you sent, so who is going to believe who here?

I am feeling positive that you as a genuine person/seller must have some legal avenues open to you? You have rights as well.

Police surely.

If the scammer (or anyone) ever connect your genuine phone to a network the IMEI will show up on that network thus proving they have your real phone in their posession. Police have the means to track down this kind of techo info.

And surely TAG must have some means of totally disabling this device across the globe. After all they are an international operator.

That way even if you do lose your money you will at least know that the phone is unusable by anyone in the future. It becomes no more than a bookend.

Don't give up, pursue this to the bitter end. And keep us posted. There are many heads her to think of angles for you.

[lizzy6107]

Have a look at this site.. it does include international judging by the drop down menus...

I certainly hope all goes well for you. Get to ebay and paypal first and tell them that under no circumstances are they to refund the buyer, or you will take legal action.

 https://report.acorn.gov.au/