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]

thanks so much for the moral support.. I am actually astonished at some of the comments and starting to wonder - are some people just enjoying hurting others? Is this fun? incredible. I need to grow thicker skin.

[bright_tomato]

thank you. unfortunately, they are refusing to send me the imei for the "fake" phone. the number from our old phone, of course, comes up as genuine. but I was told by Australian Police that I cannot block it until I am actually out of pocket which means until I am forced to provide a refund for the item they stole.

[duck---dodgers]

Did they communicate through ebay messaging?

[bright_tomato]

reasoning of the police officer that I spoke to on the phone was as follows: I cannot report a crime which technically hasn't happened yet. in their eyes, even if the scam is in the process of occurring the actual crime hasn't happened yet, money has not yet been technically lost. that's how they explained it to me.

[lizzy6107]

There are some members on these boards that have no empathy, and sadly, they are regular posters. I learnt the hard way...

keep an eye on posts and when you know who they are, it's pretty obvious, you will learn to ignore them.

Like I said, most of us are just very thankful it's not us, and it easily could have been.

Not only is it a huge financial loss, it's a damn stress and time waster.

For what it's worth, this has been stressing me out ever since your first post and I am hoping and praying it goes your way.

[bright_tomato]

yes, all communication is occuring on ebay.

[duck---dodgers]

Get a hold of paypal and let them know of your concerns, they should put notes on the system of your conversation with them, you can always refer them to the notes if they try and pull it off.

Keep the photos of what you sent out especially the imei.

[bright_tomato]

yes, ignore, ignore, ignore from now on. I really do have enough stress as it is right now :(.. thanks so much, your kind words really did make me feel better.

[duck---dodgers]

Continue to email them with requests of the imei and ask for photos of it. Keep all communication of any refusals, this can be used against them later.

Ask for a photo of the phone displaying the imei on the screen. I doubt they will have a fake same phone as yours.

[kopenhagen5]

duck, the buyer is claiming no charger came with the phone and cannot power up to see IMEI on screen.