<REMOVED> Suspicious Buyer

[clarry100]

We had a buyer win a bid last night on an item.

This morning they have completed payment via PayPal and all apears to be normal.

We actually have the item packed and ready to mail but have not done so just yet.

I have jusr received a message from eBay (well it sure looks official) stating that the buyer is suspicious and to not mail the item.

All fees have been credited etc.

The payment is in our PayPal account as normal.

There is a message on the transaction that says the member is no longer registered.

We have never seen one of these before. Any clues?

[*sparklz*]

You can call ebay to confirm the email.

If it went to your ebay messages as well then it would be from ebay.

Click on customer support in the top RH corner and then click on the contact ebay tab and follow the prompts till you see call us and click on that to get the free call number and a one time code to enter on request.

[clarry100]

I have just called ebay.

They would only say there is something suspicious about the buyer and their account has been closed down.

They recommended to NOT ship the item.

And since we have been paid to go into PayPal and issue a full refund.

All seems very strange.

[digital*ghost]

How old is the ID? If newly registered, they may have been deregistered before and the account was picked up as suspicious. If an older ID it may have been hijacked. It's more likely to be an eBay account issue since there has been no flag from PayPal to indicate something like suspicion of a fraudulent transaction (eg stolen credit card, hacked PP account). 

If they're a seller it could be a matter of not paying their fees, which initiates a temporary suspension until they're paid, and I dare say whatever the reason they were deregistred, the message from eBay would be the same (as it is when a seller is deregistered or a listing removed, sometimes for innocent reasons).

You could try contacting the buyer directly, but I would be tempted to play it safe and refund the payment, especially if it was a higher value item. 

[clarry100]

Based in Australia, XXXXXX has been an eBay member since 03 Dec, 2013

FB Score = 2

So looks like an extremely new account

[digital*ghost]

That makes it a little more likely they've been deregistered before and attempted to create a new account - though obviously not a given. They may have also created the account with false details.

Given that, I would probably be more inclined to take eBay's advice and just refund.

[amber-eyed-girl]

Refund. If the buyer then contacts you, explain you were advised not to send.

Keep any correspondence minimal and don't initiate it.

There must be a good reason as new accounts are able to buy normally without being red-flagged by eBay.

Your fees have been returned too, so as far as eBay is concerned the transaction should not proceed.

[clarry100]

As instructed by ebay we have refunded the payment in full from PayPal and withheld shipping of the item.

With a bit of luck that should be the end of the matter.

Thankfully we got the message from ebay before we mailed the item. We normally mail very quickly too. Mostly on the same day we receive payment.

[amber-eyed-girl]

Great 🙂

You can now forget about it.