how do I deal with this scam?

glider26

Hi,

I have recently been the victim of a small scam. I saw an item on eBay that I wished to purchase, but the seller was only having it picked up (not sending) and he lived too far from where I live to make it convenient to pick up. As he had 0 bids by the end of the auction, I emailed him and asked if there was any way we could agree on a price and have the item shipped. We spoke on the phone and he agreed to send the item. I transfered over £200 to his bank account. 2 weeks later, the item still hasn't turned up. He claims that it was lost by Royal Mail but hasn't been able to produce a reference number for the parcel (special delivery). He has been avoiding my calls and not answering my emails or texts. It is very suspicious, so I threatened the guy with going to the police and taking legal action unless I received the item, my money back, or proof of shipment within 2 days. That triggered a reaction as I received a reply to my email within 45 minutes saying that my reaction was extreme, but still no parcel ref.

I realise that it was foolish of me to go through with this transaction outside the confines of eBay and it will not happen again. I did it because he had 7 positive feedbacks on eBay. However, seeing as I am in this situation now, my question is: how do I go through with my threat of police/legal action? Was is the most effective method? I have in the past succesfully recouped money from a dodgy plumber by filing a "small claim". At this stage I'd still like to use the threat to get my money back without going through with it but I must prepare myself for eventual action. Please help.

Glider26

qetu1357

I can't help but unconnected advice:-

A warning to sellers who allow collect in person. Insist on cash on collection as some will pay through paypal and then claim they haven't collected - it was someone else or the seller is pulling a fast one. Also get proof of who collected it - driving licence/passport -if at all possible.

vax2002

As a last throw of the dice I would send one last e.mail stating tommorow morning you will be giving a statement to the police so as of that point you will be unable to answer any e.mails as according to police you will likely to be a witness to a potential fraud trial in December so all correspondence will have to be via the police which he will be hearing from shortly.
Thank you for understanding this.

PS where does this scroat live

glider26

Thanks for the replies so far. With respect, I'm not looking to be told that it was unwise to deal with someone outside of eBay without having their address. I'm looking for advice on a next course of action.

The guy, or rather his wife I believe, has listed a series of small value items on eBay (light fixtures etc), some of which are for pick up only. I could get his address by winning one of these auctions and then I could use his address to file a small claim against him. Am I correct in saying that winning an auction for a "pick-up only" item on eBay will automatically give me the person's address? Of course I would as a last ditch effort first threaten him with legal action, making clear that he would end up owing me much more than a refund and also that I now have his address. How does that sound?

qetu1357

glider26 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies so far. With respect, I'm not looking to be told that it was unwise to deal with someone outside of eBay without having their address. I'm looking for advice on a next course of action.

The guy, or rather his wife I believe, has listed a series of small value items on eBay (light fixtures etc), some of which are for pick up only. I could get his address by winning one of these auctions and then I could use his address to file a small claim against him. Am I correct in saying that winning an auction for a "pick-up only" item on eBay will automatically give me the person's address? Of course I would as a last ditch effort first threaten him with legal action, making clear that he would end up owing me much more than a refund and also that I now have his address. How does that sound?

I think you would have to win the item and then ask him his address to pick the item up from.

Know you will have this covered, but suggest you do it from a fresh ebay account.

RichGold

Have you tried speaking to your bank? They may be able to charge the money back, but would probably require proof of the deal you had, which as it was outside of normal accepted deals, may be hard to prove.

MamaMoo_2

If you contact e-bay, they may be willing to give you contact details for the guy.
Failing that, your best bet would be to use an alias to win one of the wife's auctions and get an address. Then, with that address you can go via the small claims court route.
Unfortunately, as this is a civil matter, the police most likely won't get involved, unless this guy has a history of fraud. Either way, you'll find the police are rather uninterested.
Also, I'm assuming you paid via BACS or Faster Payments, in which case your bank won't do a chargeback, unfortunately.

techspec

MamaMoo wrote: »

If you contact e-bay, they may be willing to give you contact details for the guy.

When i asked for the address of a scammer, Ebay told me they will only give it to the police or my lawyer - if they write to Luxembourg.:eek:

Bidding and asking for the collection address, as you've stated, or as i did - contacted someone they had bought off - who was more than happy to give me their delivery address. Might not apply here though.

But Ebay we not interested - and mine was through Ebay. About 30 people were robbed and Ebay and paypal refused to get involved or refund. So with yours being outside Ebay - you will get even less sympathy.

MamaMoo_2

Just out of curiosity, where about in the country is this guy based?