Paypal Scammed Please Help!

sam328

Hi all,

I'd really appreciate some help on this!

A month ago I successfully sold my MacBook on ebay. The buyer had contacted me prior to the purchase to ask if his brother in law could pick it up, which I agreed with.

He then bought the item and paid via paypal, asked for my number and said his brother in law would get in touch regarding the collection. I replied to this and told him where my office is so he could come by.

The next day I received a text from the brother in law saying he'll be in the area and we agreed to meet up. I then gave the laptop over and we parted ways.

Days later I am told by paypal that the buyer claims not to have received the item and I'm left with a negative paypal balance of almost £1000!

I've cancelled the standing order that is linked to my paypal along with the card, and now paypal are about to try and take the money.

How can i fight this?

I've reported it to the police who are currently investigating it but paypal are to take this as a civil case and so i need to know what are my chances of winning such a case, what to expect next and what i should do now.

There is evidence of our agreement via ebay messages, text and cctv but paypal arent accepting this

I had no idea that this was such a common scam until it happened to me, hopefully this has been seen by one person that is now aware too!

Please any help would be welcome!

Thanks

Sam

myusernamehasgone_2

As paypal is linked to your bank it might be worth asking them if they can help, they may at least give you advice on what to do next

sam328

myusernamehasgone wrote: »

As paypal is linked to your bank it might be worth asking them if they can help, they may at least give you advice on what to do next

Thanks, my bank has stopped the standing order from them and cancelled my card for me (couldn't close it as Paypal put a pending charge of £1 on it) which is all they could do.

So they shouldn't be able to take the money out of the bank, my issue will now be fending off bailiffs and trying to get someone to side in my favor i think(?)

oldtoolie

I'm sorry that it is too late for you but this is a common scam with PayPal. Only signed for deliveries by post or courier are considered legitimate by PayPal. Even a signed bill of sale is not accepted by PayPal. This is all in their terms and conditions. You may find more discussion about this in the eBay forum.

maninthestreet

Never allow pick-up if the buyer has paid by paypal. If they want pick-up, they have to pay CASH for the item when they collect it.

NeverEnough

Common scam unfortunately, never ever allow someone to pay by Paypal and then collect in person, particularly for such high value items, until Paypal have a sensible resolution in place for this sort of criminality. Your only recourse is against the buyer, as paypal WiILL take the money from you and refund the buyer, however ridiculous this may seem. You could also report the matter to the police Fraud section but their interest is likely to be diluted by the massive amount of online fraud. Paypal want a tracked method of delivery, nothing else will suffice, not even clear CCTV footage of the buyer collecting it in person!!!

Sadly you have lost your £1000 as you are unlikely to be able to successfully sue a vanished"buyer".

You are certainly not alone as so many people have been caught by this strange Paypal ruling which actively aids and abets criminal / fraudulent behaviour.

CAB_National_Representative

sam328 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'd really appreciate some help on this!

A month ago I successfully sold my MacBook on ebay. The buyer had contacted me prior to the purchase to ask if his brother in law could pick it up, which I agreed with.

He then bought the item and paid via paypal, asked for my number and said his brother in law would get in touch regarding the collection. I replied to this and told him where my office is so he could come by.

The next day I received a text from the brother in law saying he'll be in the area and we agreed to meet up. I then gave the laptop over and we parted ways.

Days later I am told by paypal that the buyer claims not to have received the item and I'm left with a negative paypal balance of almost £1000!

I've cancelled the standing order that is linked to my paypal along with the card, and now paypal are about to try and take the money.

How can i fight this?

I've reported it to the police who are currently investigating it but paypal are to take this as a civil case and so i need to know what are my chances of winning such a case, what to expect next and what i should do now.

There is evidence of our agreement via ebay messages, text and cctv but paypal arent accepting this

I had no idea that this was such a common scam until it happened to me, hopefully this has been seen by one person that is now aware too!

Please any help would be welcome!

Thanks

Sam

Hi Sam - we're sorry to hear about what's happened. We'd recommend contacting our Consumer Helpline (08454 040506, Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 5pm) - mainly to see if there is anything further than you can do. As this seems to happen frequently, our Helpline advisers may be able to provide advice on other action. Our Helpline also has links with Trading Standards.

We hope this helps.

soolin

As the others have said this is a common scam , PayPal have even changed the payment received emails recently to stress even more that items must be posted to avoid a chargeback.

My concern is that if you do not put your PayPal account back to a positive balance that you will be hounded for the debt. PayPal are not noted for Using nice debt collectors and they will harass and chase you for this. It may well be worth popping onto the debt board to get advice as to what a debt collector can and can't do and at what point the harassment becomes illegal.

Dave543

I can confirm they will send a DCA after you.

I received my letter recently.

However, looking through the UK laws etc.. this 'Paypal debt' is not something covered by Debt Relief, IVA's or even Bankruptcy. In my mind this is not a 'recognised' debt, as it is I believe, not covered by those UK debt-help policies above.

I do not know where this leaves us, however.

sennypijama

It seems to me that Paypal have been a victim of the fraud - not you.

I realise they are a middle man, and that they have T&Cs but can anyone post exactly where in their T&Cs it says that the account holder is liable for Paypal's decision to refund the buyer, AFTER the seller has transferred the money out of Paypal.

Just interested.

Dave543

From Paypal's User Agreement:

11.4 What happens when a buyer files a Claim, Chargeback, or Reversal?

PayPal will place a temporary hold on the funds in your Account to cover the full amount of the Claim, Chargeback, or Reversal. See section 10.1.d for further details about the temporary hold process.

11.5 If the payment is not covered by PayPal seller protection, PayPal will remove the funds from your Account and return the payment to the buyer. In addition, you will be responsible for PayPal’s Chargeback Fee, if applicable.

14.5 Limitations of Liability. We shall only be liable to you for loss or damage caused directly and reasonably foreseeable by our breach of this Agreement and our liability in these circumstances is limited as set out in the remainder of this section.

In no event shall we, the other companies in our corporate group, persons who act on our behalf, and/or the persons we enter into contracts with be liable for any of the following types of loss or damage arising under or in relation to this Agreement (whether in contract, tort (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise:

any loss of profits, goodwill, business, contracts, revenue or anticipated savings even if we are advised of the possibility of such damages, loss of profits, goodwill, business, contracts, revenue or anticipated savings; or

any loss or corruption of data; or

any loss or damage whatsoever which does not stem directly from our breach of this Agreement; or.

any loss or damage whatsoever which is in excess of that which was caused as a direct result of our breach of this Agreement (whether or not you are able to prove such loss or damage).

Nothing in this Agreement shall limit our liability resulting from our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, gross negligence, wilful misconduct, for death or personal injury resulting from either our or our subcontractor’s negligence or to the extent such limitation or exclusion is not permitted by applicable law.

14.7 Indemnification/re-imbursement. You agree to defend, reimburse or compensate us (known in legal terms to “indemnify “) and hold PayPal, our other companies in our corporate group, the people who work for us or who are authorised to act on our behalf harmless from any claim or demand (including legal fees) made or incurred by any third party due to or arising out of your or your employees' or agents' breach of this Agreement, breach of any law and/or use of the Services.