eBay - PayPal Claim - Scam

holygamoly

Please advise.

I purchased a laptop on eBay for £80 about 4 weeks ago*.

I paid for the laptop by PayPal. Initially the seller refused to send the laptop as he said he had not received the money (although bizarrely he accepted that he had received an email from PayPal/credit to his PayPal account). He has still not sent the laptop and has stopped responding to communications for about 3 weeks.

I do not believe this laptop even existed. I have been scammed and feel unbelievably cheated.

I raised a dispute with PayPal. I gave him 3 days to respond. No response.

I then raised a PayPal claim. He must reply by today, but he has not responded. So, I am expecting PayPal to find in my favour.

The question is, what can I do - and what does it really mean if PayPal find in my favour? I have read in some places that PayPal will refund my money, but this is only if he has money in his account. Now, you don't need to be a genius to realise a scammer will never use an account again if he knows there is a risk it will be frozen - after all, scammers are in the business of scamming! So, that would mean that if PayPal finds in my favour, I still won't see a penny back. Is this true?

Do I have any chance of seeing this money?

I would like to alert the police - is there any way I can get the person's details?

Thanks


*I know £80 is cheap (so some people will say alarm bells should have been ringing), but as it the laptop was advertised as several years old, I thought it was a fair price.

angelcake

What is their feedback like?

I always thought paypal will pay you your money back and their account will be minus (It has happened to me, I was the seller and buyer said he didn't receive it!! scammer but the other way around!!) they left my account in minus til I paid! But they will probably have a communication method incl credit card, debit card etc address, not the best way to pull off a scam!! I am just glad you did a chargeback when you did otherwise you would have no chance!!

Sorry but I don't understand someone buying something so expensive on ebay! - I know that doesn't help!!

angelcake

How do I contact a seller?

Help >Buying > How do I contact a seller?" name=bcrumb> You can contact any eBay seller by clicking on the "Ask seller a question" link on the item page. This feature enables you to send an email to a seller, even if you have not yet bid on or purchased the item.
Tip: Once you've won an item, the End of Auction email that eBay sends you contains the seller's email address. If you misplaced your End of Auction notice or other information from the seller after you win an item, you can always return to the item and contact them from the "Ask seller a question" link on the item page.
To see a list of all items you've won:

• Click the My eBay button at the top of any page;
• Click the ”Won” link in the left column;
• Click the item. To contact the seller, click the “Ask seller a question” link.

If you cannot contact the seller by email after you purchase an item, or you don't receive a response, you should request their contact information and call them. Remember, in order to obtain this information about another member, you have to be involved in a transaction with them.
Request a seller's contact information .
Note: eBay's Contact Information Policy requires that all members have updated contact information on file with us at all times. If you request the seller's contact information, and it is incorrect, contact us.

windswept

Did the item have the buyer protection logo?
Did you use a credit card to fund paypal, as at least by doing this you can chargeback through your credit card company.
Only by using paypal funded by a credit (not debit) card are you fully covered, paypal don't like people using credit cards, that's why they make it confusing to do, lots of people forget to empty their account so they can use a card, or they have default bank funding.
Expensive purchases are perfectly safe with paypal, IF you do it properly, buyers actually have far more protection than sellers.

blisteringblue

They will still refund you even if there is no money in his paypal account, they then just chase him for the money. I think you may only get what you paid minus a £14-15 handling charge?

I bought an ipod before Xmas for £40 that never arrived. Went through all the claims process and ruled in my favour, but all I got was a refund of £26. Although not best pleased it was my own fault for going against all my rules and buying from somebody with single figure feedback, just thought it was a bargain not to be missed !! Alas it missed :-)

holygamoly

Thanks for the replies.

As today was the last day for the seller to respond (and they haven't), PayPal have found in my favour (just found out about 30mins ago). I have been refunded £65.26 by PayPal. There were insufficient funds in the seller's account to pay me (surprise, surprise) - so presumably the entire amount comes out of PayPal's pocket/some insurance fund. I doubt they will recover the remaining £15...but at least my damage was limited.

I am obviously very angry that some scammer has managed to walk away with £80 and I hope PayPal recover all the money and prosecute him.

In respect of paying with credit card via PayPal, I am not sure if you can (i) cancel your credit card payment with PayPal or (ii) claim a s75 Consumer Credit Act claim. I think the reasoning is that you 'load' money onto PayPal with the credit card and then pay money from your PayPal account. There is no direct relationship between the credit card company and the party providing the goods. If anyone has experience of anything different, please shout out.

It's good to know that there is some protection for people purchasing on eBay - although I hope that the scammers are pursued to the fullest extent of the law. People should not have to rely on these protections.

freddysmith

I should imagine there is so much fraud happening on Ebay, that they recoup their losses from Ebay charges. Police seem snowed under, so don't get involved with any but the most serious Ebay scammers.
Its buyer beware and protect yourself as mentioned previously.
If the scammers are not stopped then we all end up paying through higher Ebay/Paypal charges.
I hope your Ebay bad experience fades quickly and Don't let the Bug!ers get you down!