Have I lost both items & money?

BennyB_2

Hi,

I have had a good search around and can't find an answer. So sorry if this has been covered recently.

My wife sold an item on Ebay this week to value of £320. The buyer even included an extra fiver to cover the cost of a special delivery! We asked the buyer for confirmation of their address and posted the item the next day (Friday) and even paid extra so it would be delivered on Saturday.

This afternoon my wife received an Email from Paypal saying that the Buyers account had been hacked and they have claimed their money back.

My wife is quite distraught, so I have filled in the details on the Paypal site, with tracking number, address and as much info etc. The next thing we find that the case is closed and her paypal account has the full £320 taken from it.

What happens next? Will we get a refund? Or have we lost everything, including the £12 posting fee from Ebay?

Any help would be much appreciated.

frivolous_fay

Ok. Go back to the original payment your wife recieved.

Did it show address: confirmed?
Did it show Seller protection: eligible?

Having the buyer confirm their address by email will sadly not be any help in defending against the chargeback

BennyB_2

It says ineligible.

Should I go to the Police ?

frivolous_fay

On the face of it, and from paypal's viewpoint, you have posted an item to a hacker.

You have his address, so sure, go to the police. Don't allow them to brush you off. It's got to be worth a try.

Do you have any more expensive things to sell?

soolin

You also have the address that you sent the item to. So it is worth checking that address on the various address finding websites to see who lives there, and then contacting them to say you sent 'xx' to that address on the 'date' and this is now going to be the subject of a police matter.

Some scammers are dim enough to believe that you can do nothing once they have the item...but you have a trace via the special delivery tracking, to show where your item went, and that is a great place to start.

There is a chance this is a mistake, paypal do sometimes mess it up and on occasions contacting the occupier of the house turns up someone who forgot they used their card on paypal, or whatever.

Nex0

soolin wrote: »

You also have the address that you sent the item to. So it is worth checking that address on the various address finding websites to see who lives there, and then contacting them to say you sent 'xx' to that address on the 'date' and this is now going to be the subject of a police matter.

Some scammers are dim enough to believe that you can do nothing once they have the item...but you have a trace via the special delivery tracking, to show where your item went, and that is a great place to start.

There is a chance this is a mistake, paypal do sometimes mess it up and on occasions contacting the occupier of the house turns up someone who forgot they used their card on paypal, or whatever.

Agreed.

If you can get the buyers proper address and see if that matches the one you have sent it to then you have something to go on.

Do you have the item number?

BennyB_2

Thanks for your replies.

How would i get the buyers proper address?

frivolous_fay

In addition to the above, check whether the paypal address was anything like the address ebay have on file (it would appear on the invoice)

If it was the same, the hacker story might start to look a bit dubious.

Was it a UK address?

soolin

Nex0 wrote: »

Do you have the item number?

I would always caution against identifying yourself on a big site like this, the potential for mischief is enormous

Nex0

soolin wrote: »

I would always caution against identifying yourself on a big site like this, the potential for mischief is enormous

That's a fair point to be honest.

I guess he can always pm one of the regulars or myself if he wants us to take a look and advise.

BennyB_2

Sorry, I couldn't get back last night. My wife has taken ill and has been kept in hospital overnight.

I've checked the paypal invoice and emails sent by the user and these are different. We have had an email from another user saying the same has happened to them too. Looking at the profile, it could have possibly happened to 5 or 6 others over last week. All have left positive feedback which Ebay won't revoke. :mad:

I also got an email from Ebay this morning me telling me they wont take any further action and that I should contact the Police or Civil courts.