Urgent help required - My sister just got stung on e-bay - Big time...

Neiliboy

She's an idiot but i'm sure she knows that by now...

Bottom line is she sent £4000 via western union for a car that was supposed to be in Essex. This is the sort of sh*t you see on Watchdog but you never think it would happen to you or some1 you know...

Seller is no longer responding. Ebay are pretty much useless, Police dont really want to know. In her defence she was sent some phish e-mails from what she thought was ebay basically telling her that western union is ok to use.

Is there *anything* at all she can do - anything she may not have thought of.....

Please dont respond with 'If its too good to be true' ' she should have seen it first' etc because she's learnt her lesson the hard way and i'm genuinely gutted for her. Its ALOT of money to lose.

If anyone can give me any practial advice than please do

normal

I'm afraid I don't think ebay can do except blacklist the seller which is no real punishment. Only the police can do something in this situation.

I know it's of no use, but I can't figure why she wouldn't just pay for the car on collection.

Neiliboy

I'm double annoyed because she never told me as she was doing it......she's an ebay novice whilst i'm alot better (but by no means an expert)

Thing is i know that 1. You see the damn thing first and 2. NEVER use western union....so i would have told her to stay away but i didnt wanna do the 'i told you so' thing....

She did a vehicle HPI report thing and it came came legitimate so thats why they went for it...they used 2 credit cards - have they got any come back via this?

turtle2k1

Try your local citizens advice bureau, they might have some ideas. Even if the car cam back legit on an HPI why would anyone but a car without seeing it first.

MattWPBS

In all probability the 'seller' was a hacked account too. What's she got in the way of e-mails and the like?

Also, can she claim back from the credit card company?

robnye

as mentioned, she should get onto her credit card suppliers ASAP......

bambam82

Neiliboy, I remember reading about a scam like the one your sister was involved in quite recently on the ebay,auctions,car boot...board but I can't seem to find it now. The person who posted the thread also received emails supposedly from ebay endorsing the use of Western Union. Luckily they never went through with it. Anyway, other than the suggestions already given, you may also find that if you post another thread on the ebay board or if you get the mods to move this one that you'll receive more suggestions as to what you sister can do. Sorry I couldn't be of more help and I hope your sister gets a result.

lynette_sherburne

Oh, the poor thing, even the 'cleverest' of us get fooled sometimes. I am almost positive that the fact she used credit cards is going to save the situation. They insure you against fraud.

Good luck to her x

shoe*gal_2

Have you posted on Community Question and Answer on Ebay? There is someone on there who knows the right process to go through with fraud cases and the right way to report it to the Police.

Neiliboy

sorry - i didnt even realise there was ebay board!!

Mods please move if necassary

shoe*gal_2

If you go onto Ebay and onto Community there are people there who have experienced the same thing or have seen it all before. Good luck.