Fake PayPal payment scam- am I covered by Royal Mail?

OcarinaMC

Last week I listed a DSLR camera on EBay, which I accepted an offer of £1030 for, including P&P. The buyer messaged me through EBay to say he’d sent payment via PayPal, and on checking my email I saw that I had an email from PayPal confirming that I’d received a payment of £1030 from the buyer. I packaged the camera up and posted it with Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed next day delivery by 1pm, and insured for up to £1000.

Only after posting the item did a member of my family see the email from PayPal and expressed doubts about its authenticity. They had noticed that although it showed as being sent from a genuine PayPal email address, when hovered over it showed that it was actually sent from something like payment_verify@mail.com. The email had said that the funds would be on hold until the item had been sent tracked and confirmed as delivered. I’ve had similar genuine emails from PayPal previously when selling on EBay, so didn’t think this was out of the ordinary. Upon checking my PayPal account there was no record of any payments or payments pending, so I contacted PayPal, who confirmed that no payment had been made to my account.

At this point the parcel was in a Royal Mail delivery centre for delivery the next day. I reported the incident to the police and Action Fraud and received reference numbers for both. I also reported to EBay, who advised me to contact Royal Mail in morning and ask them to put the delivery on hold. I phoned Royal Mail first thing the next morning and asked them to stop the delivery, but they informed me that they were unable to intercept the mail in any way as they were legally obligated to deliver it to the address on the parcel.

I phoned the police again to see if they could intervene, but was told they couldn’t do anything until it had been investigated by Action Fraud. Therefore, the parcel was delivered and signed for later that morning.

The address of delivery was for a block of flats a few minutes down the road from the Royal Mail delivery centre. I’m assuming that maybe the scammer has waited and received the parcel from a communal entrance door to the building, as I very much doubt that they live at, or have any connection to the delivery address.

I know that I’m not covered by Ebay or PayPal for this, but would I be covered by Royal Mail insurance under lost package? As, like I said, I very much doubt it was actually delivered and signed for at the actual flat listed on the address. I’m sure whoever lives there probably has no knowledge of what has happened.

Another option I’m thinking would be whether I might be covered by my household contents insurance in some way? Would it be classed as stolen? Does contents insurance cover fraud?

I know it is my fault for not checking everything was legit before posting the item, but I’ve been under a lot of stress lately and obviously not thinking clearly and had a total lapse in judgement, but this is a lot of money to lose, so I just thought I would ask for some advice to see if there is any possibility of recovering anything.
Thanks

Browntoa

No chance.

Royal mail Will have confirmed delivery.

theonlywayisup

OcarinaMC wrote: »

I know that I’m not covered by Ebay or PayPal for this, but would I be covered by Royal Mail insurance under lost package? As, like I said, I very much doubt it was actually delivered and signed for at the actual flat listed on the address. I’m sure whoever lives there probably has no knowledge of what has happened.

Another option I’m thinking would be whether I might be covered by my household contents insurance in some way? Would it be classed as stolen? Does contents insurance cover fraud?

You have been a victim of fraud and you didn't take adequate steps to confirm the money was in your account before you sent the goods. This is a common scam.

I'm not sure why you would think RM or your house insurance will cover your loss. Unfortunately it's an expensive mistake.

KatrinaWaves

Royal Mail did exactly what you asked them to do, I am unsure why you feel you have a claim against them...

Your only recourse is through the police/Action Fraud. You have been a victim of fraud, which is a crime. Royal Mail have not done anything wrong.

Quick note for future, always see the funds in your paypal account, or withdraw them to your bank before sending anything. Ebay payments should always come through as from ebay as well also.

Comms69

One thing to suggest is contacting the management for the block of flats and asking them to store the CCTV footage if it exists.


This wwill atleast give the police something to go on

KatrinaWaves

Comms69 wrote: »

One thing to suggest is contacting the management for the block of flats and asking them to store the CCTV footage if it exists.


This wwill atleast give the police something to go on

Assuming the flat has CCTV, the 2 new built blocks I lived in didnt have any, and its unlikely to be able to see someone answering the door anyway. There is no doubt the parcel has been delivered, and surely thats all the CCTV will show, if there is any.

Comms69

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

Assuming the flat has CCTV, the 2 new built blocks I lived in didnt have any, and its unlikely to be able to see someone answering the door anyway. There is no doubt the parcel has been delivered, and surely thats all the CCTV will show, if there is any.

Well if it was delivered to a flat, then yes I agree. But then the OP has a valid address.


The suggestion as that this was signed for in the communal area, which often does have CCTV.


Anyway, it was just an idea as another route to check.

davidmcn

Comms69 wrote: »

The suggestion as that this was signed for in the communal area, which often does have CCTV.

Which posties shouldn't do (I know I've had them refuse when I've met them on the way out). Not that that helps any. Even if there is CCTV, realistically only the police are going to be able to access it.

bris

Police won't investigate this. They leave it to action fraud. The camera is gone, the scammer will be working on the next victim.

OcarinaMC

davidmcn wrote: »

Which posties shouldn't do (I know I've had them refuse when I've met them on the way out). Not that that helps any. Even if there is CCTV, realistically only the police are going to be able to access it.

This is what I'm saying the issue with Royal Mail would be. If they have delivered it to a communal area and not the exact flat that the parcel was addressed to then they haven't done exactly what they were supposed to. It's a good point about CCTV to check this, but I think only the police or action fraud would be able to access it.

From reviews I've read about Action Fraud I don't hold out much hope of them actually doing anything to investigate this though.

Comms69

OcarinaMC wrote: »

This is what I'm saying the issue with Royal Mail would be. If they have delivered it to a communal area and not the exact flat that the parcel was addressed to then they haven't done exactly what they were supposed to. It's a good point about CCTV to check this, but I think only the police or action fraud would be able to access it.

From reviews I've read about Action Fraud I don't hold out much hope of them actually doing anything to investigate this though.

Yes, I said ask them to store it. CCTV regularly gets wiped, sometimes with-in say 7 days.