Buyer paid with fraudulant card ... help please

yumzone

From what I have been told by the other sellers, the criminals opted for collection of the item. So pretty much in same boat as me - the only difference being is I moved the funds from paypal to my banking account.

soolin

Well in that case I think the police were wildly optimistic with giving you any false hope about recovering funds. You still have the basic problem that you received money which has been taken back via the anti fraud banking measures and have no protection as you have no proof buyer has the item.

You are in exactly the same position as someone who realised they were being scammed, accepted the money and held onto the goods...which happens as some sellers will see a scam and just take the buyer along for a ride.

dweezil_2

Please OP, and other Sellers who have been scammed, DO NOT GIVE UP.
A similar thing happened to me in March, fraudulent credit card used via Paypal, no trackable delivery, I had withdrawn the £300, so my PAypal balance went into negative. Soon I had a debt collecting company calling me regularly, telling me I owed PAypal £300.
Now, if PAypal and Ebay had prominent warnings on their sites about the frequency of chargebacks (and explained what they are, as most people do not know, until they are hit by one) more Sellers would use trackable delivery, especially for more expensive, fraud prone items, many would probably stop using Paypal, especially from Buyers with little or no feedback, unconfirmed addresses etc.
Ebay, owning PAypal wouldn't like this, so there are no warnings at all about PAypal passing all risk on to the Seller, who has paid Paypal, through their fees, for a service which they have not delivered.
OK, chargebacks are mentioned deep within the lengthy T&Cs, yes we should read them, but the point is, Paypal have not delivered the service you have paid them for, they are trying to pass the risk onto the Seller, Paypal know all about the risks, and the frequency of Chargebacks, the Seller,in most cases, doesn't.
Anyway, I complained, after downloading the form from the FOS main site - once my compalint was registered, the Debt company, intrum Justitia did stop calling.
Last month I received a letter from them saying PAypal offered to credit my account to the tune of the £300 negative balance, would I accept? Would I!
After two prompting emails sent to PAypal, my account is now back up and running - yes, I will be much more careful if I should use it for selling in the future, but the fact Paypal backed down in the end shows that legally they don't have a leg to stand on, as I don't think they did it from the goodness of their heart.
So, do not give up, complain, complain. Here is the link, just follow the procedure, it will be worth the effort.
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm