Courier scam - how it works

RobM99

You advertise something on e-bay. The buyer can't collect but says "courier will pay cash on collection". Scam! Here's how it works...

The 'courier' will collect, give you the cash (non-traceable), then the buyer claims goods never received and gets a refund from his bank/credit card which is charged to you.

A very common scam.

soolin

RobM99 said:

You advertise something on e-bay. The buyer can't collect but says "courier will pay cash on collection". Scam! Here's how it works...

The 'courier' will collect, give you the cash (non-traceable), then the buyer claims goods never received and gets a refund from his bank/credit card which is charged to you.

A very common scam.

How is the bank going to refund something that they never paid out? I can’t think of a bank anywhere That is going to give a customer money if they walk in and say they paid cash for something and never got it. 

If a seller gets cash and assuming notes are legit, neither the bank or eBay can force them to give it back.

RobM99

This was a quote so maybe something got lost in translation!

I imagine ebay would refund and claim against the seller. 

Scorpio33

It usually is that they ask for an "insurance" payment from you to ensure the goods arrive - they blame the courier.

If you pay that insurance, the courier never arrives...

soolin

RobM99 said:

This was a quote so maybe something got lost in translation!

I imagine ebay would refund and claim against the seller. 

EBay don’t handle cash so no they won’t reclaim anything from anyone. They only cover their own managed payments which does not include cash. 

Just think about it logically and you’ll spot the obvious flaw in this. 

The usual courier scam, and it only works on eBay now if a seller doesn’t understand how eBay works, is for a seller to say that they have paid via a bank or PayPal or a form of escrow and that the funds will be released to seller once courier collects . The. Scammer sends a fake email from bank or whoever stating the same (that fu ds will be released once collected if a code is entered) . Courier hands over ‘code’ to seller and disappears with goods, seller tries to get funds released only to find the email was fake. 

RobM99

Only trying to help.

Brie

More likely a portion is paid via ebay/paypal or similar and the "courier" is supposed to pay a small additional cash amount.  Courier collects, scammer claims no delivery and gets a refund for the amount not paid in cash.

soolin

Brie said:

More likely a portion is paid via ebay/paypal or similar and the "courier" is supposed to pay a small additional cash amount.  Courier collects, scammer claims no delivery and gets a refund for the amount not paid in cash.

Which with managed payments no longer works either as sellers shouldn’t be releasing goods without the QR code. If buyer doesn’t give the courier the code then seller should refuse the collection. 

diystarter7

RobM99 said:

This was a quote so maybe something got lost in translation!

I imagine ebay would refund and claim against the seller. 

Hi OP
IMHO, the contract would have been with the buyer and their couier and a lot of people take a pic, have cctv, thankfully it does not and will not happen frequently.

There, IMO, it is more a case of buyer chasing the co they gave the contract to.

Just shows you can't trust anyone.

I hope you don't me saying that

Take care

Buster_Danog

My understanding of this scam is that the payment can be made in full by the buyer on Paypal. After the item is collected by the "courier" the buyer then says the item was never sent to them and they didn't collect it. Paypal then refunds.

I have had attampts at this scam on Shpock as well.

soolin

That’s a different scam and you will note the vital difference, cash isn’t included anywhere.

Even that can’t work on eBay now due to the collection code and managed payments, but can still work, as you say, on other sites like SHpock or FB marketplace.