Debt with ebay

toozie_2

In April this year a scammer got into my ebay account and fraudiently listed a camera 10 times. During this time my mum was dying and she passed away at the end of April- so I wasn't looking at my ebay account etc.
The scammer changed all my ebay account details and added a bank account that was with Haliax (I have never banked with them) 
After 10 lengthly phone calls to ebay, emails to ebay support, and emailes to the CEO's (No replies) ebay state I owe over £6000 in fees for the cameras listed and the charge back by some of the said buyers for the non-receipt of said camera
On the last call to ebay they stated (for the 10th time) the case was with their fraud dept and they would decide if my account was scammed or not- if they decided no scam took place I would have to pay the £6000+ in fees.

During the early calls I managed to get the "scammers" Halifax bank details off my account & replace them with mine own (thinking it was half way to reinstating my account) which by then had been suspended due to non payment of the fees.

Today ebay tried to take the £6000+ from my HSBC account. I have stopped the payment with my bank, and cancelled any mandates to allow ebay to take funds.

On my ebay account I have proof that they have tried to take funds from a Halifax account (that I don't have) and proof of all the listings of the same camers which was £959 each time it was listed.

I seem to be getting no where with ebay, and now my fear that this will become a debt againt my name- although the debt was run up by a scammer on my account.

I have spoken to CAB Consumer Rights they say that it may be that I have comrimised my T&C as a seller with ebay because the scammer got into my account - I have no idea how this scammer did this - and I certainly have not divulged any info at any point- but I'm guessing its how scammers work with many online insitutions.

CAB then stated I could possibly go to the small claimn court. This is what I'm looking for guidence about.

I have never used that service, but I can work my way through it and provide evidence that until very recently and during this scam period a bank account not in my name has been used.
I can provide evidence that I have nver violated ebay T&C in the 20 years since being a member 
To me it's faily obvious that my ebay account was suddenly & quickly taken over and the same camera at the same price was listed 10 times orver a period of a few days.

Although I have no evidence that I can provide ebay would have the info that my password was changed, my mobile number was changed and my bank details changed to that of Halifax 

Is it worth me going to the Small Claims Court - or what would be my next step please, and thank you so much 

HillStreetBlues

You are talking about taking ebay to small claims court have they got any of your money (not just attempted to take it?)
As if they haven't you can't take them to small claims court.

Alderbank

To simplify a little

• eBay believe you owe them £6000+ and they have tried to take this amount from your bank account.
• You disagree and have told your bank not to allow payment.
• You are worried this might become a debt
• You are considering making a court claim against eBay.

They can't make it a debt. It won't become a debt unless eBay take you to court and win their case and you refuse to pay.
Going to court costs them money. If they don't feel they have a strong case they could write off the loss and close your account. They might well do this.

If they decide to try to claim it is by no means certain that they will win. First step is they have to send you details of their claim and why they believe you and not some other person owes them the money. They will warn you that if you do not pay within a certain time they will take it to court.

Unless you get different advice I think you should just wait for now and see what they do. I think your trading account with them is finished whatever happens.

I have to say that I find your story a little confusing. If you do get that Letter Before Action from eBay, come back here and share the (redacted) claim so that we can advise you how to respond to each aspect of the claim.

soolin

Firstly have you completely secured all your internet capable devices? If a scammer could get into your ebay and also your email provider which is a worry. Due to the 2FA they must have had full access to your emails as well, and that could have given them access to a lot of other sites that require you to confirm by email . There is an outside possibility that they had access to your phone as well . This might be a way of determining how a scammer got access to all your info, obviously in a distressed state is there a possibility you left a device, a phone or laptop logged in to anything and then left it unattended somewhere while you dealt with more pressing matters?  Perhaps if there is any trace of how a scammer gained access you could take that back to ebay to argue your case?

As above though you cannot go to small claims unless they owe you money, and as far as I'm reading it they luckily didn't manage to actually take any from you. Obviously the moment you try and use ebay again they will attempt to charge you so if you had planned to use ebay again you will need to get this sorted.

toozie_2

Thank you all for your replies.
I'll try not to reply in the same saga.
All my passwords have been changed, and ebay was being run from an email I didn't use much, there is no way any divise has been left on and unattended- but thats a great heads- up.

@Alderbank - yes in a nut shell. I haven't got as far as a Letter Before Action - it's on;y today my bank refised the debt claim from ebay for the £6K+

I only used my account to sell personal houshold stuff and that from a part property contents I have been left- I'm not a commercial seller- so yes fine I understand that the end of selling on that platform.

I'll just sit tight and wait for ebays next step then, thank you all 

km1500

although I don't have a crystal ball what I am fairly sure will happen over the £6,000 debt is that eBay will eventually take you to court

assuming you attend the hearing the judge will listen to your side of the story and make a decision based upon the evidence

also assuming the facts are as stated I think you stand a good chance of convincing the judge that you were the victim of fraud

soolin

km1500 said:

although I don't have a crystal ball what I am fairly sure will happen over the £6,000 debt is that eBay will eventually take you to court

assuming you attend the hearing the judge will listen to your side of the story and make a decision based upon the evidence

also assuming the facts are as stated I think you stand a good chance of convincing the judge that you were the victim of fraud

There is absolutely no reported incidences of eBay going to court. They appoint debt collectors and hassle a bit, but court is unlikely and I would suggest almost certainly not likely. 

RFW

toozie_2 said:

I have spoken to CAB Consumer Rights they say that it may be that I have comrimised my T&C as a seller with ebay because the scammer got into my account - I have no idea how this scammer did this - and I certainly have not divulged any info at any point- but I'm guessing its how scammers work with many online insitutions.

CAB then stated I could possibly go to the small claimn court. This is what I'm looking for guidence about.

I have never used that service, but I can work my way through it and provide evidence that until very recently and during this scam period a bank account not in my name has been used.
I can provide evidence that I have nver violated ebay T&C in the 20 years since being a member 
To me it's faily obvious that my ebay account was suddenly & quickly taken over and the same camera at the same price was listed 10 times orver a period of a few days.

Although I have no evidence that I can provide ebay would have the info that my password was changed, my mobile number was changed and my bank details changed to that of Halifax 

Is it worth me going to the Small Claims Court - or what would be my next step please, and thank you so much 

I don't understand why CAB would tell you to go to the small claims court. Either they are wrong or there is some information missing here. If no one has taken money from you then there's no reason to go to small claims court.

Have you considered the possibility that the scammer may be someone you know?

Have you reported the crime to Action Fraud?

As Soolin says there is little chance of Ebay pursuing this beyond debt collectors. As you won't have  a credit agreement with Ebay then it won't affect your credit rating. The only difficulty you'll have moving forward is that you won't be able to use Ebay. Debt collectors may telephone you but you can ask them not to and tell them the amount is disputed, all they can then do is write to you. You can only get bailiffs or be forced to pay after having lost a court case. It's highly unlikely it would ever get to court but if you keep all the paperwork, screenshots, emails, etc then you would stand a good chance of winning anyway.

Realistically, your next step is to do nothing and see what happens from Ebay's side. Reporting it may help if a court case ever did come about, it could also help in case anything else is compromised.

GabbaGabbaHey

toozie_2 said:

I can provide evidence that I have nver violated ebay T&C in the 20 years since being a member

That is not possible. There is no way that you can provide evidence to show that you have never (knowingly or unwittingly) provided your authentication credentials to a third party.

km1500 said:

also assuming the facts are as stated I think you stand a good chance of convincing the judge that you were the victim of fraud

Even if that was true, it would have no bearing on the debt owed to eBay. That debt is owed to eBay by the OP. The OP's claim is against the fraudster (who will be almost impossible to identify, let alone recover money from, unfortunately).

km1500

The debt is not owed to ebay by the OP that is the whole point - the debt is owed by an unknown fraudster.

GabbaGabbaHey

km1500 said:

The debt is not owed to ebay by the OP that is the whole point - the debt is owed by an unknown fraudster.

No - the transactions were carried out on the OP's account, and the OP is the one who has a contractual relationship with eBay, therefore the OP is liable for the debt. That they were defrauded by an unknown person is irrelevant to this point.