New Ebay / proof of postage scam

HelenYorkshire

As told to me by a colleague....

A friend "won" a mobile phone on ebay, paid quite a lot of money via paypal, all seemed fine. Then through the post she received not a phone, but a letter.

Obviously complained, but lost. Why?

Sender / scammer had got "proof of postage" certificate for this letter, but there's nothing on it to say what was sent (ie letter, packet, parcel) - so s/he waves it at paypal saying "look, I sent it" :mad:

So the friend has lost all their money :eek:

I've not heard of this before, no idea how to work around it apart from maybe if it happends to you take photographs of what you receive, with postmarks, stamps, labels etc and try and show that to paypal.

Simple yet devious, thought you should all know...

lonestar1

Not a new scam Im afraid, you can lodge an appeal with paypal but unless the postage is shown and is less than what you would it to be for a mobile your looking at needing a witness. Did you open th letter in front of the postman for example ? Otherwise its your word against theres and Paypals default where the seller can provide a signature proving delivery is to side with them

emweaver

your friend should still have a case, if shes still got the envelope, she could fax it to paypal. if she paid on her credit card she can dispute the transaction with her credit card company.

its the same as if an item arrives damaged i thought, the seller will have proof of postage but you can still get your money bk

bicycle_repair_man_2

the simplest way to avoid this sort of thing happening is to only sign for the delivery after checking what is in the package.

MARTINS_DOLL

HelenYorkshire wrote: »

As told to me by a colleague....

A friend "won" a mobile phone on ebay, paid quite a lot of money via paypal, all seemed fine. Then through the post she received not a phone, but a letter.

Obviously complained, but lost. Why?

Sender / scammer had got "proof of postage" certificate for this letter, but there's nothing on it to say what was sent (ie letter, packet, parcel) - so s/he waves it at paypal saying "look, I sent it" :mad:

So the friend has lost all their money :eek:

I've not heard of this before, no idea how to work around it apart from maybe if it happends to you take photographs of what you receive, with postmarks, stamps, labels etc and try and show that to paypal.

Simple yet devious, thought you should all know...

Hi Helen,
The same type of thing was posted yesterday by another forum member...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=921223

This seems to be a new scam going on here, and it should be taken further with ebay/paypal.

Get them to read these posts if need be.
Hope this helps.

WaveyDave_2

bicycle_repair_man wrote: »

the simplest way to avoid this sort of thing happening is to only sign for the delivery after checking what is in the package.

The courier/postman should not allow you to do this, they are only supposed to hand over the package AFTER you've signed for it.

wornoutmumoftwo

Do a paypal claim under goods not as described.

adaze

Only buy from people with a good rating and ALWAYS read some of the past feedback, it can be invaluable.

It is unfortunate, I would imagine going through the CC route may be your best. After all if you bought a TV online and you were sent a letter instead, they still haven't actually delivered you the goods. Alternatively, its fraud so a trip to the police station could be in order. What did the letter say? "Hahaha, I've just stolen your money"? would be useful to the police if it did!

emweaver

Even people with 100% seller feedback scam people, I had this before xmas got £50 out of me and 30+ others for some toys. I know at least 10 of us went to the police, as I contacted them all and the police done nothing despite seeing feedback from over 30 people to say theyd been scammed. The way to go is CC, thats how I got my money back.

Oggyoi

HelenYorkshire wrote: »

As told to me by a colleague....

A friend "won" a mobile phone on ebay, paid quite a lot of money via paypal, all seemed fine. Then through the post she received not a phone, but a letter.

Obviously complained, but lost. Why?

Sender / scammer had got "proof of postage" certificate for this letter, but there's nothing on it to say what was sent (ie letter, packet, parcel) - so s/he waves it at paypal saying "look, I sent it" :mad:

So the friend has lost all their money :eek:

I've not heard of this before, no idea how to work around it apart from maybe if it happends to you take photographs of what you receive, with postmarks, stamps, labels etc and try and show that to paypal.

Simple yet devious, thought you should all know...

If she complains to Paypal they should refund her the total cost, irrespective of proof of postage.
I sold an item to a woman in Cumbria last year, posted 7 exact same out, all with proof of postage. The other 6 all arrived, she said hers had not and claimed against me.

Paypal did not want to know, even though I showed a proof of postage to her and them. Basically Paypal said I had to show proof OF DELIVERY to back up my claim.
The item was sold with postage costs and the option for recorded delivery, she did not choose that.
Paypal ( bless the, clawed the money back, so I was out of pocket ).

It isn't just buyers beware, but also sellers beware. I had an ongoing arguement with Paypal, saying it was wrong for them to dictate terms such as this and it was upto the buyer to pay extra for recorded delivery !!!

C_Ronaldo

Oggyoi wrote: »

If she complains to Paypal they should refund her the total cost, irrespective of proof of postage.
I sold an item to a woman in Cumbria last year, posted 7 exact same out, all with proof of postage. The other 6 all arrived, she said hers had not and claimed against me.

Paypal did not want to know, even though I showed a proof of postage to her and them. Basically Paypal said I had to show proof OF DELIVERY to back up my claim.
The item was sold with postage costs and the option for recorded delivery, she did not choose that.
Paypal ( bless the, clawed the money back, so I was out of pocket ).

It isn't just buyers beware, but also sellers beware. I had an ongoing arguement with Paypal, saying it was wrong for them to dictate terms such as this and it was upto the buyer to pay extra for recorded delivery !!!

oggyoi

in your case how could you make the buyer pay for recorded delivery, the option is there