Scammed on eBay, what to do next?

CJBerri

In short I've been scammed on eBay for a mobile phone. The buyer made the payment through PayPal I sent the item and the same night PayPal reversed the payment as it was "unauthorised". I provided PayPal with proof of postage but apparently I am ineligible for their seller protection policy. The buyer contacted me through eBay saying that he would post the item back or attempt to pay me again, I asked him to post it back immediately through Royal Mail Recorded Delivery. Since then he hasn't responded to any of my messages.

I've done some research on the buyer and apparently he's using a fake name, a lookup on 192.com showed me the real name of the person living in the address I posted to (but still have no phone number). I'm confused on what to do now after reporting him to eBay to get my listing fees back. Is there any way at all I can get compensation or get my phone back?

brettcta

sadly, i don't think there's much you can do. sounds like you have been conned.

i'm very sorry.

custardy

why is it inelligable?
was it a confirmed address?
is it a CC chargeback?

CJBerri

The address was not confirmed. When PayPal notified me of the reversed payment they sent me this:

"Dear XXX,


Recently, PayPal received a notification from a user regarding unauthorised access to his PayPal account. As a result, one of the payments credited to your PayPal account has been placed in a temporary hold while we investigate the claim. PayPal constantly monitors transactions for unauthorised use of accounts in order to maintain the safety of our users.

The details of this transaction are as follows:


Transaction Date: 5 Jun. 2008
Transaction Amount: 250.95 GBP
Buyer's Email: XXX


If you have already dispatched goods related to this transaction, you may be covered under PayPal's Seller Protection Policy. Please provide PayPal with the following information:

1) Tracking Number of Delivery
2) Delivery Company Used
3) Postage Compensation Information (if used)

If you have provided a refund to the buyer, please provide PayPal with the following information:

1) Date of Refund
2) Amount of Refund

For you to be protected by our Seller Protection Policy, you must reply to this email. We need to receive all correspondence regarding this case within seven days. If you have any questions, please reply to this email.

Good selling practices, like trackable postage, prompt delivery, and communication between buyer and seller help prevent disputes.

Yours sincerely,
PayPal"

From the above email I'm assuming the buyer used someone else's account to make the payment and they were refunded the payment. I am ineligible for seller protection because the PayPal address was not confirmed.

GregtheHammer

Sounds like the buyer has paid by credit card & then claimed he did not authorise it.

If the address was not confirmed I am afraid you will probably lose the money.

kazwookie

I would suggest you set your settings for any future phones, to no overseas bidders and no -neg bidder etc.

I don't think there is a lot you can do this time.

kiwifruit_2

Can the police help??? I read the letter as someone has used someone elses paypal account to pay you, however you have the address that you posted it too and maybe the police could visit the address seeing as it appears to be fraudulant - I may be completely barking up the wrong tree here but just a thought..

frivolous_fay

It seems strange that they would contact you to try to make amends, and then not.
Did you try pulling their contact details from ebay?

I'll agree that it doesn't look good, but 192 isn't infallible. He may be living there, but not registered. If you have a valid address, you can take action.

CJBerri

I think his reason in replying to my first message was to delay me, he also told me that he mistakenly filled out the payment as unauthorised. This is his message to which I replied to sent the item back to me:

"i will return the item to you , or do you wantme to send you another payment, i noticed that my paypal was used by third party so i filled all the trancsaction on my account sorry i mistakenly fiiled your, i will send the payment asap my account is retored many thanks"

I don't believe what he is saying as the "unauthorised account activity claim" was made by a different name. I will go to the police with the information that I have, I fear that wont get the phone back though.

The only contact details he has on eBay is an email address, address I posted the item to and a mobile phone number. After contacting eBay about the matter they informed me that they cannot share customer details due to their privacy policy.

frivolous_fay

Presumably you've tried the mobile?

It's likely that the police are your only hope at this point, failing any further comms from the buyer. If the police are 'less than interested' in helping
- I would send an official looking payment demand (with relevant scary legal language on it) to the name and address you have. In fact send it to the other name for that address too, separately. Send it tracked, and see if anything happens. It's a long shot, and probably not worth it unless the police can't help.

Dack

I'd also suggest an email suggesting that the telephone will be reported to the networks for blacklisting as it would count as having been stolen to all intents and purposes.